13 50 763 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/e9a545c6701bae7a962bd2db2a3834d8.pdf 0dd3fe301e1b099f10663374997e72a5 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 25 The Slovak Intelligentsia 1918-1938 OWEN V. JOHNSON \ The 25th issue of Slovensky dennik, published December 7, 1918, carried a message from the Slovak Society of Studying Youth. It began bluntly, '' A nation is strong only if it has a strong intelligentsia.'' Issue No. 1, published November 9, 1918, called on the Slovak intelligentsia to come forward. Since the new Czechoslovak state will need a great many Slovak people for offices and schools, we challenge each Slovak intelligent to immediately apply in writing or personally to the Legal Committee of the Slovak National Council listing complete name and address. Slovensky dennik might well have devoted its limited space to other matters, for the Slovakia of 1918 was ahnost without an intelligentsia, a body without a head. How and to what extent was this void filled in the following twenty years? In essence, this essay is a preliminary examination of that question. A combination of historical and ideological circumstances has combined to divert attention almost completely from a serious study of the development of education and the concomitant development of the intelligentsia (using here the Marxist definition of the intelligentsia as being "educated specialists") in interwar Slovakia, and in fact for the whole of Czechoslovakia.(!) Victor Mamatey describes Slovak politicians as showing considerable energy in promoting the cultural and educational development of the Slovak people,(2) but furnishes no evidence. R. W. Seton-Watson describes the "remarkable transformation" wrought in the field of education in Slovakia, but provides only broad quantitative evidence, referring especially to the elementary schools. (3) Reprinted by permission from Russian and Slavic History (Papers from the Banff ' 74 Conference) edited by D. K. Rowney and G. E. Orchard, Slavica Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 14388, Columbus, Ohio 43214. �26 SLOVAKIA While Czech and Slovak historians generally evaluate this phenomenon favorably, only now is any extensive research developing in the field. The published draft survey, Prehled teskoslovenskych dejin(4) does not once mention education. One report on a meeting of the Polish-Czechoslovak Historical Commission in Warsaw in September 1972 pointed out, "There emerged in the rich discussion many questions which even in our historiography have not been resolved through analytical work (such as) (the growth of national intelligentsia, the question of education ... ).(5) Oldriska Kodedova, reviewing Kuzmin's Shkola i obrazovanie v Chekoslovakii, comments(6) that insufficient attention has been paid to the social and nationality problem of education between the two wars. She points out that there is not a single basic work on the subject. Professor Jozef Matej, chairman of the pedagogical department of the Faculty of Philosophy at Comenius University in Bratislava, surveys the considerable progress made in research over the last five years, and declares that the editorial board of Jednotna skola supports the publication of articles about the history of education and pedagogy in the "bourgeois" Republic.(7) Admittedly this problem is not one that lends itself easily to a time frame as short as twenty years. Even the very few high school graduates from 1919 would have been less than forty years old in 1938, an age which in the traditional European context was still quite young. The names which showed up as outstanding among high school students· in the twenties and thirties became the leaders only in the turbulent forties and fifties. Perforce, then, this paper must confine itself to observations on some aspects of the development of the intelligentsia. A thorough study would require a complete monograph. What I will seek to do is discuss briefly the circumstances that brought about the poverty of the intelligentsia before 1918, identify institutions which contributed to the development of this educated group of Slovaks in the interwar period; describe summarily the educational system in use and provide a statistical overview of the schools and the students who studied in them; briefly describe other signs of cultural development; and suggest some accomplishments, shortcomings, and problems on the period. Linguistic and anthropological experts have long debated the question as to whether the term Czechoslovlik can be used to describe one language and one nation, or whether the individual Czech and Slovak terms should be used. This paper proceeds on the basis of the latter, as a means to better understanding the problem at hand. If the idea of a Slovak nation was to have a solid basis, whether in a �SLOVAKIA 27 \ Czechoslovak state or by it'self, it was necessary that an intelligentsia develop from the Slovak people . The course of events prior to the creation of Czechoslovakia at the end of World War I found the Slovak people practically without a nationally conscious Slovak intelligentsia. Policies pursued by the Hungarian government following the 1867 Ausgleich had made it practically impossible for any Slovak youth who aspired to advanced education and a high position in life, to succeeed without giving up his Slovak identity. There were no Slovak schools beyond the primary level. It is generally accepted(8) that there were only between five hundred and a thousand educated and nationally conscious Slovaks in the year 1918. This estimate can be challenged on the basis that it represented the number of Slovaks and members of their families on whom the Hungarian authorities kept watch because of Slovak or panSlavic tendencies.(9) There may well have been several thousand nationally neutral intelligentsia who found it quite simple to fit into a Czechoslovak environment following the founding of the Republic. Several Slovak historians are seeking at this time a more accurate estimate.(10) Certainly the predominantly agricultural configuration of the Slovak society did not promote Slovak intellectual development. The cities , with few exceptions , were Hungarian, German, or Jewish dominated. Thus we are left with a Slovak intelligentsia made up primarily of clergymen, doctors , and lawyers, and their families .(11) One could not in any case expect that there would be a sufficient number of Slovaks who would have the requisite administrative experience to run a modem state and nation. To overcome this shortcoming it was necessary to bring in Czechs.(12) An example can be made of the advanced educational establishments. There were about twenty qualified and nationally conscious Slovaks who could teach in the gymnasia, enough persons to supply about two schools . Perhaps three hundred nationally conscious Slovaks were qualified to teach in the elementary schools.(13) Dr. Karel Koch , later Surgeon-General for Slovakia, lists only three Slovak-oriented surgeons remaining in Slovakia in 1918.(14) Borovicka even says that after the attainment of independence in 1918 there was not a single Slovak government official whatever with a Slovak national consciousness .(15) The bleakness of the situation was described poignantly by Dr. Vavro Srobar, a future Agrarian Party Minister of Education. "There were so few of us that we almost all knew each other personally , we knew even addresses , as well as personal and family relationships. " (16) �28 SLOVAKIA Accustomed to the Hungarian tradition, the Slovak peasant looked upon the intelligentsia as those people who, on the basis of a definite higher schooling got an official position or who otherwise stood out on the basis of their knowledge, property and influence in public, and earned admission to intelligent society. High school and university education and a proper knowledge of Hungarian or German, gentlemanly behavior, official position in the church, county, school, etc. gave legitimation to the title of intelligent. (17) The intelligentsia were the people who worked with their heads, not their hands. On this basis, one may consider a study of schools which awarded the maturitne vysvedcenie (matriculation certificate) or its equivalent and of the students in these schools as a study of the intelligentsia. The certificate was given for the successful completion of the school leaving examination at the end of high school (similar to the French baccalaureat). Of five categories of state employees, three required at least a high school education. A fourth required lower high school or middle school joined with special courses. While the fifth included those demanding only general elementary education, elementary and middle school teachers were included in this category.(18) At this point, attention must be directed to the structure of the whole school system. School attendance in Slovakia was mandatory for six years until 1922; after that, eight years was required, although the increase could not be enforced until the late twenties for lack of the needed personnel and facilities. All students spent the first five years in elementary (l'udove) schools. The other three years could be taken in middle schools, or in the beginning grades of the various secondary schools. In some of the more rural areas, only the elementary school existed, and here students who had no intention of continuing higher studies were allowed to attend if no alternative school was available. There were about 4000 elementary schools. The majority of the schools awarding the matriculation certificate came under the general heading gymnasia. Children who had completed elementary school and were at last ten years old, could apply for admission to the gymnasia. These were of fm\f types: 1. The classical gymnasium, of which there· were very few, was an eight-year school. Successful completion of the course allowed the student to enter the university directly. Until reforms �SLOVAKIA 29 \ instituted in early 1930s, students in these schools studied Latin from the first year and Greek from the fifth. 2. The real gymnasium was by far the most popular because its graduates could directly enter both universities and technical universities. In these schools, French or English was taken instead of Greek beginning in the fifth year. 3. The real reformed gymnasium, which was more popular in the early years of the Republic, later lost attractiveness, and many of these schools were converted to real gymnasia. They followed the same curriculum as the real gymnasia except that a third language (English, Italian, or a Slavic one) replaced Latin in the seventh year. The reason for their later unpopularity was the necessity of taking an additional examination in Latin in order to gain entrance into the university. 4. The re<ilka was a seven-year school and its graduates had entrance directly only into the technical universities. No classical language was required, and French or English was begun in the second year. Other schools which awarded the matriculation certificate were only four years in length. The most wide-spread in Slovakia was the teacher-training institute , conducting a four year course of instruction which qualified its graduates to teach in the elementary, and after a time, the middle schools. Students were admitted in their ninth year of schooling in most cases , provided they had reached the minimum age of fifteen . During the depression this type of institution reached its peak of popularity with several times more applicants being turned down than were admitted. This is explained by its providing its graduates nearly guaranteed employment without their having to consider how to obtain funds to study at the university . Compared to the gymnasia and the teacher training institutes, the four other types of schools which gave degrees equivalent to the matriculation certificate were limited in number. The priemyseln<i skola , or industrial school, was four years in length, and its graduates could be admitted directly to the technical universities. These schools operated under a severe handicap in Slovakia during the first republic, for it was not until the fall of 1938 that the first Slovak technical university was opened. In anticipation of this event, enrolhnent in the technical high schools swelled considerably after the mid-thirties. The commercial academy (obchodn<i akademia) graduate also completed a four-year program which allowed him to enter either the technical university or the law faculty. Graduates of the four year �30 SLOVAKIA agricultural high school in Kosice or the four year forestry high school in Banska Stiavnica could enter the technical universities in their respective fields. The agriculture high school was designed primarily, however, for the education of independent farmers, and the forestry high school for the preparation of forest administrators. While much attention has been directed thus far to the rights to higher education achieved by these secondary school graduates, the percentage of those completing higher education was not overwhelming. Gustav Husak, in admittedly rough calculations, adjudged between 2000 and 2500 Slovaks engaged in university studies in the 1933-34 school year.(19) That compares with the 19,047 students in Slovakia attending the gymnasia and teacher training institutes that year. The 1930 census counted 2,295,067 Slovaks in Czechoslovakia. (20) During the twelve-year period 1926-7-1937-8, slightly more than seven percent of the total number of students at the Evangelical Gymnasium in Presov took the maturita examination.(21) If this figure is applied as a rough ratio for all of Slovakia, it would mean that in the above mentioned year of 1933-34, approximately 1330 students in Slovakia took the maturita. In the same year, approximately one fifth of the law students at Comenius University were first year students (2861162).(22) Applying this percentage to Husak's estimated total of 20002500 Slovaks attending institutions of higher learning, we arrive at the figure of about 600 first year Slovak students in all university faculties. This means that less than one half of those holding the matriculation certificate went on to the university. And of these, some forty percent did not complete the first set of state examinations normally given after two years study.(23) According to these calculations, less than one third of those holding the matriculation certificate from the gymnasium completed a university degree.(24) (The original estimate of 1330 maturants includes the graduates of the teacher training institutes who rarely continued to the university.) Support for using the criteria of a secondary school education to define the intelligent is offered by the percentage of such students in the whole educational spectrum. In the school year 1921-22, students of gymnasia and teacher training institutes 'made up 2. 7 percent of the total number of students in Slovakia.(25) For reasons that are both complex and unclear, statistical offices of the Czechoslovak Republic did not publish complete data on the number of those gaining the matriculation certificate each year. In Slovakia, a circular with some such information was prepared by the Bratislava (Slovak) Referent for Education each year until the late �SLOVAKIA 31 1920s. The only other manner in which this number can be determined is by a methodical examination of the annual high school yearbooks sponsored by each school. Let it be taken as an assumption, based on a general familiarity with . the figures, that an average of about one thousand Czechoslovak s~udents in Slovakia each year passed the maturita exam, or about 20,000 during the life of the Republic. The figure is of course lower in the early years, and much higher in the period just before Munich. The general accuracy of this estimate can be judged by the estimate of Robert Rosko(26) that 68,000 employees in Slovakia in 1953 had higher and specialized secondary education. Stefanek's estimate of 50,000 students having completed high school studies by 1944(27) is likely too high. Only one writer, Jan Novacky, probably with statistics furnished by the Ministry of Education, has calculated the number of persons receiving the matriculation certificate over a period of time (Table 1). These data suggest the projection of 1330 recipients of the maturita for the year 1933-34 is reasonably accurate as does our estimated average of one thousand matriculation certificates per year for the 1918-19-1937-38 period. The number of graduates of the teacher training institutes remained fairly constant at about 300 per year.(28) The number of girl students in grade VIII (and thus eligible for the maturita examination) as a percentage of the total number of girl students enrolled in the gymnasia in 1927-28 was just under five percent, thus fifty percent less than the average for all those enrolled. (29) TABLE 1 NUMBER OF MATRICULATION CERTIFICATES (HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS) AWARDED 1918-19 - 1928-29: SELECTED YEARS AND TOTAL Total 1918-19 Type of Institution 1918-19 1923-24 1928-29 1928-29 3075 Real gymnasium 84 250 532 Teacher training institute 122 262 247 3014 Real reformed gymnasium 5 70 189 1000 23 44 82 623 Realka 64 Classical gymnasium 0 0 36 Total Source: 234 626 1086 7776 Jan M. Novacky, ed., Desat' rokov slovenskych strednych skol, Bratislava: Slovenska knihtlaciaren, 1929, pp. 68-71. �32 SLOVAKIA The figures we have been discussing up to this point refer to the Czechoslovak high schools in Slovakia. They include a smattering of Hungarians, Jews, Germans, and other nationalities , as well as Czechs and Slovaks. The number of Czechs in some schools was substantial. For example, during the 1937-38 school year, the First Czechoslovak real gymnasium in Bratislava had 896 students, of which less than half (431) were Slovak. Three hundred eighty-six were Czech, 43 German , 24 Hungarian , and the rest other nationalities.(30) In Banska Bystrica, 394 out of 470 students in that year were Slovak , 66 Czech and the other ten divided among four nationalities.(31) Again, a complete survey must await further computation. What can be said with safety is that a significant proportion - ten to twenty-five percent - of the students were not Slovaks. The only known official publication which differentiates between Czechs and Slovaks in the high schools in Slovakia was published for the 1922-23 school year in Slovakia by the Skalsk y Referat. Of the 11,267 students, 1286 are Czech, 8501 Slovak, and the rest belong to other nationalities. At the same time there were six Czechs and 116 Slovaks in non-Czechoslovak institutions . This confirms our estimate of ten to twenty-five percent non-Slovaks.(32) The State Statistical Office of the Czechoslovak Republic did not, in its school statistics, differentiate between Czechs and Slovaks , using instead the inclusive term Czechoslovak. However, between half and two thirds of the individual schools did make a distinction in their published yearly reports, and some of them also expressed the distinction on the statistical forms mailed to the Ministry of Education. It is this lack of readily available data which has hindered until now any significant studies of this question. Because some schools only used the term Czechoslovak means we shall never have a completely accurate picture of the nationality situation. This attitude of Czechoslovakism in the statistics occurred for a variety of reasons : political conviction, political fear, lack of interest , or desire to maintain the status quo. It was the principal (riaditel') who decided which policy would be followed.(33) Because of these varying motivations, one cannot with reliability apportion the students in the unoi(ferentiated schools to the specific nationalities. Further, even when a aifferent,.iation is made in the general and classroom statistics between ' nationalities, we do not have available this information for individual students, so as to be able to determine whether such and such an individual student, be he Czech or Slovak, passed the maturita exam. We must content ourselves with comparing the percentage of each nationality in the final year of school and applying these percentages to the number of persons taking the �33 SLOVAKIA maturita exams. Even in the less common instances when the maturita recording books are availa\:ile in the archives , they frequently do not specify the nationality, but fist only the place of birth. While this is of some assistance in obtaining a reasonably accurate picture , the very existence of 120,000 Czechs in Slovakia(34) will distort it, as well as the non-Czechoslovak abode of many of these persons prior to 1918. In the above Banska Bystrica case, although there were 66 Czechs , only 34 of the students were born in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. There will also be some distortion , when we cannot specifically distinguish Czech from Slovak, in identifying the social, religious, and other characteristics of the students according to nationality. Here again, it seems that we must proceed on the basis of what we have , hoping that studies of the individual schools described by Matej(35) will tum up better information. Let us use 1927-28 as a sample year. The decline in the number of enrollees which developed later because of the wartime decline in the birth rate and not yet made itself felt. With the exception of a number of schools which would open in the last four years of the Republic, almost all schools were operating as full institutions. Some had been converted from Hungarian to Slovak over a period of seven or eight years . TABLE 2 CZECHOSLOVAK SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SLOVAKIA , 1927-28 Type of School Real gymnasium Real reformed gymnasium Realka Teacher training institute Commercial academy Industrial high school Classical gymnasium Agricultural high school Forestry high school Total Number Students Graduates Studentsgraduate 24 8217 426 19 10 3 2939 997 165 98 18 13 6 3 2 1 1 63 970 617 470 406 98 Unavailable 14,714 327 62 100 16 14 14 1222 10 3 10 5 25 7 12 �34 SLOVAKIA Sources: Novacky, Desat' rokov , pp. 63-67; Styridsat' rokov Lesnickej technickej skoly v Banskej Stiavnici 1918-1959, Bratislava: Poverenictvo Podohospodarstva, 1959, pp. 62-67; Anton Stefanek, Education in Pre-War Hungary and in Slovakia To-Day," in Slovakia Then and Now: A Political Survey ed. by Robert W. Seton-Watson, London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1931, p. 130; Individual vyrocne zpravy of the agricultural high school, commercial high schools , and industrial high schools. The most productive gymnasium of any kind in the first eleven years was the real gymnasium at Bratislava with 363 degrees awarded followed by the realka at Zilina with 340. Other gymnasia producing more than 200 matriculation certificate holders in the first eleven years were the real gymnasia at Kosice, Nitra, Ruzomberok, Trencin, Trnava, and Banska Bystrica. The teacher training institute at Modra produced by far the largest number of graduates in the first eleven years with 419, primarily because of the 142 which it graduated in the first three years, a figure twice the number of any other school during that period, excepting Tmava, which also had the second highest eleven year total with 323. Seven other institutions had more than 200 graduates each. Over the twenty year period, there were 51 gymnasia of different types, 17 teacher training institutes, 5 industrial high schools, 7 commercial high schools, and one each of the agricultural and forestry high schools. A significant number of this total (16-82) began operation in the last four years, a jump of about 25 percent from the number in existence at the end of the 1933-34 school year. The reasons for this sudden increase will be discussed below. The total does not include a private unlicensed secondary school operated in Bratislava in the 193738 school year which used French as the language of instruction and was seeking state accreditation. The proportion of secondary school students in the population was lower in all Slovak counties (between 3 and 8 per 1000) than in Prague (12-13 per 1000) .(36) By some strange quirk, however, the county of Mikulas had the highest number of secondary schools in relation to the population (9-10-200,000) anywhere in Czechoslovakia. This included 14 schools for 319,509 people.(37) In Slovakia in 1922-23 there was one Czechoslovak student for each 179 Czecho~lovak inhabitants. For the whole country (excepting Ruthenia) the ratio was I-116.(38) There were other schools which one might consider as producers of intelligentsia. The so-called pedagogical academy which began to operate in Bratislava in the 1930-31 school year at the suggestion of the �SLOVAKIA 35 Slovak Pedagogical Society was the first step toward placing teacher training on the university level. It was a one-year program which gave gymnasium graduates the right to teach in elementary schools. In seven years it produced 706 graduates.(39) Graduates of the teacher training institutes did no~ have the possibility nor the need to attend. Comenius University \11 Bratislava had three faculties - law, medicine, and philosophy- ano began accepting gymnasium graduates in the fall of 1921.(40) Slovaks could attend other universities in the country as well. The Slovak Technical University opened only in the fall of 1938. There were two theological faculties. The Lutheran faculty, which operated throughout the twenty years, received university rank in 1934. The Catholic faculty, authorized in 1919, began operations in 1936 although in the interim there were a half dozen small seminaries scattered around Slovakia. The music and drama academy of Bratislava received university status in 1926. The higher agricultural co-operative school opened in Bratislava in 1936 to help provide administrative officials for the co-operative movement. Previously these officials had come from among the graduates of the commercial academies and commercial schools (usually 2-year programs not leading to a matriculation certificate). Students were chosen from among those who already held the matriculation certificate, with preference to persons who had been graduated from the commercial or agricultural high schools and to those with co-operative experience. Those who had a partial high school education or had finished middle school and one of the agricultural or commercial schools, and had two years of experience in the co-operative movement as well, could qualify if they successfully passed an entrance exam. There were only 22 students in each year of operation. There were also a number of theological academies with the equivalency rank of universities. Entrants were required to hold the matriculation certificate. The six Catholic institutes (seminaries) mentioned above closed with the opening of the Bratislava theological faculty in 1936. Even so , Slovakia still possessed more than half of the theological institutes in the country. There were also a half dozen city music schools , sometimes supported by the public, but these were rather for private music instruction and did not fit into the regular scheme of formal education . Reference has been made to vocational courses in the fields of agricultural, industrial and commercial education. There was in these courses no attempt to advance beyond the teaching of specific skills. The courses varied from several weeks to two years. �36 SLOVAKIA Matica slovenska, the Slovak cultural and national organization, sponsored in many cities the so-called enlightenment courses. These consisted on one or a series of lectures, and would more properly fall under the heading of popular or civic education. The local organizations of Matica slovenska were supposed to be distributing knowledge, rather than fostering it.(41) Courses held by the Army for illiterate soldiers should be considered also in the realm of popular education. What other evidence do we have of cultural advancement during the period under discussion? One is the publication of books, magazines and newspapers. Before the outbreak of World War I there was some of this activity , although exactly how much is uncertain. Stefan Krcmery , long active in Matica slovenska, said that a total of 41 periodicals in 1909 had declined to ten by 1918.(42) A more recent survey conducted by Matica slovenska shows the total growing from 32 in 1900 to 47 in 1910 to 61 in 1914 before dropping to 30 in 1918.(43) The most important were N arodnie noviny , published three times a week at Martin, and Slouenske pohl'ady, a monthly literary journal.(44) Jozef Votruba, a Slovak patriot , was said to have remarked(45) that the Slovak intelligentsia was made up of those who read Narodnie nouiny. Similar problems arise in trying to measure the number of journals published after the revolution. Maria Kipsova, in a definitive bibliography published in 1968, (46) lists 980 journals definitely located and 80 journals not found which were published in Slovak during the 20-year period. Jozef Darmo 's incomplete study(47) of Slovak journalism, published two years earlier, says there was a total of 1565 magazines and newspapers published, of which 442 were Hungarian and an undefined number in other languages. A survey compiled by the press referent for Slovakia in 1927(48) listed 162 purely Slovak publications for that year . Approximately one-third of these were political , another third organizational . Eight of the publications were dailies, all but one of them published ip Bratislava. A further 49 publications were multi-lingual with Slova~ as one of the languages . Nearly half of the all-Slovak publications · (77) Had a frequency of monthly or less. The Kipsova bibliography shows that the great majority of these publications did not long survive . Included among the reasons were the lack of printers and the inability to extend circulation beyond the cities into the countryside . Quite simply, the rural population was not yet accustomed to reading.(49) While some efforts have been made at estimating the extent of circulation of the various publications ,(50) there is no source extensive enough to provide any adequate analysis. The expansion of the number of daily papers from two (one of which was Hungarian-oriented)(51) before the war , to eight �SLOVAKIA 37 under the Czechoslovak ~epublic indicates definite progress. Even with insufficient evidence, 'one can presume a circulation expansion as well. While there is considerable disagreement, too, over the exact number of Slovak books published between the wars,(52) it averaged 600-800 per year, of which about three quarters were published in Slovakia itself. A provisional B ibliografia slovenskych knih 19191938(53) published in 1965, listed 13,320 items definitely identified, and 6530 uncertain. If the nearly 19,000 were in fact all published, it would establish an average of approximately one thousand per year, somewhat higher than the estimate by Stefanek (13,425).(54) Most likely, not all of the desiderata will be included in a definitive bibliography, soon to be published by Matica slovenska, since, for instance, some of the jubilee high school yearbooks, which are in fact not books, are included, plus some listings which are only Slovakicized titles of Czech books. The most difficult problem is unfortunately unsolvable, that is, how many copies of each of these books were published. Only a few organizations, such as Matica slovenska, kept publication totals . One estimate suggested that pre-war printings rarely exceeded 600-800 copies; by 1928 the average was 250010,000.(55) Stefanek provides some interesting comparisons of the occupations of writers before and after the revolution. (56) They show that before the revolution 112 out of 178 writers were priests (two-thirds Lutheran, one-third Catholic). After 1918 (approximately 1935) only 14111 are priests. The bulk (47) are academicians. Another measurement of general progress can be noted in the area of libraries. In 1927 there were 3283 research libraries for teachers with 258 ,200 books; 216 school libraries containing 1,185,464 books including 150,000 at Comenius University; and 2592 communal libraries with 202 , 781 books . (5 7) By 1932 the number of libraries in the first two categories had increased only by seven, but the number of volumes was up half a million.(58) Since there were only private church libraries and those of priests and patriots prior to 1918, there is a definite note of progress here. One of the most difficult problems in handling a subject of this type is to maintain a differentiation between the terms intelligentsia and national enlightenment. While we have noted the tremendous development of communal libraries, libraries which average less than one hundred books apiece will not contribute much to the development of the intelligentsia, although they may significantly raise the national consciousness of the broad mass of the population. The same problem �38 SLOVAKIA must be faced when we examine the national and religious cultural societies . Either we must redefine what we call a member of the intelligentsia or we must recognize the fact that these organizations had different purposes. The Society of St. Adalbert is a case in point. A Catholic society with 100,000 members, it dealt mainly with popular education and Catholic science and literature.(59) Yet Peter Vajcik(60) described one of the society's three aims as being to help the Slovak Catholic intelligentsia, a much smaller group . The Lutheran Church had a similar society of Tranoscius. Matica slovenska anguished over the direction of its goals . Until 1932 it tended to reflect more accurately the number of intelligentsia than did the two specifically religious societies, but it also included a number of Czechs and people of other nationalities involved in the work of popular education. In some respects it sought to fulfill the role of a scientific academy, but lacked the personnel and monetary support, and could not tear itself away from its popular education role . Interestingly , when its membership roles swelled after the capture of the leadership in 1932 by those who favored a greater amount of Slovak autonomy, its organized scientific research increased substantially. The membership increased from 11,063 in 1930 to 30,147 in 1936.(61) The Safarik Scientific Society was organized in 1926 mainly by the members of the faculty of Comenius University. It was begun with the intent of increasing the amount of knowledge about Slovakia and Ruthenia. Strongly supported by persons with a Czechoslovak orientation, it frequently found itself at loggerheads with the people in Matica slovenska.(62) In 1934 it had a total of 168 members of whom only 40 were Slovak. It was divided into two sections, one for the social sciences and one for the natural sciences. In the latter, there were only 16 Slovaks among 101 members, which can in part be explained by the lack of a faculty of natural sciences at Comenius University . During its twelve year existence it published 45 volumes of research results.(63) A number of other societies or organizations which could be called cultural or intellectual also functioned but they will not be dealt with here . These include the Slovak Museum Society, the Slovak Cultural (Vlastivedne) Museum, the East Slovak Museum, the Slovak Pedagogical Society, the Union of Slovak Students, DAV , and the several unions of teachers.(64) · Having sketched the general outline of the development of the intelligentsia , it becomes necessary to examine the broader context of the matter as it relates to political development and the whole of life in interwar Czechoslovakia. �SLOVAKIA 39 It was the early actio~s of the Czechoslovak government taken in the field of education that\ ~ere the most far reaching. Before 1918 there were 53 secondary schools in Slovakia, all Hungarian.(65) Following the attainment of independence, three were closed immediately, two others were combined, and in nine towns new secondary schools were organized. Before the New Year, three secondary schools were operating, and a total of thirteen were giving instruction after three months of independence. (66) Anton Stefanek, assigned the task of co-ordinating this project, described his guiding principle as ''the democratic principle of religious and racial equality before the law."(67) Thus, in purely Slovak districts, the schools were deMagyarized. In the southern districts, he "on the whole" left the status quo. This immediate de-Magyarization of the Slovak high schools was exceptionally important. Changes which are readily accepted in a time of revolution are not achieved even gradually in times of peace and quiet. The entire Czech policy followed in the southern parts of Slovakia sought to integrate the area into the Czechoslovak Republic. (68) The new schools which were opened in essentially Hungarian towns such as Nove Zamky or Lucenec, took root rapidly even though a Hungarian school was also frequently authorized. While these cities had been Hungarian for several decades, the countryside was in many cases still Slovak. The extra assistance provided by the central authorities was frequently the deciding factor in reclaiming the cities, and thus the gathering places of the intelligentsia, for the Slovaks . According to the 1930 census, only seven cities in Slovakia had more than 20,000 persons. Of these, all had two or more Czechoslovak secondary schools except Komarno, which did not gain its first Czechoslovak secondary school until 1936. Only two of the fourteen towns with between 10,000 and 20,000 inhabitants, Guta and Handlova, did not have secondary schools . Handlova is only seven miles from Prievidza, which had a school. Guta (now called Kolarovo), is in a strongly Hungarian area about ten miles southwest of Nove Zarnky, which also had a gymnasium .(69) State control was extended over six Catholic high schools in 1919, under fear that the vacant six sees, which were responsible for their supervision , would be filled by Hungarians . The only other two alternatives , according to Stefanek, were to close the schools, or to accept Hungarian control. It was the attempt by the Slovak People 's Party to gain restoration of three of these Catholic gymnasia in 1921 which led to that party's break-away from the Czech People ' s Party. Josef Susta , the Minister of Education in the Cerny government, ap- �40 SLOVAKIA parently made promises to the effect that the schools would be returned to Catholic control, an action which his successor, Vavro Srobar, an Agrarian Slovak, refused to carry out once the Benes government took office . (70) The Protestants in contrast, carried out an internal reorganization in 1919 and were allowed to maintain control over their schools. Within a decade they gave up all but one for financial reasons .(71) It might be mentioned that the Slovak National Council, which spoke for Slovakia in its declaration of union with the Czechs at Martin October 30, 1918, apparently made no effort to institute an educational system, although some of its local branch officials served to help coordinate the setting up of new schools . Mamatey attributes this to inexperience in the exercise of political power.(72) The impliction is that the Slovak elite, carried over from the Hungarian era, did not use realistic methods in developing a modem nation. Thus, they did not conceive of the need to build an expanded intelligentsia. (73) Much of the policy relating to education was determined by administrative , rather than legislative action. Thus, the fact that five out of the twelve interwar Ministers of Education were Slovaks is of considerable significance. Actually these five held the post for a •longer period (by three months) than Czechs, and many significant reforms were accomplished under them. Ivan Derer, a Social Democrat, held the post for the longest period, from 1929 to 1934. Milan Hodza, an, Agrarian, had the third longest term (1926-1929), a period that probably would have lasted longer had he not become embroiled in conflict with Masaryk and Benes over foreign policy matters. Several policy changes were carried out which affected secondary education in Slovakia. One involved converting the realka to the Austrian or Czech pattern, which meant a seven-year, rather than an eight-year, curriculum, and thus lessened in the eyes of many Slovaks the value of its education. The six-year higher girls ' schools were first reestablished as lycees , then converted quickly to real reformed gymnasia because the former institutions had offered little perspective for further education or employment. The use of boarding schools was also generally eliminated in Slovakia. Prior to World War I, boarding schools had helped to foster Magyarization by cutting off the students from the Slovak countryside. By 1923 only sixteen remained , of which eleven were located at teacher training institutes. (74) At the same time , various organizations set up " intemats" in many towns to strengthen thE\regained Slovak foothold . This made it possible for young people from remote districts , for whom poor transportation connections would have preve~ted daily com- �SLOVAKIA 41 muting, to acquire a secondary education. Others could avoid the otherwise inflated living costs in the cities.(75) The government also sought to increase the percentage of women in the schools. By the year i937-38 girls made up nearly one-third of the students in the gymnasia, ~though as noted above, a smaller percentage actually completed the final year (and presumably the maturita exam). In the teacher training institutes more than half of the total enrollees were girls. Government regulations specified that these institutes were to have equal numbers of boys and girls. (76) As the country began to emerge from the depression, there developed also a rapid increase in the total enrollment of the secondary schools. There were a number of reasons for this, including the growth of cities, better preparation in elementary schools, and the increased post-war birth rate. The government responded by approving various arrangements to open new schools, including some sponsored by cities and some by church bodies. They were made possible under Article 54 of Hungarian law XXX-1883,(77) under which the state assumed responsibility for paying the personnel, who had to meet state qualification standards, while the sponsoring group paid the operating expenses. The schools charged higher tuition, but these higher rates were usually justified by the savings in transportation costs which students would otherwise have had to pay if they were commuting to another school. There were several of these schools in Kosice operated by church groups. Examples of city-sponsored schools were in Piest'any, Koma.mo, and Topol'cany. Acceptance of these arrangements occurred because of an improvement in the economic situation, (78) the fact that there was no longer doubt about the ability of these schools to attract a sufficient number of qualified professors , and the ability of the organizations to meet the requirements of XXX-1883. The analysis of placement - where did the graduates go - is a task beyond the goals of this paper. The central government apparently did not concern itself with these matters except for a brief period during the depression.(79) Many of the secondary schools themselves did not bother with such records either. Occasionally the yearbooks or reports to the Ministry of Education contained information about the future plans of the graduates. It is only in scattered cases at the time of the dedication of a new building or during a celebration of an anniversary that the occupations of the graduates were recorded at all, e.g., Kremnica-1937 or Zlate Moravce-1924. Unfortunately, these samples are not sufficiently broad to draw any conclusions . There is an intriguing organization called the Sprostredkovatel'na prace pre nezamestnanu inteligenciu na Slovensku, which evolved in 1934. �42 SLOVAKIA Sponsored by the Slovak League and the Economic Institute of Slovakia and Ruthenia, with the apparent support of the Agrarian Party, it collected data on graduates and their job searches.(80) Even without these data, let me suggest some judgments on the development of the intelligentsia in interwar Slovakia. First of all, it is clear that significant progress was made . The very fact that the independent Slovak State was able to function at all is evidence of this progress.(81) The Slovak State would not have been possible in 1918. By 1938, the large majority of the intelligentsia was Slovak in language and feeling . Under the situation prevailing before 1918, many of these people would have become members of the intelligentsia, but it would have been as Hungarians, not as Slovaks. It seems that there was not an intellectual proletariat in Slovakia.(82) As Ivan Derer pointed out, even in the depths of depression in 1933 all qualified Slovak high school and elementary teachers had positions.(83) He also catalogued the many other positions which Slovaks filled.(84) What the Czechoslovak Republic 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 modern nation. Insufficient emphasis was put on the education that would develop leaders in industry, commerce, and even agriculture. This type of policy requires particular effort because in fluid postwar situations, there is a tendency to chose occupations where training is short and not too strenuous and the prospects of rapid enrichment promising.(85) This helps to explain Slovakia's lack of military men , of engineers , and of doctors. One must also keep in mind that the younger members of the small Slovak intelligentsia in 1918 had been able to gain positions of influence at a young age, something that could not be continued after the revolutionary wave had subsided and the Czechs who had come to Slovakia to help had become entrenched. (86) The young Slovak intelligent was not unemployed, but underemployed. One must recall that particularly in later years the central government had doubts as to whether it could trust the Slovak intelligentsia. Whatever feelings of distress this under-employment engen~red were worsened by the attitudes carried over from the Hungarian\ experience that education was the road to success .(87) Pre-independe:o.ce lead,ership was in the hands of a highly visible educated majority,. which fostered assumptions of the links between education , political mobility, and the benefits accruing to members of the intelligentsia. �SLOVAKIA 43 Quite probably , time was too short to produce a large enough intelligentsia in all fields. (88) In twenty years , the Czechoslovak government laid the groundwork for the future , and for twenty years built on it. The restoration of the Czechoslovak Republic after World War II provided the opportunity to look critically at what had and had not been done before in the area of intelligentsia development and to make adjustments. · ' But it was not just a matter of insufficient time. I would suggest that the interwar Czechoslovak government was not concerned with developing a specifically Slovak intelligentsia. Instead, its main goal was to reclaim the entire area of Slovakia for the Czechoslovak nationstate. By establishing a large number of Slovak secondary schools in cities of any size, especially those with large Hungarian populations , it could insure that this was done . But the early success of these centralist policies delayed recognition of certain aspects of the developing Slovak problem. If a Slovak nation was to be a viable entity, it required Slovak participation in all aspects and at all levels of society , not just where vacancies existed in a larger Czechoslovak society. One of the reasons for the above-mentioned lack of a Slovak technical university was the assumption that sufficient numbers of persons (mostly Czechs and Germans) were being educated in Bohemia and Moravia. Such an institution in Slovakia was said to be superfluous. If the concept of national self-awareness is not considered , then such an approach is plausible. On the other hand, when a nation has a feeling of running its affairs in the state in which it exists , even if that state be multinational, it has much greater reason to support the continued existence of that state. It then has no reason to trade the security it knows for the uncertainty of separation. Most Slovaks were initially very willing to cooperate with the Czechs, as demonstrated in the Martin declaration, recognizing that it was primarily Czech activities which had achieved the separation of Slovakia from Hungary and its attachment to the Czech Lands. But if Czechoslovakism embodies something more than Greater Czechism , it implied the balanced development of both parts and peoples of the country . If not, then the Slovaks were ipso facto a minority . Prior to 1938, the international political setting mitigated against any Slovak separation, since some kind of political attachment to Hungary or Poland would have resulted, yet active recognition of the concept of a Slovak nation by the Czechoslovak government would have strengthened Slovak resistance, alongside the Czechs , to the developing German threat. �44 SLOVAKIA Masaryk did not see in the Slovak case what he had been so willing to see in the Czech: the desire, as a nation, to develop and administer a complete society, particularly when that nation is part of the multinational state. He admitted in 1931 that he did not himself fully understand the Czech-Slovak relationship. I believe ... that the Comenius University helps the young to understand the true political and cultural task of Slovakia in our Republic. In a large degree it is the question of the relationship between Czechs and Slovaks. I have considered this problem myself and I must think still further about it.(89) While it might be argued that Masaryk was merely being respectful to his hosts, it is more likely the uncertainty he expressed was real. The so-called Castle group which gathered around Masaryk may have been nationally tolerant,(90) but it did not actively promote the development of individual nationalities.(91) One cannot, then, say the interwar Czechoslovak Republic did not, through its educational and cultural system, develop an intelligentsia in Slovakia. As has been shown, it made substantial progress. But it may be criticized for not actively supporting the production of an intelligentsia tailored to meet the needs of Slovakia, which by meeting the Slovak desire for self-management, would have strengthened the integrity of the Czechoslovak state. FOOTNOTES As Lucien W . Pye has noted, there is a large gap between the broad assumptions about the importance of education in national development and the limited amount of research on the subject. See Lucien W . Pye , " Foreword," in Education and Political Development , ed . James Coleman, Princeton, N .J ; rrinceton University Press, 1965, p . v. ' (2) Victor S. Mamatey, " The Development of Czechoslovak Democracy ," in A History of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918-1948, ed. by Victor S. Mamatey and Radomir Luza, Princeton, N.J .: Princeton University Press , 1973 , p. 118 . (3) R. W . Seton-Watson , A History of the Czechs and Slovaks , Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1965, p . 336. (4) Prehled teskoslovenskych dejin: Maketa , m, Prague: Nakladatelstvi Ceskoslovenske Akademie Ved, 1960. (5) Historicky fosopis , Vol. XXI , No . 1 (1973) , p. 155. (6) Oldriska Kodedova, Ceskoslovensky tasopis historicky, Vol. XXI, No. 1 (1973) , p. 114. (1) �SLOVAKIA 45 ' (7) Jozef Matej, "Sucasny stav a perspektivy rozvoja dejin pedagogiky na Slovensku," Jednotna skola, Vol. XXVI, No. 1 (January 1974) , pp . 56-70 . (8) E .g ., Seton-Watson, Czechs and Slovaks, p . 323; Stefan Krcmery , "A Survey of Modern Slovak Literature ," Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. VI (1928), p . 160. (9) Anton Stefanek, Zaklady sociografie Slovenska , Bratislava: Slovenska Akademia Vied , 1944, pp . 137-142. (10) Conversations with Slovak historians, 1973-74. (ll) Anton Stefanek, " Novoslovaci," Sociologicka revue, Vol. VI, No. 3-4 (1935), pp. 272-3 . (12) Ludwig v. Gogolak , Beitrage zur Geschichte des slowakischen Volkes, ill Muenchen : R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1972, p . 163; Ferdinand Peroutka, Budovani statu, I, Praha : Fr. Borovy, 1936, p . 208 . (13) Jozef Matej, Kapitoly z dejin slovenskeho skolstva apedagogiky (19. a 20. storoc!ie), Bratislava: Univerzita Komenskeho, 1972, 2nd ed., p . 71. (14) Letter to author, February 2, 1973. (15) Josef Borovicka, Ten Years of Czechoslovak Politics, Prague : Orbis , 1929, p . 44 . (16) Peroutka , Budo vani statu, I, p . 207. (17) Stefanek, Zaklady , p . 114. (18) Jaroslav Kopac, Dejiny skolstvi a pedagogiky v Ceskoslovensku, I, Brno: Universita J. E. Purkyne, 1971 , p. 48 footnote . There were some exceptions to the rule, however, such as the fact that high school graduation was not a requirement for the highly influential position of notary. (19) Gustav Husak, "Zprava predsedu socialnej komisie SSS," Vyroc!na zprava 1935-36: 15 rokov Sviizu Slovenskeho Studentstva v Bratislave , p . 13. (20) Czechoslovakia-Statistical Abstract , Prague : Orbis, 1963 , p. 18 . (21) Mirko Trnovsky, ed ., Sbornik prac profesorov evanj. kolej. slovenskeho gymnazia v Presove k vyroc!iu 1919-1939 Presov : Slovenska statna knihtlaciaren , 1940, p . 55 . (22) Vratislav Busek , " Pravnicke studium ve svetle statistiky, " Pravny obzor, Vol. XX, No . 15-16 (1-15 October 1937), p . 688 . (23) Ibid., pp . 682-8 . (24) Matej , Kapitoly, 1st ed., p . 83, notes that the contents of a 1933 curriculum reform were directed toward two goals, theoretical preparation of the graduates for the university , and partly for the practical needs of life. (25) Skolstvo na Slovensku, Bratislava: Slovensky planovaci urad, 1949, p . 46. (26) Sociol6gia, Vol. IV, No . 3 (1972), pp . 193-204, as cited in ABSEES Soviet and East European Abstracts Series, ill, No. 2 (26) (Oct. 1972), p . 167. (27) Stefanek, Zaklady , p . 296 . (28) Jan M. Novacky, ed ., Desat' rokov slo venskych strednych sk6l, Bratislava: Slovenska knihtlaciaren, 1929, pp . 68-71. Novacky's calculations omit the teacher training institutes operated by churches. The total for 1933-4 is actually 1542 , but the difference of 200 from the estimate can be wholly attributed to the doubled enrollment in the teacher training institutes in the early thirties - Zpravy Statniho uradu statistickeho republiky Ceskoslove nske, 1935, No. 3-7. �46 SLOVAKIA (29) Skolstvo, p . 47. (30) See the school's Vyrofod zprciva 1937-38, pp . 54-57. (31) See the school's Vyrofod zprdva 1937-38, pp. 13-15. (32) Priloha " Stredne skoly," Zprcivy §kolskeho referdtu v Bratislave ministerstva ~kolstva a ndrodnej osvety, 1922. (33) Paul R. Magocsi, " The Role of Education in the Formation of a National Consciousness ," East European Quarterly, Vo. Vll, No. 2 (Summer 1973) , p . 162 . (34) Paul E. Zinner, Communist Strategy and Tactics in Czechoslovakia, 1918-48, New York : Frederick A. Praeger, 1963 , p . 12; Stefimek, Zdklady , p . 386. (35) Matej, " Sucasny stav," pp. 56-70. (36) Josef Henrich and Mikulas Smok, Eenseignement clans la Republique Tchecoslovaque , Prague : Ostredni spolek ceskoslovenskych profesoru, 1923, p . 94. (37) Ibid. , p . 95. (38) Ibid., p . 91. (39) Matej , Kapitoly, 2nd ed ., p . 83. (40) Richard Homa, Patndct let Komenskeho university v Bratislaue, Bratislava, 1934, p . 9. {41) Michal Fedor, Poslanie a program Matice slovenskej na vychodnom Slovensku, Martin : Matica slovenska, 1966, p . 91. (42) Krcmery, "A Survey," p . 161. {43) Michal Potemra, ed ., Bibliografia slovenskych novin a c!asopisov do roku 1918, Martin : Matica· slovenska, 1958. (44) Seton-Watson, Czechs and Slovaks, p . 282 . (45) Related to author by Czech historian . Efforts to locate published citation to date fruitless . (46) Maria Kipsova et al., Bibliografia slovenskych a inorec!ouych nouin a c!asopisou z rokou 1919-1938, Martin : Matica slovenska, 1968. (47) Jozef Darmo , Slouenskci iurnalistika 1918-1938, II, Martin: Matica slovenska, 1966. (48) Soznam c!asopisou na Slouensku 1927, Bratislava: Tlacovy referat pre spravu Slovensku, 1927. (49) Darmo , Slouenskci iurnalistika, p . 159. (50) E .g ., Darmo . (51) Stefimek, Zdklady , p . 324. (52) Ibid ., pp . 318-324. (53) Bibliografia slouenskych knih 1919-1938, Vol. 1-XVIl, Martin : Matica slovenska, 1965 . (54) Stefimek, Z ciklady, p . 318. (55) Stefan Krcmery, " Slovak Literature," in Seton-~atson , Slovakia Then & Now , p . 141 . \ (56) Stefanek, Zciklady , pp . 313-314. (57) Manuel Statistique de la R epublique Tchechoslo uaque, ill, Prague : Statni urad statisticky, 1928, pp. 17-19. A law of February 1919 set up in each community �SLOVAKIA 47 educational committees to con\ truct libraries and run lectures and courses . In Slovakia, this matter was generally handled by the local branch of Matica slovenska. (58) Annuaire statistique de la Republique Tchecoslovaque , 1934, Prague: L'Office de Statistique de la Republique Tchecoslovaque, 1934, Table XIV-17 . (59) Stefanek, Zdklady , p. 303 . (60) Peter Vajcik , " Zvesti z Literarno-vedeckeho odboru SSV ," Kultura, Vol. VII , No. 1 (1935) , p . 38 . (61) Ivan Kusy, " Obnovenie Matice slovenskej a jej uloha za predmnichovskej CSR, " in Matica slovenskd v na§ich dejindch: Sbornik stati, Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1963 , pp. 224-232 . (62) Frantisek Bokes, Snahy o organizovanie slovenskej vedy od konca 18. storoi!ia do vzniku SAV, Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1967, p. 65. (63) Miroslav Kropilak, "Zakladne kulturnopoliticke problemy Slovenska v rokoch 191838 ," in Matica slovenskd v na§ich dejindch, p. 205 . (64) In particular note the Spolok profesorov Slovakov, which after its founding in 1921 worked particularly for better placement of Slovak teachers in Slovak high schools. Viz its Sbornik Spolku profesorov Slovdkov . (65) Hendrich and Smok, Eenseignement , p . 73. (66) Karel Veleminsky, "Czecho-Slovak Secondary Schools ," in The Czecho-Slovak Republic , Prague: Czecho-Slovak Foreigners' Office, 1919, Vol. IV, Part 3 , p . 13 . In 1919, the Ministry of Education carried out a census in Slovakia for the purpose of determining how many schools would be needed. Peroutka, Budo vdni stdtu , I, p. 210. (67) Stefanek, " Education in Pre-War Hungary ," p . 121. (68) Gogolak , Beitrage , ill, p . 160. (69) Annuaire statistique , 1935, Table 11-17 and 1937, Table 11-4. (70) Milos Trap! , " Ke skolske legislative obecnych a obcanskych (mest'anskych) skol a jejimu uplatnovani v ceskych zemich 1918-1922," in Z dejin i!eskeho §kolstv i, ed by Ervin Koukal , Prague : Statni pedagogicke nakladatelstvi, 1970, p . 44 footnote 82. (71) Stefanek, "Education in Pre-War Hungary," p . 121. (72) Victor S. Mamatey , ''The Establishment of the Republic,'' in Mamatey and Luz.a, A History, p . 30 . (73) Gogolak , B eitrage , ill, p . 165. (74) Hendrich and Smok , Eenseignement , p . 34. (75) See Msano 52143-1920 Odbor V Oddeleni 19 of 15 August 1920, Carton 1297-State Central Archive (SOA) - Prague. The " intemats" also separated the students from parental influence which " is not always characterized by friendly feelings toward our state ." - Instruktorat Ministerstva socialnej starostlivosti (IMSS) Carton 5 item 276 in Slovak State Central Archive (SSOA) - Bratislava. This particular item is a letter from the acting headmaster of the Banska Stiavnica real gymnasium to the Ministerstvo socialni pece c. 798-1920 of 15 July 1920. (76) Skolstvo , pp . 23 , 11 1, and 150. (77) The fir st law passed in the new Czechoslovak Republic decreed that all laws in force in Austria-Hungary would be carried over to the new state . This explains how Hungarian law would be considered in Slovakia . �48 SLOVAKIA (78) E.g., note willingness of Fimini (Ministry of Finance) and Nejvyssi ucetni kontrolni urad (NUKU) to postpone indefinitely closing of school in exchange for opening of realka in Bardejov, or to substitute a closing of a school in Bohemia or Moravia-Msano 104.048-1938 Odbor ill Oddeleni 2 of 1 July 1938-Carton 1297-SUA. (79) Msano , 2637-1934 Pres . Odd . Studijni, 20 April 1934 , SUA , Carton 1445. (80) Okresny archiv, Prievidza , Prievidza gymnasium collection, 605-1934 and 214-1936 (Carton 3) . (81) Frederick G. Heymann, Poland & Czechoslovakia, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. (82) This contradicts Zinner's assertions in Communist Strategy, p. 12 . (83) Ivan Derer, Ceskoslovenskci otcizka, Prague: Orbis , 1935, p. 38. (84) Ibid . (85) R. W. Seton-Watson, "Introduction . Czechoslovakia and the Slovak Problem ," in Slovakia Then and Now, p . 62. (86) James S. Coleman, " Introduction : Education and Political Development " in Education and Political Development discusses the tension that develops with lack of political mobility for the second generation. Thomson 's assertion that the Czechoslovak government adhered to a policy of returning Czech officeholders to the historic lands as soon as possible does not hold up . S. Harrison Thomson , Czechoslovakia in European History , Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1953, p . 334. (87) See page 184. (88) See Matej, Kapitoly, 2nd ed., p . 86. (89) Zprciva o tinnosti Spolku pre postavenie a vydriovanie Universitnej koleje a akademickej menzi, 1930, p . 6. (Speech at Bratislava.) (90) Kopac, Dejiny ~kolstvi, I, p . 11. (91) It has been suggested that the Czechs erred in Slovakia after 1918 by trying to transform before forming a nation . See Jan Hajda, " The Role of the Intelligentsia in the Developme nt of the Czechoslovak Society,'' in The Czechoslovak Contribution to World Culture ed. by Miroslav Rechcigl , The Hague: Mouton , 1964, pp . 307-312. � SLOVAKIA 25 The Slovak Intelligentsia 1918-1938 OWEN V. JOHNSON \ The 25th issue of Slovensky dennik, published December 7, 1918, carried a message from the Slovak Society of Studying Youth. It began bluntly, '' A nation is strong only if it has a strong intelligentsia.'' Issue No. 1, published November 9, 1918, called on the Slovak intelligentsia to come forward. Since the new Czechoslovak state will need a great many Slovak people for offices and schools, we challenge each Slovak intelligent to immediately apply in writing or personally to the Legal Committee of the Slovak National Council listing complete name and address. Slovensky dennik might well have devoted its limited space to other matters, for the Slovakia of 1918 was ahnost without an intelligentsia, a body without a head. How and to what extent was this void filled in the following twenty years? In essence, this essay is a preliminary examination of that question. A combination of historical and ideological circumstances has combined to divert attention almost completely from a serious study of the development of education and the concomitant development of the intelligentsia (using here the Marxist definition of the intelligentsia as being "educated specialists") in interwar Slovakia, and in fact for the whole of Czechoslovakia.(!) Victor Mamatey describes Slovak politicians as showing considerable energy in promoting the cultural and educational development of the Slovak people,(2) but furnishes no evidence. R. W. Seton-Watson describes the "remarkable transformation" wrought in the field of education in Slovakia, but provides only broad quantitative evidence, referring especially to the elementary schools. (3) Reprinted by permission from Russian and Slavic History (Papers from the Banff ' 74 Conference) edited by D. K. Rowney and G. E. Orchard, Slavica Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 14388, Columbus, Ohio 43214. �26 SLOVAKIA While Czech and Slovak historians generally evaluate this phenomenon favorably, only now is any extensive research developing in the field. The published draft survey, Prehled teskoslovenskych dejin(4) does not once mention education. One report on a meeting of the Polish-Czechoslovak Historical Commission in Warsaw in September 1972 pointed out, "There emerged in the rich discussion many questions which even in our historiography have not been resolved through analytical work (such as) (the growth of national intelligentsia, the question of education ... ).(5) Oldriska Kodedova, reviewing Kuzmin's Shkola i obrazovanie v Chekoslovakii, comments(6) that insufficient attention has been paid to the social and nationality problem of education between the two wars. She points out that there is not a single basic work on the subject. Professor Jozef Matej, chairman of the pedagogical department of the Faculty of Philosophy at Comenius University in Bratislava, surveys the considerable progress made in research over the last five years, and declares that the editorial board of Jednotna skola supports the publication of articles about the history of education and pedagogy in the "bourgeois" Republic.(7) Admittedly this problem is not one that lends itself easily to a time frame as short as twenty years. Even the very few high school graduates from 1919 would have been less than forty years old in 1938, an age which in the traditional European context was still quite young. The names which showed up as outstanding among high school students· in the twenties and thirties became the leaders only in the turbulent forties and fifties. Perforce, then, this paper must confine itself to observations on some aspects of the development of the intelligentsia. A thorough study would require a complete monograph. What I will seek to do is discuss briefly the circumstances that brought about the poverty of the intelligentsia before 1918, identify institutions which contributed to the development of this educated group of Slovaks in the interwar period; describe summarily the educational system in use and provide a statistical overview of the schools and the students who studied in them; briefly describe other signs of cultural development; and suggest some accomplishments, shortcomings, and problems on the period. Linguistic and anthropological experts have long debated the question as to whether the term Czechoslovlik can be used to describe one language and one nation, or whether the individual Czech and Slovak terms should be used. This paper proceeds on the basis of the latter, as a means to better understanding the problem at hand. If the idea of a Slovak nation was to have a solid basis, whether in a �SLOVAKIA 27 \ Czechoslovak state or by it'self, it was necessary that an intelligentsia develop from the Slovak people . The course of events prior to the creation of Czechoslovakia at the end of World War I found the Slovak people practically without a nationally conscious Slovak intelligentsia. Policies pursued by the Hungarian government following the 1867 Ausgleich had made it practically impossible for any Slovak youth who aspired to advanced education and a high position in life, to succeeed without giving up his Slovak identity. There were no Slovak schools beyond the primary level. It is generally accepted(8) that there were only between five hundred and a thousand educated and nationally conscious Slovaks in the year 1918. This estimate can be challenged on the basis that it represented the number of Slovaks and members of their families on whom the Hungarian authorities kept watch because of Slovak or panSlavic tendencies.(9) There may well have been several thousand nationally neutral intelligentsia who found it quite simple to fit into a Czechoslovak environment following the founding of the Republic. Several Slovak historians are seeking at this time a more accurate estimate.(10) Certainly the predominantly agricultural configuration of the Slovak society did not promote Slovak intellectual development. The cities , with few exceptions , were Hungarian, German, or Jewish dominated. Thus we are left with a Slovak intelligentsia made up primarily of clergymen, doctors , and lawyers, and their families .(11) One could not in any case expect that there would be a sufficient number of Slovaks who would have the requisite administrative experience to run a modem state and nation. To overcome this shortcoming it was necessary to bring in Czechs.(12) An example can be made of the advanced educational establishments. There were about twenty qualified and nationally conscious Slovaks who could teach in the gymnasia, enough persons to supply about two schools . Perhaps three hundred nationally conscious Slovaks were qualified to teach in the elementary schools.(13) Dr. Karel Koch , later Surgeon-General for Slovakia, lists only three Slovak-oriented surgeons remaining in Slovakia in 1918.(14) Borovicka even says that after the attainment of independence in 1918 there was not a single Slovak government official whatever with a Slovak national consciousness .(15) The bleakness of the situation was described poignantly by Dr. Vavro Srobar, a future Agrarian Party Minister of Education. "There were so few of us that we almost all knew each other personally , we knew even addresses , as well as personal and family relationships. " (16) �28 SLOVAKIA Accustomed to the Hungarian tradition, the Slovak peasant looked upon the intelligentsia as those people who, on the basis of a definite higher schooling got an official position or who otherwise stood out on the basis of their knowledge, property and influence in public, and earned admission to intelligent society. High school and university education and a proper knowledge of Hungarian or German, gentlemanly behavior, official position in the church, county, school, etc. gave legitimation to the title of intelligent. (17) The intelligentsia were the people who worked with their heads, not their hands. On this basis, one may consider a study of schools which awarded the maturitne vysvedcenie (matriculation certificate) or its equivalent and of the students in these schools as a study of the intelligentsia. The certificate was given for the successful completion of the school leaving examination at the end of high school (similar to the French baccalaureat). Of five categories of state employees, three required at least a high school education. A fourth required lower high school or middle school joined with special courses. While the fifth included those demanding only general elementary education, elementary and middle school teachers were included in this category.(18) At this point, attention must be directed to the structure of the whole school system. School attendance in Slovakia was mandatory for six years until 1922; after that, eight years was required, although the increase could not be enforced until the late twenties for lack of the needed personnel and facilities. All students spent the first five years in elementary (l'udove) schools. The other three years could be taken in middle schools, or in the beginning grades of the various secondary schools. In some of the more rural areas, only the elementary school existed, and here students who had no intention of continuing higher studies were allowed to attend if no alternative school was available. There were about 4000 elementary schools. The majority of the schools awarding the matriculation certificate came under the general heading gymnasia. Children who had completed elementary school and were at last ten years old, could apply for admission to the gymnasia. These were of fm\f types: 1. The classical gymnasium, of which there· were very few, was an eight-year school. Successful completion of the course allowed the student to enter the university directly. Until reforms �SLOVAKIA 29 \ instituted in early 1930s, students in these schools studied Latin from the first year and Greek from the fifth. 2. The real gymnasium was by far the most popular because its graduates could directly enter both universities and technical universities. In these schools, French or English was taken instead of Greek beginning in the fifth year. 3. The real reformed gymnasium, which was more popular in the early years of the Republic, later lost attractiveness, and many of these schools were converted to real gymnasia. They followed the same curriculum as the real gymnasia except that a third language (English, Italian, or a Slavic one) replaced Latin in the seventh year. The reason for their later unpopularity was the necessity of taking an additional examination in Latin in order to gain entrance into the university. 4. The re<ilka was a seven-year school and its graduates had entrance directly only into the technical universities. No classical language was required, and French or English was begun in the second year. Other schools which awarded the matriculation certificate were only four years in length. The most wide-spread in Slovakia was the teacher-training institute , conducting a four year course of instruction which qualified its graduates to teach in the elementary, and after a time, the middle schools. Students were admitted in their ninth year of schooling in most cases , provided they had reached the minimum age of fifteen . During the depression this type of institution reached its peak of popularity with several times more applicants being turned down than were admitted. This is explained by its providing its graduates nearly guaranteed employment without their having to consider how to obtain funds to study at the university . Compared to the gymnasia and the teacher training institutes, the four other types of schools which gave degrees equivalent to the matriculation certificate were limited in number. The priemyseln<i skola , or industrial school, was four years in length, and its graduates could be admitted directly to the technical universities. These schools operated under a severe handicap in Slovakia during the first republic, for it was not until the fall of 1938 that the first Slovak technical university was opened. In anticipation of this event, enrolhnent in the technical high schools swelled considerably after the mid-thirties. The commercial academy (obchodn<i akademia) graduate also completed a four-year program which allowed him to enter either the technical university or the law faculty. Graduates of the four year �30 SLOVAKIA agricultural high school in Kosice or the four year forestry high school in Banska Stiavnica could enter the technical universities in their respective fields. The agriculture high school was designed primarily, however, for the education of independent farmers, and the forestry high school for the preparation of forest administrators. While much attention has been directed thus far to the rights to higher education achieved by these secondary school graduates, the percentage of those completing higher education was not overwhelming. Gustav Husak, in admittedly rough calculations, adjudged between 2000 and 2500 Slovaks engaged in university studies in the 1933-34 school year.(19) That compares with the 19,047 students in Slovakia attending the gymnasia and teacher training institutes that year. The 1930 census counted 2,295,067 Slovaks in Czechoslovakia. (20) During the twelve-year period 1926-7-1937-8, slightly more than seven percent of the total number of students at the Evangelical Gymnasium in Presov took the maturita examination.(21) If this figure is applied as a rough ratio for all of Slovakia, it would mean that in the above mentioned year of 1933-34, approximately 1330 students in Slovakia took the maturita. In the same year, approximately one fifth of the law students at Comenius University were first year students (2861162).(22) Applying this percentage to Husak's estimated total of 20002500 Slovaks attending institutions of higher learning, we arrive at the figure of about 600 first year Slovak students in all university faculties. This means that less than one half of those holding the matriculation certificate went on to the university. And of these, some forty percent did not complete the first set of state examinations normally given after two years study.(23) According to these calculations, less than one third of those holding the matriculation certificate from the gymnasium completed a university degree.(24) (The original estimate of 1330 maturants includes the graduates of the teacher training institutes who rarely continued to the university.) Support for using the criteria of a secondary school education to define the intelligent is offered by the percentage of such students in the whole educational spectrum. In the school year 1921-22, students of gymnasia and teacher training institutes 'made up 2. 7 percent of the total number of students in Slovakia.(25) For reasons that are both complex and unclear, statistical offices of the Czechoslovak Republic did not publish complete data on the number of those gaining the matriculation certificate each year. In Slovakia, a circular with some such information was prepared by the Bratislava (Slovak) Referent for Education each year until the late �SLOVAKIA 31 1920s. The only other manner in which this number can be determined is by a methodical examination of the annual high school yearbooks sponsored by each school. Let it be taken as an assumption, based on a general familiarity with . the figures, that an average of about one thousand Czechoslovak s~udents in Slovakia each year passed the maturita exam, or about 20,000 during the life of the Republic. The figure is of course lower in the early years, and much higher in the period just before Munich. The general accuracy of this estimate can be judged by the estimate of Robert Rosko(26) that 68,000 employees in Slovakia in 1953 had higher and specialized secondary education. Stefanek's estimate of 50,000 students having completed high school studies by 1944(27) is likely too high. Only one writer, Jan Novacky, probably with statistics furnished by the Ministry of Education, has calculated the number of persons receiving the matriculation certificate over a period of time (Table 1). These data suggest the projection of 1330 recipients of the maturita for the year 1933-34 is reasonably accurate as does our estimated average of one thousand matriculation certificates per year for the 1918-19-1937-38 period. The number of graduates of the teacher training institutes remained fairly constant at about 300 per year.(28) The number of girl students in grade VIII (and thus eligible for the maturita examination) as a percentage of the total number of girl students enrolled in the gymnasia in 1927-28 was just under five percent, thus fifty percent less than the average for all those enrolled. (29) TABLE 1 NUMBER OF MATRICULATION CERTIFICATES (HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS) AWARDED 1918-19 - 1928-29: SELECTED YEARS AND TOTAL Total 1918-19 Type of Institution 1918-19 1923-24 1928-29 1928-29 3075 Real gymnasium 84 250 532 Teacher training institute 122 262 247 3014 Real reformed gymnasium 5 70 189 1000 23 44 82 623 Realka 64 Classical gymnasium 0 0 36 Total Source: 234 626 1086 7776 Jan M. Novacky, ed., Desat' rokov slovenskych strednych skol, Bratislava: Slovenska knihtlaciaren, 1929, pp. 68-71. �32 SLOVAKIA The figures we have been discussing up to this point refer to the Czechoslovak high schools in Slovakia. They include a smattering of Hungarians, Jews, Germans, and other nationalities , as well as Czechs and Slovaks. The number of Czechs in some schools was substantial. For example, during the 1937-38 school year, the First Czechoslovak real gymnasium in Bratislava had 896 students, of which less than half (431) were Slovak. Three hundred eighty-six were Czech, 43 German , 24 Hungarian , and the rest other nationalities.(30) In Banska Bystrica, 394 out of 470 students in that year were Slovak , 66 Czech and the other ten divided among four nationalities.(31) Again, a complete survey must await further computation. What can be said with safety is that a significant proportion - ten to twenty-five percent - of the students were not Slovaks. The only known official publication which differentiates between Czechs and Slovaks in the high schools in Slovakia was published for the 1922-23 school year in Slovakia by the Skalsk y Referat. Of the 11,267 students, 1286 are Czech, 8501 Slovak, and the rest belong to other nationalities. At the same time there were six Czechs and 116 Slovaks in non-Czechoslovak institutions . This confirms our estimate of ten to twenty-five percent non-Slovaks.(32) The State Statistical Office of the Czechoslovak Republic did not, in its school statistics, differentiate between Czechs and Slovaks , using instead the inclusive term Czechoslovak. However, between half and two thirds of the individual schools did make a distinction in their published yearly reports, and some of them also expressed the distinction on the statistical forms mailed to the Ministry of Education. It is this lack of readily available data which has hindered until now any significant studies of this question. Because some schools only used the term Czechoslovak means we shall never have a completely accurate picture of the nationality situation. This attitude of Czechoslovakism in the statistics occurred for a variety of reasons : political conviction, political fear, lack of interest , or desire to maintain the status quo. It was the principal (riaditel') who decided which policy would be followed.(33) Because of these varying motivations, one cannot with reliability apportion the students in the unoi(ferentiated schools to the specific nationalities. Further, even when a aifferent,.iation is made in the general and classroom statistics between ' nationalities, we do not have available this information for individual students, so as to be able to determine whether such and such an individual student, be he Czech or Slovak, passed the maturita exam. We must content ourselves with comparing the percentage of each nationality in the final year of school and applying these percentages to the number of persons taking the �33 SLOVAKIA maturita exams. Even in the less common instances when the maturita recording books are availa\:ile in the archives , they frequently do not specify the nationality, but fist only the place of birth. While this is of some assistance in obtaining a reasonably accurate picture , the very existence of 120,000 Czechs in Slovakia(34) will distort it, as well as the non-Czechoslovak abode of many of these persons prior to 1918. In the above Banska Bystrica case, although there were 66 Czechs , only 34 of the students were born in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. There will also be some distortion , when we cannot specifically distinguish Czech from Slovak, in identifying the social, religious, and other characteristics of the students according to nationality. Here again, it seems that we must proceed on the basis of what we have , hoping that studies of the individual schools described by Matej(35) will tum up better information. Let us use 1927-28 as a sample year. The decline in the number of enrollees which developed later because of the wartime decline in the birth rate and not yet made itself felt. With the exception of a number of schools which would open in the last four years of the Republic, almost all schools were operating as full institutions. Some had been converted from Hungarian to Slovak over a period of seven or eight years . TABLE 2 CZECHOSLOVAK SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SLOVAKIA , 1927-28 Type of School Real gymnasium Real reformed gymnasium Realka Teacher training institute Commercial academy Industrial high school Classical gymnasium Agricultural high school Forestry high school Total Number Students Graduates Studentsgraduate 24 8217 426 19 10 3 2939 997 165 98 18 13 6 3 2 1 1 63 970 617 470 406 98 Unavailable 14,714 327 62 100 16 14 14 1222 10 3 10 5 25 7 12 �34 SLOVAKIA Sources: Novacky, Desat' rokov , pp. 63-67; Styridsat' rokov Lesnickej technickej skoly v Banskej Stiavnici 1918-1959, Bratislava: Poverenictvo Podohospodarstva, 1959, pp. 62-67; Anton Stefanek, Education in Pre-War Hungary and in Slovakia To-Day," in Slovakia Then and Now: A Political Survey ed. by Robert W. Seton-Watson, London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1931, p. 130; Individual vyrocne zpravy of the agricultural high school, commercial high schools , and industrial high schools. The most productive gymnasium of any kind in the first eleven years was the real gymnasium at Bratislava with 363 degrees awarded followed by the realka at Zilina with 340. Other gymnasia producing more than 200 matriculation certificate holders in the first eleven years were the real gymnasia at Kosice, Nitra, Ruzomberok, Trencin, Trnava, and Banska Bystrica. The teacher training institute at Modra produced by far the largest number of graduates in the first eleven years with 419, primarily because of the 142 which it graduated in the first three years, a figure twice the number of any other school during that period, excepting Tmava, which also had the second highest eleven year total with 323. Seven other institutions had more than 200 graduates each. Over the twenty year period, there were 51 gymnasia of different types, 17 teacher training institutes, 5 industrial high schools, 7 commercial high schools, and one each of the agricultural and forestry high schools. A significant number of this total (16-82) began operation in the last four years, a jump of about 25 percent from the number in existence at the end of the 1933-34 school year. The reasons for this sudden increase will be discussed below. The total does not include a private unlicensed secondary school operated in Bratislava in the 193738 school year which used French as the language of instruction and was seeking state accreditation. The proportion of secondary school students in the population was lower in all Slovak counties (between 3 and 8 per 1000) than in Prague (12-13 per 1000) .(36) By some strange quirk, however, the county of Mikulas had the highest number of secondary schools in relation to the population (9-10-200,000) anywhere in Czechoslovakia. This included 14 schools for 319,509 people.(37) In Slovakia in 1922-23 there was one Czechoslovak student for each 179 Czecho~lovak inhabitants. For the whole country (excepting Ruthenia) the ratio was I-116.(38) There were other schools which one might consider as producers of intelligentsia. The so-called pedagogical academy which began to operate in Bratislava in the 1930-31 school year at the suggestion of the �SLOVAKIA 35 Slovak Pedagogical Society was the first step toward placing teacher training on the university level. It was a one-year program which gave gymnasium graduates the right to teach in elementary schools. In seven years it produced 706 graduates.(39) Graduates of the teacher training institutes did no~ have the possibility nor the need to attend. Comenius University \11 Bratislava had three faculties - law, medicine, and philosophy- ano began accepting gymnasium graduates in the fall of 1921.(40) Slovaks could attend other universities in the country as well. The Slovak Technical University opened only in the fall of 1938. There were two theological faculties. The Lutheran faculty, which operated throughout the twenty years, received university rank in 1934. The Catholic faculty, authorized in 1919, began operations in 1936 although in the interim there were a half dozen small seminaries scattered around Slovakia. The music and drama academy of Bratislava received university status in 1926. The higher agricultural co-operative school opened in Bratislava in 1936 to help provide administrative officials for the co-operative movement. Previously these officials had come from among the graduates of the commercial academies and commercial schools (usually 2-year programs not leading to a matriculation certificate). Students were chosen from among those who already held the matriculation certificate, with preference to persons who had been graduated from the commercial or agricultural high schools and to those with co-operative experience. Those who had a partial high school education or had finished middle school and one of the agricultural or commercial schools, and had two years of experience in the co-operative movement as well, could qualify if they successfully passed an entrance exam. There were only 22 students in each year of operation. There were also a number of theological academies with the equivalency rank of universities. Entrants were required to hold the matriculation certificate. The six Catholic institutes (seminaries) mentioned above closed with the opening of the Bratislava theological faculty in 1936. Even so , Slovakia still possessed more than half of the theological institutes in the country. There were also a half dozen city music schools , sometimes supported by the public, but these were rather for private music instruction and did not fit into the regular scheme of formal education . Reference has been made to vocational courses in the fields of agricultural, industrial and commercial education. There was in these courses no attempt to advance beyond the teaching of specific skills. The courses varied from several weeks to two years. �36 SLOVAKIA Matica slovenska, the Slovak cultural and national organization, sponsored in many cities the so-called enlightenment courses. These consisted on one or a series of lectures, and would more properly fall under the heading of popular or civic education. The local organizations of Matica slovenska were supposed to be distributing knowledge, rather than fostering it.(41) Courses held by the Army for illiterate soldiers should be considered also in the realm of popular education. What other evidence do we have of cultural advancement during the period under discussion? One is the publication of books, magazines and newspapers. Before the outbreak of World War I there was some of this activity , although exactly how much is uncertain. Stefan Krcmery , long active in Matica slovenska, said that a total of 41 periodicals in 1909 had declined to ten by 1918.(42) A more recent survey conducted by Matica slovenska shows the total growing from 32 in 1900 to 47 in 1910 to 61 in 1914 before dropping to 30 in 1918.(43) The most important were N arodnie noviny , published three times a week at Martin, and Slouenske pohl'ady, a monthly literary journal.(44) Jozef Votruba, a Slovak patriot , was said to have remarked(45) that the Slovak intelligentsia was made up of those who read Narodnie nouiny. Similar problems arise in trying to measure the number of journals published after the revolution. Maria Kipsova, in a definitive bibliography published in 1968, (46) lists 980 journals definitely located and 80 journals not found which were published in Slovak during the 20-year period. Jozef Darmo 's incomplete study(47) of Slovak journalism, published two years earlier, says there was a total of 1565 magazines and newspapers published, of which 442 were Hungarian and an undefined number in other languages. A survey compiled by the press referent for Slovakia in 1927(48) listed 162 purely Slovak publications for that year . Approximately one-third of these were political , another third organizational . Eight of the publications were dailies, all but one of them published ip Bratislava. A further 49 publications were multi-lingual with Slova~ as one of the languages . Nearly half of the all-Slovak publications · (77) Had a frequency of monthly or less. The Kipsova bibliography shows that the great majority of these publications did not long survive . Included among the reasons were the lack of printers and the inability to extend circulation beyond the cities into the countryside . Quite simply, the rural population was not yet accustomed to reading.(49) While some efforts have been made at estimating the extent of circulation of the various publications ,(50) there is no source extensive enough to provide any adequate analysis. The expansion of the number of daily papers from two (one of which was Hungarian-oriented)(51) before the war , to eight �SLOVAKIA 37 under the Czechoslovak ~epublic indicates definite progress. Even with insufficient evidence, 'one can presume a circulation expansion as well. While there is considerable disagreement, too, over the exact number of Slovak books published between the wars,(52) it averaged 600-800 per year, of which about three quarters were published in Slovakia itself. A provisional B ibliografia slovenskych knih 19191938(53) published in 1965, listed 13,320 items definitely identified, and 6530 uncertain. If the nearly 19,000 were in fact all published, it would establish an average of approximately one thousand per year, somewhat higher than the estimate by Stefanek (13,425).(54) Most likely, not all of the desiderata will be included in a definitive bibliography, soon to be published by Matica slovenska, since, for instance, some of the jubilee high school yearbooks, which are in fact not books, are included, plus some listings which are only Slovakicized titles of Czech books. The most difficult problem is unfortunately unsolvable, that is, how many copies of each of these books were published. Only a few organizations, such as Matica slovenska, kept publication totals . One estimate suggested that pre-war printings rarely exceeded 600-800 copies; by 1928 the average was 250010,000.(55) Stefanek provides some interesting comparisons of the occupations of writers before and after the revolution. (56) They show that before the revolution 112 out of 178 writers were priests (two-thirds Lutheran, one-third Catholic). After 1918 (approximately 1935) only 14111 are priests. The bulk (47) are academicians. Another measurement of general progress can be noted in the area of libraries. In 1927 there were 3283 research libraries for teachers with 258 ,200 books; 216 school libraries containing 1,185,464 books including 150,000 at Comenius University; and 2592 communal libraries with 202 , 781 books . (5 7) By 1932 the number of libraries in the first two categories had increased only by seven, but the number of volumes was up half a million.(58) Since there were only private church libraries and those of priests and patriots prior to 1918, there is a definite note of progress here. One of the most difficult problems in handling a subject of this type is to maintain a differentiation between the terms intelligentsia and national enlightenment. While we have noted the tremendous development of communal libraries, libraries which average less than one hundred books apiece will not contribute much to the development of the intelligentsia, although they may significantly raise the national consciousness of the broad mass of the population. The same problem �38 SLOVAKIA must be faced when we examine the national and religious cultural societies . Either we must redefine what we call a member of the intelligentsia or we must recognize the fact that these organizations had different purposes. The Society of St. Adalbert is a case in point. A Catholic society with 100,000 members, it dealt mainly with popular education and Catholic science and literature.(59) Yet Peter Vajcik(60) described one of the society's three aims as being to help the Slovak Catholic intelligentsia, a much smaller group . The Lutheran Church had a similar society of Tranoscius. Matica slovenska anguished over the direction of its goals . Until 1932 it tended to reflect more accurately the number of intelligentsia than did the two specifically religious societies, but it also included a number of Czechs and people of other nationalities involved in the work of popular education. In some respects it sought to fulfill the role of a scientific academy, but lacked the personnel and monetary support, and could not tear itself away from its popular education role . Interestingly , when its membership roles swelled after the capture of the leadership in 1932 by those who favored a greater amount of Slovak autonomy, its organized scientific research increased substantially. The membership increased from 11,063 in 1930 to 30,147 in 1936.(61) The Safarik Scientific Society was organized in 1926 mainly by the members of the faculty of Comenius University. It was begun with the intent of increasing the amount of knowledge about Slovakia and Ruthenia. Strongly supported by persons with a Czechoslovak orientation, it frequently found itself at loggerheads with the people in Matica slovenska.(62) In 1934 it had a total of 168 members of whom only 40 were Slovak. It was divided into two sections, one for the social sciences and one for the natural sciences. In the latter, there were only 16 Slovaks among 101 members, which can in part be explained by the lack of a faculty of natural sciences at Comenius University . During its twelve year existence it published 45 volumes of research results.(63) A number of other societies or organizations which could be called cultural or intellectual also functioned but they will not be dealt with here . These include the Slovak Museum Society, the Slovak Cultural (Vlastivedne) Museum, the East Slovak Museum, the Slovak Pedagogical Society, the Union of Slovak Students, DAV , and the several unions of teachers.(64) · Having sketched the general outline of the development of the intelligentsia , it becomes necessary to examine the broader context of the matter as it relates to political development and the whole of life in interwar Czechoslovakia. �SLOVAKIA 39 It was the early actio~s of the Czechoslovak government taken in the field of education that\ ~ere the most far reaching. Before 1918 there were 53 secondary schools in Slovakia, all Hungarian.(65) Following the attainment of independence, three were closed immediately, two others were combined, and in nine towns new secondary schools were organized. Before the New Year, three secondary schools were operating, and a total of thirteen were giving instruction after three months of independence. (66) Anton Stefanek, assigned the task of co-ordinating this project, described his guiding principle as ''the democratic principle of religious and racial equality before the law."(67) Thus, in purely Slovak districts, the schools were deMagyarized. In the southern districts, he "on the whole" left the status quo. This immediate de-Magyarization of the Slovak high schools was exceptionally important. Changes which are readily accepted in a time of revolution are not achieved even gradually in times of peace and quiet. The entire Czech policy followed in the southern parts of Slovakia sought to integrate the area into the Czechoslovak Republic. (68) The new schools which were opened in essentially Hungarian towns such as Nove Zamky or Lucenec, took root rapidly even though a Hungarian school was also frequently authorized. While these cities had been Hungarian for several decades, the countryside was in many cases still Slovak. The extra assistance provided by the central authorities was frequently the deciding factor in reclaiming the cities, and thus the gathering places of the intelligentsia, for the Slovaks . According to the 1930 census, only seven cities in Slovakia had more than 20,000 persons. Of these, all had two or more Czechoslovak secondary schools except Komarno, which did not gain its first Czechoslovak secondary school until 1936. Only two of the fourteen towns with between 10,000 and 20,000 inhabitants, Guta and Handlova, did not have secondary schools . Handlova is only seven miles from Prievidza, which had a school. Guta (now called Kolarovo), is in a strongly Hungarian area about ten miles southwest of Nove Zarnky, which also had a gymnasium .(69) State control was extended over six Catholic high schools in 1919, under fear that the vacant six sees, which were responsible for their supervision , would be filled by Hungarians . The only other two alternatives , according to Stefanek, were to close the schools, or to accept Hungarian control. It was the attempt by the Slovak People 's Party to gain restoration of three of these Catholic gymnasia in 1921 which led to that party's break-away from the Czech People ' s Party. Josef Susta , the Minister of Education in the Cerny government, ap- �40 SLOVAKIA parently made promises to the effect that the schools would be returned to Catholic control, an action which his successor, Vavro Srobar, an Agrarian Slovak, refused to carry out once the Benes government took office . (70) The Protestants in contrast, carried out an internal reorganization in 1919 and were allowed to maintain control over their schools. Within a decade they gave up all but one for financial reasons .(71) It might be mentioned that the Slovak National Council, which spoke for Slovakia in its declaration of union with the Czechs at Martin October 30, 1918, apparently made no effort to institute an educational system, although some of its local branch officials served to help coordinate the setting up of new schools . Mamatey attributes this to inexperience in the exercise of political power.(72) The impliction is that the Slovak elite, carried over from the Hungarian era, did not use realistic methods in developing a modem nation. Thus, they did not conceive of the need to build an expanded intelligentsia. (73) Much of the policy relating to education was determined by administrative , rather than legislative action. Thus, the fact that five out of the twelve interwar Ministers of Education were Slovaks is of considerable significance. Actually these five held the post for a •longer period (by three months) than Czechs, and many significant reforms were accomplished under them. Ivan Derer, a Social Democrat, held the post for the longest period, from 1929 to 1934. Milan Hodza, an, Agrarian, had the third longest term (1926-1929), a period that probably would have lasted longer had he not become embroiled in conflict with Masaryk and Benes over foreign policy matters. Several policy changes were carried out which affected secondary education in Slovakia. One involved converting the realka to the Austrian or Czech pattern, which meant a seven-year, rather than an eight-year, curriculum, and thus lessened in the eyes of many Slovaks the value of its education. The six-year higher girls ' schools were first reestablished as lycees , then converted quickly to real reformed gymnasia because the former institutions had offered little perspective for further education or employment. The use of boarding schools was also generally eliminated in Slovakia. Prior to World War I, boarding schools had helped to foster Magyarization by cutting off the students from the Slovak countryside. By 1923 only sixteen remained , of which eleven were located at teacher training institutes. (74) At the same time , various organizations set up " intemats" in many towns to strengthen thE\regained Slovak foothold . This made it possible for young people from remote districts , for whom poor transportation connections would have preve~ted daily com- �SLOVAKIA 41 muting, to acquire a secondary education. Others could avoid the otherwise inflated living costs in the cities.(75) The government also sought to increase the percentage of women in the schools. By the year i937-38 girls made up nearly one-third of the students in the gymnasia, ~though as noted above, a smaller percentage actually completed the final year (and presumably the maturita exam). In the teacher training institutes more than half of the total enrollees were girls. Government regulations specified that these institutes were to have equal numbers of boys and girls. (76) As the country began to emerge from the depression, there developed also a rapid increase in the total enrollment of the secondary schools. There were a number of reasons for this, including the growth of cities, better preparation in elementary schools, and the increased post-war birth rate. The government responded by approving various arrangements to open new schools, including some sponsored by cities and some by church bodies. They were made possible under Article 54 of Hungarian law XXX-1883,(77) under which the state assumed responsibility for paying the personnel, who had to meet state qualification standards, while the sponsoring group paid the operating expenses. The schools charged higher tuition, but these higher rates were usually justified by the savings in transportation costs which students would otherwise have had to pay if they were commuting to another school. There were several of these schools in Kosice operated by church groups. Examples of city-sponsored schools were in Piest'any, Koma.mo, and Topol'cany. Acceptance of these arrangements occurred because of an improvement in the economic situation, (78) the fact that there was no longer doubt about the ability of these schools to attract a sufficient number of qualified professors , and the ability of the organizations to meet the requirements of XXX-1883. The analysis of placement - where did the graduates go - is a task beyond the goals of this paper. The central government apparently did not concern itself with these matters except for a brief period during the depression.(79) Many of the secondary schools themselves did not bother with such records either. Occasionally the yearbooks or reports to the Ministry of Education contained information about the future plans of the graduates. It is only in scattered cases at the time of the dedication of a new building or during a celebration of an anniversary that the occupations of the graduates were recorded at all, e.g., Kremnica-1937 or Zlate Moravce-1924. Unfortunately, these samples are not sufficiently broad to draw any conclusions . There is an intriguing organization called the Sprostredkovatel'na prace pre nezamestnanu inteligenciu na Slovensku, which evolved in 1934. �42 SLOVAKIA Sponsored by the Slovak League and the Economic Institute of Slovakia and Ruthenia, with the apparent support of the Agrarian Party, it collected data on graduates and their job searches.(80) Even without these data, let me suggest some judgments on the development of the intelligentsia in interwar Slovakia. First of all, it is clear that significant progress was made . The very fact that the independent Slovak State was able to function at all is evidence of this progress.(81) The Slovak State would not have been possible in 1918. By 1938, the large majority of the intelligentsia was Slovak in language and feeling . Under the situation prevailing before 1918, many of these people would have become members of the intelligentsia, but it would have been as Hungarians, not as Slovaks. It seems that there was not an intellectual proletariat in Slovakia.(82) As Ivan Derer pointed out, even in the depths of depression in 1933 all qualified Slovak high school and elementary teachers had positions.(83) He also catalogued the many other positions which Slovaks filled.(84) What the Czechoslovak Republic 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 modern nation. Insufficient emphasis was put on the education that would develop leaders in industry, commerce, and even agriculture. This type of policy requires particular effort because in fluid postwar situations, there is a tendency to chose occupations where training is short and not too strenuous and the prospects of rapid enrichment promising.(85) This helps to explain Slovakia's lack of military men , of engineers , and of doctors. One must also keep in mind that the younger members of the small Slovak intelligentsia in 1918 had been able to gain positions of influence at a young age, something that could not be continued after the revolutionary wave had subsided and the Czechs who had come to Slovakia to help had become entrenched. (86) The young Slovak intelligent was not unemployed, but underemployed. One must recall that particularly in later years the central government had doubts as to whether it could trust the Slovak intelligentsia. Whatever feelings of distress this under-employment engen~red were worsened by the attitudes carried over from the Hungarian\ experience that education was the road to success .(87) Pre-independe:o.ce lead,ership was in the hands of a highly visible educated majority,. which fostered assumptions of the links between education , political mobility, and the benefits accruing to members of the intelligentsia. �SLOVAKIA 43 Quite probably , time was too short to produce a large enough intelligentsia in all fields. (88) In twenty years , the Czechoslovak government laid the groundwork for the future , and for twenty years built on it. The restoration of the Czechoslovak Republic after World War II provided the opportunity to look critically at what had and had not been done before in the area of intelligentsia development and to make adjustments. · ' But it was not just a matter of insufficient time. I would suggest that the interwar Czechoslovak government was not concerned with developing a specifically Slovak intelligentsia. Instead, its main goal was to reclaim the entire area of Slovakia for the Czechoslovak nationstate. By establishing a large number of Slovak secondary schools in cities of any size, especially those with large Hungarian populations , it could insure that this was done . But the early success of these centralist policies delayed recognition of certain aspects of the developing Slovak problem. If a Slovak nation was to be a viable entity, it required Slovak participation in all aspects and at all levels of society , not just where vacancies existed in a larger Czechoslovak society. One of the reasons for the above-mentioned lack of a Slovak technical university was the assumption that sufficient numbers of persons (mostly Czechs and Germans) were being educated in Bohemia and Moravia. Such an institution in Slovakia was said to be superfluous. If the concept of national self-awareness is not considered , then such an approach is plausible. On the other hand, when a nation has a feeling of running its affairs in the state in which it exists , even if that state be multinational, it has much greater reason to support the continued existence of that state. It then has no reason to trade the security it knows for the uncertainty of separation. Most Slovaks were initially very willing to cooperate with the Czechs, as demonstrated in the Martin declaration, recognizing that it was primarily Czech activities which had achieved the separation of Slovakia from Hungary and its attachment to the Czech Lands. But if Czechoslovakism embodies something more than Greater Czechism , it implied the balanced development of both parts and peoples of the country . If not, then the Slovaks were ipso facto a minority . Prior to 1938, the international political setting mitigated against any Slovak separation, since some kind of political attachment to Hungary or Poland would have resulted, yet active recognition of the concept of a Slovak nation by the Czechoslovak government would have strengthened Slovak resistance, alongside the Czechs , to the developing German threat. �44 SLOVAKIA Masaryk did not see in the Slovak case what he had been so willing to see in the Czech: the desire, as a nation, to develop and administer a complete society, particularly when that nation is part of the multinational state. He admitted in 1931 that he did not himself fully understand the Czech-Slovak relationship. I believe ... that the Comenius University helps the young to understand the true political and cultural task of Slovakia in our Republic. In a large degree it is the question of the relationship between Czechs and Slovaks. I have considered this problem myself and I must think still further about it.(89) While it might be argued that Masaryk was merely being respectful to his hosts, it is more likely the uncertainty he expressed was real. The so-called Castle group which gathered around Masaryk may have been nationally tolerant,(90) but it did not actively promote the development of individual nationalities.(91) One cannot, then, say the interwar Czechoslovak Republic did not, through its educational and cultural system, develop an intelligentsia in Slovakia. As has been shown, it made substantial progress. But it may be criticized for not actively supporting the production of an intelligentsia tailored to meet the needs of Slovakia, which by meeting the Slovak desire for self-management, would have strengthened the integrity of the Czechoslovak state. FOOTNOTES As Lucien W . Pye has noted, there is a large gap between the broad assumptions about the importance of education in national development and the limited amount of research on the subject. See Lucien W . Pye , " Foreword," in Education and Political Development , ed . James Coleman, Princeton, N .J ; rrinceton University Press, 1965, p . v. ' (2) Victor S. Mamatey, " The Development of Czechoslovak Democracy ," in A History of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918-1948, ed. by Victor S. Mamatey and Radomir Luza, Princeton, N.J .: Princeton University Press , 1973 , p. 118 . (3) R. W . Seton-Watson , A History of the Czechs and Slovaks , Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1965, p . 336. (4) Prehled teskoslovenskych dejin: Maketa , m, Prague: Nakladatelstvi Ceskoslovenske Akademie Ved, 1960. (5) Historicky fosopis , Vol. XXI , No . 1 (1973) , p. 155. (6) Oldriska Kodedova, Ceskoslovensky tasopis historicky, Vol. XXI, No. 1 (1973) , p. 114. (1) �SLOVAKIA 45 ' (7) Jozef Matej, "Sucasny stav a perspektivy rozvoja dejin pedagogiky na Slovensku," Jednotna skola, Vol. XXVI, No. 1 (January 1974) , pp . 56-70 . (8) E .g ., Seton-Watson, Czechs and Slovaks, p . 323; Stefan Krcmery , "A Survey of Modern Slovak Literature ," Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. VI (1928), p . 160. (9) Anton Stefanek, Zaklady sociografie Slovenska , Bratislava: Slovenska Akademia Vied , 1944, pp . 137-142. (10) Conversations with Slovak historians, 1973-74. (ll) Anton Stefanek, " Novoslovaci," Sociologicka revue, Vol. VI, No. 3-4 (1935), pp. 272-3 . (12) Ludwig v. Gogolak , Beitrage zur Geschichte des slowakischen Volkes, ill Muenchen : R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1972, p . 163; Ferdinand Peroutka, Budovani statu, I, Praha : Fr. Borovy, 1936, p . 208 . (13) Jozef Matej, Kapitoly z dejin slovenskeho skolstva apedagogiky (19. a 20. storoc!ie), Bratislava: Univerzita Komenskeho, 1972, 2nd ed., p . 71. (14) Letter to author, February 2, 1973. (15) Josef Borovicka, Ten Years of Czechoslovak Politics, Prague : Orbis , 1929, p . 44 . (16) Peroutka , Budo vani statu, I, p . 207. (17) Stefanek, Zaklady , p . 114. (18) Jaroslav Kopac, Dejiny skolstvi a pedagogiky v Ceskoslovensku, I, Brno: Universita J. E. Purkyne, 1971 , p. 48 footnote . There were some exceptions to the rule, however, such as the fact that high school graduation was not a requirement for the highly influential position of notary. (19) Gustav Husak, "Zprava predsedu socialnej komisie SSS," Vyroc!na zprava 1935-36: 15 rokov Sviizu Slovenskeho Studentstva v Bratislave , p . 13. (20) Czechoslovakia-Statistical Abstract , Prague : Orbis, 1963 , p. 18 . (21) Mirko Trnovsky, ed ., Sbornik prac profesorov evanj. kolej. slovenskeho gymnazia v Presove k vyroc!iu 1919-1939 Presov : Slovenska statna knihtlaciaren , 1940, p . 55 . (22) Vratislav Busek , " Pravnicke studium ve svetle statistiky, " Pravny obzor, Vol. XX, No . 15-16 (1-15 October 1937), p . 688 . (23) Ibid., pp . 682-8 . (24) Matej , Kapitoly, 1st ed., p . 83, notes that the contents of a 1933 curriculum reform were directed toward two goals, theoretical preparation of the graduates for the university , and partly for the practical needs of life. (25) Skolstvo na Slovensku, Bratislava: Slovensky planovaci urad, 1949, p . 46. (26) Sociol6gia, Vol. IV, No . 3 (1972), pp . 193-204, as cited in ABSEES Soviet and East European Abstracts Series, ill, No. 2 (26) (Oct. 1972), p . 167. (27) Stefanek, Zaklady , p . 296 . (28) Jan M. Novacky, ed ., Desat' rokov slo venskych strednych sk6l, Bratislava: Slovenska knihtlaciaren, 1929, pp . 68-71. Novacky's calculations omit the teacher training institutes operated by churches. The total for 1933-4 is actually 1542 , but the difference of 200 from the estimate can be wholly attributed to the doubled enrollment in the teacher training institutes in the early thirties - Zpravy Statniho uradu statistickeho republiky Ceskoslove nske, 1935, No. 3-7. �46 SLOVAKIA (29) Skolstvo, p . 47. (30) See the school's Vyrofod zprciva 1937-38, pp . 54-57. (31) See the school's Vyrofod zprdva 1937-38, pp. 13-15. (32) Priloha " Stredne skoly," Zprcivy §kolskeho referdtu v Bratislave ministerstva ~kolstva a ndrodnej osvety, 1922. (33) Paul R. Magocsi, " The Role of Education in the Formation of a National Consciousness ," East European Quarterly, Vo. Vll, No. 2 (Summer 1973) , p . 162 . (34) Paul E. Zinner, Communist Strategy and Tactics in Czechoslovakia, 1918-48, New York : Frederick A. Praeger, 1963 , p . 12; Stefimek, Zdklady , p . 386. (35) Matej, " Sucasny stav," pp. 56-70. (36) Josef Henrich and Mikulas Smok, Eenseignement clans la Republique Tchecoslovaque , Prague : Ostredni spolek ceskoslovenskych profesoru, 1923, p . 94. (37) Ibid. , p . 95. (38) Ibid., p . 91. (39) Matej , Kapitoly, 2nd ed ., p . 83. (40) Richard Homa, Patndct let Komenskeho university v Bratislaue, Bratislava, 1934, p . 9. {41) Michal Fedor, Poslanie a program Matice slovenskej na vychodnom Slovensku, Martin : Matica slovenska, 1966, p . 91. (42) Krcmery, "A Survey," p . 161. {43) Michal Potemra, ed ., Bibliografia slovenskych novin a c!asopisov do roku 1918, Martin : Matica· slovenska, 1958. (44) Seton-Watson, Czechs and Slovaks, p . 282 . (45) Related to author by Czech historian . Efforts to locate published citation to date fruitless . (46) Maria Kipsova et al., Bibliografia slovenskych a inorec!ouych nouin a c!asopisou z rokou 1919-1938, Martin : Matica slovenska, 1968. (47) Jozef Darmo , Slouenskci iurnalistika 1918-1938, II, Martin: Matica slovenska, 1966. (48) Soznam c!asopisou na Slouensku 1927, Bratislava: Tlacovy referat pre spravu Slovensku, 1927. (49) Darmo , Slouenskci iurnalistika, p . 159. (50) E .g ., Darmo . (51) Stefimek, Zdklady , p . 324. (52) Ibid ., pp . 318-324. (53) Bibliografia slouenskych knih 1919-1938, Vol. 1-XVIl, Martin : Matica slovenska, 1965 . (54) Stefimek, Z ciklady, p . 318. (55) Stefan Krcmery, " Slovak Literature," in Seton-~atson , Slovakia Then & Now , p . 141 . \ (56) Stefanek, Zciklady , pp . 313-314. (57) Manuel Statistique de la R epublique Tchechoslo uaque, ill, Prague : Statni urad statisticky, 1928, pp. 17-19. A law of February 1919 set up in each community �SLOVAKIA 47 educational committees to con\ truct libraries and run lectures and courses . In Slovakia, this matter was generally handled by the local branch of Matica slovenska. (58) Annuaire statistique de la Republique Tchecoslovaque , 1934, Prague: L'Office de Statistique de la Republique Tchecoslovaque, 1934, Table XIV-17 . (59) Stefanek, Zdklady , p. 303 . (60) Peter Vajcik , " Zvesti z Literarno-vedeckeho odboru SSV ," Kultura, Vol. VII , No. 1 (1935) , p . 38 . (61) Ivan Kusy, " Obnovenie Matice slovenskej a jej uloha za predmnichovskej CSR, " in Matica slovenskd v na§ich dejindch: Sbornik stati, Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1963 , pp. 224-232 . (62) Frantisek Bokes, Snahy o organizovanie slovenskej vedy od konca 18. storoi!ia do vzniku SAV, Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1967, p. 65. (63) Miroslav Kropilak, "Zakladne kulturnopoliticke problemy Slovenska v rokoch 191838 ," in Matica slovenskd v na§ich dejindch, p. 205 . (64) In particular note the Spolok profesorov Slovakov, which after its founding in 1921 worked particularly for better placement of Slovak teachers in Slovak high schools. Viz its Sbornik Spolku profesorov Slovdkov . (65) Hendrich and Smok, Eenseignement , p . 73. (66) Karel Veleminsky, "Czecho-Slovak Secondary Schools ," in The Czecho-Slovak Republic , Prague: Czecho-Slovak Foreigners' Office, 1919, Vol. IV, Part 3 , p . 13 . In 1919, the Ministry of Education carried out a census in Slovakia for the purpose of determining how many schools would be needed. Peroutka, Budo vdni stdtu , I, p. 210. (67) Stefanek, " Education in Pre-War Hungary ," p . 121. (68) Gogolak , Beitrage , ill, p . 160. (69) Annuaire statistique , 1935, Table 11-17 and 1937, Table 11-4. (70) Milos Trap! , " Ke skolske legislative obecnych a obcanskych (mest'anskych) skol a jejimu uplatnovani v ceskych zemich 1918-1922," in Z dejin i!eskeho §kolstv i, ed by Ervin Koukal , Prague : Statni pedagogicke nakladatelstvi, 1970, p . 44 footnote 82. (71) Stefanek, "Education in Pre-War Hungary," p . 121. (72) Victor S. Mamatey , ''The Establishment of the Republic,'' in Mamatey and Luz.a, A History, p . 30 . (73) Gogolak , B eitrage , ill, p . 165. (74) Hendrich and Smok , Eenseignement , p . 34. (75) See Msano 52143-1920 Odbor V Oddeleni 19 of 15 August 1920, Carton 1297-State Central Archive (SOA) - Prague. The " intemats" also separated the students from parental influence which " is not always characterized by friendly feelings toward our state ." - Instruktorat Ministerstva socialnej starostlivosti (IMSS) Carton 5 item 276 in Slovak State Central Archive (SSOA) - Bratislava. This particular item is a letter from the acting headmaster of the Banska Stiavnica real gymnasium to the Ministerstvo socialni pece c. 798-1920 of 15 July 1920. (76) Skolstvo , pp . 23 , 11 1, and 150. (77) The fir st law passed in the new Czechoslovak Republic decreed that all laws in force in Austria-Hungary would be carried over to the new state . This explains how Hungarian law would be considered in Slovakia . �48 SLOVAKIA (78) E.g., note willingness of Fimini (Ministry of Finance) and Nejvyssi ucetni kontrolni urad (NUKU) to postpone indefinitely closing of school in exchange for opening of realka in Bardejov, or to substitute a closing of a school in Bohemia or Moravia-Msano 104.048-1938 Odbor ill Oddeleni 2 of 1 July 1938-Carton 1297-SUA. (79) Msano , 2637-1934 Pres . Odd . Studijni, 20 April 1934 , SUA , Carton 1445. (80) Okresny archiv, Prievidza , Prievidza gymnasium collection, 605-1934 and 214-1936 (Carton 3) . (81) Frederick G. Heymann, Poland & Czechoslovakia, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. (82) This contradicts Zinner's assertions in Communist Strategy, p. 12 . (83) Ivan Derer, Ceskoslovenskci otcizka, Prague: Orbis , 1935, p. 38. (84) Ibid . (85) R. W. Seton-Watson, "Introduction . Czechoslovakia and the Slovak Problem ," in Slovakia Then and Now, p . 62. (86) James S. Coleman, " Introduction : Education and Political Development " in Education and Political Development discusses the tension that develops with lack of political mobility for the second generation. Thomson 's assertion that the Czechoslovak government adhered to a policy of returning Czech officeholders to the historic lands as soon as possible does not hold up . S. Harrison Thomson , Czechoslovakia in European History , Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1953, p . 334. (87) See page 184. (88) See Matej, Kapitoly, 2nd ed., p . 86. (89) Zprciva o tinnosti Spolku pre postavenie a vydriovanie Universitnej koleje a akademickej menzi, 1930, p . 6. (Speech at Bratislava.) (90) Kopac, Dejiny ~kolstvi, I, p . 11. (91) It has been suggested that the Czechs erred in Slovakia after 1918 by trying to transform before forming a nation . See Jan Hajda, " The Role of the Intelligentsia in the Developme nt of the Czechoslovak Society,'' in The Czechoslovak Contribution to World Culture ed. by Miroslav Rechcigl , The Hague: Mouton , 1964, pp . 307-312. � 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 1978-79, Vol. 28 Description An account of the resource Vol. 28 (No. 51-52), 1978-79. 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 1978-79 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 25 The Slovak Intelligentsia 1918-1938 OWEN V. JOHNSON \ The 25th issue of Slovensky dennik, published December 7, 1918, carried a message from the Slovak Society of Studying Youth. It began bluntly, '' A nation is strong only if it has a strong intelligentsia.'' Issue No. 1, published November 9, 1918, called on the Slovak intelligentsia to come forward. Since the new Czechoslovak state will need a great many Slovak people for offices and schools, we challenge each Slovak intelligent to immediately apply in writing or personally to the Legal Committee of the Slovak National Council listing complete name and address. Slovensky dennik might well have devoted its limited space to other matters, for the Slovakia of 1918 was ahnost without an intelligentsia, a body without a head. How and to what extent was this void filled in the following twenty years? In essence, this essay is a preliminary examination of that question. A combination of historical and ideological circumstances has combined to divert attention almost completely from a serious study of the development of education and the concomitant development of the intelligentsia (using here the Marxist definition of the intelligentsia as being "educated specialists") in interwar Slovakia, and in fact for the whole of Czechoslovakia.(!) Victor Mamatey describes Slovak politicians as showing considerable energy in promoting the cultural and educational development of the Slovak people,(2) but furnishes no evidence. R. W. Seton-Watson describes the "remarkable transformation" wrought in the field of education in Slovakia, but provides only broad quantitative evidence, referring especially to the elementary schools. (3) Reprinted by permission from Russian and Slavic History (Papers from the Banff ' 74 Conference) edited by D. K. Rowney and G. E. Orchard, Slavica Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 14388, Columbus, Ohio 43214. 26 SLOVAKIA While Czech and Slovak historians generally evaluate this phenomenon favorably, only now is any extensive research developing in the field. The published draft survey, Prehled teskoslovenskych dejin(4) does not once mention education. One report on a meeting of the Polish-Czechoslovak Historical Commission in Warsaw in September 1972 pointed out, "There emerged in the rich discussion many questions which even in our historiography have not been resolved through analytical work (such as) (the growth of national intelligentsia, the question of education ... ).(5) Oldriska Kodedova, reviewing Kuzmin's Shkola i obrazovanie v Chekoslovakii, comments(6) that insufficient attention has been paid to the social and nationality problem of education between the two wars. She points out that there is not a single basic work on the subject. Professor Jozef Matej, chairman of the pedagogical department of the Faculty of Philosophy at Comenius University in Bratislava, surveys the considerable progress made in research over the last five years, and declares that the editorial board of Jednotna skola supports the publication of articles about the history of education and pedagogy in the "bourgeois" Republic.(7) Admittedly this problem is not one that lends itself easily to a time frame as short as twenty years. Even the very few high school graduates from 1919 would have been less than forty years old in 1938, an age which in the traditional European context was still quite young. The names which showed up as outstanding among high school students· in the twenties and thirties became the leaders only in the turbulent forties and fifties. Perforce, then, this paper must confine itself to observations on some aspects of the development of the intelligentsia. A thorough study would require a complete monograph. What I will seek to do is discuss briefly the circumstances that brought about the poverty of the intelligentsia before 1918, identify institutions which contributed to the development of this educated group of Slovaks in the interwar period; describe summarily the educational system in use and provide a statistical overview of the schools and the students who studied in them; briefly describe other signs of cultural development; and suggest some accomplishments, shortcomings, and problems on the period. Linguistic and anthropological experts have long debated the question as to whether the term Czechoslovlik can be used to describe one language and one nation, or whether the individual Czech and Slovak terms should be used. This paper proceeds on the basis of the latter, as a means to better understanding the problem at hand. If the idea of a Slovak nation was to have a solid basis, whether in a SLOVAKIA 27 \ Czechoslovak state or by it'self, it was necessary that an intelligentsia develop from the Slovak people . The course of events prior to the creation of Czechoslovakia at the end of World War I found the Slovak people practically without a nationally conscious Slovak intelligentsia. Policies pursued by the Hungarian government following the 1867 Ausgleich had made it practically impossible for any Slovak youth who aspired to advanced education and a high position in life, to succeeed without giving up his Slovak identity. There were no Slovak schools beyond the primary level. It is generally accepted(8) that there were only between five hundred and a thousand educated and nationally conscious Slovaks in the year 1918. This estimate can be challenged on the basis that it represented the number of Slovaks and members of their families on whom the Hungarian authorities kept watch because of Slovak or panSlavic tendencies.(9) There may well have been several thousand nationally neutral intelligentsia who found it quite simple to fit into a Czechoslovak environment following the founding of the Republic. Several Slovak historians are seeking at this time a more accurate estimate.(10) Certainly the predominantly agricultural configuration of the Slovak society did not promote Slovak intellectual development. The cities , with few exceptions , were Hungarian, German, or Jewish dominated. Thus we are left with a Slovak intelligentsia made up primarily of clergymen, doctors , and lawyers, and their families .(11) One could not in any case expect that there would be a sufficient number of Slovaks who would have the requisite administrative experience to run a modem state and nation. To overcome this shortcoming it was necessary to bring in Czechs.(12) An example can be made of the advanced educational establishments. There were about twenty qualified and nationally conscious Slovaks who could teach in the gymnasia, enough persons to supply about two schools . Perhaps three hundred nationally conscious Slovaks were qualified to teach in the elementary schools.(13) Dr. Karel Koch , later Surgeon-General for Slovakia, lists only three Slovak-oriented surgeons remaining in Slovakia in 1918.(14) Borovicka even says that after the attainment of independence in 1918 there was not a single Slovak government official whatever with a Slovak national consciousness .(15) The bleakness of the situation was described poignantly by Dr. Vavro Srobar, a future Agrarian Party Minister of Education. "There were so few of us that we almost all knew each other personally , we knew even addresses , as well as personal and family relationships. " (16) 28 SLOVAKIA Accustomed to the Hungarian tradition, the Slovak peasant looked upon the intelligentsia as those people who, on the basis of a definite higher schooling got an official position or who otherwise stood out on the basis of their knowledge, property and influence in public, and earned admission to intelligent society. High school and university education and a proper knowledge of Hungarian or German, gentlemanly behavior, official position in the church, county, school, etc. gave legitimation to the title of intelligent. (17) The intelligentsia were the people who worked with their heads, not their hands. On this basis, one may consider a study of schools which awarded the maturitne vysvedcenie (matriculation certificate) or its equivalent and of the students in these schools as a study of the intelligentsia. The certificate was given for the successful completion of the school leaving examination at the end of high school (similar to the French baccalaureat). Of five categories of state employees, three required at least a high school education. A fourth required lower high school or middle school joined with special courses. While the fifth included those demanding only general elementary education, elementary and middle school teachers were included in this category.(18) At this point, attention must be directed to the structure of the whole school system. School attendance in Slovakia was mandatory for six years until 1922; after that, eight years was required, although the increase could not be enforced until the late twenties for lack of the needed personnel and facilities. All students spent the first five years in elementary (l'udove) schools. The other three years could be taken in middle schools, or in the beginning grades of the various secondary schools. In some of the more rural areas, only the elementary school existed, and here students who had no intention of continuing higher studies were allowed to attend if no alternative school was available. There were about 4000 elementary schools. The majority of the schools awarding the matriculation certificate came under the general heading gymnasia. Children who had completed elementary school and were at last ten years old, could apply for admission to the gymnasia. These were of fm\f types: 1. The classical gymnasium, of which there· were very few, was an eight-year school. Successful completion of the course allowed the student to enter the university directly. Until reforms SLOVAKIA 29 \ instituted in early 1930s, students in these schools studied Latin from the first year and Greek from the fifth. 2. The real gymnasium was by far the most popular because its graduates could directly enter both universities and technical universities. In these schools, French or English was taken instead of Greek beginning in the fifth year. 3. The real reformed gymnasium, which was more popular in the early years of the Republic, later lost attractiveness, and many of these schools were converted to real gymnasia. They followed the same curriculum as the real gymnasia except that a third language (English, Italian, or a Slavic one) replaced Latin in the seventh year. The reason for their later unpopularity was the necessity of taking an additional examination in Latin in order to gain entrance into the university. 4. The re<ilka was a seven-year school and its graduates had entrance directly only into the technical universities. No classical language was required, and French or English was begun in the second year. Other schools which awarded the matriculation certificate were only four years in length. The most wide-spread in Slovakia was the teacher-training institute , conducting a four year course of instruction which qualified its graduates to teach in the elementary, and after a time, the middle schools. Students were admitted in their ninth year of schooling in most cases , provided they had reached the minimum age of fifteen . During the depression this type of institution reached its peak of popularity with several times more applicants being turned down than were admitted. This is explained by its providing its graduates nearly guaranteed employment without their having to consider how to obtain funds to study at the university . Compared to the gymnasia and the teacher training institutes, the four other types of schools which gave degrees equivalent to the matriculation certificate were limited in number. The priemyseln<i skola , or industrial school, was four years in length, and its graduates could be admitted directly to the technical universities. These schools operated under a severe handicap in Slovakia during the first republic, for it was not until the fall of 1938 that the first Slovak technical university was opened. In anticipation of this event, enrolhnent in the technical high schools swelled considerably after the mid-thirties. The commercial academy (obchodn<i akademia) graduate also completed a four-year program which allowed him to enter either the technical university or the law faculty. Graduates of the four year 30 SLOVAKIA agricultural high school in Kosice or the four year forestry high school in Banska Stiavnica could enter the technical universities in their respective fields. The agriculture high school was designed primarily, however, for the education of independent farmers, and the forestry high school for the preparation of forest administrators. While much attention has been directed thus far to the rights to higher education achieved by these secondary school graduates, the percentage of those completing higher education was not overwhelming. Gustav Husak, in admittedly rough calculations, adjudged between 2000 and 2500 Slovaks engaged in university studies in the 1933-34 school year.(19) That compares with the 19,047 students in Slovakia attending the gymnasia and teacher training institutes that year. The 1930 census counted 2,295,067 Slovaks in Czechoslovakia. (20) During the twelve-year period 1926-7-1937-8, slightly more than seven percent of the total number of students at the Evangelical Gymnasium in Presov took the maturita examination.(21) If this figure is applied as a rough ratio for all of Slovakia, it would mean that in the above mentioned year of 1933-34, approximately 1330 students in Slovakia took the maturita. In the same year, approximately one fifth of the law students at Comenius University were first year students (2861162).(22) Applying this percentage to Husak's estimated total of 20002500 Slovaks attending institutions of higher learning, we arrive at the figure of about 600 first year Slovak students in all university faculties. This means that less than one half of those holding the matriculation certificate went on to the university. And of these, some forty percent did not complete the first set of state examinations normally given after two years study.(23) According to these calculations, less than one third of those holding the matriculation certificate from the gymnasium completed a university degree.(24) (The original estimate of 1330 maturants includes the graduates of the teacher training institutes who rarely continued to the university.) Support for using the criteria of a secondary school education to define the intelligent is offered by the percentage of such students in the whole educational spectrum. In the school year 1921-22, students of gymnasia and teacher training institutes 'made up 2. 7 percent of the total number of students in Slovakia.(25) For reasons that are both complex and unclear, statistical offices of the Czechoslovak Republic did not publish complete data on the number of those gaining the matriculation certificate each year. In Slovakia, a circular with some such information was prepared by the Bratislava (Slovak) Referent for Education each year until the late SLOVAKIA 31 1920s. The only other manner in which this number can be determined is by a methodical examination of the annual high school yearbooks sponsored by each school. Let it be taken as an assumption, based on a general familiarity with . the figures, that an average of about one thousand Czechoslovak s~udents in Slovakia each year passed the maturita exam, or about 20,000 during the life of the Republic. The figure is of course lower in the early years, and much higher in the period just before Munich. The general accuracy of this estimate can be judged by the estimate of Robert Rosko(26) that 68,000 employees in Slovakia in 1953 had higher and specialized secondary education. Stefanek's estimate of 50,000 students having completed high school studies by 1944(27) is likely too high. Only one writer, Jan Novacky, probably with statistics furnished by the Ministry of Education, has calculated the number of persons receiving the matriculation certificate over a period of time (Table 1). These data suggest the projection of 1330 recipients of the maturita for the year 1933-34 is reasonably accurate as does our estimated average of one thousand matriculation certificates per year for the 1918-19-1937-38 period. The number of graduates of the teacher training institutes remained fairly constant at about 300 per year.(28) The number of girl students in grade VIII (and thus eligible for the maturita examination) as a percentage of the total number of girl students enrolled in the gymnasia in 1927-28 was just under five percent, thus fifty percent less than the average for all those enrolled. (29) TABLE 1 NUMBER OF MATRICULATION CERTIFICATES (HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS) AWARDED 1918-19 - 1928-29: SELECTED YEARS AND TOTAL Total 1918-19 Type of Institution 1918-19 1923-24 1928-29 1928-29 3075 Real gymnasium 84 250 532 Teacher training institute 122 262 247 3014 Real reformed gymnasium 5 70 189 1000 23 44 82 623 Realka 64 Classical gymnasium 0 0 36 Total Source: 234 626 1086 7776 Jan M. Novacky, ed., Desat' rokov slovenskych strednych skol, Bratislava: Slovenska knihtlaciaren, 1929, pp. 68-71. 32 SLOVAKIA The figures we have been discussing up to this point refer to the Czechoslovak high schools in Slovakia. They include a smattering of Hungarians, Jews, Germans, and other nationalities , as well as Czechs and Slovaks. The number of Czechs in some schools was substantial. For example, during the 1937-38 school year, the First Czechoslovak real gymnasium in Bratislava had 896 students, of which less than half (431) were Slovak. Three hundred eighty-six were Czech, 43 German , 24 Hungarian , and the rest other nationalities.(30) In Banska Bystrica, 394 out of 470 students in that year were Slovak , 66 Czech and the other ten divided among four nationalities.(31) Again, a complete survey must await further computation. What can be said with safety is that a significant proportion - ten to twenty-five percent - of the students were not Slovaks. The only known official publication which differentiates between Czechs and Slovaks in the high schools in Slovakia was published for the 1922-23 school year in Slovakia by the Skalsk y Referat. Of the 11,267 students, 1286 are Czech, 8501 Slovak, and the rest belong to other nationalities. At the same time there were six Czechs and 116 Slovaks in non-Czechoslovak institutions . This confirms our estimate of ten to twenty-five percent non-Slovaks.(32) The State Statistical Office of the Czechoslovak Republic did not, in its school statistics, differentiate between Czechs and Slovaks , using instead the inclusive term Czechoslovak. However, between half and two thirds of the individual schools did make a distinction in their published yearly reports, and some of them also expressed the distinction on the statistical forms mailed to the Ministry of Education. It is this lack of readily available data which has hindered until now any significant studies of this question. Because some schools only used the term Czechoslovak means we shall never have a completely accurate picture of the nationality situation. This attitude of Czechoslovakism in the statistics occurred for a variety of reasons : political conviction, political fear, lack of interest , or desire to maintain the status quo. It was the principal (riaditel') who decided which policy would be followed.(33) Because of these varying motivations, one cannot with reliability apportion the students in the unoi(ferentiated schools to the specific nationalities. Further, even when a aifferent,.iation is made in the general and classroom statistics between ' nationalities, we do not have available this information for individual students, so as to be able to determine whether such and such an individual student, be he Czech or Slovak, passed the maturita exam. We must content ourselves with comparing the percentage of each nationality in the final year of school and applying these percentages to the number of persons taking the 33 SLOVAKIA maturita exams. Even in the less common instances when the maturita recording books are availa\:ile in the archives , they frequently do not specify the nationality, but fist only the place of birth. While this is of some assistance in obtaining a reasonably accurate picture , the very existence of 120,000 Czechs in Slovakia(34) will distort it, as well as the non-Czechoslovak abode of many of these persons prior to 1918. In the above Banska Bystrica case, although there were 66 Czechs , only 34 of the students were born in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. There will also be some distortion , when we cannot specifically distinguish Czech from Slovak, in identifying the social, religious, and other characteristics of the students according to nationality. Here again, it seems that we must proceed on the basis of what we have , hoping that studies of the individual schools described by Matej(35) will tum up better information. Let us use 1927-28 as a sample year. The decline in the number of enrollees which developed later because of the wartime decline in the birth rate and not yet made itself felt. With the exception of a number of schools which would open in the last four years of the Republic, almost all schools were operating as full institutions. Some had been converted from Hungarian to Slovak over a period of seven or eight years . TABLE 2 CZECHOSLOVAK SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SLOVAKIA , 1927-28 Type of School Real gymnasium Real reformed gymnasium Realka Teacher training institute Commercial academy Industrial high school Classical gymnasium Agricultural high school Forestry high school Total Number Students Graduates Studentsgraduate 24 8217 426 19 10 3 2939 997 165 98 18 13 6 3 2 1 1 63 970 617 470 406 98 Unavailable 14,714 327 62 100 16 14 14 1222 10 3 10 5 25 7 12 34 SLOVAKIA Sources: Novacky, Desat' rokov , pp. 63-67; Styridsat' rokov Lesnickej technickej skoly v Banskej Stiavnici 1918-1959, Bratislava: Poverenictvo Podohospodarstva, 1959, pp. 62-67; Anton Stefanek, Education in Pre-War Hungary and in Slovakia To-Day," in Slovakia Then and Now: A Political Survey ed. by Robert W. Seton-Watson, London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1931, p. 130; Individual vyrocne zpravy of the agricultural high school, commercial high schools , and industrial high schools. The most productive gymnasium of any kind in the first eleven years was the real gymnasium at Bratislava with 363 degrees awarded followed by the realka at Zilina with 340. Other gymnasia producing more than 200 matriculation certificate holders in the first eleven years were the real gymnasia at Kosice, Nitra, Ruzomberok, Trencin, Trnava, and Banska Bystrica. The teacher training institute at Modra produced by far the largest number of graduates in the first eleven years with 419, primarily because of the 142 which it graduated in the first three years, a figure twice the number of any other school during that period, excepting Tmava, which also had the second highest eleven year total with 323. Seven other institutions had more than 200 graduates each. Over the twenty year period, there were 51 gymnasia of different types, 17 teacher training institutes, 5 industrial high schools, 7 commercial high schools, and one each of the agricultural and forestry high schools. A significant number of this total (16-82) began operation in the last four years, a jump of about 25 percent from the number in existence at the end of the 1933-34 school year. The reasons for this sudden increase will be discussed below. The total does not include a private unlicensed secondary school operated in Bratislava in the 193738 school year which used French as the language of instruction and was seeking state accreditation. The proportion of secondary school students in the population was lower in all Slovak counties (between 3 and 8 per 1000) than in Prague (12-13 per 1000) .(36) By some strange quirk, however, the county of Mikulas had the highest number of secondary schools in relation to the population (9-10-200,000) anywhere in Czechoslovakia. This included 14 schools for 319,509 people.(37) In Slovakia in 1922-23 there was one Czechoslovak student for each 179 Czecho~lovak inhabitants. For the whole country (excepting Ruthenia) the ratio was I-116.(38) There were other schools which one might consider as producers of intelligentsia. The so-called pedagogical academy which began to operate in Bratislava in the 1930-31 school year at the suggestion of the SLOVAKIA 35 Slovak Pedagogical Society was the first step toward placing teacher training on the university level. It was a one-year program which gave gymnasium graduates the right to teach in elementary schools. In seven years it produced 706 graduates.(39) Graduates of the teacher training institutes did no~ have the possibility nor the need to attend. Comenius University \11 Bratislava had three faculties - law, medicine, and philosophy- ano began accepting gymnasium graduates in the fall of 1921.(40) Slovaks could attend other universities in the country as well. The Slovak Technical University opened only in the fall of 1938. There were two theological faculties. The Lutheran faculty, which operated throughout the twenty years, received university rank in 1934. The Catholic faculty, authorized in 1919, began operations in 1936 although in the interim there were a half dozen small seminaries scattered around Slovakia. The music and drama academy of Bratislava received university status in 1926. The higher agricultural co-operative school opened in Bratislava in 1936 to help provide administrative officials for the co-operative movement. Previously these officials had come from among the graduates of the commercial academies and commercial schools (usually 2-year programs not leading to a matriculation certificate). Students were chosen from among those who already held the matriculation certificate, with preference to persons who had been graduated from the commercial or agricultural high schools and to those with co-operative experience. Those who had a partial high school education or had finished middle school and one of the agricultural or commercial schools, and had two years of experience in the co-operative movement as well, could qualify if they successfully passed an entrance exam. There were only 22 students in each year of operation. There were also a number of theological academies with the equivalency rank of universities. Entrants were required to hold the matriculation certificate. The six Catholic institutes (seminaries) mentioned above closed with the opening of the Bratislava theological faculty in 1936. Even so , Slovakia still possessed more than half of the theological institutes in the country. There were also a half dozen city music schools , sometimes supported by the public, but these were rather for private music instruction and did not fit into the regular scheme of formal education . Reference has been made to vocational courses in the fields of agricultural, industrial and commercial education. There was in these courses no attempt to advance beyond the teaching of specific skills. The courses varied from several weeks to two years. 36 SLOVAKIA Matica slovenska, the Slovak cultural and national organization, sponsored in many cities the so-called enlightenment courses. These consisted on one or a series of lectures, and would more properly fall under the heading of popular or civic education. The local organizations of Matica slovenska were supposed to be distributing knowledge, rather than fostering it.(41) Courses held by the Army for illiterate soldiers should be considered also in the realm of popular education. What other evidence do we have of cultural advancement during the period under discussion? One is the publication of books, magazines and newspapers. Before the outbreak of World War I there was some of this activity , although exactly how much is uncertain. Stefan Krcmery , long active in Matica slovenska, said that a total of 41 periodicals in 1909 had declined to ten by 1918.(42) A more recent survey conducted by Matica slovenska shows the total growing from 32 in 1900 to 47 in 1910 to 61 in 1914 before dropping to 30 in 1918.(43) The most important were N arodnie noviny , published three times a week at Martin, and Slouenske pohl'ady, a monthly literary journal.(44) Jozef Votruba, a Slovak patriot , was said to have remarked(45) that the Slovak intelligentsia was made up of those who read Narodnie nouiny. Similar problems arise in trying to measure the number of journals published after the revolution. Maria Kipsova, in a definitive bibliography published in 1968, (46) lists 980 journals definitely located and 80 journals not found which were published in Slovak during the 20-year period. Jozef Darmo 's incomplete study(47) of Slovak journalism, published two years earlier, says there was a total of 1565 magazines and newspapers published, of which 442 were Hungarian and an undefined number in other languages. A survey compiled by the press referent for Slovakia in 1927(48) listed 162 purely Slovak publications for that year . Approximately one-third of these were political , another third organizational . Eight of the publications were dailies, all but one of them published ip Bratislava. A further 49 publications were multi-lingual with Slova~ as one of the languages . Nearly half of the all-Slovak publications · (77) Had a frequency of monthly or less. The Kipsova bibliography shows that the great majority of these publications did not long survive . Included among the reasons were the lack of printers and the inability to extend circulation beyond the cities into the countryside . Quite simply, the rural population was not yet accustomed to reading.(49) While some efforts have been made at estimating the extent of circulation of the various publications ,(50) there is no source extensive enough to provide any adequate analysis. The expansion of the number of daily papers from two (one of which was Hungarian-oriented)(51) before the war , to eight SLOVAKIA 37 under the Czechoslovak ~epublic indicates definite progress. Even with insufficient evidence, 'one can presume a circulation expansion as well. While there is considerable disagreement, too, over the exact number of Slovak books published between the wars,(52) it averaged 600-800 per year, of which about three quarters were published in Slovakia itself. A provisional B ibliografia slovenskych knih 19191938(53) published in 1965, listed 13,320 items definitely identified, and 6530 uncertain. If the nearly 19,000 were in fact all published, it would establish an average of approximately one thousand per year, somewhat higher than the estimate by Stefanek (13,425).(54) Most likely, not all of the desiderata will be included in a definitive bibliography, soon to be published by Matica slovenska, since, for instance, some of the jubilee high school yearbooks, which are in fact not books, are included, plus some listings which are only Slovakicized titles of Czech books. The most difficult problem is unfortunately unsolvable, that is, how many copies of each of these books were published. Only a few organizations, such as Matica slovenska, kept publication totals . One estimate suggested that pre-war printings rarely exceeded 600-800 copies; by 1928 the average was 250010,000.(55) Stefanek provides some interesting comparisons of the occupations of writers before and after the revolution. (56) They show that before the revolution 112 out of 178 writers were priests (two-thirds Lutheran, one-third Catholic). After 1918 (approximately 1935) only 14111 are priests. The bulk (47) are academicians. Another measurement of general progress can be noted in the area of libraries. In 1927 there were 3283 research libraries for teachers with 258 ,200 books; 216 school libraries containing 1,185,464 books including 150,000 at Comenius University; and 2592 communal libraries with 202 , 781 books . (5 7) By 1932 the number of libraries in the first two categories had increased only by seven, but the number of volumes was up half a million.(58) Since there were only private church libraries and those of priests and patriots prior to 1918, there is a definite note of progress here. One of the most difficult problems in handling a subject of this type is to maintain a differentiation between the terms intelligentsia and national enlightenment. While we have noted the tremendous development of communal libraries, libraries which average less than one hundred books apiece will not contribute much to the development of the intelligentsia, although they may significantly raise the national consciousness of the broad mass of the population. The same problem 38 SLOVAKIA must be faced when we examine the national and religious cultural societies . Either we must redefine what we call a member of the intelligentsia or we must recognize the fact that these organizations had different purposes. The Society of St. Adalbert is a case in point. A Catholic society with 100,000 members, it dealt mainly with popular education and Catholic science and literature.(59) Yet Peter Vajcik(60) described one of the society's three aims as being to help the Slovak Catholic intelligentsia, a much smaller group . The Lutheran Church had a similar society of Tranoscius. Matica slovenska anguished over the direction of its goals . Until 1932 it tended to reflect more accurately the number of intelligentsia than did the two specifically religious societies, but it also included a number of Czechs and people of other nationalities involved in the work of popular education. In some respects it sought to fulfill the role of a scientific academy, but lacked the personnel and monetary support, and could not tear itself away from its popular education role . Interestingly , when its membership roles swelled after the capture of the leadership in 1932 by those who favored a greater amount of Slovak autonomy, its organized scientific research increased substantially. The membership increased from 11,063 in 1930 to 30,147 in 1936.(61) The Safarik Scientific Society was organized in 1926 mainly by the members of the faculty of Comenius University. It was begun with the intent of increasing the amount of knowledge about Slovakia and Ruthenia. Strongly supported by persons with a Czechoslovak orientation, it frequently found itself at loggerheads with the people in Matica slovenska.(62) In 1934 it had a total of 168 members of whom only 40 were Slovak. It was divided into two sections, one for the social sciences and one for the natural sciences. In the latter, there were only 16 Slovaks among 101 members, which can in part be explained by the lack of a faculty of natural sciences at Comenius University . During its twelve year existence it published 45 volumes of research results.(63) A number of other societies or organizations which could be called cultural or intellectual also functioned but they will not be dealt with here . These include the Slovak Museum Society, the Slovak Cultural (Vlastivedne) Museum, the East Slovak Museum, the Slovak Pedagogical Society, the Union of Slovak Students, DAV , and the several unions of teachers.(64) · Having sketched the general outline of the development of the intelligentsia , it becomes necessary to examine the broader context of the matter as it relates to political development and the whole of life in interwar Czechoslovakia. SLOVAKIA 39 It was the early actio~s of the Czechoslovak government taken in the field of education that\ ~ere the most far reaching. Before 1918 there were 53 secondary schools in Slovakia, all Hungarian.(65) Following the attainment of independence, three were closed immediately, two others were combined, and in nine towns new secondary schools were organized. Before the New Year, three secondary schools were operating, and a total of thirteen were giving instruction after three months of independence. (66) Anton Stefanek, assigned the task of co-ordinating this project, described his guiding principle as ''the democratic principle of religious and racial equality before the law."(67) Thus, in purely Slovak districts, the schools were deMagyarized. In the southern districts, he "on the whole" left the status quo. This immediate de-Magyarization of the Slovak high schools was exceptionally important. Changes which are readily accepted in a time of revolution are not achieved even gradually in times of peace and quiet. The entire Czech policy followed in the southern parts of Slovakia sought to integrate the area into the Czechoslovak Republic. (68) The new schools which were opened in essentially Hungarian towns such as Nove Zamky or Lucenec, took root rapidly even though a Hungarian school was also frequently authorized. While these cities had been Hungarian for several decades, the countryside was in many cases still Slovak. The extra assistance provided by the central authorities was frequently the deciding factor in reclaiming the cities, and thus the gathering places of the intelligentsia, for the Slovaks . According to the 1930 census, only seven cities in Slovakia had more than 20,000 persons. Of these, all had two or more Czechoslovak secondary schools except Komarno, which did not gain its first Czechoslovak secondary school until 1936. Only two of the fourteen towns with between 10,000 and 20,000 inhabitants, Guta and Handlova, did not have secondary schools . Handlova is only seven miles from Prievidza, which had a school. Guta (now called Kolarovo), is in a strongly Hungarian area about ten miles southwest of Nove Zarnky, which also had a gymnasium .(69) State control was extended over six Catholic high schools in 1919, under fear that the vacant six sees, which were responsible for their supervision , would be filled by Hungarians . The only other two alternatives , according to Stefanek, were to close the schools, or to accept Hungarian control. It was the attempt by the Slovak People 's Party to gain restoration of three of these Catholic gymnasia in 1921 which led to that party's break-away from the Czech People ' s Party. Josef Susta , the Minister of Education in the Cerny government, ap- 40 SLOVAKIA parently made promises to the effect that the schools would be returned to Catholic control, an action which his successor, Vavro Srobar, an Agrarian Slovak, refused to carry out once the Benes government took office . (70) The Protestants in contrast, carried out an internal reorganization in 1919 and were allowed to maintain control over their schools. Within a decade they gave up all but one for financial reasons .(71) It might be mentioned that the Slovak National Council, which spoke for Slovakia in its declaration of union with the Czechs at Martin October 30, 1918, apparently made no effort to institute an educational system, although some of its local branch officials served to help coordinate the setting up of new schools . Mamatey attributes this to inexperience in the exercise of political power.(72) The impliction is that the Slovak elite, carried over from the Hungarian era, did not use realistic methods in developing a modem nation. Thus, they did not conceive of the need to build an expanded intelligentsia. (73) Much of the policy relating to education was determined by administrative , rather than legislative action. Thus, the fact that five out of the twelve interwar Ministers of Education were Slovaks is of considerable significance. Actually these five held the post for a •longer period (by three months) than Czechs, and many significant reforms were accomplished under them. Ivan Derer, a Social Democrat, held the post for the longest period, from 1929 to 1934. Milan Hodza, an, Agrarian, had the third longest term (1926-1929), a period that probably would have lasted longer had he not become embroiled in conflict with Masaryk and Benes over foreign policy matters. Several policy changes were carried out which affected secondary education in Slovakia. One involved converting the realka to the Austrian or Czech pattern, which meant a seven-year, rather than an eight-year, curriculum, and thus lessened in the eyes of many Slovaks the value of its education. The six-year higher girls ' schools were first reestablished as lycees , then converted quickly to real reformed gymnasia because the former institutions had offered little perspective for further education or employment. The use of boarding schools was also generally eliminated in Slovakia. Prior to World War I, boarding schools had helped to foster Magyarization by cutting off the students from the Slovak countryside. By 1923 only sixteen remained , of which eleven were located at teacher training institutes. (74) At the same time , various organizations set up " intemats" in many towns to strengthen thE\regained Slovak foothold . This made it possible for young people from remote districts , for whom poor transportation connections would have preve~ted daily com- SLOVAKIA 41 muting, to acquire a secondary education. Others could avoid the otherwise inflated living costs in the cities.(75) The government also sought to increase the percentage of women in the schools. By the year i937-38 girls made up nearly one-third of the students in the gymnasia, ~though as noted above, a smaller percentage actually completed the final year (and presumably the maturita exam). In the teacher training institutes more than half of the total enrollees were girls. Government regulations specified that these institutes were to have equal numbers of boys and girls. (76) As the country began to emerge from the depression, there developed also a rapid increase in the total enrollment of the secondary schools. There were a number of reasons for this, including the growth of cities, better preparation in elementary schools, and the increased post-war birth rate. The government responded by approving various arrangements to open new schools, including some sponsored by cities and some by church bodies. They were made possible under Article 54 of Hungarian law XXX-1883,(77) under which the state assumed responsibility for paying the personnel, who had to meet state qualification standards, while the sponsoring group paid the operating expenses. The schools charged higher tuition, but these higher rates were usually justified by the savings in transportation costs which students would otherwise have had to pay if they were commuting to another school. There were several of these schools in Kosice operated by church groups. Examples of city-sponsored schools were in Piest'any, Koma.mo, and Topol'cany. Acceptance of these arrangements occurred because of an improvement in the economic situation, (78) the fact that there was no longer doubt about the ability of these schools to attract a sufficient number of qualified professors , and the ability of the organizations to meet the requirements of XXX-1883. The analysis of placement - where did the graduates go - is a task beyond the goals of this paper. The central government apparently did not concern itself with these matters except for a brief period during the depression.(79) Many of the secondary schools themselves did not bother with such records either. Occasionally the yearbooks or reports to the Ministry of Education contained information about the future plans of the graduates. It is only in scattered cases at the time of the dedication of a new building or during a celebration of an anniversary that the occupations of the graduates were recorded at all, e.g., Kremnica-1937 or Zlate Moravce-1924. Unfortunately, these samples are not sufficiently broad to draw any conclusions . There is an intriguing organization called the Sprostredkovatel'na prace pre nezamestnanu inteligenciu na Slovensku, which evolved in 1934. 42 SLOVAKIA Sponsored by the Slovak League and the Economic Institute of Slovakia and Ruthenia, with the apparent support of the Agrarian Party, it collected data on graduates and their job searches.(80) Even without these data, let me suggest some judgments on the development of the intelligentsia in interwar Slovakia. First of all, it is clear that significant progress was made . The very fact that the independent Slovak State was able to function at all is evidence of this progress.(81) The Slovak State would not have been possible in 1918. By 1938, the large majority of the intelligentsia was Slovak in language and feeling . Under the situation prevailing before 1918, many of these people would have become members of the intelligentsia, but it would have been as Hungarians, not as Slovaks. It seems that there was not an intellectual proletariat in Slovakia.(82) As Ivan Derer pointed out, even in the depths of depression in 1933 all qualified Slovak high school and elementary teachers had positions.(83) He also catalogued the many other positions which Slovaks filled.(84) What the Czechoslovak Republic 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 modern nation. Insufficient emphasis was put on the education that would develop leaders in industry, commerce, and even agriculture. This type of policy requires particular effort because in fluid postwar situations, there is a tendency to chose occupations where training is short and not too strenuous and the prospects of rapid enrichment promising.(85) This helps to explain Slovakia's lack of military men , of engineers , and of doctors. One must also keep in mind that the younger members of the small Slovak intelligentsia in 1918 had been able to gain positions of influence at a young age, something that could not be continued after the revolutionary wave had subsided and the Czechs who had come to Slovakia to help had become entrenched. (86) The young Slovak intelligent was not unemployed, but underemployed. One must recall that particularly in later years the central government had doubts as to whether it could trust the Slovak intelligentsia. Whatever feelings of distress this under-employment engen~red were worsened by the attitudes carried over from the Hungarian\ experience that education was the road to success .(87) Pre-independe:o.ce lead,ership was in the hands of a highly visible educated majority,. which fostered assumptions of the links between education , political mobility, and the benefits accruing to members of the intelligentsia. SLOVAKIA 43 Quite probably , time was too short to produce a large enough intelligentsia in all fields. (88) In twenty years , the Czechoslovak government laid the groundwork for the future , and for twenty years built on it. The restoration of the Czechoslovak Republic after World War II provided the opportunity to look critically at what had and had not been done before in the area of intelligentsia development and to make adjustments. · ' But it was not just a matter of insufficient time. I would suggest that the interwar Czechoslovak government was not concerned with developing a specifically Slovak intelligentsia. Instead, its main goal was to reclaim the entire area of Slovakia for the Czechoslovak nationstate. By establishing a large number of Slovak secondary schools in cities of any size, especially those with large Hungarian populations , it could insure that this was done . But the early success of these centralist policies delayed recognition of certain aspects of the developing Slovak problem. If a Slovak nation was to be a viable entity, it required Slovak participation in all aspects and at all levels of society , not just where vacancies existed in a larger Czechoslovak society. One of the reasons for the above-mentioned lack of a Slovak technical university was the assumption that sufficient numbers of persons (mostly Czechs and Germans) were being educated in Bohemia and Moravia. Such an institution in Slovakia was said to be superfluous. If the concept of national self-awareness is not considered , then such an approach is plausible. On the other hand, when a nation has a feeling of running its affairs in the state in which it exists , even if that state be multinational, it has much greater reason to support the continued existence of that state. It then has no reason to trade the security it knows for the uncertainty of separation. Most Slovaks were initially very willing to cooperate with the Czechs, as demonstrated in the Martin declaration, recognizing that it was primarily Czech activities which had achieved the separation of Slovakia from Hungary and its attachment to the Czech Lands. But if Czechoslovakism embodies something more than Greater Czechism , it implied the balanced development of both parts and peoples of the country . If not, then the Slovaks were ipso facto a minority . Prior to 1938, the international political setting mitigated against any Slovak separation, since some kind of political attachment to Hungary or Poland would have resulted, yet active recognition of the concept of a Slovak nation by the Czechoslovak government would have strengthened Slovak resistance, alongside the Czechs , to the developing German threat. 44 SLOVAKIA Masaryk did not see in the Slovak case what he had been so willing to see in the Czech: the desire, as a nation, to develop and administer a complete society, particularly when that nation is part of the multinational state. He admitted in 1931 that he did not himself fully understand the Czech-Slovak relationship. I believe ... that the Comenius University helps the young to understand the true political and cultural task of Slovakia in our Republic. In a large degree it is the question of the relationship between Czechs and Slovaks. I have considered this problem myself and I must think still further about it.(89) While it might be argued that Masaryk was merely being respectful to his hosts, it is more likely the uncertainty he expressed was real. The so-called Castle group which gathered around Masaryk may have been nationally tolerant,(90) but it did not actively promote the development of individual nationalities.(91) One cannot, then, say the interwar Czechoslovak Republic did not, through its educational and cultural system, develop an intelligentsia in Slovakia. As has been shown, it made substantial progress. But it may be criticized for not actively supporting the production of an intelligentsia tailored to meet the needs of Slovakia, which by meeting the Slovak desire for self-management, would have strengthened the integrity of the Czechoslovak state. FOOTNOTES As Lucien W . Pye has noted, there is a large gap between the broad assumptions about the importance of education in national development and the limited amount of research on the subject. See Lucien W . Pye , " Foreword," in Education and Political Development , ed . James Coleman, Princeton, N .J ; rrinceton University Press, 1965, p . v. ' (2) Victor S. Mamatey, " The Development of Czechoslovak Democracy ," in A History of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918-1948, ed. by Victor S. Mamatey and Radomir Luza, Princeton, N.J .: Princeton University Press , 1973 , p. 118 . (3) R. W . Seton-Watson , A History of the Czechs and Slovaks , Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1965, p . 336. (4) Prehled teskoslovenskych dejin: Maketa , m, Prague: Nakladatelstvi Ceskoslovenske Akademie Ved, 1960. (5) Historicky fosopis , Vol. XXI , No . 1 (1973) , p. 155. (6) Oldriska Kodedova, Ceskoslovensky tasopis historicky, Vol. XXI, No. 1 (1973) , p. 114. (1) SLOVAKIA 45 ' (7) Jozef Matej, "Sucasny stav a perspektivy rozvoja dejin pedagogiky na Slovensku," Jednotna skola, Vol. XXVI, No. 1 (January 1974) , pp . 56-70 . (8) E .g ., Seton-Watson, Czechs and Slovaks, p . 323; Stefan Krcmery , "A Survey of Modern Slovak Literature ," Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. VI (1928), p . 160. (9) Anton Stefanek, Zaklady sociografie Slovenska , Bratislava: Slovenska Akademia Vied , 1944, pp . 137-142. (10) Conversations with Slovak historians, 1973-74. (ll) Anton Stefanek, " Novoslovaci," Sociologicka revue, Vol. VI, No. 3-4 (1935), pp. 272-3 . (12) Ludwig v. Gogolak , Beitrage zur Geschichte des slowakischen Volkes, ill Muenchen : R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1972, p . 163; Ferdinand Peroutka, Budovani statu, I, Praha : Fr. Borovy, 1936, p . 208 . (13) Jozef Matej, Kapitoly z dejin slovenskeho skolstva apedagogiky (19. a 20. storoc!ie), Bratislava: Univerzita Komenskeho, 1972, 2nd ed., p . 71. (14) Letter to author, February 2, 1973. (15) Josef Borovicka, Ten Years of Czechoslovak Politics, Prague : Orbis , 1929, p . 44 . (16) Peroutka , Budo vani statu, I, p . 207. (17) Stefanek, Zaklady , p . 114. (18) Jaroslav Kopac, Dejiny skolstvi a pedagogiky v Ceskoslovensku, I, Brno: Universita J. E. Purkyne, 1971 , p. 48 footnote . There were some exceptions to the rule, however, such as the fact that high school graduation was not a requirement for the highly influential position of notary. (19) Gustav Husak, "Zprava predsedu socialnej komisie SSS," Vyroc!na zprava 1935-36: 15 rokov Sviizu Slovenskeho Studentstva v Bratislave , p . 13. (20) Czechoslovakia-Statistical Abstract , Prague : Orbis, 1963 , p. 18 . (21) Mirko Trnovsky, ed ., Sbornik prac profesorov evanj. kolej. slovenskeho gymnazia v Presove k vyroc!iu 1919-1939 Presov : Slovenska statna knihtlaciaren , 1940, p . 55 . (22) Vratislav Busek , " Pravnicke studium ve svetle statistiky, " Pravny obzor, Vol. XX, No . 15-16 (1-15 October 1937), p . 688 . (23) Ibid., pp . 682-8 . (24) Matej , Kapitoly, 1st ed., p . 83, notes that the contents of a 1933 curriculum reform were directed toward two goals, theoretical preparation of the graduates for the university , and partly for the practical needs of life. (25) Skolstvo na Slovensku, Bratislava: Slovensky planovaci urad, 1949, p . 46. (26) Sociol6gia, Vol. IV, No . 3 (1972), pp . 193-204, as cited in ABSEES Soviet and East European Abstracts Series, ill, No. 2 (26) (Oct. 1972), p . 167. (27) Stefanek, Zaklady , p . 296 . (28) Jan M. Novacky, ed ., Desat' rokov slo venskych strednych sk6l, Bratislava: Slovenska knihtlaciaren, 1929, pp . 68-71. Novacky's calculations omit the teacher training institutes operated by churches. The total for 1933-4 is actually 1542 , but the difference of 200 from the estimate can be wholly attributed to the doubled enrollment in the teacher training institutes in the early thirties - Zpravy Statniho uradu statistickeho republiky Ceskoslove nske, 1935, No. 3-7. 46 SLOVAKIA (29) Skolstvo, p . 47. (30) See the school's Vyrofod zprciva 1937-38, pp . 54-57. (31) See the school's Vyrofod zprdva 1937-38, pp. 13-15. (32) Priloha " Stredne skoly," Zprcivy §kolskeho referdtu v Bratislave ministerstva ~kolstva a ndrodnej osvety, 1922. (33) Paul R. Magocsi, " The Role of Education in the Formation of a National Consciousness ," East European Quarterly, Vo. Vll, No. 2 (Summer 1973) , p . 162 . (34) Paul E. Zinner, Communist Strategy and Tactics in Czechoslovakia, 1918-48, New York : Frederick A. Praeger, 1963 , p . 12; Stefimek, Zdklady , p . 386. (35) Matej, " Sucasny stav," pp. 56-70. (36) Josef Henrich and Mikulas Smok, Eenseignement clans la Republique Tchecoslovaque , Prague : Ostredni spolek ceskoslovenskych profesoru, 1923, p . 94. (37) Ibid. , p . 95. (38) Ibid., p . 91. (39) Matej , Kapitoly, 2nd ed ., p . 83. (40) Richard Homa, Patndct let Komenskeho university v Bratislaue, Bratislava, 1934, p . 9. {41) Michal Fedor, Poslanie a program Matice slovenskej na vychodnom Slovensku, Martin : Matica slovenska, 1966, p . 91. (42) Krcmery, "A Survey," p . 161. {43) Michal Potemra, ed ., Bibliografia slovenskych novin a c!asopisov do roku 1918, Martin : Matica· slovenska, 1958. (44) Seton-Watson, Czechs and Slovaks, p . 282 . (45) Related to author by Czech historian . Efforts to locate published citation to date fruitless . (46) Maria Kipsova et al., Bibliografia slovenskych a inorec!ouych nouin a c!asopisou z rokou 1919-1938, Martin : Matica slovenska, 1968. (47) Jozef Darmo , Slouenskci iurnalistika 1918-1938, II, Martin: Matica slovenska, 1966. (48) Soznam c!asopisou na Slouensku 1927, Bratislava: Tlacovy referat pre spravu Slovensku, 1927. (49) Darmo , Slouenskci iurnalistika, p . 159. (50) E .g ., Darmo . (51) Stefimek, Zdklady , p . 324. (52) Ibid ., pp . 318-324. (53) Bibliografia slouenskych knih 1919-1938, Vol. 1-XVIl, Martin : Matica slovenska, 1965 . (54) Stefimek, Z ciklady, p . 318. (55) Stefan Krcmery, " Slovak Literature," in Seton-~atson , Slovakia Then & Now , p . 141 . \ (56) Stefanek, Zciklady , pp . 313-314. (57) Manuel Statistique de la R epublique Tchechoslo uaque, ill, Prague : Statni urad statisticky, 1928, pp. 17-19. A law of February 1919 set up in each community SLOVAKIA 47 educational committees to con\ truct libraries and run lectures and courses . In Slovakia, this matter was generally handled by the local branch of Matica slovenska. (58) Annuaire statistique de la Republique Tchecoslovaque , 1934, Prague: L'Office de Statistique de la Republique Tchecoslovaque, 1934, Table XIV-17 . (59) Stefanek, Zdklady , p. 303 . (60) Peter Vajcik , " Zvesti z Literarno-vedeckeho odboru SSV ," Kultura, Vol. VII , No. 1 (1935) , p . 38 . (61) Ivan Kusy, " Obnovenie Matice slovenskej a jej uloha za predmnichovskej CSR, " in Matica slovenskd v na§ich dejindch: Sbornik stati, Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1963 , pp. 224-232 . (62) Frantisek Bokes, Snahy o organizovanie slovenskej vedy od konca 18. storoi!ia do vzniku SAV, Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1967, p. 65. (63) Miroslav Kropilak, "Zakladne kulturnopoliticke problemy Slovenska v rokoch 191838 ," in Matica slovenskd v na§ich dejindch, p. 205 . (64) In particular note the Spolok profesorov Slovakov, which after its founding in 1921 worked particularly for better placement of Slovak teachers in Slovak high schools. Viz its Sbornik Spolku profesorov Slovdkov . (65) Hendrich and Smok, Eenseignement , p . 73. (66) Karel Veleminsky, "Czecho-Slovak Secondary Schools ," in The Czecho-Slovak Republic , Prague: Czecho-Slovak Foreigners' Office, 1919, Vol. IV, Part 3 , p . 13 . In 1919, the Ministry of Education carried out a census in Slovakia for the purpose of determining how many schools would be needed. Peroutka, Budo vdni stdtu , I, p. 210. (67) Stefanek, " Education in Pre-War Hungary ," p . 121. (68) Gogolak , Beitrage , ill, p . 160. (69) Annuaire statistique , 1935, Table 11-17 and 1937, Table 11-4. (70) Milos Trap! , " Ke skolske legislative obecnych a obcanskych (mest'anskych) skol a jejimu uplatnovani v ceskych zemich 1918-1922," in Z dejin i!eskeho §kolstv i, ed by Ervin Koukal , Prague : Statni pedagogicke nakladatelstvi, 1970, p . 44 footnote 82. (71) Stefanek, "Education in Pre-War Hungary," p . 121. (72) Victor S. Mamatey , ''The Establishment of the Republic,'' in Mamatey and Luz.a, A History, p . 30 . (73) Gogolak , B eitrage , ill, p . 165. (74) Hendrich and Smok , Eenseignement , p . 34. (75) See Msano 52143-1920 Odbor V Oddeleni 19 of 15 August 1920, Carton 1297-State Central Archive (SOA) - Prague. The " intemats" also separated the students from parental influence which " is not always characterized by friendly feelings toward our state ." - Instruktorat Ministerstva socialnej starostlivosti (IMSS) Carton 5 item 276 in Slovak State Central Archive (SSOA) - Bratislava. This particular item is a letter from the acting headmaster of the Banska Stiavnica real gymnasium to the Ministerstvo socialni pece c. 798-1920 of 15 July 1920. (76) Skolstvo , pp . 23 , 11 1, and 150. (77) The fir st law passed in the new Czechoslovak Republic decreed that all laws in force in Austria-Hungary would be carried over to the new state . This explains how Hungarian law would be considered in Slovakia . 48 SLOVAKIA (78) E.g., note willingness of Fimini (Ministry of Finance) and Nejvyssi ucetni kontrolni urad (NUKU) to postpone indefinitely closing of school in exchange for opening of realka in Bardejov, or to substitute a closing of a school in Bohemia or Moravia-Msano 104.048-1938 Odbor ill Oddeleni 2 of 1 July 1938-Carton 1297-SUA. (79) Msano , 2637-1934 Pres . Odd . Studijni, 20 April 1934 , SUA , Carton 1445. (80) Okresny archiv, Prievidza , Prievidza gymnasium collection, 605-1934 and 214-1936 (Carton 3) . (81) Frederick G. Heymann, Poland & Czechoslovakia, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. (82) This contradicts Zinner's assertions in Communist Strategy, p. 12 . (83) Ivan Derer, Ceskoslovenskci otcizka, Prague: Orbis , 1935, p. 38. (84) Ibid . (85) R. W. Seton-Watson, "Introduction . Czechoslovakia and the Slovak Problem ," in Slovakia Then and Now, p . 62. (86) James S. Coleman, " Introduction : Education and Political Development " in Education and Political Development discusses the tension that develops with lack of political mobility for the second generation. Thomson 's assertion that the Czechoslovak government adhered to a policy of returning Czech officeholders to the historic lands as soon as possible does not hold up . S. Harrison Thomson , Czechoslovakia in European History , Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1953, p . 334. (87) See page 184. (88) See Matej, Kapitoly, 2nd ed., p . 86. (89) Zprciva o tinnosti Spolku pre postavenie a vydriovanie Universitnej koleje a akademickej menzi, 1930, p . 6. (Speech at Bratislava.) (90) Kopac, Dejiny ~kolstvi, I, p . 11. (91) It has been suggested that the Czechs erred in Slovakia after 1918 by trying to transform before forming a nation . See Jan Hajda, " The Role of the Intelligentsia in the Developme nt of the Czechoslovak Society,'' in The Czechoslovak Contribution to World Culture ed. by Miroslav Rechcigl , The Hague: Mouton , 1964, pp . 307-312.  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 Intelligentsia, 1918-1938 Description An account of the resource Owen V. Johnson Slovakia, Vol. 28 (No. 51-52), 1978-79 pp. 25-48 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 1978-79 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/db9406de1877bf3caee16bbde1228629.pdf 68f331c788157997074284046248c701 PDF Text Text \ ARTICLES ��SLOVAKIA 17 The Slovak State In Post-war Historiography (An Annotated Bibliography) " YESHAYAHU JELINEK Denison University Like any other controversial topic, the historiography of the Slovak state (1939-1945) knows several schools of writing. Rather than research-systems and scholarly approaches, political views, prejudices (or lack of them), and personal background determine characteristics of these schools. Almost each of the themes covering the six years of existence of the Slovak state has been discussed from various angles. In the West, in spite of extensive publishing, scholarly research which would break through the stultifying fences of exile and ethnic literature is still somehow limited. In Czechoslovakia, and in the East in general, publication is strangled in a political straight-jacket. The sixties were the most productive years there; since the Warsaw Pact invasion of 1968, however, scholarship has again reached a standstill. This bibliography does not intend to exhaust the topic, nor to label the included entries, but rather to provide readers with a key for further research and writing. Therefore many important works may have been left out.(1) I would tentatively divide the various schools into the following major groups: supporters of the Slovak state, its adversaries, Communists and pro-Communists, and unaffiliated academics. Naturally, none of these distinctions will be held objective by many of the affected authors. Moreover, scholars and writers habitually regard themselves objective and unaffiliated (including the author of this essay), while others may consider them engaged and biased. Among the supporters of Slovak independence I would count many of the 1945 political exiles and some of the 1948 and 1968 emigrants, some Slovaks residing in Western countries, members of the Carpatho-German groups in West Germany, and several Catholic writers. The adversaries include, above all, members of the Slovak exile of 1948 and post-1968, Jews (whether originally from Slovakia or not) , Magyars, Czechs, and anti-Catholic writers . Communist and pro-Communist publications have appeared predominantly in Czechoslovakia, but there are also some in other �18 SLOVAKIA Eastern and Western countries. The academic group is most diverse. Nonetheless, many of its participants originated in Czechoslovakia and in the neighboring countries, and we are still missing a solid strata of students taking an academic interest in Slovakia without having emotional or ethnic attachment. It is this group which has contributed much of the fresh insight and unbiased scholarship. The authors included in this bibliography have published in more than a half-dozen languages. Besides the well-known series of German(2) and Vatican(3) documents , which discuss Slovakia frequently, the only important and extensive collections of primary documentation are the two volumes edited by Vilem Precan.(4) Less informative are Cesta ke kvetnu(5) and Dokumeny z historie ceskoslovenske politiky 1939-1943.(6) Most of the published sources cover the years 1943-45 and/or the resistance and Communist activities. Scattered documents deal with the foundation of the state, and with Slovak autonomy (September 1938-March 1939). We are still missing a solid volume devoted to the years 1939-1943. Milan S. Durica tried to fill the void, but reached only September 1939,(7) and furthermore, his collection is in Italian - a language unfamiliar to many researchers. Also helpful is Ferdinand Durcansky. (8) The Holocaust of the Slovak Jewry has been well documented by Livia Rothkirchen. (9) Works covering twentieth-century Slovakia include the ones by Joseph M . Kirschbaum,(10) :Cubomir Liptak,(11) Jozef Lettrich,(12) Joseph A. Mikus,(13) Gilbert L. Oddo,(14) and Eugen Steiner.(15) Books devoted to the Slovak state are those by the East German Hans Dress,(16) the Israeli Yeshayahu Jelinek,(17) and the Slovak Communist Imrich Stanek.(18) Among shorter essays worth noting are Durica's(19) and Joerg K. Hoensch's.(20) Less scholarly are Vincent Bolecek,(21) Francois d ' Orchival,(22) Jozef F. Rudinsky,(23) and others. Important information could be obtained from symphosia. Perhaps the most comprehensive is by supporters of the Slovak state, Slovenska Republika.(24) Less adequate are volumes of Karl Bosl (ed.)(25) and Kirschbaum (ed.).(26) The collection Slovenske N<irodne Povstanie Roku 1944 printed in Slovakia is devoted to the Slovak National Uprising, but includes also several studies of other aspects of the Slovak state .(27) . Foreign relations have been mostly treated in a partisan fashion. The exceptionally prolific Frantisek Vnuk(28) and ·Kirschbaum(29) wrote a large number of essays on this topic, as have done Martin Broszat,(30) Durica,(31) Siegfried Fauck,(32) and Liptak.(33) Karol Sidor, Slovakia's Minister to the Holy See, summarized his ex- �SLOVAKIA 19 periences.(34) Not very informative, but supplementary to Sidor, is Jozef Kapala.(35) Internal political developments were discussed by Jelinek,(36) Kirschbaum,(37) Liptak,(38) and Vnuk.(39) The Holocaust of the Slovak Jewry is one of the more controversial facets in the annals of the country, and has received a diverse treatment. Jewish and Israeli 'scholarship are represented by Jelinek,(40) Ladislav Lipscher,(41) Rothkirchen,(42) Hedrich Steiner,(43) and Jan Steiner.(44) Among the non-Jews, important are John S. Conway,(45) i'.>urica,(46) Fierello Cavalli,(47) and the Jewish convert to Christianity Ladislav Hoffmann.(48) Memoirs have been written by the Zionist Yirmiyahu Oscar Neumann,(49) and the Orthodox Rabbi Michael Dov Weismandel(50) and Aron Greunhutt.(51) Ivan Kamenec 's dissertation in Bratislava was not published, but he has produced some valuable contributions.(52) The Magyar minority in Slovakia was treated by Stephen Revai(53) and the Communist Juraj Purgat.(64) Paul Brosz(55) and Liptak,(56) among others, discussed the ethnic Germans, while Andrej Dudas(57) gave a hostile description of the Rusins (Ruthenians). The German Josef Steinhuebel, who sat in the Slovak parliament, recorded his life and times.(58) A summary of the situation of the minorities during World War II can be found in a work by Jelinek.(59) Many studies have probed the war-time economy, and here I shall mention Adela Hornova,(60) Hans Kaiser,(61) and Liptak,(62) yet these studies do not present faithfully the positive aspects of Slovakia's economy. Their analysis is marred by the authors' biases. Neither the pro-independence(63) nor the Communist(64) writings are satisfactory. Similar is the nature of the numerous publications devoted to the state ' s President Dr. Jozef Tiso . Among the more scholarly presentations , there are biographies and studies by Lisa Guarda-Nardini,(65) Franz M. Schneider,(66) and Anthony X. Southerland.(67) Konstantin Culen is the Dean of Tiso 's biographers,(68) yet his is an emotional work. We shall recall two articles about stormtroopers in Slovakia, one by Jelinek(69) and one by Ladislav Susko.(70) It is regrettable that memoirs are scarce. Those that do exist include Georges Dunan ,(71) Tido J . Gaspar.(72) and Jozef Pauco.(73) I do not intend to survey here the voluminous literature dedicated to the resistance and the Slovak National Uprising, and to the Communist party and class struggle. Each of these topics deserves independent studies , and would be outside the scope of this paper. Also excluded are various fields like social conditions, education, press cultural life , the army , and religion. For some of these fields we are missing good sources , others were dealt with in Czechoslovakia only, �20 SLOVAKIA and we are lacking balancing views. Works in Western languages are in short supply, too. While the range of the literature on the history of the Slovak state is not small, it is still unsatisfactory. Our knowledge suffers from wide gaps, and even when we are lucky enough to possess studies and articles , these are often not based on rigorous research but are strongly tinged by the author's biases. There are still many important details that require in-depth research. FOOTNOTES (1) Good bibliographies of post-War publications in the West can be found in Michael Lacko's " Bibliographica," Slovak Studies (Rome) , Vol. VIl (1967), and XVIl (1977). Unfortunately, editorializing comments appended to some of the entries seem to be occasionally biased. (2) U.S. Department of State , Documents of German Foreign Policy, 1919-1945, S eries D, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. (3) Secretaire d 'etat de sa Saintete, Actes et Documentes du Saint Siege relatifs a la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, Citta de! Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. (4) Slovenske Narodne Povstanie, Dokumenty (The Slovak National Uprising, Documents) . Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo politickej literatury, 1965: Slovenske Narodn e Povstanie, Nemci a Slovensko 1944, Dokumenty (The Germans and Slovakia 1944) , Bratislava: Epocha, 1970. (5) Milos Klimes - Petr Lesjuk - Irena Mala - Vilem Precan , eds., Cesta ke k vetnu. Vznik lidove demokracie v Ceskoslovensku . (The road to May. Creation of the People's Democracy in Czechoslovakia), Two volumes, Prague: Nakladatel'stvi Ceskoslovenske akademie ved, 1965. (6) Libuse Otahlova and Milada Cervinkova, eds., Dokumenty z historie teskoslovenske politiky 1939-1945, (Documents from the history of Czechoslovak politics 1939-1945), (Acta Occupationis Bohemiae & Moraviae), Two volumes, Prague: Academia, 1966. (7) La Slovacchia e le sue relazioni politiche con la Germania 1938-1945. I. Dagli accordi di Monaco all'inizio della seconda guerra mondiale (Ottobre 1938-Settembre 1939) . Padova: Marsilio Editori, 1964. (8) Pravo Slovakov na samostatnost' - Biela kniha, (The right of Slovaks to Independence - White Book) . Buenos Aires : Slovensky Oslobodzovaci Vybor, 1954. I . (9) Hurban yahaduth slovakia: teur history b ' teudoth, ('ll'he destruction of the Slovakian Jewry: a documentary history) . Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1961. (10) Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe. New York: R. Speller and Sons Publishers, 1960. (11) Slovensko v 20. storoti, (Slovakia in the 20th Century). Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo politickej literatury, 1968. (12) H istory of Modem Slovakia . New York : Praeger, 1955 . (13) Slovakia - A Political History: 1918-1950. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Marquette University Press , 1963. �SLOVAKIA 21 (14) Sl.ovakia and.Its People. New York: R. Speller and Sons Publishers, 1960. (15) The Sl.ovak Dilemma. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1973. (16) Sl.owakei und faschistische Neuordnung Europas 1939-1940. Berlin: Akademia Verlag, 1972. (17) The Parish Republic: Blinka 's Sl.ovak People's Party, 1939-1945. Boulder, Colorado : East European Quarterly , 1976. - . (18) Zrada a pad. Hlinko0§ti separrttiste a tak zvany sl.ovensky stat. (The treason and the collapse . Hlinka's separatists ',and the so-called Slovak state). Prague: Statne vydavatefstvo politickej literatui'y ~ 1958. (19) " The Republic of Slovakia, Its Origin and Existence," Sl.ovak Studies , I (1961); "Slovensko za drujej svetovej vojny - Slovenska republika, " (Slovakia during the Second World War - the Slovak Republic), in Jozef M. Rydlo, ed., Slovensko v retrospektive dejin. Lausanne : Liber, 1976, pp . 123-154. (20) "The Slovak Republic, 1939-1945," in Victor S. Mamatey and Radomir Luza, eds ., A History of the Czechoslovak Republic, 1918-1948. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1973, pp . 271-295 . (21) Sl.ovensky §tat, (The Slovak state) . Jamaica, N.Y.: by the author, 1973. (22) Le Danube etait noir. La cause de la Slovaquie independent . Paris : Ed. La table ronde, 1968. (23) Ceskoslovensky §tdt a Slovenskd republika, (The Czechoslovak state and the Slovak Republic). Munich : By the author, S.A. (24) Mikulas Sprinc, ed., Sl.ovenskd.Republika, 1939-1945. Scranton, Pa . : Obrana Press, 1949. (25) Die Slowakei als Mitteleuropaisches Problem in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Munich: Verlag Robert Lerche , 1965. (26) Sl.ovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Toronto, Ontario: The Slovak World Congress , 1973 . (27) (The Slovak National Uprising of 1944). Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1965. (28) " Slovakia 's Accession to the Tripartite Pact," Slovakia, IX (1959), pp . 6-19; "The German Zone of Protection in Slovakia, " Slovakia, IX (1959), pp . 7-23 ; "British Recognition of Independent Slovakia in 1939," Sl.ovak Studies, IX (1969), pp. 49-73 ; " Vpad Mad'arov na slovensky vychod, " (The Hungarian invasion of the Slovak east), Kalend<ir Jednota, 1959, pp. 56-63 ; Slovensk<i ot<izka na Zdpade v rokoch 1939-1940, (The Slovak question in the West, 1939-1940) . Cleveland, Ohio: Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, 1974. (29) " International Recognition of the Slovak Republic, " Slovakia , I (1951), pp. 23-31; "British Policy and Slovakia (1939-1945) ," Slovakia , X (1960) , pp. 50-61; "Diplomatic and Consular Relations of Slovakia with Neutral States, " Slovakia , XXIlI (1973) , pp . 111-112; " Schicksal des slowakischen Gesandschaft in Bern, " Slowakei, VII (1969), pp . 87-100 ; "Osudy vyslanectiev Slovenskej republiky, " (The fate of the Slovak Republic ' s embassies). Kalend<ir Jednota , 1961, pp. 109-117. (30) " Das deutsch-slowakische Verhaltnis 1939-1940 und seine Ruckwirkung auf die slowakische Judenpolitik,'' Gutachten des Institutes fuer Zeitgeschichte, Munich: In Selbstverlag, 1958, pp. 221-229. �22 SLOVAKIA (31) "Beziehungen zwischen der Slowakischen Republik und dem Heiligen Stuhl," Swvakei, XI-XII (1973-74). pp. 59-89; "Machtpolitische Eingriffe des Dritten Reiches in die Politik der Slowakischen Republik, '' Tradition und Neubegin. Internationale Forschungen zur deutsche Geschichte im 20. Jahrhundert. Cologne-Berlin-BonnMunich : Verlag Carl Heymans, 1975, pp. 245-257. (32) "Das deutsch-slowakische Verhaltnis 1941-43 und seine Rueckwirkung auf die slowakische Judenpolitik, ' ' Gutachten des Instituts fuer Zeitgeschichte. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlag-Anstalt, 1966, pp. 59-60. (33) "Mad'arsko v politike slovenskeho statu 1939-1943," (Hungary in the politics of the Slovak state), Historicky tasopis , XIV , 1 (1966), pp. 161-218. (34) Sest' rokov pri Vatikane, (Six years at the Vatican). Scranton, Pa.: Obrana Press, 1947. (35) Spod Roh~ov po Vatikan , (From the Rohac Mountain to Vatican), Galt, Ontario: Dobra Kniha, 1972. (36) " Slovakia's Internal Policy and the Third Reich, August 1940 - February 1941," Central European History , IV, 3 (September 1971) , pp. 97-119. (37) ''The Politics of Hlinka's Slovak People 's Party in the Slovak Republic,'' Swvakia, I. (1951), pp . 43-49; "The Constitution of the Slovak Republic," Swvakia, IX (1959), pp. 47-68. (38) " Priprava a priebeh salzburskych rokovani roku 1940 medzi predstavitefmi Nemecka a slovenskeho statu, " (The preparations and the course of the 1940 talks between representatives of Germany and the Slovak state), Historicky Casopis , XIII , 3 (1965), pp . 329-365. (39) " Prvych sest' mesiacov posalzburgskej ery," (The first six months of the postSalzburg period). Kalendcir Jednota, 1960, pp. 65-81 ; "Udalosti okolo Salzburgu," (The Salzburg Occurences). Literarny Almanach Swvaka v Amerike, 1961 ; "Lebensfiihigkeit des unabhiingigen slowakischen Staates," Slowakei, II (1964), pp. 43-50 . (40) " The ' Final Solution ' - the Slovak Version, " East European Quarterly , IV, 4 (1971), pp . 431-441; "The Vatican, the Catholic Church, the Catholics, and the Persecution of the Jews During the Second World War: the Case of Slovakia, " in B. Vago and G.L. Mosse, eds., Jews and Non-Jews in Eastern Europe, 1918-1945. Jerusalem: Israel Universities Press, New York: John Wiler and Sons, 1974, pp . 221255. (41) "Die Einstellung des Dritten Reiches auf die Judenpolitik des slowakischen Regierung, " in Karol Bosl, ed., Das Jahr 1945 in der Tschechoslowakei. MunichVienna: Verlag R. Oldenbourg, 1971, pp. 139-157. (42) "The Policy of the Vatican and the Holocaust in 'Independent' Slovakia, 19391945," Yad Vashem Studies, VI (1966). pp. 23-45 . See also ft . no. 9. The book includes an extensive introduction in English. (43) The Tragedy of Swvakian Jewry . Bratislava: Dokl]}nentacna akcia, 1949; " La tache de la 'Dokumentacna akcia.' La situation des Juifs , en Slo\ra_quie pedant la persecution. " Les Juifs en Europe, 1939-1945. Paris: 1949. (44) The Anti-Jewish Legislation and Expulsion from the Economy in the Slovak State (1939-1945), in Hebrew, Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 1974; "The ' Protected by the President' of Dr. Tiso, " in Hebrew, Shvuth , 3 (1975), pp. 64-69. �SLOVAKIA 23 (45) "The Churches, the Slovak State, and the Jews 1939-1945," The Slavonic and East European Review, Lil. 126 (January 1974), pp. 85-112 . (46) " Dr. Joseph Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia," Slovakia, VIl (1957), pp . 122; La Republica Eslovaca y la Tragedia de los Judeios Euro peas. Beunos Aires: Instituto Argentino-Eslovaco, 1975. (47) " La Santa Sede contro le deportazioni degli Ebrei dalla Slovacchia durante le seconda guerra mondiale," Civilta Cattolica, 112-3 (1961), pp. 3-18. (48) '' Die katholische Kirche und die Tragoedie des slowakischen Juden,'' Slowakei, VIl (1969), pp . 69-86. (49) Im Schatten des_Tod.es . T.el Aviv : Olamenu, 1956. (50) Min ha-Metsar, (From the S~aits). New York: Emunah, 1960. (51) Katastrophenzeit des slowa'kischen Judentums. Aufsteig und niedergang der Juden von Pressburg. Tel Aviv: By the author, 1972 . (52) "2idovsky koncentrafoy a pracovny tabor v Novakoch," (The Jewish concentration and labor camp in Novaky) . Hornci Nitra, m (1966), pp . 51-68 ; Vznik a vyvoj iidovskych pracovnych tciborov a stredisk na Slovensku v rokoch 1942-1944, " (The creation and development of Jewish labor camps and centers in Slovakia in the years of 19421944), Nove Obzory , VIII (1966), pp . 15-38. (53) Hungarians in Czechoslovakia , Yonkers, N .Y .: Institute for Minority Studies on Hungarians Attached to Czechoslovakia and Carpatho-Ruthenia, 1959. (54) Od Trianonu po Ko!ice. (K mad'arskej otcizke v Ceskoslovensku . ) (From Trianon to Kosice. - The Hungarian Question in Czechoslovakia.) Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo politickej literatury; 1970. (55) Die Karpathendeutschen in der Slowakei, 1918-1945. Stuttgart: gemeinschaft der Karpatendeutschen aus der Slowakei, 1972. Arbeits- (56) "Role of the German Minority in Slovakia in the Years of the Second World War," Studia Historica Slovaca , I (1963), pp . 150-178. (57) Rusinskci otcizka ajej uzadie, (The Ruthenian question and its background .) Buenos Aires: Zahranicna Matica Slovenska, 1971. (58) Mein Leben. Kampf eines katholischen Pfarrers fuer den Glauben und das Deutschtum in der Slowakei. Stuttgart: Hilfsbund karpathendeutscher Katholiken, 1975. (59) "Slovakia and her Minorities , 1939-1945. People With and Without National Protection, " Nationalities Papers, IV, I (1976), pp. 1-16. (60) " Charakteristika ekonomiky tzv. slovenskeho statu, " (The characteristics of the economy of the so-called Slovak state), Ekonomicky CaS-Opis, II (1954), pp. 337-48; "Hlavne crty militarizacie ekonomiky tzv. slovenskeho statu," (The main line of militarization of the economy of the so-called Slovak state). Ekonomicky Casopis, V (1959) , pp. 438-68. (61) '' Die Eingliederung der Slowakei in die nationalsozialistische Kriegswirtschaft, '' in Karl Bos!, ed. , Das Jahr 1945 in der Tschechoslowakei. Munich-Vienna: Verlag R. Oldenbourg, 1971 , pp. 115-138. (62) " Podrobenie slovenskeho priemyslu nemeckym kapitalom" (Opression of Slovak industry by German capital), Historicky Casopis, XI, 1 (1955), pp . 2-23. �24 SLOVAKIA (63) Frantisek Vnuk, ' 'Die slowakische Haltung zum Nationalsozialismus," Slowakei, IV (1966), pp. 3-9; Jozef Pauco, " Dr. Joseph Tiso : Christian Democrat," Slovakia, pp. 37-50; Karol Sidor, " O takzvanom slovenskom narodnom socializme, " (About the socalled Slovak National Socialism) , KalendarJednoty, 1964, pp . 143-153. (64) Ladislav Lipscher, "Vyvin a charakteristicke crty fa§izmu na Slovensku," (The development and the characteristics of Fascism in Slovakia), Prispevky k dejinam fa§izmu v Ceskoslovensku a Mad'arsku . Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1969, pp . 9-60 ; Andrej Siracky, Klerofa§isticka ideologia ludactva. (The Clerical-Fascist ideology of the Ludaks) . Bratislava: SNPL, 1955. (65) Tiso: Una TerzaProposta. Padova: CESEO, Liviana Editrice, 1978. (66) "Josef Tiso. Katholischer Priester und Staatsprasident der Slovakei, " Slovak Studies, X (1970) , pp . 7-146. (67) Dr. Joseph Tiso and Modern Slovakia . Cleveland: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1978. (68) Po Sviitoplukovi. druha na§a hlava, (After Svatopluk, our second leader) . Middletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, 1947. (69) " Stormtroopers in Slovakia: The Rodobrana and the Hlinka Guard," Journal of Contemporary History , VI, 3 (1971), pp . 97-119. (70) " Hlinkova Garda od svojho vzniku az po salzburske rokovania (1938-1940), " (The Hlinka Guard from its creation until the Salzburg talks). Zbornik Muzea Slovenskeho Narodneho Povstania , II (1968) , pp. 167-258. (71) Ne perdes pas leur trace . Neuchatel: Daconniere , 1950. (72) "Z pamiiti," (Reminiscences , Slo venske Pohfady, LXXXIV (1968) , 6, pp. 84-99, 7, pp . 62-79 , 8, pp. 76-85 , 9, pp . 108-114 , 10, 102-110, 11 , pp . 104-107, 12, pp . 78-83. (73) Tak sme sa poznali, (And so we became acquainted). Middletown, Pa.: Slovak v Amerike, 1967. � \ ARTICLES ��SLOVAKIA 17 The Slovak State In Post-war Historiography (An Annotated Bibliography) " YESHAYAHU JELINEK Denison University Like any other controversial topic, the historiography of the Slovak state (1939-1945) knows several schools of writing. Rather than research-systems and scholarly approaches, political views, prejudices (or lack of them), and personal background determine characteristics of these schools. Almost each of the themes covering the six years of existence of the Slovak state has been discussed from various angles. In the West, in spite of extensive publishing, scholarly research which would break through the stultifying fences of exile and ethnic literature is still somehow limited. In Czechoslovakia, and in the East in general, publication is strangled in a political straight-jacket. The sixties were the most productive years there; since the Warsaw Pact invasion of 1968, however, scholarship has again reached a standstill. This bibliography does not intend to exhaust the topic, nor to label the included entries, but rather to provide readers with a key for further research and writing. Therefore many important works may have been left out.(1) I would tentatively divide the various schools into the following major groups: supporters of the Slovak state, its adversaries, Communists and pro-Communists, and unaffiliated academics. Naturally, none of these distinctions will be held objective by many of the affected authors. Moreover, scholars and writers habitually regard themselves objective and unaffiliated (including the author of this essay), while others may consider them engaged and biased. Among the supporters of Slovak independence I would count many of the 1945 political exiles and some of the 1948 and 1968 emigrants, some Slovaks residing in Western countries, members of the Carpatho-German groups in West Germany, and several Catholic writers. The adversaries include, above all, members of the Slovak exile of 1948 and post-1968, Jews (whether originally from Slovakia or not) , Magyars, Czechs, and anti-Catholic writers . Communist and pro-Communist publications have appeared predominantly in Czechoslovakia, but there are also some in other �18 SLOVAKIA Eastern and Western countries. The academic group is most diverse. Nonetheless, many of its participants originated in Czechoslovakia and in the neighboring countries, and we are still missing a solid strata of students taking an academic interest in Slovakia without having emotional or ethnic attachment. It is this group which has contributed much of the fresh insight and unbiased scholarship. The authors included in this bibliography have published in more than a half-dozen languages. Besides the well-known series of German(2) and Vatican(3) documents , which discuss Slovakia frequently, the only important and extensive collections of primary documentation are the two volumes edited by Vilem Precan.(4) Less informative are Cesta ke kvetnu(5) and Dokumeny z historie ceskoslovenske politiky 1939-1943.(6) Most of the published sources cover the years 1943-45 and/or the resistance and Communist activities. Scattered documents deal with the foundation of the state, and with Slovak autonomy (September 1938-March 1939). We are still missing a solid volume devoted to the years 1939-1943. Milan S. Durica tried to fill the void, but reached only September 1939,(7) and furthermore, his collection is in Italian - a language unfamiliar to many researchers. Also helpful is Ferdinand Durcansky. (8) The Holocaust of the Slovak Jewry has been well documented by Livia Rothkirchen. (9) Works covering twentieth-century Slovakia include the ones by Joseph M . Kirschbaum,(10) :Cubomir Liptak,(11) Jozef Lettrich,(12) Joseph A. Mikus,(13) Gilbert L. Oddo,(14) and Eugen Steiner.(15) Books devoted to the Slovak state are those by the East German Hans Dress,(16) the Israeli Yeshayahu Jelinek,(17) and the Slovak Communist Imrich Stanek.(18) Among shorter essays worth noting are Durica's(19) and Joerg K. Hoensch's.(20) Less scholarly are Vincent Bolecek,(21) Francois d ' Orchival,(22) Jozef F. Rudinsky,(23) and others. Important information could be obtained from symphosia. Perhaps the most comprehensive is by supporters of the Slovak state, Slovenska Republika.(24) Less adequate are volumes of Karl Bosl (ed.)(25) and Kirschbaum (ed.).(26) The collection Slovenske N<irodne Povstanie Roku 1944 printed in Slovakia is devoted to the Slovak National Uprising, but includes also several studies of other aspects of the Slovak state .(27) . Foreign relations have been mostly treated in a partisan fashion. The exceptionally prolific Frantisek Vnuk(28) and ·Kirschbaum(29) wrote a large number of essays on this topic, as have done Martin Broszat,(30) Durica,(31) Siegfried Fauck,(32) and Liptak.(33) Karol Sidor, Slovakia's Minister to the Holy See, summarized his ex- �SLOVAKIA 19 periences.(34) Not very informative, but supplementary to Sidor, is Jozef Kapala.(35) Internal political developments were discussed by Jelinek,(36) Kirschbaum,(37) Liptak,(38) and Vnuk.(39) The Holocaust of the Slovak Jewry is one of the more controversial facets in the annals of the country, and has received a diverse treatment. Jewish and Israeli 'scholarship are represented by Jelinek,(40) Ladislav Lipscher,(41) Rothkirchen,(42) Hedrich Steiner,(43) and Jan Steiner.(44) Among the non-Jews, important are John S. Conway,(45) i'.>urica,(46) Fierello Cavalli,(47) and the Jewish convert to Christianity Ladislav Hoffmann.(48) Memoirs have been written by the Zionist Yirmiyahu Oscar Neumann,(49) and the Orthodox Rabbi Michael Dov Weismandel(50) and Aron Greunhutt.(51) Ivan Kamenec 's dissertation in Bratislava was not published, but he has produced some valuable contributions.(52) The Magyar minority in Slovakia was treated by Stephen Revai(53) and the Communist Juraj Purgat.(64) Paul Brosz(55) and Liptak,(56) among others, discussed the ethnic Germans, while Andrej Dudas(57) gave a hostile description of the Rusins (Ruthenians). The German Josef Steinhuebel, who sat in the Slovak parliament, recorded his life and times.(58) A summary of the situation of the minorities during World War II can be found in a work by Jelinek.(59) Many studies have probed the war-time economy, and here I shall mention Adela Hornova,(60) Hans Kaiser,(61) and Liptak,(62) yet these studies do not present faithfully the positive aspects of Slovakia's economy. Their analysis is marred by the authors' biases. Neither the pro-independence(63) nor the Communist(64) writings are satisfactory. Similar is the nature of the numerous publications devoted to the state ' s President Dr. Jozef Tiso . Among the more scholarly presentations , there are biographies and studies by Lisa Guarda-Nardini,(65) Franz M. Schneider,(66) and Anthony X. Southerland.(67) Konstantin Culen is the Dean of Tiso 's biographers,(68) yet his is an emotional work. We shall recall two articles about stormtroopers in Slovakia, one by Jelinek(69) and one by Ladislav Susko.(70) It is regrettable that memoirs are scarce. Those that do exist include Georges Dunan ,(71) Tido J . Gaspar.(72) and Jozef Pauco.(73) I do not intend to survey here the voluminous literature dedicated to the resistance and the Slovak National Uprising, and to the Communist party and class struggle. Each of these topics deserves independent studies , and would be outside the scope of this paper. Also excluded are various fields like social conditions, education, press cultural life , the army , and religion. For some of these fields we are missing good sources , others were dealt with in Czechoslovakia only, �20 SLOVAKIA and we are lacking balancing views. Works in Western languages are in short supply, too. While the range of the literature on the history of the Slovak state is not small, it is still unsatisfactory. Our knowledge suffers from wide gaps, and even when we are lucky enough to possess studies and articles , these are often not based on rigorous research but are strongly tinged by the author's biases. There are still many important details that require in-depth research. FOOTNOTES (1) Good bibliographies of post-War publications in the West can be found in Michael Lacko's " Bibliographica," Slovak Studies (Rome) , Vol. VIl (1967), and XVIl (1977). Unfortunately, editorializing comments appended to some of the entries seem to be occasionally biased. (2) U.S. Department of State , Documents of German Foreign Policy, 1919-1945, S eries D, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. (3) Secretaire d 'etat de sa Saintete, Actes et Documentes du Saint Siege relatifs a la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, Citta de! Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. (4) Slovenske Narodne Povstanie, Dokumenty (The Slovak National Uprising, Documents) . Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo politickej literatury, 1965: Slovenske Narodn e Povstanie, Nemci a Slovensko 1944, Dokumenty (The Germans and Slovakia 1944) , Bratislava: Epocha, 1970. (5) Milos Klimes - Petr Lesjuk - Irena Mala - Vilem Precan , eds., Cesta ke k vetnu. Vznik lidove demokracie v Ceskoslovensku . (The road to May. Creation of the People's Democracy in Czechoslovakia), Two volumes, Prague: Nakladatel'stvi Ceskoslovenske akademie ved, 1965. (6) Libuse Otahlova and Milada Cervinkova, eds., Dokumenty z historie teskoslovenske politiky 1939-1945, (Documents from the history of Czechoslovak politics 1939-1945), (Acta Occupationis Bohemiae & Moraviae), Two volumes, Prague: Academia, 1966. (7) La Slovacchia e le sue relazioni politiche con la Germania 1938-1945. I. Dagli accordi di Monaco all'inizio della seconda guerra mondiale (Ottobre 1938-Settembre 1939) . Padova: Marsilio Editori, 1964. (8) Pravo Slovakov na samostatnost' - Biela kniha, (The right of Slovaks to Independence - White Book) . Buenos Aires : Slovensky Oslobodzovaci Vybor, 1954. I . (9) Hurban yahaduth slovakia: teur history b ' teudoth, ('ll'he destruction of the Slovakian Jewry: a documentary history) . Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1961. (10) Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe. New York: R. Speller and Sons Publishers, 1960. (11) Slovensko v 20. storoti, (Slovakia in the 20th Century). Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo politickej literatury, 1968. (12) H istory of Modem Slovakia . New York : Praeger, 1955 . (13) Slovakia - A Political History: 1918-1950. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Marquette University Press , 1963. �SLOVAKIA 21 (14) Sl.ovakia and.Its People. New York: R. Speller and Sons Publishers, 1960. (15) The Sl.ovak Dilemma. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1973. (16) Sl.owakei und faschistische Neuordnung Europas 1939-1940. Berlin: Akademia Verlag, 1972. (17) The Parish Republic: Blinka 's Sl.ovak People's Party, 1939-1945. Boulder, Colorado : East European Quarterly , 1976. - . (18) Zrada a pad. Hlinko0§ti separrttiste a tak zvany sl.ovensky stat. (The treason and the collapse . Hlinka's separatists ',and the so-called Slovak state). Prague: Statne vydavatefstvo politickej literatui'y ~ 1958. (19) " The Republic of Slovakia, Its Origin and Existence," Sl.ovak Studies , I (1961); "Slovensko za drujej svetovej vojny - Slovenska republika, " (Slovakia during the Second World War - the Slovak Republic), in Jozef M. Rydlo, ed., Slovensko v retrospektive dejin. Lausanne : Liber, 1976, pp . 123-154. (20) "The Slovak Republic, 1939-1945," in Victor S. Mamatey and Radomir Luza, eds ., A History of the Czechoslovak Republic, 1918-1948. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1973, pp . 271-295 . (21) Sl.ovensky §tat, (The Slovak state) . Jamaica, N.Y.: by the author, 1973. (22) Le Danube etait noir. La cause de la Slovaquie independent . Paris : Ed. La table ronde, 1968. (23) Ceskoslovensky §tdt a Slovenskd republika, (The Czechoslovak state and the Slovak Republic). Munich : By the author, S.A. (24) Mikulas Sprinc, ed., Sl.ovenskd.Republika, 1939-1945. Scranton, Pa . : Obrana Press, 1949. (25) Die Slowakei als Mitteleuropaisches Problem in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Munich: Verlag Robert Lerche , 1965. (26) Sl.ovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Toronto, Ontario: The Slovak World Congress , 1973 . (27) (The Slovak National Uprising of 1944). Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1965. (28) " Slovakia 's Accession to the Tripartite Pact," Slovakia, IX (1959), pp . 6-19; "The German Zone of Protection in Slovakia, " Slovakia, IX (1959), pp . 7-23 ; "British Recognition of Independent Slovakia in 1939," Sl.ovak Studies, IX (1969), pp. 49-73 ; " Vpad Mad'arov na slovensky vychod, " (The Hungarian invasion of the Slovak east), Kalend<ir Jednota, 1959, pp. 56-63 ; Slovensk<i ot<izka na Zdpade v rokoch 1939-1940, (The Slovak question in the West, 1939-1940) . Cleveland, Ohio: Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, 1974. (29) " International Recognition of the Slovak Republic, " Slovakia , I (1951), pp. 23-31; "British Policy and Slovakia (1939-1945) ," Slovakia , X (1960) , pp. 50-61; "Diplomatic and Consular Relations of Slovakia with Neutral States, " Slovakia , XXIlI (1973) , pp . 111-112; " Schicksal des slowakischen Gesandschaft in Bern, " Slowakei, VII (1969), pp . 87-100 ; "Osudy vyslanectiev Slovenskej republiky, " (The fate of the Slovak Republic ' s embassies). Kalend<ir Jednota , 1961, pp. 109-117. (30) " Das deutsch-slowakische Verhaltnis 1939-1940 und seine Ruckwirkung auf die slowakische Judenpolitik,'' Gutachten des Institutes fuer Zeitgeschichte, Munich: In Selbstverlag, 1958, pp. 221-229. �22 SLOVAKIA (31) "Beziehungen zwischen der Slowakischen Republik und dem Heiligen Stuhl," Swvakei, XI-XII (1973-74). pp. 59-89; "Machtpolitische Eingriffe des Dritten Reiches in die Politik der Slowakischen Republik, '' Tradition und Neubegin. Internationale Forschungen zur deutsche Geschichte im 20. Jahrhundert. Cologne-Berlin-BonnMunich : Verlag Carl Heymans, 1975, pp. 245-257. (32) "Das deutsch-slowakische Verhaltnis 1941-43 und seine Rueckwirkung auf die slowakische Judenpolitik, ' ' Gutachten des Instituts fuer Zeitgeschichte. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlag-Anstalt, 1966, pp. 59-60. (33) "Mad'arsko v politike slovenskeho statu 1939-1943," (Hungary in the politics of the Slovak state), Historicky tasopis , XIV , 1 (1966), pp. 161-218. (34) Sest' rokov pri Vatikane, (Six years at the Vatican). Scranton, Pa.: Obrana Press, 1947. (35) Spod Roh~ov po Vatikan , (From the Rohac Mountain to Vatican), Galt, Ontario: Dobra Kniha, 1972. (36) " Slovakia's Internal Policy and the Third Reich, August 1940 - February 1941," Central European History , IV, 3 (September 1971) , pp. 97-119. (37) ''The Politics of Hlinka's Slovak People 's Party in the Slovak Republic,'' Swvakia, I. (1951), pp . 43-49; "The Constitution of the Slovak Republic," Swvakia, IX (1959), pp. 47-68. (38) " Priprava a priebeh salzburskych rokovani roku 1940 medzi predstavitefmi Nemecka a slovenskeho statu, " (The preparations and the course of the 1940 talks between representatives of Germany and the Slovak state), Historicky Casopis , XIII , 3 (1965), pp . 329-365. (39) " Prvych sest' mesiacov posalzburgskej ery," (The first six months of the postSalzburg period). Kalendcir Jednota, 1960, pp. 65-81 ; "Udalosti okolo Salzburgu," (The Salzburg Occurences). Literarny Almanach Swvaka v Amerike, 1961 ; "Lebensfiihigkeit des unabhiingigen slowakischen Staates," Slowakei, II (1964), pp. 43-50 . (40) " The ' Final Solution ' - the Slovak Version, " East European Quarterly , IV, 4 (1971), pp . 431-441; "The Vatican, the Catholic Church, the Catholics, and the Persecution of the Jews During the Second World War: the Case of Slovakia, " in B. Vago and G.L. Mosse, eds., Jews and Non-Jews in Eastern Europe, 1918-1945. Jerusalem: Israel Universities Press, New York: John Wiler and Sons, 1974, pp . 221255. (41) "Die Einstellung des Dritten Reiches auf die Judenpolitik des slowakischen Regierung, " in Karol Bosl, ed., Das Jahr 1945 in der Tschechoslowakei. MunichVienna: Verlag R. Oldenbourg, 1971, pp. 139-157. (42) "The Policy of the Vatican and the Holocaust in 'Independent' Slovakia, 19391945," Yad Vashem Studies, VI (1966). pp. 23-45 . See also ft . no. 9. The book includes an extensive introduction in English. (43) The Tragedy of Swvakian Jewry . Bratislava: Dokl]}nentacna akcia, 1949; " La tache de la 'Dokumentacna akcia.' La situation des Juifs , en Slo\ra_quie pedant la persecution. " Les Juifs en Europe, 1939-1945. Paris: 1949. (44) The Anti-Jewish Legislation and Expulsion from the Economy in the Slovak State (1939-1945), in Hebrew, Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 1974; "The ' Protected by the President' of Dr. Tiso, " in Hebrew, Shvuth , 3 (1975), pp. 64-69. �SLOVAKIA 23 (45) "The Churches, the Slovak State, and the Jews 1939-1945," The Slavonic and East European Review, Lil. 126 (January 1974), pp. 85-112 . (46) " Dr. Joseph Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia," Slovakia, VIl (1957), pp . 122; La Republica Eslovaca y la Tragedia de los Judeios Euro peas. Beunos Aires: Instituto Argentino-Eslovaco, 1975. (47) " La Santa Sede contro le deportazioni degli Ebrei dalla Slovacchia durante le seconda guerra mondiale," Civilta Cattolica, 112-3 (1961), pp. 3-18. (48) '' Die katholische Kirche und die Tragoedie des slowakischen Juden,'' Slowakei, VIl (1969), pp . 69-86. (49) Im Schatten des_Tod.es . T.el Aviv : Olamenu, 1956. (50) Min ha-Metsar, (From the S~aits). New York: Emunah, 1960. (51) Katastrophenzeit des slowa'kischen Judentums. Aufsteig und niedergang der Juden von Pressburg. Tel Aviv: By the author, 1972 . (52) "2idovsky koncentrafoy a pracovny tabor v Novakoch," (The Jewish concentration and labor camp in Novaky) . Hornci Nitra, m (1966), pp . 51-68 ; Vznik a vyvoj iidovskych pracovnych tciborov a stredisk na Slovensku v rokoch 1942-1944, " (The creation and development of Jewish labor camps and centers in Slovakia in the years of 19421944), Nove Obzory , VIII (1966), pp . 15-38. (53) Hungarians in Czechoslovakia , Yonkers, N .Y .: Institute for Minority Studies on Hungarians Attached to Czechoslovakia and Carpatho-Ruthenia, 1959. (54) Od Trianonu po Ko!ice. (K mad'arskej otcizke v Ceskoslovensku . ) (From Trianon to Kosice. - The Hungarian Question in Czechoslovakia.) Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo politickej literatury; 1970. (55) Die Karpathendeutschen in der Slowakei, 1918-1945. Stuttgart: gemeinschaft der Karpatendeutschen aus der Slowakei, 1972. Arbeits- (56) "Role of the German Minority in Slovakia in the Years of the Second World War," Studia Historica Slovaca , I (1963), pp . 150-178. (57) Rusinskci otcizka ajej uzadie, (The Ruthenian question and its background .) Buenos Aires: Zahranicna Matica Slovenska, 1971. (58) Mein Leben. Kampf eines katholischen Pfarrers fuer den Glauben und das Deutschtum in der Slowakei. Stuttgart: Hilfsbund karpathendeutscher Katholiken, 1975. (59) "Slovakia and her Minorities , 1939-1945. People With and Without National Protection, " Nationalities Papers, IV, I (1976), pp. 1-16. (60) " Charakteristika ekonomiky tzv. slovenskeho statu, " (The characteristics of the economy of the so-called Slovak state), Ekonomicky CaS-Opis, II (1954), pp. 337-48; "Hlavne crty militarizacie ekonomiky tzv. slovenskeho statu," (The main line of militarization of the economy of the so-called Slovak state). Ekonomicky Casopis, V (1959) , pp. 438-68. (61) '' Die Eingliederung der Slowakei in die nationalsozialistische Kriegswirtschaft, '' in Karl Bos!, ed. , Das Jahr 1945 in der Tschechoslowakei. Munich-Vienna: Verlag R. Oldenbourg, 1971 , pp. 115-138. (62) " Podrobenie slovenskeho priemyslu nemeckym kapitalom" (Opression of Slovak industry by German capital), Historicky Casopis, XI, 1 (1955), pp . 2-23. �24 SLOVAKIA (63) Frantisek Vnuk, ' 'Die slowakische Haltung zum Nationalsozialismus," Slowakei, IV (1966), pp. 3-9; Jozef Pauco, " Dr. Joseph Tiso : Christian Democrat," Slovakia, pp. 37-50; Karol Sidor, " O takzvanom slovenskom narodnom socializme, " (About the socalled Slovak National Socialism) , KalendarJednoty, 1964, pp . 143-153. (64) Ladislav Lipscher, "Vyvin a charakteristicke crty fa§izmu na Slovensku," (The development and the characteristics of Fascism in Slovakia), Prispevky k dejinam fa§izmu v Ceskoslovensku a Mad'arsku . Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1969, pp . 9-60 ; Andrej Siracky, Klerofa§isticka ideologia ludactva. (The Clerical-Fascist ideology of the Ludaks) . Bratislava: SNPL, 1955. (65) Tiso: Una TerzaProposta. Padova: CESEO, Liviana Editrice, 1978. (66) "Josef Tiso. Katholischer Priester und Staatsprasident der Slovakei, " Slovak Studies, X (1970) , pp . 7-146. (67) Dr. Joseph Tiso and Modern Slovakia . Cleveland: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1978. (68) Po Sviitoplukovi. druha na§a hlava, (After Svatopluk, our second leader) . Middletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, 1947. (69) " Stormtroopers in Slovakia: The Rodobrana and the Hlinka Guard," Journal of Contemporary History , VI, 3 (1971), pp . 97-119. (70) " Hlinkova Garda od svojho vzniku az po salzburske rokovania (1938-1940), " (The Hlinka Guard from its creation until the Salzburg talks). Zbornik Muzea Slovenskeho Narodneho Povstania , II (1968) , pp. 167-258. (71) Ne perdes pas leur trace . Neuchatel: Daconniere , 1950. (72) "Z pamiiti," (Reminiscences , Slo venske Pohfady, LXXXIV (1968) , 6, pp. 84-99, 7, pp . 62-79 , 8, pp. 76-85 , 9, pp . 108-114 , 10, 102-110, 11 , pp . 104-107, 12, pp . 78-83. (73) Tak sme sa poznali, (And so we became acquainted). Middletown, Pa.: Slovak v Amerike, 1967. � 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 1978-79, Vol. 28 Description An account of the resource Vol. 28 (No. 51-52), 1978-79. 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 1978-79 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 \ ARTICLES SLOVAKIA 17 The Slovak State In Post-war Historiography (An Annotated Bibliography) " YESHAYAHU JELINEK Denison University Like any other controversial topic, the historiography of the Slovak state (1939-1945) knows several schools of writing. Rather than research-systems and scholarly approaches, political views, prejudices (or lack of them), and personal background determine characteristics of these schools. Almost each of the themes covering the six years of existence of the Slovak state has been discussed from various angles. In the West, in spite of extensive publishing, scholarly research which would break through the stultifying fences of exile and ethnic literature is still somehow limited. In Czechoslovakia, and in the East in general, publication is strangled in a political straight-jacket. The sixties were the most productive years there; since the Warsaw Pact invasion of 1968, however, scholarship has again reached a standstill. This bibliography does not intend to exhaust the topic, nor to label the included entries, but rather to provide readers with a key for further research and writing. Therefore many important works may have been left out.(1) I would tentatively divide the various schools into the following major groups: supporters of the Slovak state, its adversaries, Communists and pro-Communists, and unaffiliated academics. Naturally, none of these distinctions will be held objective by many of the affected authors. Moreover, scholars and writers habitually regard themselves objective and unaffiliated (including the author of this essay), while others may consider them engaged and biased. Among the supporters of Slovak independence I would count many of the 1945 political exiles and some of the 1948 and 1968 emigrants, some Slovaks residing in Western countries, members of the Carpatho-German groups in West Germany, and several Catholic writers. The adversaries include, above all, members of the Slovak exile of 1948 and post-1968, Jews (whether originally from Slovakia or not) , Magyars, Czechs, and anti-Catholic writers . Communist and pro-Communist publications have appeared predominantly in Czechoslovakia, but there are also some in other 18 SLOVAKIA Eastern and Western countries. The academic group is most diverse. Nonetheless, many of its participants originated in Czechoslovakia and in the neighboring countries, and we are still missing a solid strata of students taking an academic interest in Slovakia without having emotional or ethnic attachment. It is this group which has contributed much of the fresh insight and unbiased scholarship. The authors included in this bibliography have published in more than a half-dozen languages. Besides the well-known series of German(2) and Vatican(3) documents , which discuss Slovakia frequently, the only important and extensive collections of primary documentation are the two volumes edited by Vilem Precan.(4) Less informative are Cesta ke kvetnu(5) and Dokumeny z historie ceskoslovenske politiky 1939-1943.(6) Most of the published sources cover the years 1943-45 and/or the resistance and Communist activities. Scattered documents deal with the foundation of the state, and with Slovak autonomy (September 1938-March 1939). We are still missing a solid volume devoted to the years 1939-1943. Milan S. Durica tried to fill the void, but reached only September 1939,(7) and furthermore, his collection is in Italian - a language unfamiliar to many researchers. Also helpful is Ferdinand Durcansky. (8) The Holocaust of the Slovak Jewry has been well documented by Livia Rothkirchen. (9) Works covering twentieth-century Slovakia include the ones by Joseph M . Kirschbaum,(10) :Cubomir Liptak,(11) Jozef Lettrich,(12) Joseph A. Mikus,(13) Gilbert L. Oddo,(14) and Eugen Steiner.(15) Books devoted to the Slovak state are those by the East German Hans Dress,(16) the Israeli Yeshayahu Jelinek,(17) and the Slovak Communist Imrich Stanek.(18) Among shorter essays worth noting are Durica's(19) and Joerg K. Hoensch's.(20) Less scholarly are Vincent Bolecek,(21) Francois d ' Orchival,(22) Jozef F. Rudinsky,(23) and others. Important information could be obtained from symphosia. Perhaps the most comprehensive is by supporters of the Slovak state, Slovenska Republika.(24) Less adequate are volumes of Karl Bosl (ed.)(25) and Kirschbaum (ed.).(26) The collection Slovenske N<irodne Povstanie Roku 1944 printed in Slovakia is devoted to the Slovak National Uprising, but includes also several studies of other aspects of the Slovak state .(27) . Foreign relations have been mostly treated in a partisan fashion. The exceptionally prolific Frantisek Vnuk(28) and ·Kirschbaum(29) wrote a large number of essays on this topic, as have done Martin Broszat,(30) Durica,(31) Siegfried Fauck,(32) and Liptak.(33) Karol Sidor, Slovakia's Minister to the Holy See, summarized his ex- SLOVAKIA 19 periences.(34) Not very informative, but supplementary to Sidor, is Jozef Kapala.(35) Internal political developments were discussed by Jelinek,(36) Kirschbaum,(37) Liptak,(38) and Vnuk.(39) The Holocaust of the Slovak Jewry is one of the more controversial facets in the annals of the country, and has received a diverse treatment. Jewish and Israeli 'scholarship are represented by Jelinek,(40) Ladislav Lipscher,(41) Rothkirchen,(42) Hedrich Steiner,(43) and Jan Steiner.(44) Among the non-Jews, important are John S. Conway,(45) i'.>urica,(46) Fierello Cavalli,(47) and the Jewish convert to Christianity Ladislav Hoffmann.(48) Memoirs have been written by the Zionist Yirmiyahu Oscar Neumann,(49) and the Orthodox Rabbi Michael Dov Weismandel(50) and Aron Greunhutt.(51) Ivan Kamenec 's dissertation in Bratislava was not published, but he has produced some valuable contributions.(52) The Magyar minority in Slovakia was treated by Stephen Revai(53) and the Communist Juraj Purgat.(64) Paul Brosz(55) and Liptak,(56) among others, discussed the ethnic Germans, while Andrej Dudas(57) gave a hostile description of the Rusins (Ruthenians). The German Josef Steinhuebel, who sat in the Slovak parliament, recorded his life and times.(58) A summary of the situation of the minorities during World War II can be found in a work by Jelinek.(59) Many studies have probed the war-time economy, and here I shall mention Adela Hornova,(60) Hans Kaiser,(61) and Liptak,(62) yet these studies do not present faithfully the positive aspects of Slovakia's economy. Their analysis is marred by the authors' biases. Neither the pro-independence(63) nor the Communist(64) writings are satisfactory. Similar is the nature of the numerous publications devoted to the state ' s President Dr. Jozef Tiso . Among the more scholarly presentations , there are biographies and studies by Lisa Guarda-Nardini,(65) Franz M. Schneider,(66) and Anthony X. Southerland.(67) Konstantin Culen is the Dean of Tiso 's biographers,(68) yet his is an emotional work. We shall recall two articles about stormtroopers in Slovakia, one by Jelinek(69) and one by Ladislav Susko.(70) It is regrettable that memoirs are scarce. Those that do exist include Georges Dunan ,(71) Tido J . Gaspar.(72) and Jozef Pauco.(73) I do not intend to survey here the voluminous literature dedicated to the resistance and the Slovak National Uprising, and to the Communist party and class struggle. Each of these topics deserves independent studies , and would be outside the scope of this paper. Also excluded are various fields like social conditions, education, press cultural life , the army , and religion. For some of these fields we are missing good sources , others were dealt with in Czechoslovakia only, 20 SLOVAKIA and we are lacking balancing views. Works in Western languages are in short supply, too. While the range of the literature on the history of the Slovak state is not small, it is still unsatisfactory. Our knowledge suffers from wide gaps, and even when we are lucky enough to possess studies and articles , these are often not based on rigorous research but are strongly tinged by the author's biases. There are still many important details that require in-depth research. FOOTNOTES (1) Good bibliographies of post-War publications in the West can be found in Michael Lacko's " Bibliographica," Slovak Studies (Rome) , Vol. VIl (1967), and XVIl (1977). Unfortunately, editorializing comments appended to some of the entries seem to be occasionally biased. (2) U.S. Department of State , Documents of German Foreign Policy, 1919-1945, S eries D, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. (3) Secretaire d 'etat de sa Saintete, Actes et Documentes du Saint Siege relatifs a la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, Citta de! Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. (4) Slovenske Narodne Povstanie, Dokumenty (The Slovak National Uprising, Documents) . Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo politickej literatury, 1965: Slovenske Narodn e Povstanie, Nemci a Slovensko 1944, Dokumenty (The Germans and Slovakia 1944) , Bratislava: Epocha, 1970. (5) Milos Klimes - Petr Lesjuk - Irena Mala - Vilem Precan , eds., Cesta ke k vetnu. Vznik lidove demokracie v Ceskoslovensku . (The road to May. Creation of the People's Democracy in Czechoslovakia), Two volumes, Prague: Nakladatel'stvi Ceskoslovenske akademie ved, 1965. (6) Libuse Otahlova and Milada Cervinkova, eds., Dokumenty z historie teskoslovenske politiky 1939-1945, (Documents from the history of Czechoslovak politics 1939-1945), (Acta Occupationis Bohemiae & Moraviae), Two volumes, Prague: Academia, 1966. (7) La Slovacchia e le sue relazioni politiche con la Germania 1938-1945. I. Dagli accordi di Monaco all'inizio della seconda guerra mondiale (Ottobre 1938-Settembre 1939) . Padova: Marsilio Editori, 1964. (8) Pravo Slovakov na samostatnost' - Biela kniha, (The right of Slovaks to Independence - White Book) . Buenos Aires : Slovensky Oslobodzovaci Vybor, 1954. I . (9) Hurban yahaduth slovakia: teur history b ' teudoth, ('ll'he destruction of the Slovakian Jewry: a documentary history) . Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1961. (10) Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe. New York: R. Speller and Sons Publishers, 1960. (11) Slovensko v 20. storoti, (Slovakia in the 20th Century). Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo politickej literatury, 1968. (12) H istory of Modem Slovakia . New York : Praeger, 1955 . (13) Slovakia - A Political History: 1918-1950. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Marquette University Press , 1963. SLOVAKIA 21 (14) Sl.ovakia and.Its People. New York: R. Speller and Sons Publishers, 1960. (15) The Sl.ovak Dilemma. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1973. (16) Sl.owakei und faschistische Neuordnung Europas 1939-1940. Berlin: Akademia Verlag, 1972. (17) The Parish Republic: Blinka 's Sl.ovak People's Party, 1939-1945. Boulder, Colorado : East European Quarterly , 1976. - . (18) Zrada a pad. Hlinko0§ti separrttiste a tak zvany sl.ovensky stat. (The treason and the collapse . Hlinka's separatists ',and the so-called Slovak state). Prague: Statne vydavatefstvo politickej literatui'y ~ 1958. (19) " The Republic of Slovakia, Its Origin and Existence," Sl.ovak Studies , I (1961); "Slovensko za drujej svetovej vojny - Slovenska republika, " (Slovakia during the Second World War - the Slovak Republic), in Jozef M. Rydlo, ed., Slovensko v retrospektive dejin. Lausanne : Liber, 1976, pp . 123-154. (20) "The Slovak Republic, 1939-1945," in Victor S. Mamatey and Radomir Luza, eds ., A History of the Czechoslovak Republic, 1918-1948. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1973, pp . 271-295 . (21) Sl.ovensky §tat, (The Slovak state) . Jamaica, N.Y.: by the author, 1973. (22) Le Danube etait noir. La cause de la Slovaquie independent . Paris : Ed. La table ronde, 1968. (23) Ceskoslovensky §tdt a Slovenskd republika, (The Czechoslovak state and the Slovak Republic). Munich : By the author, S.A. (24) Mikulas Sprinc, ed., Sl.ovenskd.Republika, 1939-1945. Scranton, Pa . : Obrana Press, 1949. (25) Die Slowakei als Mitteleuropaisches Problem in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Munich: Verlag Robert Lerche , 1965. (26) Sl.ovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Toronto, Ontario: The Slovak World Congress , 1973 . (27) (The Slovak National Uprising of 1944). Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1965. (28) " Slovakia 's Accession to the Tripartite Pact," Slovakia, IX (1959), pp . 6-19; "The German Zone of Protection in Slovakia, " Slovakia, IX (1959), pp . 7-23 ; "British Recognition of Independent Slovakia in 1939," Sl.ovak Studies, IX (1969), pp. 49-73 ; " Vpad Mad'arov na slovensky vychod, " (The Hungarian invasion of the Slovak east), Kalend<ir Jednota, 1959, pp. 56-63 ; Slovensk<i ot<izka na Zdpade v rokoch 1939-1940, (The Slovak question in the West, 1939-1940) . Cleveland, Ohio: Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, 1974. (29) " International Recognition of the Slovak Republic, " Slovakia , I (1951), pp. 23-31; "British Policy and Slovakia (1939-1945) ," Slovakia , X (1960) , pp. 50-61; "Diplomatic and Consular Relations of Slovakia with Neutral States, " Slovakia , XXIlI (1973) , pp . 111-112; " Schicksal des slowakischen Gesandschaft in Bern, " Slowakei, VII (1969), pp . 87-100 ; "Osudy vyslanectiev Slovenskej republiky, " (The fate of the Slovak Republic ' s embassies). Kalend<ir Jednota , 1961, pp. 109-117. (30) " Das deutsch-slowakische Verhaltnis 1939-1940 und seine Ruckwirkung auf die slowakische Judenpolitik,'' Gutachten des Institutes fuer Zeitgeschichte, Munich: In Selbstverlag, 1958, pp. 221-229. 22 SLOVAKIA (31) "Beziehungen zwischen der Slowakischen Republik und dem Heiligen Stuhl," Swvakei, XI-XII (1973-74). pp. 59-89; "Machtpolitische Eingriffe des Dritten Reiches in die Politik der Slowakischen Republik, '' Tradition und Neubegin. Internationale Forschungen zur deutsche Geschichte im 20. Jahrhundert. Cologne-Berlin-BonnMunich : Verlag Carl Heymans, 1975, pp. 245-257. (32) "Das deutsch-slowakische Verhaltnis 1941-43 und seine Rueckwirkung auf die slowakische Judenpolitik, ' ' Gutachten des Instituts fuer Zeitgeschichte. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlag-Anstalt, 1966, pp. 59-60. (33) "Mad'arsko v politike slovenskeho statu 1939-1943," (Hungary in the politics of the Slovak state), Historicky tasopis , XIV , 1 (1966), pp. 161-218. (34) Sest' rokov pri Vatikane, (Six years at the Vatican). Scranton, Pa.: Obrana Press, 1947. (35) Spod Roh~ov po Vatikan , (From the Rohac Mountain to Vatican), Galt, Ontario: Dobra Kniha, 1972. (36) " Slovakia's Internal Policy and the Third Reich, August 1940 - February 1941," Central European History , IV, 3 (September 1971) , pp. 97-119. (37) ''The Politics of Hlinka's Slovak People 's Party in the Slovak Republic,'' Swvakia, I. (1951), pp . 43-49; "The Constitution of the Slovak Republic," Swvakia, IX (1959), pp. 47-68. (38) " Priprava a priebeh salzburskych rokovani roku 1940 medzi predstavitefmi Nemecka a slovenskeho statu, " (The preparations and the course of the 1940 talks between representatives of Germany and the Slovak state), Historicky Casopis , XIII , 3 (1965), pp . 329-365. (39) " Prvych sest' mesiacov posalzburgskej ery," (The first six months of the postSalzburg period). Kalendcir Jednota, 1960, pp. 65-81 ; "Udalosti okolo Salzburgu," (The Salzburg Occurences). Literarny Almanach Swvaka v Amerike, 1961 ; "Lebensfiihigkeit des unabhiingigen slowakischen Staates," Slowakei, II (1964), pp. 43-50 . (40) " The ' Final Solution ' - the Slovak Version, " East European Quarterly , IV, 4 (1971), pp . 431-441; "The Vatican, the Catholic Church, the Catholics, and the Persecution of the Jews During the Second World War: the Case of Slovakia, " in B. Vago and G.L. Mosse, eds., Jews and Non-Jews in Eastern Europe, 1918-1945. Jerusalem: Israel Universities Press, New York: John Wiler and Sons, 1974, pp . 221255. (41) "Die Einstellung des Dritten Reiches auf die Judenpolitik des slowakischen Regierung, " in Karol Bosl, ed., Das Jahr 1945 in der Tschechoslowakei. MunichVienna: Verlag R. Oldenbourg, 1971, pp. 139-157. (42) "The Policy of the Vatican and the Holocaust in 'Independent' Slovakia, 19391945," Yad Vashem Studies, VI (1966). pp. 23-45 . See also ft . no. 9. The book includes an extensive introduction in English. (43) The Tragedy of Swvakian Jewry . Bratislava: Dokl]}nentacna akcia, 1949; " La tache de la 'Dokumentacna akcia.' La situation des Juifs , en Slo\ra_quie pedant la persecution. " Les Juifs en Europe, 1939-1945. Paris: 1949. (44) The Anti-Jewish Legislation and Expulsion from the Economy in the Slovak State (1939-1945), in Hebrew, Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 1974; "The ' Protected by the President' of Dr. Tiso, " in Hebrew, Shvuth , 3 (1975), pp. 64-69. SLOVAKIA 23 (45) "The Churches, the Slovak State, and the Jews 1939-1945," The Slavonic and East European Review, Lil. 126 (January 1974), pp. 85-112 . (46) " Dr. Joseph Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia," Slovakia, VIl (1957), pp . 122; La Republica Eslovaca y la Tragedia de los Judeios Euro peas. Beunos Aires: Instituto Argentino-Eslovaco, 1975. (47) " La Santa Sede contro le deportazioni degli Ebrei dalla Slovacchia durante le seconda guerra mondiale," Civilta Cattolica, 112-3 (1961), pp. 3-18. (48) '' Die katholische Kirche und die Tragoedie des slowakischen Juden,'' Slowakei, VIl (1969), pp . 69-86. (49) Im Schatten des_Tod.es . T.el Aviv : Olamenu, 1956. (50) Min ha-Metsar, (From the S~aits). New York: Emunah, 1960. (51) Katastrophenzeit des slowa'kischen Judentums. Aufsteig und niedergang der Juden von Pressburg. Tel Aviv: By the author, 1972 . (52) "2idovsky koncentrafoy a pracovny tabor v Novakoch," (The Jewish concentration and labor camp in Novaky) . Hornci Nitra, m (1966), pp . 51-68 ; Vznik a vyvoj iidovskych pracovnych tciborov a stredisk na Slovensku v rokoch 1942-1944, " (The creation and development of Jewish labor camps and centers in Slovakia in the years of 19421944), Nove Obzory , VIII (1966), pp . 15-38. (53) Hungarians in Czechoslovakia , Yonkers, N .Y .: Institute for Minority Studies on Hungarians Attached to Czechoslovakia and Carpatho-Ruthenia, 1959. (54) Od Trianonu po Ko!ice. (K mad'arskej otcizke v Ceskoslovensku . ) (From Trianon to Kosice. - The Hungarian Question in Czechoslovakia.) Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo politickej literatury; 1970. (55) Die Karpathendeutschen in der Slowakei, 1918-1945. Stuttgart: gemeinschaft der Karpatendeutschen aus der Slowakei, 1972. Arbeits- (56) "Role of the German Minority in Slovakia in the Years of the Second World War," Studia Historica Slovaca , I (1963), pp . 150-178. (57) Rusinskci otcizka ajej uzadie, (The Ruthenian question and its background .) Buenos Aires: Zahranicna Matica Slovenska, 1971. (58) Mein Leben. Kampf eines katholischen Pfarrers fuer den Glauben und das Deutschtum in der Slowakei. Stuttgart: Hilfsbund karpathendeutscher Katholiken, 1975. (59) "Slovakia and her Minorities , 1939-1945. People With and Without National Protection, " Nationalities Papers, IV, I (1976), pp. 1-16. (60) " Charakteristika ekonomiky tzv. slovenskeho statu, " (The characteristics of the economy of the so-called Slovak state), Ekonomicky CaS-Opis, II (1954), pp. 337-48; "Hlavne crty militarizacie ekonomiky tzv. slovenskeho statu," (The main line of militarization of the economy of the so-called Slovak state). Ekonomicky Casopis, V (1959) , pp. 438-68. (61) '' Die Eingliederung der Slowakei in die nationalsozialistische Kriegswirtschaft, '' in Karl Bos!, ed. , Das Jahr 1945 in der Tschechoslowakei. Munich-Vienna: Verlag R. Oldenbourg, 1971 , pp. 115-138. (62) " Podrobenie slovenskeho priemyslu nemeckym kapitalom" (Opression of Slovak industry by German capital), Historicky Casopis, XI, 1 (1955), pp . 2-23. 24 SLOVAKIA (63) Frantisek Vnuk, ' 'Die slowakische Haltung zum Nationalsozialismus," Slowakei, IV (1966), pp. 3-9; Jozef Pauco, " Dr. Joseph Tiso : Christian Democrat," Slovakia, pp. 37-50; Karol Sidor, " O takzvanom slovenskom narodnom socializme, " (About the socalled Slovak National Socialism) , KalendarJednoty, 1964, pp . 143-153. (64) Ladislav Lipscher, "Vyvin a charakteristicke crty fa§izmu na Slovensku," (The development and the characteristics of Fascism in Slovakia), Prispevky k dejinam fa§izmu v Ceskoslovensku a Mad'arsku . Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied, 1969, pp . 9-60 ; Andrej Siracky, Klerofa§isticka ideologia ludactva. (The Clerical-Fascist ideology of the Ludaks) . Bratislava: SNPL, 1955. (65) Tiso: Una TerzaProposta. Padova: CESEO, Liviana Editrice, 1978. (66) "Josef Tiso. Katholischer Priester und Staatsprasident der Slovakei, " Slovak Studies, X (1970) , pp . 7-146. (67) Dr. Joseph Tiso and Modern Slovakia . Cleveland: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1978. (68) Po Sviitoplukovi. druha na§a hlava, (After Svatopluk, our second leader) . Middletown, Pa.: Jednota Press, 1947. (69) " Stormtroopers in Slovakia: The Rodobrana and the Hlinka Guard," Journal of Contemporary History , VI, 3 (1971), pp . 97-119. (70) " Hlinkova Garda od svojho vzniku az po salzburske rokovania (1938-1940), " (The Hlinka Guard from its creation until the Salzburg talks). Zbornik Muzea Slovenskeho Narodneho Povstania , II (1968) , pp. 167-258. (71) Ne perdes pas leur trace . Neuchatel: Daconniere , 1950. (72) "Z pamiiti," (Reminiscences , Slo venske Pohfady, LXXXIV (1968) , 6, pp. 84-99, 7, pp . 62-79 , 8, pp. 76-85 , 9, pp . 108-114 , 10, 102-110, 11 , pp . 104-107, 12, pp . 78-83. (73) Tak sme sa poznali, (And so we became acquainted). Middletown, Pa.: Slovak v Amerike, 1967.  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 State in Post-war Historiography Description An account of the resource Yeshayahu Jelinek Slovakia, Vol. 28 (No. 51-52), 1978-79 pp. 17-24 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jelínek, Yešhayahu A., 1933-2016 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978-79 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/373dcb5dcadbb689ab0d20fc92179869.pdf 21166dcc775a59692ccd3b141054bf7b PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 1978-79 Published By THE SLOVAK LEAGUE ( OF AMERICA ����SLOVAKIA VOLUME XXVIII 1978-1979 DOUBLE ISSUE NOS. 61-62 \ A Political, Science and Historical Annual Published by THE SLOVAK LEAGUE Of AMERICA MICHAEL NOVAK Executive Editor M. MARK STOLARIK Managing Editor, Book Review Editor EDITORIAL BOARD: Draga Divinska Joseph M. Kirschbaum Joseph C. Krajsa Susan Mikula Joseph A. Mikus Rev. Andrew V. Pier, O.S.B. Daniel F. Tanzone Sr. M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. BOARD OF ACADEMIC ADVISORS: David P. Daniel Thomas D. Marzik Owen V. Johnson Stanley Z. Pech M. Mark Mazurik, Chairman Mailing Address: SLOVAKIA 870 Rifle Camp Road West Paterson, N.J. 07424 ��SLOVAKIA Table of Contents An Important Notice from the Editor MichaelNovak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 A Message from the President Edward J. Behunc) k . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 A Challenge for Slovak Americans Luby Holy .. . . . ............ ...... .. .. .............. . ... 11 ARTICLES The Slovak State in Post-war Historiography YeshayahuJelinek . . ..... . ............. . ....... .. .. . .... 17 The Slovak Intelligentsia, 1918-1938 Owen V. Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 The Protestant Reformation and Slovak Ethnic Consciousness David P. Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 From Field to Factory: The Historiography of Slovak Immigration to the United States M. Mark Stolarik ............... . .... . . ... ............ .. 66 A Note for Researchers Stanley B. Kimball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 FICTION Reminiscences of a Slovak Miner George P. Resick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 The Man Who Made Good in America Thomas Bell ...... . ... ... ..... .... .. . . ................. 107 �SLOVAKIA '' Baked Blockheads' ' Frantisek Hetko .... . . . ... . . . . . . . ... . . . . . ... . . . . ... . ... . 113 The Sorrows of Marienka V. S. Koban .. ........ ............... . .. . ........ . . . .... 119 Success Story Alvena Seckar ...... . . . ... . . . ......... ... .. .. ... ........ 133 The New Spring Eudo Ondrejov . .. . ... . . .......... . .... . ..... . .......... 140 BOOK REVIEWS The Guns of Lattimer Paul Wilkes .. . . .. . . . . .. ...... . . . . . . . ... . . . . ... . . . . ..... 145 The Czechs in America; Slovaks in America June Granatir Alexander . .. . . ... . .......... . .. .. .. . . . . . . . 147 The Hussite Movement and the Reformation in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia (1350-1650) Peter Brock ..... . . ......... . . . .. . . . .. ....... . ... .. ..... 152 \ Our Contributors ... . .. .. . .. . . ... .... . ... ·. . . . . . . . . . .. ....... 155 �An Important Notice From The Editor With this double issue, representing both 1978 and 1979, SLOVAKIA hopes to establish a new schedule for annual publication. In order to have each issue out by midyear, our deadline for new manuscripts and book reviews will be set at December 31 of the preceding year. For the 1980 issue, we are particularly anxious to publish manuscripts assessing the illfated Slovak Republic, just past forty years after its birth. Manuscripts on this or other appropriate subjects must reach the editors by December 31 , 1979. Mark Stolarik, Executive Director of The Balch Institute, (18 South 7th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106) has agreed to assist me as managing editor of SLOVAKIA. All manuscripts should be mailed to him in triplicate, with a stamped, self-addressed return envelope. This procedure will facilitate consultation with our distinguished board of advisors . I once again express my gratitude to all whose labors made this double issue possible , without whose generous collaboration my task would be insuperable . MICHAEL NOV AK Editor ��A Messag·~ from the President Again, the Slovak League of America is honored to have this issue of SLOVAKIA edited by Dr. Michael Novak, our fellow Slovak American, nationally syndicated columnist, leader and professor of religion. With each issue, under his editorship, our renowned publication makes greater strides toward higher literary achievement as it outgrows its parochial outlook. We are all grateful to Michael Novak for his valuable help in this respect. This issue is the first to contain mention of the Slovak League of America Heritage Foundation, Ltd. I particularly recommend study of the excellent article on the Foundation appearing herein by Miss Luby Holy. I am certain that it will serve as an inspiration and incentive to all of you. I hope it will also result in your own active participation in our efforts to raise substantial funds for the preservation, promotion and perpetuation of our centuries-old, rich heritage of Slovak culture, arts, language and traditions. It is my earnest desire that when we close out our Slovak Heritage Drive in 1982, on the occasion of the League's 75th or diamond jubilee, we will have a well financed Foundation firmly established. This will permit our undertaking the many worthy projects yet to be fulfilled by the young generation of educated, dedicated and productive Slovak Americans, all proud of their ethnic origins. So long as the Slovak League of America, with its diverse affiliates (that is, the Slovak League of America Scholarship Fund, Inc., the American Fund for Slovak Refugees, Inc. and the Slovak League of America Heritage Foundation, Ltd.) continues, with your support, as the central cultural and civic body of the organized Slovak Americans, we can and will be able to say, as the songwriter expresses it in "Hej Slovaci": "Zije, zije duch Slovensky bude zit' na veky." ("The Slovak spirit lives, it lives, it will live forever.") EDWARD J. BEHUNCIK President ��SLOVAKIA 11 A Challenge for Slovak Americans \ ' LUBYHOLY On November 13, 1977, the Slovak League of America Executive Board met in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for no ordinary conclave. Matters discussed and implemented during this session would, in- the future, have far reaching effects for those of Slovak heritage living in the free world. For the second time in the twentieth century, a major comprehensive fund drive to benefit the causes of Slovaks was inaugurated by the Slovak League of America. This drive, a broadly based campaign being conducted to create a financial base for the preservation, promotion and advancement of the rich Slovak culture, language, and heritage, became known as the Slovak Heritage Drive of the Slovak League of America Heritage Foundation, Ltd. The idea of conducting a wide scale fund-raising campaign to amass a financial reservoir for the purpose of preserving and advancing the Slovak heritage had been circulating among Slovaks for some time prior to the actual implementation of the Slovak Heritage Drive. Impetus was given to initiating this campaign during the 70th anniversary convention of the Slovak League of America in May, 1977, when Slovak World Congress President Stephen B. Roman in his keynote address suggested that the SLA start a new million dollar drive whose monies would be used to promote the Slovak heritage and aid the collective causes of all peoples of Slovak ancestry. As added incentive to institute such a reservoir, Mr. Roman offered to himself donate a quarter of a million dollars to the fund , if all other Slovaks of the free world would collectively contribute $750,000. Following this public pledge, Slovak League officials set about laying the necessary framework to make the Slovak Heritage Drive an active entity. After 6 months of preliminary legwork and consultations, the campaign was ready to be launched, and an Executive Board meeting was called to Pittsburgh to effectuate the Drive. During this November, 1977, conclave , the Slovak League of America Heritage Foundation, Ltd. (SLAHF, Ltd.) was established as a fund-managing and distributing unit of the Slovak League , which would specifically handle monies associated with the Slovak Heritage Drive. It was decided that the Foundation would initially be managed by the Board of Directors who comprised the Executive Board of the �12 SLOVAKIA Slovak League of America. This Board consisted of Edward J. Behuncik, President; John A. Holy, Secretary; and Board Members: Michael J . Zahorsky, President of the First Catholic Slovak Union; Louise M. Yash, President of the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association; George J. Kostelnik, President of the Slovak Catholic Sokol; Irma A. Vrbancic, President of the Pennsylvania Catholic Slovak Ladies Union; Stephen J. Kavulic, President of the Pennsylvania Catholic Slovak Union; and Slovak League Executive Board members, Andrew F . Hudak and Dr. Joseph Mikula. Gregor Chren of Stratford, Connecticut, was added to the SLAHF , Ltd. Board as its Treasurer. The Foundation was later incorporated in the state of Connecticut as a non-profit, non-stock, charitable and cultural corporation, and achieved tax exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service. All contributions to the Fund would therefore be tax-deductible. The establishment of the Slovak Heritage Drive under the auspices of the SLAHF, Ltd. was meant to reinforce the credibility of national programs identified with the Drive , and to associate the Drive with the internationally respected Slovak League. Monies collected by the Slovak Heritage Drive would be allocated to: 1) Preserve and expand existing Slovak Cultural Institutions such as libraries, institutes, publications, etc.; 2) Initiate new projects and programs for the advancement of the Slovak culture and ethnicity in the United States and other countries ; 3) Publish books and informative pamphlets about the Slovak Nation and American Slovaks, including history, culture and national goals ; 4) Establish youth-oriented programs to encourage greater involvement of younger generations of Slovak Americans in our cultural activities, fraternal organizations, and Slovak 'Americ~ life in general; 5) Support projects and activities in other countries on behalf of the Slovak cause; and 6) Provide funds for situations which necessitate speedy actions and decisions in the interests of Slovaks in America and elsewhere. Thus organized, the SLAHF , Ltd . immediately set forth to accomplish its task. The first three donations, $100 from Andrew F. Hudak, $100 from John A. Holy and $250 from Edward J. Behuncik, were duly accepted and recorded by the Foundation on November 13, 1977. The Slovak Heritage Drive was officially underway. By January 6, 1978, the Slovak League of America Heritage Foundation, Ltd. deposited its first $1 ,000 of contributions into a new account at the People 's Savings Bank in Bridgeport, Connecticut. �SLOVAKIA 13 Governing Board members launched publicity campaigns for the Drive with the cooperation of the various Slovak American societies and organizations and members -of the Slovak American press such as the Jednota , Katolicky Sokol}. Slovak v Amerike , and Zenska Jednota publications, and momentum was gained. At the time of this writing (February, 1979) , approximately $19,000 has already been collected. Slovak Americans are becoming aware of the Slovak Heritage Drive 's importance and are contributing generously. Slovak League President Edward J. Behuncik and his wife Catherine , for instance , have set a fine example for others. Mr. and Mrs. Behuncik donated $5 ,000 to the Drive at the 1978 SLA Congress in Chicago in addition to their original $250 donation, and are at present the largest contributors to the Slovak Heritage Drive. To further the Drive ' s progress and to make more individuals and Slovak societies aware of the Fund and its goals, flyers and pamphlets are currently being printed. Mass mailings and an intensive publicity campaign is being planned for the coming months and years . The Slovak Heritage Drive is slated to continue until May, 1982, when the Slovak League of America celebrates its 75th anniversary. It is hoped that by this time , Slovaks in the free world will have amassed one million dollars for the fund , of which $750,000 will have come from contributions during the Drive's duration, and $250 ,000 from Mr. Roman. It has been said that the measure of dedication is that which one is willing to sacrifice. Fifty or sixty years ago, another generation of Slovak Americans was able to raise one million dollars in an heroic effort to save the Slovak nation. Surely in this age of affluence, today's Slovaks should be able to raise one million dollars for their cultural needs and self-preservation as a viable ethnic entity in the cultural mosiac that is America. The present generation of Slovak Americans has a task - indeed, an historical duty - to guarantee that its institutions of culture and its national life will not perish for want of material needs. In this duty, we must not fail. �� SLOVAKIA 1978-79 Published By THE SLOVAK LEAGUE ( OF AMERICA ����SLOVAKIA VOLUME XXVIII 1978-1979 DOUBLE ISSUE NOS. 61-62 \ A Political, Science and Historical Annual Published by THE SLOVAK LEAGUE Of AMERICA MICHAEL NOVAK Executive Editor M. MARK STOLARIK Managing Editor, Book Review Editor EDITORIAL BOARD: Draga Divinska Joseph M. Kirschbaum Joseph C. Krajsa Susan Mikula Joseph A. Mikus Rev. Andrew V. Pier, O.S.B. Daniel F. Tanzone Sr. M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. BOARD OF ACADEMIC ADVISORS: David P. Daniel Thomas D. Marzik Owen V. Johnson Stanley Z. Pech M. Mark Mazurik, Chairman Mailing Address: SLOVAKIA 870 Rifle Camp Road West Paterson, N.J. 07424 ��SLOVAKIA Table of Contents An Important Notice from the Editor MichaelNovak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 A Message from the President Edward J. Behunc) k . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 A Challenge for Slovak Americans Luby Holy .. . . . ............ ...... .. .. .............. . ... 11 ARTICLES The Slovak State in Post-war Historiography YeshayahuJelinek . . ..... . ............. . ....... .. .. . .... 17 The Slovak Intelligentsia, 1918-1938 Owen V. Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 The Protestant Reformation and Slovak Ethnic Consciousness David P. Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 From Field to Factory: The Historiography of Slovak Immigration to the United States M. Mark Stolarik ............... . .... . . ... ............ .. 66 A Note for Researchers Stanley B. Kimball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 FICTION Reminiscences of a Slovak Miner George P. Resick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 The Man Who Made Good in America Thomas Bell ...... . ... ... ..... .... .. . . ................. 107 �SLOVAKIA '' Baked Blockheads' ' Frantisek Hetko .... . . . ... . . . . . . . ... . . . . . ... . . . . ... . ... . 113 The Sorrows of Marienka V. S. Koban .. ........ ............... . .. . ........ . . . .... 119 Success Story Alvena Seckar ...... . . . ... . . . ......... ... .. .. ... ........ 133 The New Spring Eudo Ondrejov . .. . ... . . .......... . .... . ..... . .......... 140 BOOK REVIEWS The Guns of Lattimer Paul Wilkes .. . . .. . . . . .. ...... . . . . . . . ... . . . . ... . . . . ..... 145 The Czechs in America; Slovaks in America June Granatir Alexander . .. . . ... . .......... . .. .. .. . . . . . . . 147 The Hussite Movement and the Reformation in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia (1350-1650) Peter Brock ..... . . ......... . . . .. . . . .. ....... . ... .. ..... 152 \ Our Contributors ... . .. .. . .. . . ... .... . ... ·. . . . . . . . . . .. ....... 155 �An Important Notice From The Editor With this double issue, representing both 1978 and 1979, SLOVAKIA hopes to establish a new schedule for annual publication. In order to have each issue out by midyear, our deadline for new manuscripts and book reviews will be set at December 31 of the preceding year. For the 1980 issue, we are particularly anxious to publish manuscripts assessing the illfated Slovak Republic, just past forty years after its birth. Manuscripts on this or other appropriate subjects must reach the editors by December 31 , 1979. Mark Stolarik, Executive Director of The Balch Institute, (18 South 7th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106) has agreed to assist me as managing editor of SLOVAKIA. All manuscripts should be mailed to him in triplicate, with a stamped, self-addressed return envelope. This procedure will facilitate consultation with our distinguished board of advisors . I once again express my gratitude to all whose labors made this double issue possible , without whose generous collaboration my task would be insuperable . MICHAEL NOV AK Editor ��A Messag·~ from the President Again, the Slovak League of America is honored to have this issue of SLOVAKIA edited by Dr. Michael Novak, our fellow Slovak American, nationally syndicated columnist, leader and professor of religion. With each issue, under his editorship, our renowned publication makes greater strides toward higher literary achievement as it outgrows its parochial outlook. We are all grateful to Michael Novak for his valuable help in this respect. This issue is the first to contain mention of the Slovak League of America Heritage Foundation, Ltd. I particularly recommend study of the excellent article on the Foundation appearing herein by Miss Luby Holy. I am certain that it will serve as an inspiration and incentive to all of you. I hope it will also result in your own active participation in our efforts to raise substantial funds for the preservation, promotion and perpetuation of our centuries-old, rich heritage of Slovak culture, arts, language and traditions. It is my earnest desire that when we close out our Slovak Heritage Drive in 1982, on the occasion of the League's 75th or diamond jubilee, we will have a well financed Foundation firmly established. This will permit our undertaking the many worthy projects yet to be fulfilled by the young generation of educated, dedicated and productive Slovak Americans, all proud of their ethnic origins. So long as the Slovak League of America, with its diverse affiliates (that is, the Slovak League of America Scholarship Fund, Inc., the American Fund for Slovak Refugees, Inc. and the Slovak League of America Heritage Foundation, Ltd.) continues, with your support, as the central cultural and civic body of the organized Slovak Americans, we can and will be able to say, as the songwriter expresses it in "Hej Slovaci": "Zije, zije duch Slovensky bude zit' na veky." ("The Slovak spirit lives, it lives, it will live forever.") EDWARD J. BEHUNCIK President ��SLOVAKIA 11 A Challenge for Slovak Americans \ ' LUBYHOLY On November 13, 1977, the Slovak League of America Executive Board met in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for no ordinary conclave. Matters discussed and implemented during this session would, in- the future, have far reaching effects for those of Slovak heritage living in the free world. For the second time in the twentieth century, a major comprehensive fund drive to benefit the causes of Slovaks was inaugurated by the Slovak League of America. This drive, a broadly based campaign being conducted to create a financial base for the preservation, promotion and advancement of the rich Slovak culture, language, and heritage, became known as the Slovak Heritage Drive of the Slovak League of America Heritage Foundation, Ltd. The idea of conducting a wide scale fund-raising campaign to amass a financial reservoir for the purpose of preserving and advancing the Slovak heritage had been circulating among Slovaks for some time prior to the actual implementation of the Slovak Heritage Drive. Impetus was given to initiating this campaign during the 70th anniversary convention of the Slovak League of America in May, 1977, when Slovak World Congress President Stephen B. Roman in his keynote address suggested that the SLA start a new million dollar drive whose monies would be used to promote the Slovak heritage and aid the collective causes of all peoples of Slovak ancestry. As added incentive to institute such a reservoir, Mr. Roman offered to himself donate a quarter of a million dollars to the fund , if all other Slovaks of the free world would collectively contribute $750,000. Following this public pledge, Slovak League officials set about laying the necessary framework to make the Slovak Heritage Drive an active entity. After 6 months of preliminary legwork and consultations, the campaign was ready to be launched, and an Executive Board meeting was called to Pittsburgh to effectuate the Drive. During this November, 1977, conclave , the Slovak League of America Heritage Foundation, Ltd. (SLAHF, Ltd.) was established as a fund-managing and distributing unit of the Slovak League , which would specifically handle monies associated with the Slovak Heritage Drive. It was decided that the Foundation would initially be managed by the Board of Directors who comprised the Executive Board of the �12 SLOVAKIA Slovak League of America. This Board consisted of Edward J. Behuncik, President; John A. Holy, Secretary; and Board Members: Michael J . Zahorsky, President of the First Catholic Slovak Union; Louise M. Yash, President of the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association; George J. Kostelnik, President of the Slovak Catholic Sokol; Irma A. Vrbancic, President of the Pennsylvania Catholic Slovak Ladies Union; Stephen J. Kavulic, President of the Pennsylvania Catholic Slovak Union; and Slovak League Executive Board members, Andrew F . Hudak and Dr. Joseph Mikula. Gregor Chren of Stratford, Connecticut, was added to the SLAHF , Ltd. Board as its Treasurer. The Foundation was later incorporated in the state of Connecticut as a non-profit, non-stock, charitable and cultural corporation, and achieved tax exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service. All contributions to the Fund would therefore be tax-deductible. The establishment of the Slovak Heritage Drive under the auspices of the SLAHF, Ltd. was meant to reinforce the credibility of national programs identified with the Drive , and to associate the Drive with the internationally respected Slovak League. Monies collected by the Slovak Heritage Drive would be allocated to: 1) Preserve and expand existing Slovak Cultural Institutions such as libraries, institutes, publications, etc.; 2) Initiate new projects and programs for the advancement of the Slovak culture and ethnicity in the United States and other countries ; 3) Publish books and informative pamphlets about the Slovak Nation and American Slovaks, including history, culture and national goals ; 4) Establish youth-oriented programs to encourage greater involvement of younger generations of Slovak Americans in our cultural activities, fraternal organizations, and Slovak 'Americ~ life in general; 5) Support projects and activities in other countries on behalf of the Slovak cause; and 6) Provide funds for situations which necessitate speedy actions and decisions in the interests of Slovaks in America and elsewhere. Thus organized, the SLAHF , Ltd . immediately set forth to accomplish its task. The first three donations, $100 from Andrew F. Hudak, $100 from John A. Holy and $250 from Edward J. Behuncik, were duly accepted and recorded by the Foundation on November 13, 1977. The Slovak Heritage Drive was officially underway. By January 6, 1978, the Slovak League of America Heritage Foundation, Ltd. deposited its first $1 ,000 of contributions into a new account at the People 's Savings Bank in Bridgeport, Connecticut. �SLOVAKIA 13 Governing Board members launched publicity campaigns for the Drive with the cooperation of the various Slovak American societies and organizations and members -of the Slovak American press such as the Jednota , Katolicky Sokol}. Slovak v Amerike , and Zenska Jednota publications, and momentum was gained. At the time of this writing (February, 1979) , approximately $19,000 has already been collected. Slovak Americans are becoming aware of the Slovak Heritage Drive 's importance and are contributing generously. Slovak League President Edward J. Behuncik and his wife Catherine , for instance , have set a fine example for others. Mr. and Mrs. Behuncik donated $5 ,000 to the Drive at the 1978 SLA Congress in Chicago in addition to their original $250 donation, and are at present the largest contributors to the Slovak Heritage Drive. To further the Drive ' s progress and to make more individuals and Slovak societies aware of the Fund and its goals, flyers and pamphlets are currently being printed. Mass mailings and an intensive publicity campaign is being planned for the coming months and years . The Slovak Heritage Drive is slated to continue until May, 1982, when the Slovak League of America celebrates its 75th anniversary. It is hoped that by this time , Slovaks in the free world will have amassed one million dollars for the fund , of which $750,000 will have come from contributions during the Drive's duration, and $250 ,000 from Mr. Roman. It has been said that the measure of dedication is that which one is willing to sacrifice. Fifty or sixty years ago, another generation of Slovak Americans was able to raise one million dollars in an heroic effort to save the Slovak nation. Surely in this age of affluence, today's Slovaks should be able to raise one million dollars for their cultural needs and self-preservation as a viable ethnic entity in the cultural mosiac that is America. The present generation of Slovak Americans has a task - indeed, an historical duty - to guarantee that its institutions of culture and its national life will not perish for want of material needs. In this duty, we must not fail. �� 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 1978-79, Vol. 28 Description An account of the resource Vol. 28 (No. 51-52), 1978-79. 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 1978-79 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 1978-79 Published By THE SLOVAK LEAGUE ( OF AMERICA SLOVAKIA VOLUME XXVIII 1978-1979 DOUBLE ISSUE NOS. 61-62 \ A Political, Science and Historical Annual Published by THE SLOVAK LEAGUE Of AMERICA MICHAEL NOVAK Executive Editor M. MARK STOLARIK Managing Editor, Book Review Editor EDITORIAL BOARD: Draga Divinska Joseph M. Kirschbaum Joseph C. Krajsa Susan Mikula Joseph A. Mikus Rev. Andrew V. Pier, O.S.B. Daniel F. Tanzone Sr. M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. BOARD OF ACADEMIC ADVISORS: David P. Daniel Thomas D. Marzik Owen V. Johnson Stanley Z. Pech M. Mark Mazurik, Chairman Mailing Address: SLOVAKIA 870 Rifle Camp Road West Paterson, N.J. 07424 SLOVAKIA Table of Contents An Important Notice from the Editor MichaelNovak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 A Message from the President Edward J. Behunc) k . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 A Challenge for Slovak Americans Luby Holy .. . . . ............ ...... .. .. .............. . ... 11 ARTICLES The Slovak State in Post-war Historiography YeshayahuJelinek . . ..... . ............. . ....... .. .. . .... 17 The Slovak Intelligentsia, 1918-1938 Owen V. Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 The Protestant Reformation and Slovak Ethnic Consciousness David P. Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 From Field to Factory: The Historiography of Slovak Immigration to the United States M. Mark Stolarik ............... . .... . . ... ............ .. 66 A Note for Researchers Stanley B. Kimball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 FICTION Reminiscences of a Slovak Miner George P. Resick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 The Man Who Made Good in America Thomas Bell ...... . ... ... ..... .... .. . . ................. 107 SLOVAKIA '' Baked Blockheads' ' Frantisek Hetko .... . . . ... . . . . . . . ... . . . . . ... . . . . ... . ... . 113 The Sorrows of Marienka V. S. Koban .. ........ ............... . .. . ........ . . . .... 119 Success Story Alvena Seckar ...... . . . ... . . . ......... ... .. .. ... ........ 133 The New Spring Eudo Ondrejov . .. . ... . . .......... . .... . ..... . .......... 140 BOOK REVIEWS The Guns of Lattimer Paul Wilkes .. . . .. . . . . .. ...... . . . . . . . ... . . . . ... . . . . ..... 145 The Czechs in America; Slovaks in America June Granatir Alexander . .. . . ... . .......... . .. .. .. . . . . . . . 147 The Hussite Movement and the Reformation in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia (1350-1650) Peter Brock ..... . . ......... . . . .. . . . .. ....... . ... .. ..... 152 \ Our Contributors ... . .. .. . .. . . ... .... . ... ·. . . . . . . . . . .. ....... 155 An Important Notice From The Editor With this double issue, representing both 1978 and 1979, SLOVAKIA hopes to establish a new schedule for annual publication. In order to have each issue out by midyear, our deadline for new manuscripts and book reviews will be set at December 31 of the preceding year. For the 1980 issue, we are particularly anxious to publish manuscripts assessing the illfated Slovak Republic, just past forty years after its birth. Manuscripts on this or other appropriate subjects must reach the editors by December 31 , 1979. Mark Stolarik, Executive Director of The Balch Institute, (18 South 7th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106) has agreed to assist me as managing editor of SLOVAKIA. All manuscripts should be mailed to him in triplicate, with a stamped, self-addressed return envelope. This procedure will facilitate consultation with our distinguished board of advisors . I once again express my gratitude to all whose labors made this double issue possible , without whose generous collaboration my task would be insuperable . MICHAEL NOV AK Editor A Messag·~ from the President Again, the Slovak League of America is honored to have this issue of SLOVAKIA edited by Dr. Michael Novak, our fellow Slovak American, nationally syndicated columnist, leader and professor of religion. With each issue, under his editorship, our renowned publication makes greater strides toward higher literary achievement as it outgrows its parochial outlook. We are all grateful to Michael Novak for his valuable help in this respect. This issue is the first to contain mention of the Slovak League of America Heritage Foundation, Ltd. I particularly recommend study of the excellent article on the Foundation appearing herein by Miss Luby Holy. I am certain that it will serve as an inspiration and incentive to all of you. I hope it will also result in your own active participation in our efforts to raise substantial funds for the preservation, promotion and perpetuation of our centuries-old, rich heritage of Slovak culture, arts, language and traditions. It is my earnest desire that when we close out our Slovak Heritage Drive in 1982, on the occasion of the League's 75th or diamond jubilee, we will have a well financed Foundation firmly established. This will permit our undertaking the many worthy projects yet to be fulfilled by the young generation of educated, dedicated and productive Slovak Americans, all proud of their ethnic origins. So long as the Slovak League of America, with its diverse affiliates (that is, the Slovak League of America Scholarship Fund, Inc., the American Fund for Slovak Refugees, Inc. and the Slovak League of America Heritage Foundation, Ltd.) continues, with your support, as the central cultural and civic body of the organized Slovak Americans, we can and will be able to say, as the songwriter expresses it in "Hej Slovaci": "Zije, zije duch Slovensky bude zit' na veky." ("The Slovak spirit lives, it lives, it will live forever.") EDWARD J. BEHUNCIK President SLOVAKIA 11 A Challenge for Slovak Americans \ ' LUBYHOLY On November 13, 1977, the Slovak League of America Executive Board met in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for no ordinary conclave. Matters discussed and implemented during this session would, in- the future, have far reaching effects for those of Slovak heritage living in the free world. For the second time in the twentieth century, a major comprehensive fund drive to benefit the causes of Slovaks was inaugurated by the Slovak League of America. This drive, a broadly based campaign being conducted to create a financial base for the preservation, promotion and advancement of the rich Slovak culture, language, and heritage, became known as the Slovak Heritage Drive of the Slovak League of America Heritage Foundation, Ltd. The idea of conducting a wide scale fund-raising campaign to amass a financial reservoir for the purpose of preserving and advancing the Slovak heritage had been circulating among Slovaks for some time prior to the actual implementation of the Slovak Heritage Drive. Impetus was given to initiating this campaign during the 70th anniversary convention of the Slovak League of America in May, 1977, when Slovak World Congress President Stephen B. Roman in his keynote address suggested that the SLA start a new million dollar drive whose monies would be used to promote the Slovak heritage and aid the collective causes of all peoples of Slovak ancestry. As added incentive to institute such a reservoir, Mr. Roman offered to himself donate a quarter of a million dollars to the fund , if all other Slovaks of the free world would collectively contribute $750,000. Following this public pledge, Slovak League officials set about laying the necessary framework to make the Slovak Heritage Drive an active entity. After 6 months of preliminary legwork and consultations, the campaign was ready to be launched, and an Executive Board meeting was called to Pittsburgh to effectuate the Drive. During this November, 1977, conclave , the Slovak League of America Heritage Foundation, Ltd. (SLAHF, Ltd.) was established as a fund-managing and distributing unit of the Slovak League , which would specifically handle monies associated with the Slovak Heritage Drive. It was decided that the Foundation would initially be managed by the Board of Directors who comprised the Executive Board of the 12 SLOVAKIA Slovak League of America. This Board consisted of Edward J. Behuncik, President; John A. Holy, Secretary; and Board Members: Michael J . Zahorsky, President of the First Catholic Slovak Union; Louise M. Yash, President of the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association; George J. Kostelnik, President of the Slovak Catholic Sokol; Irma A. Vrbancic, President of the Pennsylvania Catholic Slovak Ladies Union; Stephen J. Kavulic, President of the Pennsylvania Catholic Slovak Union; and Slovak League Executive Board members, Andrew F . Hudak and Dr. Joseph Mikula. Gregor Chren of Stratford, Connecticut, was added to the SLAHF , Ltd. Board as its Treasurer. The Foundation was later incorporated in the state of Connecticut as a non-profit, non-stock, charitable and cultural corporation, and achieved tax exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service. All contributions to the Fund would therefore be tax-deductible. The establishment of the Slovak Heritage Drive under the auspices of the SLAHF, Ltd. was meant to reinforce the credibility of national programs identified with the Drive , and to associate the Drive with the internationally respected Slovak League. Monies collected by the Slovak Heritage Drive would be allocated to: 1) Preserve and expand existing Slovak Cultural Institutions such as libraries, institutes, publications, etc.; 2) Initiate new projects and programs for the advancement of the Slovak culture and ethnicity in the United States and other countries ; 3) Publish books and informative pamphlets about the Slovak Nation and American Slovaks, including history, culture and national goals ; 4) Establish youth-oriented programs to encourage greater involvement of younger generations of Slovak Americans in our cultural activities, fraternal organizations, and Slovak 'Americ~ life in general; 5) Support projects and activities in other countries on behalf of the Slovak cause; and 6) Provide funds for situations which necessitate speedy actions and decisions in the interests of Slovaks in America and elsewhere. Thus organized, the SLAHF , Ltd . immediately set forth to accomplish its task. The first three donations, $100 from Andrew F. Hudak, $100 from John A. Holy and $250 from Edward J. Behuncik, were duly accepted and recorded by the Foundation on November 13, 1977. The Slovak Heritage Drive was officially underway. By January 6, 1978, the Slovak League of America Heritage Foundation, Ltd. deposited its first $1 ,000 of contributions into a new account at the People 's Savings Bank in Bridgeport, Connecticut. SLOVAKIA 13 Governing Board members launched publicity campaigns for the Drive with the cooperation of the various Slovak American societies and organizations and members -of the Slovak American press such as the Jednota , Katolicky Sokol}. Slovak v Amerike , and Zenska Jednota publications, and momentum was gained. At the time of this writing (February, 1979) , approximately $19,000 has already been collected. Slovak Americans are becoming aware of the Slovak Heritage Drive 's importance and are contributing generously. Slovak League President Edward J. Behuncik and his wife Catherine , for instance , have set a fine example for others. Mr. and Mrs. Behuncik donated $5 ,000 to the Drive at the 1978 SLA Congress in Chicago in addition to their original $250 donation, and are at present the largest contributors to the Slovak Heritage Drive. To further the Drive ' s progress and to make more individuals and Slovak societies aware of the Fund and its goals, flyers and pamphlets are currently being printed. Mass mailings and an intensive publicity campaign is being planned for the coming months and years . The Slovak Heritage Drive is slated to continue until May, 1982, when the Slovak League of America celebrates its 75th anniversary. It is hoped that by this time , Slovaks in the free world will have amassed one million dollars for the fund , of which $750,000 will have come from contributions during the Drive's duration, and $250 ,000 from Mr. Roman. It has been said that the measure of dedication is that which one is willing to sacrifice. Fifty or sixty years ago, another generation of Slovak Americans was able to raise one million dollars in an heroic effort to save the Slovak nation. Surely in this age of affluence, today's Slovaks should be able to raise one million dollars for their cultural needs and self-preservation as a viable ethnic entity in the cultural mosiac that is America. The present generation of Slovak Americans has a task - indeed, an historical duty - to guarantee that its institutions of culture and its national life will not perish for want of material needs. In this duty, we must not fail.  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. 28 (No. 51-52) Description An account of the resource includes An Important Notice from the Editor (Michael Novak); A Message from the President (Edward J. Behuncik); A Challenge for Slovak Americans (Luby Holy) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Novak, Michael, 1933-2017 Behuncik, Edward J. Holy, Luby Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978-79 LCNAF+dates name 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 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/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/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/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/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/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/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/ae72ad20320a50fc785e801b2602e879.pdf 86f44198a453e1c904f5c7f2ff96e7e1 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 175 CONTRIBUTORS DA YID P. DANIEL is in the Department of Historical Theology at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. A graduate of Pennsylvania State University, he has published many articles on Slovak Reformation history and is active in several organizations on European history . MARIE-ELIZABETH DUCREUX is in the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris. Not of Slavic extraction herself, she has just completed her doctoral dissertation on Czech hymnology at the Sorbonne. F.G. GALAN is at the University of Texas in Austin, where his speciality is literary theory and semiotics. His book on the semiotics of film was recently published and one on the Prague Circle is expected shortly . WILLIAM E . HARKINS is at Columbia University, where he has been a pioneer of both Czech and Slovak studies, besides his work in Russian. He has long been active in national and international Slavic organizations. EV A SUSAN KUCEKOVA teaches Czech and Slovak at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey. She recently completed her dissertation on folk literature at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. PETER PETRO teaches comparative literature , Slovak, and Russian at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. His book on four modern satirists was rece ntl y published by M outon , a nd he is prepa ring an English history of modern Slovak literature. NORMAL. RUDINSKY is at Oregon Sta te University in Co rvallis. She has tra nsl ated stories by M a rtin Kukucfn and is currentl y prepa ring a collection of stories by Bozena Slan cfkov a Timrava. G ERALD J. SABO is at j ohn Carroll U nive rsity in Cleveland . His Yale dissertation will be published as a critical edition ofHugolfn G avlovic's Valaska Skala , and he is preparin g a n En glish hi story of earl y Slovak literature . JAROS LAV J. VAJDA is a n editor at Concordia Press, St. Louis, but is best known as a transla tor of Slovak poe try, including Hviezd oslav , Kras ko, and J anko Kral' . �176 SLOVAKIA Guidelines for Manuscripts Manuscripts of articles for possible publication should be sent to the editor . Articles should normally not exceed twenty-five pages in length , and should be submitted in triplicate, typed double-spaced, with generous margins for copyeditin g. Footnotes should also be typed double-spaced , numbered , and placed at the end of the paper. T ext and format should adhere to the style outlined in Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers. Proper orthography and diacritical m arks 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 editor. Unsolicited book reviews are not encouraged . Individuals who wish to review books should request them from the 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. ��THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA Organized in 1907 at Cleveland , Ohio EDWARD J . BEHUNCIK, K.S.G. President JOHN A . HOLY Secretary-Treasurer DANIEL F. TANZONE Vice Presidents ANNEZ. SAROSY MICHAEL BUCKO Executive Committee Edward J . Behuncik, John A . Holy, Andrew F. Hudak, Jr ., George N. Kantor Michael J . Krajsa , Louise M. Yash , Cecelia Sarocky, Margaret Pilosi , 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 George Chura - Ohio Joseph Fecik - Michigan Ivan Kralik - Illinois Bernadine Wandke - Wisconsin Matthew Zvada - California John Hvasta - Washington, D.C. , Virginia Joseph Valen cik Auditors : Dolores J . Soska Paul Brunovsky SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS (Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK LADIES ASSOCIATION Cleveland , Ohio FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION OF THE U.S . AND CANADA Cleveland , Ohio SLOVAK CATHOLIC SOKOL Passaic, N.J. NATIONAL SLOVAK SOCIETY OF THE U.S.A. Pittsburgh, Pa. LADIES PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . FIRST SLOVAK WREATH OF THE FREE EAGLE Bridgeport, Conn. SLOVAK NEWSPAPERMEN ' S ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Joseph C. Krajsa , K.S.G., President SLOVAKIA $6.00 per annum Printed By JEDNOTA PRINTERY Middletown , Pennsylvania 17057 U.S.A . � SLOVAKIA 175 CONTRIBUTORS DA YID P. DANIEL is in the Department of Historical Theology at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. A graduate of Pennsylvania State University, he has published many articles on Slovak Reformation history and is active in several organizations on European history . MARIE-ELIZABETH DUCREUX is in the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris. Not of Slavic extraction herself, she has just completed her doctoral dissertation on Czech hymnology at the Sorbonne. F.G. GALAN is at the University of Texas in Austin, where his speciality is literary theory and semiotics. His book on the semiotics of film was recently published and one on the Prague Circle is expected shortly . WILLIAM E . HARKINS is at Columbia University, where he has been a pioneer of both Czech and Slovak studies, besides his work in Russian. He has long been active in national and international Slavic organizations. EV A SUSAN KUCEKOVA teaches Czech and Slovak at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey. She recently completed her dissertation on folk literature at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. PETER PETRO teaches comparative literature , Slovak, and Russian at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. His book on four modern satirists was rece ntl y published by M outon , a nd he is prepa ring an English history of modern Slovak literature. NORMAL. RUDINSKY is at Oregon Sta te University in Co rvallis. She has tra nsl ated stories by M a rtin Kukucfn and is currentl y prepa ring a collection of stories by Bozena Slan cfkov a Timrava. G ERALD J. SABO is at j ohn Carroll U nive rsity in Cleveland . His Yale dissertation will be published as a critical edition ofHugolfn G avlovic's Valaska Skala , and he is preparin g a n En glish hi story of earl y Slovak literature . JAROS LAV J. VAJDA is a n editor at Concordia Press, St. Louis, but is best known as a transla tor of Slovak poe try, including Hviezd oslav , Kras ko, and J anko Kral' . �176 SLOVAKIA Guidelines for Manuscripts Manuscripts of articles for possible publication should be sent to the editor . Articles should normally not exceed twenty-five pages in length , and should be submitted in triplicate, typed double-spaced, with generous margins for copyeditin g. Footnotes should also be typed double-spaced , numbered , and placed at the end of the paper. T ext and format should adhere to the style outlined in Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers. Proper orthography and diacritical m arks 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 editor. Unsolicited book reviews are not encouraged . Individuals who wish to review books should request them from the 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. ��THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA Organized in 1907 at Cleveland , Ohio EDWARD J . BEHUNCIK, K.S.G. President JOHN A . HOLY Secretary-Treasurer DANIEL F. TANZONE Vice Presidents ANNEZ. SAROSY MICHAEL BUCKO Executive Committee Edward J . Behuncik, John A . Holy, Andrew F. Hudak, Jr ., George N. Kantor Michael J . Krajsa , Louise M. Yash , Cecelia Sarocky, Margaret Pilosi , 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 George Chura - Ohio Joseph Fecik - Michigan Ivan Kralik - Illinois Bernadine Wandke - Wisconsin Matthew Zvada - California John Hvasta - Washington, D.C. , Virginia Joseph Valen cik Auditors : Dolores J . Soska Paul Brunovsky SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS (Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK LADIES ASSOCIATION Cleveland , Ohio FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION OF THE U.S . AND CANADA Cleveland , Ohio SLOVAK CATHOLIC SOKOL Passaic, N.J. NATIONAL SLOVAK SOCIETY OF THE U.S.A. Pittsburgh, Pa. LADIES PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . FIRST SLOVAK WREATH OF THE FREE EAGLE Bridgeport, Conn. SLOVAK NEWSPAPERMEN ' S ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Joseph C. Krajsa , K.S.G., President 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 1982-83, Vol. 30 Description An account of the resource Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83. 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 1982-83 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 175 CONTRIBUTORS DA YID P. DANIEL is in the Department of Historical Theology at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. A graduate of Pennsylvania State University, he has published many articles on Slovak Reformation history and is active in several organizations on European history . MARIE-ELIZABETH DUCREUX is in the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris. Not of Slavic extraction herself, she has just completed her doctoral dissertation on Czech hymnology at the Sorbonne. F.G. GALAN is at the University of Texas in Austin, where his speciality is literary theory and semiotics. His book on the semiotics of film was recently published and one on the Prague Circle is expected shortly . WILLIAM E . HARKINS is at Columbia University, where he has been a pioneer of both Czech and Slovak studies, besides his work in Russian. He has long been active in national and international Slavic organizations. EV A SUSAN KUCEKOVA teaches Czech and Slovak at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey. She recently completed her dissertation on folk literature at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. PETER PETRO teaches comparative literature , Slovak, and Russian at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. His book on four modern satirists was rece ntl y published by M outon , a nd he is prepa ring an English history of modern Slovak literature. NORMAL. RUDINSKY is at Oregon Sta te University in Co rvallis. She has tra nsl ated stories by M a rtin Kukucfn and is currentl y prepa ring a collection of stories by Bozena Slan cfkov a Timrava. G ERALD J. SABO is at j ohn Carroll U nive rsity in Cleveland . His Yale dissertation will be published as a critical edition ofHugolfn G avlovic's Valaska Skala , and he is preparin g a n En glish hi story of earl y Slovak literature . JAROS LAV J. VAJDA is a n editor at Concordia Press, St. Louis, but is best known as a transla tor of Slovak poe try, including Hviezd oslav , Kras ko, and J anko Kral' . 176 SLOVAKIA Guidelines for Manuscripts Manuscripts of articles for possible publication should be sent to the editor . Articles should normally not exceed twenty-five pages in length , and should be submitted in triplicate, typed double-spaced, with generous margins for copyeditin g. Footnotes should also be typed double-spaced , numbered , and placed at the end of the paper. T ext and format should adhere to the style outlined in Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers. Proper orthography and diacritical m arks 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 editor. Unsolicited book reviews are not encouraged . Individuals who wish to review books should request them from the 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. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA Organized in 1907 at Cleveland , Ohio EDWARD J . BEHUNCIK, K.S.G. President JOHN A . HOLY Secretary-Treasurer DANIEL F. TANZONE Vice Presidents ANNEZ. SAROSY MICHAEL BUCKO Executive Committee Edward J . Behuncik, John A . Holy, Andrew F. Hudak, Jr ., George N. Kantor Michael J . Krajsa , Louise M. Yash , Cecelia Sarocky, Margaret Pilosi , 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 George Chura - Ohio Joseph Fecik - Michigan Ivan Kralik - Illinois Bernadine Wandke - Wisconsin Matthew Zvada - California John Hvasta - Washington, D.C. , Virginia Joseph Valen cik Auditors : Dolores J . Soska Paul Brunovsky SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS (Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK LADIES ASSOCIATION Cleveland , Ohio FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION OF THE U.S . AND CANADA Cleveland , Ohio SLOVAK CATHOLIC SOKOL Passaic, N.J. NATIONAL SLOVAK SOCIETY OF THE U.S.A. Pittsburgh, Pa. LADIES PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . FIRST SLOVAK WREATH OF THE FREE EAGLE Bridgeport, Conn. SLOVAK NEWSPAPERMEN ' S ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Joseph C. Krajsa , K.S.G., President 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. 30 (No. 55-56) Description An account of the resource includes Contributors; Guidelines for Manuscripts Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6f50096647bd83ac201a87921054fd17.pdf 072cbb36f515d5c2bab1ba9c2a65b086 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 165 The Lyrical Prose of Vincent Sikula Peter Petro Of the three outstanding Slovak literary movements - romanticism, surrealism, and lyrical prose - only the last one is still with us, though echoes of the Romantic school can be found in both surrealist poetry and lyrical prose. It is not really surprising that the world knows little about Slovak romanticism; other romantic schools in more influential European literatures easily overshadow this late bloomer. As for surrealist poetry, though some information about it, together with a few translations, appeared recently, 1 they cannot communicate more than a flavor of the movement that would doubtless be more known had it not flourished during the war, when communication with the rest of the world was lessened. After the war, the movement was officially banned. Thus we are left with lyrical prose. Lyrical prose is sometimes identified with expressionism, but since the examples of expressionism offered by handbooks include Joyce ' s Finnegans Wake and Kafka's Trial, it seems there is a need to differentiate expressionism from lyrical prose, inasmuch as the works of Jozef Cfger Hronsky, Milo Urban, and Vincent Sikula - the major Slovak practitioners of this genre - have very little in common indeed with Joyce and Kafka . The difference would lie in the quintessential role that the village plays in the work of these Slovak authors . This is not merely a question of thematics: urban writers like Joyce and Kafka versus the Slovaks who write about the village. The difference lies rather in the world of the Slovak village and in the world view that the village inspires as the repository of traditional life long extinct in the more advanced western Europe . I think this was understood very clearly by J.C. Hronsky , when he said: " The Slovak village, despite all its simplicity, has its depth , and it is a more mysterious depth than anyone would guess judging by a superficial look. " i The village is closer to God than the city. N eed one say that thi s realization is by no means unique, that the traditional life has always been connected in literature with the country, that in fact we are dealing with an ancient topos found in the earliest �166 SLOVAKIA literature ? What is then the specificity of Slovak lyrical prose? Perhaps a brief look at the work of Vincent Sikula, the contemporary representative of the genre, might offer us the answer. Vincent Sikula, born in 1936 , is fully aware that representing the school of lyrical prose, and following such giants as Hronsky and Urban , placed him in an enviable , though necessarily responsible position. But he is a worthy disciple . Moreover, he does not lack a certain flair for self-promotion, so very important for an author from a little known literature. He even managed to provoke some interest in his biography , when he alluded, somewhat mysteriously , to his years spent in a monastery. This would explain, at least partially, his abiding interest in and constant reference to the Church . Thus, he puzzles and even infuriates those of his critics who are dependent on the official Marxist pseudo-religion and, consequently, hate Catholicism. This is not to say that he is clearly a religious author: we look in vain for the mysticism , that , for example , is such a prominent feature of Hronsky's prose . 3 This puzzlement is visible in the variety of critical responses to Sikula' s work that Pavol Stevcek divided into three groups : the critics who are enthusiastic about Sikula (Vincent Sabfk, Julius Noge, Ivan Sulfk) ; those with doubts about the author ' s method (Vladimir Mirnic, Bretislav Truhlar, Jan Stevcek); and those radically opposed to Sikula (as is Daniel Okali). ◄ It should be pointed out in all fairness that being opposed by Daniel Okali is highly desirable , since he suffers from a chronic case of Zhdanovism and is suspicious of anything that bears an unmistakable sign of originality. It seems that Sikula takes for granted the accomplishments of Hronsky and Urban, and does not try to duplicate their efforts. Rather, Sikula uses their work as a secure base on which to build his often precarious narrative structures that, as was the case with Hronsky, depend so heavily on the dialogue, and also on the lyricism of the first person narrator . Hronsky found out that "in the distant villages, far away from civilization, below gigantic forests, and under the huge cupola of the heavens, the world is peaceful, awesome, and silent. And this silence is the expression of a great divinity. Disturbances are always pitifully small and engineered by us , men . That is what I sensed out there, in the mountains .. . ' ' 5 However, Sikula ' s village is not so far away from civilization , as was Hronsky's. The fact that Sikula writes about the western Slovakian �SLOVAKIA 167 villages that are close to the c1t1es is perhaps a sign of encroaching modernization: his villagers have a lot of contact with the city and know more than Hronsky's. At the same time, Sikula preserves their natural, traditional frame of mind as if forgetting, or perhaps purposefully ignoring, their loss of innocence and their new-found knowledge . Thus, one of Sikula's early stories opens with a whimsical introduction where the narrator's loneliness is accentuated by the apparent emptiness of the village over which echoes the narrator's loud call: I shout across the village, and nobody answers . Only the road about which people sing meanders ahead of me like a girl ' s braid . I am shouting. When a man walks along the road, he often has to call out to the man walking ahead of him . Who could it be? Who could it be, walking ahead of me? If it is a man , he will have a match, if a girl, I shall see her home. It does not become one to walk alone, whether someone walks ahead of me or behind me. 6 In reading Sikula' s lyrical narration we are struck again and again by the apparent non sequiturs that somehow manage to coalesce into a meaningful narrative at the end of a particular section or story. This is even more striking in Sikula's dialogue, which throws light on how one and the same incident is perceived in two villages, recreating the peasant language: - Do you know they caught a spy in Brusky? - Nonsense! - They really did. - What ' s his name? - Mucka . - Mucka? - Come on! - I know a Mucka. - Me too . - Me too. - Me too. - Mucka worked for Ringos, didn't he? - Yes, for Ringos. - He worked for everyone! - Mucka must be an old man now . �SLOVAKIA 168 - He is . Who would have thought that about him, tell me! Mucka? A spy? You must be kidding! They say he had a gang too, would you believe that! He sent a note to Ringos . No kidding! Really! To Ringos? Mucka . A note? He sold the lumber. Lumber? A saw. To Ringos? You're kidding! They've got him. They don't. 7 In the village Brusky itself, the same event is discussed as a rumor about a shooting at Ringos' s farm. - Who was shooting? Ringos? -No . - And the police? - What would they do with him? - It was like this: Ringos's cow was bloated because he let her feed on fresh clover. - Ringos does not even own a cow. - Ringos? - Well, he does not. - Then you don't know him . - He used to own cows. - He used to. - Ringos founded a cooperative in Ostrica. - His cow was bloated and so he went to have a look at her at night. - He does not have a cow. As soon as he founded the co-op, he got rid of everything. - Good idea. �SLOVAKIA 169 - You're all so stupid! - Who told you? - He did . - Maybe he was dreaming. - How could he have been dreaming, if he walked along the courtyard and watched the cow? - He is all upset. - He had a stroke . - A heart attack! - Ringos? - Futka. - Then what are you babbling about? - Who knows if he had a stroke, when they found him in the vineyard? - Have they called the doctor? - They have. - What did he say? - Nothing. - A heart attack! - But they say that Mucka sent a note to somebody. - To Belus . - To Ringos . - To Futka. - I don't know what you're talking about. - He sent it to Futka. - To Belus . And so on. Where is the truth of the matter, of any matter? In Sikula, the truth does emerge at the end of the story, novel, or trilogy, but it is available only to the narrator and the reader following the sum total of experiences, hints , possibilities and events that are, as in the examples of Sikula's dialogue, open to doubts. Thus, Sikula often trivializes and relativizes events, leading us to the conclusion that they are not really important to him , suggesting, perhaps , that they should not be important to us either. He is much more interested in the lyrical quality of his narrative. And this would mean, in Sikula's case, the re-invention of the child's innocence, naivety, and simplicity. It would mean adopting a consciously nostalgic approach, presenting the world as seen through the eyes of a child , even when the narrator is obviously mature. Sikula's dialogues �170 SLOVAKIA are conversations overheard by a child who hears the sounds, understands the words , and yet lacks enough experience to enter fully into the significance of the overheard communication . Not so the reader. Consequently, we witness a tension between the world that, so to speak, does not make sense to the narrator, and the same world accessible to the reader. Reading Sikula means adjusting ourselves to both levels. For some, such adjustment is difficult, as it is for the critics who have doubts about Sikula. For others still, adjustment is out of the question. Daniel Okali cannot bear to see the mythologized Slovak National Uprising of 1944 distorted, as he would have it, by a child-like lyrical narrator. The legend of the Uprising has to be preserved. There must only be one official version, nothing more . To lyricize, that is to say, to relativize and trivialize this legend is a sacrilege to Okali. But this is exactly what Sikula has done with his trilogy Majstri (The Craftsmen, 1976), Muskat (The Geranium, 1977), and Vilma (1979) . Okali misses in the trilogy the expression of the '' historic-social dimension of Slovak fascism, the complex historic and artistic truth, its ideational-aesthetic presentation in its dialectic contradictions and nakedness.' ' 9 It is not easy to satisfy Okali. But Sikula seemed untouched by Okali's attack that came before the appearance of the last volume of the trilogy, Vilma. On the contrary, he dared to issue a new challenge to the likes of Okali, refusing to accept the official explanation of history as finite . Everything must be available to the lyrical narrator , everything can be endowed with new content, everything should be open for lyrical transformation. As he says in Vilma: Friends , history is written by the people! But of course! And who writes the books? If only the historians reminded us of it again! If only they reminded us of it more often! Historical fact is a bag which has to be filled! Who said that? I don't remember. Even so, historical fact is a bag that has to be filled and that's that! One has to save, save the bag! Even the bag, my friends! 10 And on the opening page of Vilma, Sikula, as if to underscore his contempt for dogmatic criticism , continues unruffied with his lyrical narrator: Oftentimes I don't even know why some people are angry with me. Maybe I do know, but I don't always admit it. People don't like to admit they have faults. I 'm like that too. �SLOVAKIA 171 M aybe I do m ake a mistake now and then, and maybe more than one. But who is without faults ? You tell me! When I look a t you som etimes, it seems to me that you are looking at m e too . But ifl turn away and look elsewhere, I can think that you too stopped looking at m e. Let's say I am still a little boy. For a short time I have even served as an altar boy . I know by heart the confiteor and suscipiat. But ifl put on the white shirt and robe which went so nicely with a white, red , or violet collar - and I used to be so proud, not realizing that I looked like an angel with tussled hair, at least I see myself like that now , although today I could hardly join my hands and piously lower m y eyes, and even if I could - as soon as I would appear in a clean and freshly ironed robe in front of the altar, no matter how pious m y expression , I guess the priest would get scared and the once sinful and now already devout little old ladies who never miss a single mass would perhaps run out of the church. You better not consider me an altar boy any more! But even so, I am still a little boy. W e have to play this little theatrical to the end. 11 Again the disjointed style with its seemingly irrelevant insertions and naive parenthetical comments , again the evocation of childhood . Once the reader accepts su ch a narrator , he has to put up with his point of view, that is , with the other level of the narrative introduced by the third paragraph: ''When I look at you sometimes, it seems to me that you are lookin g at me too. But if I turn away and look elsewhere, I can think that you too stopped looking at m e.'' Of course, this only seems irrelevant: the reader soon finds out that the statement is d esigned to make a tran siti on to the lyrical narrative and to a nchor it in the psychology characterized by a childlike wonder and circum scribed by the world of the vill age. T o a citified modern man , the villager is like a child. Sikula accepts this premise and peoples his works with childlike peasants, eccentrics , and even weird characters who all communicate naturally and easily with the lyrical n arrator. P erhaps the n arrator does not understand them , the same as he does not understand the events of the Upri sing that angered Okali . But he does convey to u s their essential quality , essential in the sense that it is raw, unprocessed , and reported �172 SLOVAKIA with the kind of objectivity accessible to a child or a villager who both perceive the world on a level that may seem superficial to a modem man, but which does not lack its depth, as Hronsky reminded us. When the peasants argue about what really happened in Brusky, when they try to find out whether Mucka is a spy, or whether Ringos suffered a stroke or a heart attack, the truth of the matter takes second place to the new happening that looms larger, namely to the conversation itself. The conversation is an event happening in the now immediately accessible to a peasant. It is something that he understands , it is the very stuff of life. The rumors about Mucka and Ringos belong to a bewitched circle outside their reach and control and are as unimportant to them as the past is to a child . It may be objected that Sikula distorts his peasants and gives us a false picture of the village, particularly if we bear in mind that he is writing about the western Slovakian village that, one has to stress, has never been isolated the way villages were (and some still are) in the upper Hron area, or in the Orava region. The answer to this is that he does distort , but that this very distortion is the main charm of his work . And Sikula is not alone. He is a part of a very wide movement indeed, a movement that includes the Russian derevenshchiki, or village writers, and many authors in other Slavic literatures. The movement, it seems, is Slavic literature's reaction to the modem uprootedness that followed the Second World War. The West has experienced uprootedness as well, but it was a process that started long ago and went on for centuries . Not so in the Slavic countries. A good case could be made to show how the sudden changes occasioned by the two wars, and eve n more by the coming of social engineering on a gigantic scale coupled with a war on traditional life with its faults and great virtues, led to the loss of values, bemoaned so often in the W est and East, and to the emptiness that. this nostalgic literary movement tries to fill. This wider perspective might help us to situate Vincent Sikula's work within the native Slovak literary tradition of lyrical prose, but also in the emerging trends appearing elsewhere in the Slavic literary world, wherein the village reappears forcefully in the guise of the national conscience, of the very soul of the nation, despite the sad fact that the traditional village and all that it implies has in the meantime been modernized and no longer exists. Thus, Sikula does not go wrong when he places the action of his �SLOVAKIA 17 3 work in villages that are so close to the cities. We may assume that they are modernized or citified to an extent that should make the planners and social engineers who would like to erase the difference between the village and the city feel proud. He does not go wrong , because it is not so much the village as the village m entality that he would like to preserve in his work. Sikula's village is no lon ger the mysterious site cut off from the corrupting influences of the city, a lost domain preserved and embedded in the crystal of fi ction , as it is in Hronsky . It survives in Sikula's work in the village m entality which he sees as a precious remnant of the traditional life , as a tonic against the ailment of modern uprootedness, and finally as the lyrical soul of a child in abiding wonderment, illuminating a world that has lost its soul. NOTES ' See my " Slovak Surrealist Poetry : The M ovement and Its Rediscove ry," Canadian Slavonic Papers, Vol. XX , No . 2 Gune 1978), pp . 237-244, a nd "Slovak Surrealist P arty," Prism Intern ational , Vol. XV , N os. 2 and 3 (Summer- Fall 1976), pp. 146-164 . ' Quoted in Alexander M atuska, J. C . Hronsky, rpt. in Osobnosti (Bratislava : Slovensky Spisovatel', 1973), p. 435. ' Matuska, p. 448. • Pavo! Stevcek , Contemporary Slovak Literature, transl. Olga H orska (Bratislava: Obzor, 1980), p. 89 . ' Quoted in M a tu ska, p. 435. ' Vincent Sikula , " T ancuj ," in Maino si postavim bungalow (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel' , 1964), p. 49 . 7 V . Sikul a, Povetrie (Brat islava: Slovensky Spisovatel', 1968), pp. 169- 170. 'Ibid. , pp . 170-17 1. 9 Stevcek, p . 89. 10 V. Sikula , Vilma (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel' , 1979), p. 172. " Ibid ., p. 7. Presented in Panel 65, " The Vi llage in Slovak Li te rature," at the AAASS conventi on in Asilomar, Cali fornia on 21 September 1981. �� SLOVAKIA 165 The Lyrical Prose of Vincent Sikula Peter Petro Of the three outstanding Slovak literary movements - romanticism, surrealism, and lyrical prose - only the last one is still with us, though echoes of the Romantic school can be found in both surrealist poetry and lyrical prose. It is not really surprising that the world knows little about Slovak romanticism; other romantic schools in more influential European literatures easily overshadow this late bloomer. As for surrealist poetry, though some information about it, together with a few translations, appeared recently, 1 they cannot communicate more than a flavor of the movement that would doubtless be more known had it not flourished during the war, when communication with the rest of the world was lessened. After the war, the movement was officially banned. Thus we are left with lyrical prose. Lyrical prose is sometimes identified with expressionism, but since the examples of expressionism offered by handbooks include Joyce ' s Finnegans Wake and Kafka's Trial, it seems there is a need to differentiate expressionism from lyrical prose, inasmuch as the works of Jozef Cfger Hronsky, Milo Urban, and Vincent Sikula - the major Slovak practitioners of this genre - have very little in common indeed with Joyce and Kafka . The difference would lie in the quintessential role that the village plays in the work of these Slovak authors . This is not merely a question of thematics: urban writers like Joyce and Kafka versus the Slovaks who write about the village. The difference lies rather in the world of the Slovak village and in the world view that the village inspires as the repository of traditional life long extinct in the more advanced western Europe . I think this was understood very clearly by J.C. Hronsky , when he said: " The Slovak village, despite all its simplicity, has its depth , and it is a more mysterious depth than anyone would guess judging by a superficial look. " i The village is closer to God than the city. N eed one say that thi s realization is by no means unique, that the traditional life has always been connected in literature with the country, that in fact we are dealing with an ancient topos found in the earliest �166 SLOVAKIA literature ? What is then the specificity of Slovak lyrical prose? Perhaps a brief look at the work of Vincent Sikula, the contemporary representative of the genre, might offer us the answer. Vincent Sikula, born in 1936 , is fully aware that representing the school of lyrical prose, and following such giants as Hronsky and Urban , placed him in an enviable , though necessarily responsible position. But he is a worthy disciple . Moreover, he does not lack a certain flair for self-promotion, so very important for an author from a little known literature. He even managed to provoke some interest in his biography , when he alluded, somewhat mysteriously , to his years spent in a monastery. This would explain, at least partially, his abiding interest in and constant reference to the Church . Thus, he puzzles and even infuriates those of his critics who are dependent on the official Marxist pseudo-religion and, consequently, hate Catholicism. This is not to say that he is clearly a religious author: we look in vain for the mysticism , that , for example , is such a prominent feature of Hronsky's prose . 3 This puzzlement is visible in the variety of critical responses to Sikula' s work that Pavol Stevcek divided into three groups : the critics who are enthusiastic about Sikula (Vincent Sabfk, Julius Noge, Ivan Sulfk) ; those with doubts about the author ' s method (Vladimir Mirnic, Bretislav Truhlar, Jan Stevcek); and those radically opposed to Sikula (as is Daniel Okali). ◄ It should be pointed out in all fairness that being opposed by Daniel Okali is highly desirable , since he suffers from a chronic case of Zhdanovism and is suspicious of anything that bears an unmistakable sign of originality. It seems that Sikula takes for granted the accomplishments of Hronsky and Urban, and does not try to duplicate their efforts. Rather, Sikula uses their work as a secure base on which to build his often precarious narrative structures that, as was the case with Hronsky, depend so heavily on the dialogue, and also on the lyricism of the first person narrator . Hronsky found out that "in the distant villages, far away from civilization, below gigantic forests, and under the huge cupola of the heavens, the world is peaceful, awesome, and silent. And this silence is the expression of a great divinity. Disturbances are always pitifully small and engineered by us , men . That is what I sensed out there, in the mountains .. . ' ' 5 However, Sikula ' s village is not so far away from civilization , as was Hronsky's. The fact that Sikula writes about the western Slovakian �SLOVAKIA 167 villages that are close to the c1t1es is perhaps a sign of encroaching modernization: his villagers have a lot of contact with the city and know more than Hronsky's. At the same time, Sikula preserves their natural, traditional frame of mind as if forgetting, or perhaps purposefully ignoring, their loss of innocence and their new-found knowledge . Thus, one of Sikula's early stories opens with a whimsical introduction where the narrator's loneliness is accentuated by the apparent emptiness of the village over which echoes the narrator's loud call: I shout across the village, and nobody answers . Only the road about which people sing meanders ahead of me like a girl ' s braid . I am shouting. When a man walks along the road, he often has to call out to the man walking ahead of him . Who could it be? Who could it be, walking ahead of me? If it is a man , he will have a match, if a girl, I shall see her home. It does not become one to walk alone, whether someone walks ahead of me or behind me. 6 In reading Sikula' s lyrical narration we are struck again and again by the apparent non sequiturs that somehow manage to coalesce into a meaningful narrative at the end of a particular section or story. This is even more striking in Sikula's dialogue, which throws light on how one and the same incident is perceived in two villages, recreating the peasant language: - Do you know they caught a spy in Brusky? - Nonsense! - They really did. - What ' s his name? - Mucka . - Mucka? - Come on! - I know a Mucka. - Me too . - Me too. - Me too. - Mucka worked for Ringos, didn't he? - Yes, for Ringos. - He worked for everyone! - Mucka must be an old man now . �SLOVAKIA 168 - He is . Who would have thought that about him, tell me! Mucka? A spy? You must be kidding! They say he had a gang too, would you believe that! He sent a note to Ringos . No kidding! Really! To Ringos? Mucka . A note? He sold the lumber. Lumber? A saw. To Ringos? You're kidding! They've got him. They don't. 7 In the village Brusky itself, the same event is discussed as a rumor about a shooting at Ringos' s farm. - Who was shooting? Ringos? -No . - And the police? - What would they do with him? - It was like this: Ringos's cow was bloated because he let her feed on fresh clover. - Ringos does not even own a cow. - Ringos? - Well, he does not. - Then you don't know him . - He used to own cows. - He used to. - Ringos founded a cooperative in Ostrica. - His cow was bloated and so he went to have a look at her at night. - He does not have a cow. As soon as he founded the co-op, he got rid of everything. - Good idea. �SLOVAKIA 169 - You're all so stupid! - Who told you? - He did . - Maybe he was dreaming. - How could he have been dreaming, if he walked along the courtyard and watched the cow? - He is all upset. - He had a stroke . - A heart attack! - Ringos? - Futka. - Then what are you babbling about? - Who knows if he had a stroke, when they found him in the vineyard? - Have they called the doctor? - They have. - What did he say? - Nothing. - A heart attack! - But they say that Mucka sent a note to somebody. - To Belus . - To Ringos . - To Futka. - I don't know what you're talking about. - He sent it to Futka. - To Belus . And so on. Where is the truth of the matter, of any matter? In Sikula, the truth does emerge at the end of the story, novel, or trilogy, but it is available only to the narrator and the reader following the sum total of experiences, hints , possibilities and events that are, as in the examples of Sikula's dialogue, open to doubts. Thus, Sikula often trivializes and relativizes events, leading us to the conclusion that they are not really important to him , suggesting, perhaps , that they should not be important to us either. He is much more interested in the lyrical quality of his narrative. And this would mean, in Sikula's case, the re-invention of the child's innocence, naivety, and simplicity. It would mean adopting a consciously nostalgic approach, presenting the world as seen through the eyes of a child , even when the narrator is obviously mature. Sikula's dialogues �170 SLOVAKIA are conversations overheard by a child who hears the sounds, understands the words , and yet lacks enough experience to enter fully into the significance of the overheard communication . Not so the reader. Consequently, we witness a tension between the world that, so to speak, does not make sense to the narrator, and the same world accessible to the reader. Reading Sikula means adjusting ourselves to both levels. For some, such adjustment is difficult, as it is for the critics who have doubts about Sikula. For others still, adjustment is out of the question. Daniel Okali cannot bear to see the mythologized Slovak National Uprising of 1944 distorted, as he would have it, by a child-like lyrical narrator. The legend of the Uprising has to be preserved. There must only be one official version, nothing more . To lyricize, that is to say, to relativize and trivialize this legend is a sacrilege to Okali. But this is exactly what Sikula has done with his trilogy Majstri (The Craftsmen, 1976), Muskat (The Geranium, 1977), and Vilma (1979) . Okali misses in the trilogy the expression of the '' historic-social dimension of Slovak fascism, the complex historic and artistic truth, its ideational-aesthetic presentation in its dialectic contradictions and nakedness.' ' 9 It is not easy to satisfy Okali. But Sikula seemed untouched by Okali's attack that came before the appearance of the last volume of the trilogy, Vilma. On the contrary, he dared to issue a new challenge to the likes of Okali, refusing to accept the official explanation of history as finite . Everything must be available to the lyrical narrator , everything can be endowed with new content, everything should be open for lyrical transformation. As he says in Vilma: Friends , history is written by the people! But of course! And who writes the books? If only the historians reminded us of it again! If only they reminded us of it more often! Historical fact is a bag which has to be filled! Who said that? I don't remember. Even so, historical fact is a bag that has to be filled and that's that! One has to save, save the bag! Even the bag, my friends! 10 And on the opening page of Vilma, Sikula, as if to underscore his contempt for dogmatic criticism , continues unruffied with his lyrical narrator: Oftentimes I don't even know why some people are angry with me. Maybe I do know, but I don't always admit it. People don't like to admit they have faults. I 'm like that too. �SLOVAKIA 171 M aybe I do m ake a mistake now and then, and maybe more than one. But who is without faults ? You tell me! When I look a t you som etimes, it seems to me that you are looking at m e too . But ifl turn away and look elsewhere, I can think that you too stopped looking at m e. Let's say I am still a little boy. For a short time I have even served as an altar boy . I know by heart the confiteor and suscipiat. But ifl put on the white shirt and robe which went so nicely with a white, red , or violet collar - and I used to be so proud, not realizing that I looked like an angel with tussled hair, at least I see myself like that now , although today I could hardly join my hands and piously lower m y eyes, and even if I could - as soon as I would appear in a clean and freshly ironed robe in front of the altar, no matter how pious m y expression , I guess the priest would get scared and the once sinful and now already devout little old ladies who never miss a single mass would perhaps run out of the church. You better not consider me an altar boy any more! But even so, I am still a little boy. W e have to play this little theatrical to the end. 11 Again the disjointed style with its seemingly irrelevant insertions and naive parenthetical comments , again the evocation of childhood . Once the reader accepts su ch a narrator , he has to put up with his point of view, that is , with the other level of the narrative introduced by the third paragraph: ''When I look at you sometimes, it seems to me that you are lookin g at me too. But if I turn away and look elsewhere, I can think that you too stopped looking at m e.'' Of course, this only seems irrelevant: the reader soon finds out that the statement is d esigned to make a tran siti on to the lyrical narrative and to a nchor it in the psychology characterized by a childlike wonder and circum scribed by the world of the vill age. T o a citified modern man , the villager is like a child. Sikula accepts this premise and peoples his works with childlike peasants, eccentrics , and even weird characters who all communicate naturally and easily with the lyrical n arrator. P erhaps the n arrator does not understand them , the same as he does not understand the events of the Upri sing that angered Okali . But he does convey to u s their essential quality , essential in the sense that it is raw, unprocessed , and reported �172 SLOVAKIA with the kind of objectivity accessible to a child or a villager who both perceive the world on a level that may seem superficial to a modem man, but which does not lack its depth, as Hronsky reminded us. When the peasants argue about what really happened in Brusky, when they try to find out whether Mucka is a spy, or whether Ringos suffered a stroke or a heart attack, the truth of the matter takes second place to the new happening that looms larger, namely to the conversation itself. The conversation is an event happening in the now immediately accessible to a peasant. It is something that he understands , it is the very stuff of life. The rumors about Mucka and Ringos belong to a bewitched circle outside their reach and control and are as unimportant to them as the past is to a child . It may be objected that Sikula distorts his peasants and gives us a false picture of the village, particularly if we bear in mind that he is writing about the western Slovakian village that, one has to stress, has never been isolated the way villages were (and some still are) in the upper Hron area, or in the Orava region. The answer to this is that he does distort , but that this very distortion is the main charm of his work . And Sikula is not alone. He is a part of a very wide movement indeed, a movement that includes the Russian derevenshchiki, or village writers, and many authors in other Slavic literatures. The movement, it seems, is Slavic literature's reaction to the modem uprootedness that followed the Second World War. The West has experienced uprootedness as well, but it was a process that started long ago and went on for centuries . Not so in the Slavic countries. A good case could be made to show how the sudden changes occasioned by the two wars, and eve n more by the coming of social engineering on a gigantic scale coupled with a war on traditional life with its faults and great virtues, led to the loss of values, bemoaned so often in the W est and East, and to the emptiness that. this nostalgic literary movement tries to fill. This wider perspective might help us to situate Vincent Sikula's work within the native Slovak literary tradition of lyrical prose, but also in the emerging trends appearing elsewhere in the Slavic literary world, wherein the village reappears forcefully in the guise of the national conscience, of the very soul of the nation, despite the sad fact that the traditional village and all that it implies has in the meantime been modernized and no longer exists. Thus, Sikula does not go wrong when he places the action of his �SLOVAKIA 17 3 work in villages that are so close to the cities. We may assume that they are modernized or citified to an extent that should make the planners and social engineers who would like to erase the difference between the village and the city feel proud. He does not go wrong , because it is not so much the village as the village m entality that he would like to preserve in his work. Sikula's village is no lon ger the mysterious site cut off from the corrupting influences of the city, a lost domain preserved and embedded in the crystal of fi ction , as it is in Hronsky . It survives in Sikula's work in the village m entality which he sees as a precious remnant of the traditional life , as a tonic against the ailment of modern uprootedness, and finally as the lyrical soul of a child in abiding wonderment, illuminating a world that has lost its soul. NOTES ' See my " Slovak Surrealist Poetry : The M ovement and Its Rediscove ry," Canadian Slavonic Papers, Vol. XX , No . 2 Gune 1978), pp . 237-244, a nd "Slovak Surrealist P arty," Prism Intern ational , Vol. XV , N os. 2 and 3 (Summer- Fall 1976), pp. 146-164 . ' Quoted in Alexander M atuska, J. C . Hronsky, rpt. in Osobnosti (Bratislava : Slovensky Spisovatel', 1973), p. 435. ' Matuska, p. 448. • Pavo! Stevcek , Contemporary Slovak Literature, transl. Olga H orska (Bratislava: Obzor, 1980), p. 89 . ' Quoted in M a tu ska, p. 435. ' Vincent Sikula , " T ancuj ," in Maino si postavim bungalow (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel' , 1964), p. 49 . 7 V . Sikul a, Povetrie (Brat islava: Slovensky Spisovatel', 1968), pp. 169- 170. 'Ibid. , pp . 170-17 1. 9 Stevcek, p . 89. 10 V. Sikula , Vilma (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel' , 1979), p. 172. " Ibid ., p. 7. Presented in Panel 65, " The Vi llage in Slovak Li te rature," at the AAASS conventi on in Asilomar, Cali fornia on 21 September 1981. �� 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 1982-83, Vol. 30 Description An account of the resource Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83. 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 1982-83 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 165 The Lyrical Prose of Vincent Sikula Peter Petro Of the three outstanding Slovak literary movements - romanticism, surrealism, and lyrical prose - only the last one is still with us, though echoes of the Romantic school can be found in both surrealist poetry and lyrical prose. It is not really surprising that the world knows little about Slovak romanticism; other romantic schools in more influential European literatures easily overshadow this late bloomer. As for surrealist poetry, though some information about it, together with a few translations, appeared recently, 1 they cannot communicate more than a flavor of the movement that would doubtless be more known had it not flourished during the war, when communication with the rest of the world was lessened. After the war, the movement was officially banned. Thus we are left with lyrical prose. Lyrical prose is sometimes identified with expressionism, but since the examples of expressionism offered by handbooks include Joyce ' s Finnegans Wake and Kafka's Trial, it seems there is a need to differentiate expressionism from lyrical prose, inasmuch as the works of Jozef Cfger Hronsky, Milo Urban, and Vincent Sikula - the major Slovak practitioners of this genre - have very little in common indeed with Joyce and Kafka . The difference would lie in the quintessential role that the village plays in the work of these Slovak authors . This is not merely a question of thematics: urban writers like Joyce and Kafka versus the Slovaks who write about the village. The difference lies rather in the world of the Slovak village and in the world view that the village inspires as the repository of traditional life long extinct in the more advanced western Europe . I think this was understood very clearly by J.C. Hronsky , when he said: " The Slovak village, despite all its simplicity, has its depth , and it is a more mysterious depth than anyone would guess judging by a superficial look. " i The village is closer to God than the city. N eed one say that thi s realization is by no means unique, that the traditional life has always been connected in literature with the country, that in fact we are dealing with an ancient topos found in the earliest 166 SLOVAKIA literature ? What is then the specificity of Slovak lyrical prose? Perhaps a brief look at the work of Vincent Sikula, the contemporary representative of the genre, might offer us the answer. Vincent Sikula, born in 1936 , is fully aware that representing the school of lyrical prose, and following such giants as Hronsky and Urban , placed him in an enviable , though necessarily responsible position. But he is a worthy disciple . Moreover, he does not lack a certain flair for self-promotion, so very important for an author from a little known literature. He even managed to provoke some interest in his biography , when he alluded, somewhat mysteriously , to his years spent in a monastery. This would explain, at least partially, his abiding interest in and constant reference to the Church . Thus, he puzzles and even infuriates those of his critics who are dependent on the official Marxist pseudo-religion and, consequently, hate Catholicism. This is not to say that he is clearly a religious author: we look in vain for the mysticism , that , for example , is such a prominent feature of Hronsky's prose . 3 This puzzlement is visible in the variety of critical responses to Sikula' s work that Pavol Stevcek divided into three groups : the critics who are enthusiastic about Sikula (Vincent Sabfk, Julius Noge, Ivan Sulfk) ; those with doubts about the author ' s method (Vladimir Mirnic, Bretislav Truhlar, Jan Stevcek); and those radically opposed to Sikula (as is Daniel Okali). ◄ It should be pointed out in all fairness that being opposed by Daniel Okali is highly desirable , since he suffers from a chronic case of Zhdanovism and is suspicious of anything that bears an unmistakable sign of originality. It seems that Sikula takes for granted the accomplishments of Hronsky and Urban, and does not try to duplicate their efforts. Rather, Sikula uses their work as a secure base on which to build his often precarious narrative structures that, as was the case with Hronsky, depend so heavily on the dialogue, and also on the lyricism of the first person narrator . Hronsky found out that "in the distant villages, far away from civilization, below gigantic forests, and under the huge cupola of the heavens, the world is peaceful, awesome, and silent. And this silence is the expression of a great divinity. Disturbances are always pitifully small and engineered by us , men . That is what I sensed out there, in the mountains .. . ' ' 5 However, Sikula ' s village is not so far away from civilization , as was Hronsky's. The fact that Sikula writes about the western Slovakian SLOVAKIA 167 villages that are close to the c1t1es is perhaps a sign of encroaching modernization: his villagers have a lot of contact with the city and know more than Hronsky's. At the same time, Sikula preserves their natural, traditional frame of mind as if forgetting, or perhaps purposefully ignoring, their loss of innocence and their new-found knowledge . Thus, one of Sikula's early stories opens with a whimsical introduction where the narrator's loneliness is accentuated by the apparent emptiness of the village over which echoes the narrator's loud call: I shout across the village, and nobody answers . Only the road about which people sing meanders ahead of me like a girl ' s braid . I am shouting. When a man walks along the road, he often has to call out to the man walking ahead of him . Who could it be? Who could it be, walking ahead of me? If it is a man , he will have a match, if a girl, I shall see her home. It does not become one to walk alone, whether someone walks ahead of me or behind me. 6 In reading Sikula' s lyrical narration we are struck again and again by the apparent non sequiturs that somehow manage to coalesce into a meaningful narrative at the end of a particular section or story. This is even more striking in Sikula's dialogue, which throws light on how one and the same incident is perceived in two villages, recreating the peasant language: - Do you know they caught a spy in Brusky? - Nonsense! - They really did. - What ' s his name? - Mucka . - Mucka? - Come on! - I know a Mucka. - Me too . - Me too. - Me too. - Mucka worked for Ringos, didn't he? - Yes, for Ringos. - He worked for everyone! - Mucka must be an old man now . SLOVAKIA 168 - He is . Who would have thought that about him, tell me! Mucka? A spy? You must be kidding! They say he had a gang too, would you believe that! He sent a note to Ringos . No kidding! Really! To Ringos? Mucka . A note? He sold the lumber. Lumber? A saw. To Ringos? You're kidding! They've got him. They don't. 7 In the village Brusky itself, the same event is discussed as a rumor about a shooting at Ringos' s farm. - Who was shooting? Ringos? -No . - And the police? - What would they do with him? - It was like this: Ringos's cow was bloated because he let her feed on fresh clover. - Ringos does not even own a cow. - Ringos? - Well, he does not. - Then you don't know him . - He used to own cows. - He used to. - Ringos founded a cooperative in Ostrica. - His cow was bloated and so he went to have a look at her at night. - He does not have a cow. As soon as he founded the co-op, he got rid of everything. - Good idea. SLOVAKIA 169 - You're all so stupid! - Who told you? - He did . - Maybe he was dreaming. - How could he have been dreaming, if he walked along the courtyard and watched the cow? - He is all upset. - He had a stroke . - A heart attack! - Ringos? - Futka. - Then what are you babbling about? - Who knows if he had a stroke, when they found him in the vineyard? - Have they called the doctor? - They have. - What did he say? - Nothing. - A heart attack! - But they say that Mucka sent a note to somebody. - To Belus . - To Ringos . - To Futka. - I don't know what you're talking about. - He sent it to Futka. - To Belus . And so on. Where is the truth of the matter, of any matter? In Sikula, the truth does emerge at the end of the story, novel, or trilogy, but it is available only to the narrator and the reader following the sum total of experiences, hints , possibilities and events that are, as in the examples of Sikula's dialogue, open to doubts. Thus, Sikula often trivializes and relativizes events, leading us to the conclusion that they are not really important to him , suggesting, perhaps , that they should not be important to us either. He is much more interested in the lyrical quality of his narrative. And this would mean, in Sikula's case, the re-invention of the child's innocence, naivety, and simplicity. It would mean adopting a consciously nostalgic approach, presenting the world as seen through the eyes of a child , even when the narrator is obviously mature. Sikula's dialogues 170 SLOVAKIA are conversations overheard by a child who hears the sounds, understands the words , and yet lacks enough experience to enter fully into the significance of the overheard communication . Not so the reader. Consequently, we witness a tension between the world that, so to speak, does not make sense to the narrator, and the same world accessible to the reader. Reading Sikula means adjusting ourselves to both levels. For some, such adjustment is difficult, as it is for the critics who have doubts about Sikula. For others still, adjustment is out of the question. Daniel Okali cannot bear to see the mythologized Slovak National Uprising of 1944 distorted, as he would have it, by a child-like lyrical narrator. The legend of the Uprising has to be preserved. There must only be one official version, nothing more . To lyricize, that is to say, to relativize and trivialize this legend is a sacrilege to Okali. But this is exactly what Sikula has done with his trilogy Majstri (The Craftsmen, 1976), Muskat (The Geranium, 1977), and Vilma (1979) . Okali misses in the trilogy the expression of the '' historic-social dimension of Slovak fascism, the complex historic and artistic truth, its ideational-aesthetic presentation in its dialectic contradictions and nakedness.' ' 9 It is not easy to satisfy Okali. But Sikula seemed untouched by Okali's attack that came before the appearance of the last volume of the trilogy, Vilma. On the contrary, he dared to issue a new challenge to the likes of Okali, refusing to accept the official explanation of history as finite . Everything must be available to the lyrical narrator , everything can be endowed with new content, everything should be open for lyrical transformation. As he says in Vilma: Friends , history is written by the people! But of course! And who writes the books? If only the historians reminded us of it again! If only they reminded us of it more often! Historical fact is a bag which has to be filled! Who said that? I don't remember. Even so, historical fact is a bag that has to be filled and that's that! One has to save, save the bag! Even the bag, my friends! 10 And on the opening page of Vilma, Sikula, as if to underscore his contempt for dogmatic criticism , continues unruffied with his lyrical narrator: Oftentimes I don't even know why some people are angry with me. Maybe I do know, but I don't always admit it. People don't like to admit they have faults. I 'm like that too. SLOVAKIA 171 M aybe I do m ake a mistake now and then, and maybe more than one. But who is without faults ? You tell me! When I look a t you som etimes, it seems to me that you are looking at m e too . But ifl turn away and look elsewhere, I can think that you too stopped looking at m e. Let's say I am still a little boy. For a short time I have even served as an altar boy . I know by heart the confiteor and suscipiat. But ifl put on the white shirt and robe which went so nicely with a white, red , or violet collar - and I used to be so proud, not realizing that I looked like an angel with tussled hair, at least I see myself like that now , although today I could hardly join my hands and piously lower m y eyes, and even if I could - as soon as I would appear in a clean and freshly ironed robe in front of the altar, no matter how pious m y expression , I guess the priest would get scared and the once sinful and now already devout little old ladies who never miss a single mass would perhaps run out of the church. You better not consider me an altar boy any more! But even so, I am still a little boy. W e have to play this little theatrical to the end. 11 Again the disjointed style with its seemingly irrelevant insertions and naive parenthetical comments , again the evocation of childhood . Once the reader accepts su ch a narrator , he has to put up with his point of view, that is , with the other level of the narrative introduced by the third paragraph: ''When I look at you sometimes, it seems to me that you are lookin g at me too. But if I turn away and look elsewhere, I can think that you too stopped looking at m e.'' Of course, this only seems irrelevant: the reader soon finds out that the statement is d esigned to make a tran siti on to the lyrical narrative and to a nchor it in the psychology characterized by a childlike wonder and circum scribed by the world of the vill age. T o a citified modern man , the villager is like a child. Sikula accepts this premise and peoples his works with childlike peasants, eccentrics , and even weird characters who all communicate naturally and easily with the lyrical n arrator. P erhaps the n arrator does not understand them , the same as he does not understand the events of the Upri sing that angered Okali . But he does convey to u s their essential quality , essential in the sense that it is raw, unprocessed , and reported 172 SLOVAKIA with the kind of objectivity accessible to a child or a villager who both perceive the world on a level that may seem superficial to a modem man, but which does not lack its depth, as Hronsky reminded us. When the peasants argue about what really happened in Brusky, when they try to find out whether Mucka is a spy, or whether Ringos suffered a stroke or a heart attack, the truth of the matter takes second place to the new happening that looms larger, namely to the conversation itself. The conversation is an event happening in the now immediately accessible to a peasant. It is something that he understands , it is the very stuff of life. The rumors about Mucka and Ringos belong to a bewitched circle outside their reach and control and are as unimportant to them as the past is to a child . It may be objected that Sikula distorts his peasants and gives us a false picture of the village, particularly if we bear in mind that he is writing about the western Slovakian village that, one has to stress, has never been isolated the way villages were (and some still are) in the upper Hron area, or in the Orava region. The answer to this is that he does distort , but that this very distortion is the main charm of his work . And Sikula is not alone. He is a part of a very wide movement indeed, a movement that includes the Russian derevenshchiki, or village writers, and many authors in other Slavic literatures. The movement, it seems, is Slavic literature's reaction to the modem uprootedness that followed the Second World War. The West has experienced uprootedness as well, but it was a process that started long ago and went on for centuries . Not so in the Slavic countries. A good case could be made to show how the sudden changes occasioned by the two wars, and eve n more by the coming of social engineering on a gigantic scale coupled with a war on traditional life with its faults and great virtues, led to the loss of values, bemoaned so often in the W est and East, and to the emptiness that. this nostalgic literary movement tries to fill. This wider perspective might help us to situate Vincent Sikula's work within the native Slovak literary tradition of lyrical prose, but also in the emerging trends appearing elsewhere in the Slavic literary world, wherein the village reappears forcefully in the guise of the national conscience, of the very soul of the nation, despite the sad fact that the traditional village and all that it implies has in the meantime been modernized and no longer exists. Thus, Sikula does not go wrong when he places the action of his SLOVAKIA 17 3 work in villages that are so close to the cities. We may assume that they are modernized or citified to an extent that should make the planners and social engineers who would like to erase the difference between the village and the city feel proud. He does not go wrong , because it is not so much the village as the village m entality that he would like to preserve in his work. Sikula's village is no lon ger the mysterious site cut off from the corrupting influences of the city, a lost domain preserved and embedded in the crystal of fi ction , as it is in Hronsky . It survives in Sikula's work in the village m entality which he sees as a precious remnant of the traditional life , as a tonic against the ailment of modern uprootedness, and finally as the lyrical soul of a child in abiding wonderment, illuminating a world that has lost its soul. NOTES ' See my " Slovak Surrealist Poetry : The M ovement and Its Rediscove ry," Canadian Slavonic Papers, Vol. XX , No . 2 Gune 1978), pp . 237-244, a nd "Slovak Surrealist P arty," Prism Intern ational , Vol. XV , N os. 2 and 3 (Summer- Fall 1976), pp. 146-164 . ' Quoted in Alexander M atuska, J. C . Hronsky, rpt. in Osobnosti (Bratislava : Slovensky Spisovatel', 1973), p. 435. ' Matuska, p. 448. • Pavo! Stevcek , Contemporary Slovak Literature, transl. Olga H orska (Bratislava: Obzor, 1980), p. 89 . ' Quoted in M a tu ska, p. 435. ' Vincent Sikula , " T ancuj ," in Maino si postavim bungalow (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel' , 1964), p. 49 . 7 V . Sikul a, Povetrie (Brat islava: Slovensky Spisovatel', 1968), pp. 169- 170. 'Ibid. , pp . 170-17 1. 9 Stevcek, p . 89. 10 V. Sikula , Vilma (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel' , 1979), p. 172. " Ibid ., p. 7. Presented in Panel 65, " The Vi llage in Slovak Li te rature," at the AAASS conventi on in Asilomar, Cali fornia on 21 September 1981.  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 Lyrical Prose of Vincent Šikula Description An account of the resource Peter Petro Slovakia, Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83 pp. 165-173 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Petro, Peter Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/799b5c7c131b6084f79b53afed77cefa.pdf d174f9ebf9e39c37f43eb11bc0bbfca8 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 153 Modern Slovak Fiction: The Sixties, A Decade of Experimentation Peter Petro During the l 960's literatures of the Eastern European countries experienced a revival. On the one hand this revival became possible by the gradual relaxation of political control over literature; on the other hand it was spurred on by literary developments in the West as well as in the East. I t would be difficult to overestimate this foreign factor in the general revival. Nor was it always a case of the local application of some hitherto unavailabl e literary techniques of experimental character. Very often it was simply the act of rediscovering authors whose reputations had already been made some decades ago. This was the case with Proust , Joyce , Hemingway, T.S. Eliot, Babel , Pilnyak, Platonov, and many , many others. Franz Kafka held a special position among these rediscovered authors. His appearance in print was hailed as a symbolic, liberating event of major proportion in the literary ( and cultural) history of both the Czech and Slovak nations. As for the experimental impulses emanating from the West, the anti-novel or nouveau-roman (of Alain Robbe-Grillet, Nathalie Sarraute) , and the thea tre of the absurd (not only oflonesco, but of the mu ch older Alfred Jarry) quickly found willing practitioners as well. Not the least among these factors was the re-evaluation of native authors rehabilitated and brought back from oblivion, or rather from a literary limbo (in Slovakia they were Milo Urban , J.C. Hronsk y, Tido J. Gaspar, and others). In Slovakia, as indeed in the entire Eastern Europe, the important mileposts were the years 1956 and 1962. We can get an insight into what went on after 1956 and 1962 in Czech literature from a recently published work edited by William E. Harkins and Paul I. Trensky . 1 But here, too, the center of grav ity lies in the sixties and the reader's atten tion is directed to some half a dozen names that became known , not only in Bohemia , but also abroad. Slovak literary developments, inasmuch as these were influ en ced by political events occurring in the power cen- �154 SLOV AKI A te rs of P ragu e a nd Mosco w, to which Sl ovak literatu re h ad b ee n di rectly o r indirectly subo rdin a ted , could n ot bu t foll ow a path simil a r to the Czech d evelo pments . However , thi s d oes n ot m ean tha t th ey d evelop ed in the sam e directio n , o r even a t the sam e p ace. U po n examina ti o n of som e re p rese nta tive wo rks of Slovak a u th o r s who a ppea red durin g the p e ri od of th e revival of the six ti es, o n e is impressed b y the varie t y a nd quality of th e literature if compa red to the d ecades tha t preced e a nd follow it. Th a t so m e m as te rpieces p rodu ced a t the t im e still re m a in unkno wn in the W es t is p e rh a p s n o t e n t irely th e fa ult of write r s; the lack of tra n sla tion s is equ ally crippling. F o r this reaso n a look a t some examples of the ex perime ntal fictio n of the sixties could be o f som e help . Tha t decad e was a n ew b eginnin g in Slovak litearture; its accomplishme nts will help us to o rientate ou rselves in co ntemporary Slovak lite ra ture a nd they will help u s, in all proba bility, in the future a s well . If the six ties wer e indeed the n e w b eginnin g, what is really m eant b y thi s " n e wness" and al so b y "expe rime nt " in the context of the six ties? To start w ith , the conte xt o f the sixties w as the coll a pse of the d octrine, concept , or m e thod of socialist realism . 2 Of course, socialist realism h ad n o t b ee n re tired b y a n a dminist ra ti ve fi a t ; it h a d b ee n re -defin ed . But the sp ell h ad b een b ro ke n a nd the ch a n ges in theor y we re follo wed b y ch a n ges in p ractice. E ver yon e still p a id lip service to socialist realism but wh a t matte red m ost to p a rt y offi cials, namely the control of lite rature, was gradually slippin g from the ir h a nds, a nd their periodic a ttempts to re-establi sh con trol we re n ot su ccess ful : they h a d le t the genie out of the b o ttle. And so, whil e th e critics still p e nned th e ir tribu te s to su ch model a u th o r s as F ra n t isek H eck o (b . 190 5), P e te r Jile mnick y (b . 1901 ) , a nd Frano Kral' (b . 1903), the new w rite rs th at b egan to ap pear in print w rote in a w ay th a t w as ofte n e ntirely alie n to th ese " cl assics," som e t im es eve n to the exte nt of u sin g th e sociali st realist m od els in a w ay th at parod ied th e o ri ginal. T h e n ewn ess o f th e li teratu re of th e sixties, th e n , li es in breaki ng with th e p ast, o r rath e r with th e im m edi a te past of socialist real ist literat ure of b uildin g a nd co n stru c tin g, o f o p timi sm, of tr a n spare nt sch e m e a nd ideological or phil osophi cal m o n och rome. H owever , w h en we com e to th e "exp e rim e n t ," we fi n d th at m atters are much more complex tha n th at. F irs t o f a ll , at th e b eginnin g of th e decade (an d already in th e seco nd h alf o f th e fifti es), a n y veerin g off th e established model h ad to b e co n sidered a n experiment. For this reason , o n e h as to take "experi men t" �SLOVAKIA 155 in our con text quite liberally and broadly as meaning a wide variety of writing, from that which merely joins an already established prose current to that which attempts at importing certain contemporary western literary techniques . Most importantly , we have to understand it as the development of a genuine, new literary voice with its own style, its own original seeing of the world. It would hardly be possible for new, unknown writers simply to appear with their new work and displace the established authors overnight. What happened instead was a transition period when the next literary generation of authors following Hecko , Jil emnicky, Kral', and others - namely Vladimfr Minac (b.1922), Ladislav Mnacko (b.1919), Dominik Tata rko (b.1913), and Peter Karvas (b.1920), among others - abandoned their orthodoxy to such an extent that further experiments along the same lines seemed no longer astonishing. Even here one would like to stress that the authors of the sixties were by no means readily accepted. There was first a struggle. There was very often harsh criticism; and , objectively spea king, such criticism was sometimes quite ju stified. On the whole , however, any criticism had to be fundamentally unfair if we take into consideration the still limited freedom to write as the author pleased. Thus , we witness the sorry spectacle of compromised literature criticized by compromised critics. A good example would be the case ofjaroslava Blazkova's Nylonovy mesiac (Nylon Moon, 1961 ). Jozef Kot attacked it by saying: "I do not know why, but Slovak prose has suddenly discovered ero ticism , and Sagan and others," adding a statement difficult to challenge: " Bratislava will never be a Paris and Slovaks will never be erotomaniacs. " 3 Of course, Kot knows full well why was it that there was no erot icism before. It simply was not allowed. Nor were any modern western authors pe rmitted to serve as model s, before. Kot perceives the change and his reaction is a good, though mild , sign of his bewilderment. Alas, in a very few years, by Kot 's standards, Bratislava was teeming with erotomaniac authors as socialist puritanism fizzl ed out. In fact, the standards used to measure the quality of lite rary production in Slovakia were high. P erhaps too high , and that led to contradictions . Thus , J an Rozner took the young writers Blazkova and Anton H ykisch to task: "We can not call that which is being done by the young prose writers experime ntin g. It is ceaseless searching, learning , testing, but not experimenting" (SP, September 1961 , 17) . In the case �156 SLOVAKIA of Hykisch , he was take n to task for using the inte rnal monologu e or strea m of consciousness technique , and it was pointed out to him that this was not new at all , as it h ad been used by mode rnist authors a long time ago. Again the crit ic pretended to be unaware of the fact that even su ch a basic and harmless technique h ad been very suspect just recently. And Hykisch was reacting to the literature immediately preceding him , even though , pe rhaps unconsciously , he actuall y returned to the interrupted modernist line of Slovak prose. " Modernism " - a word of opprobrium only rece ntly - became th e most desired aim in the ge neral atmosphe re of catching up with the W est. But H ykisch would not stop experimenting. Here is the conclusion of his sho rt novel Nad'a (SP August-Dece mbe r 1963): Who is guilty of the librarian 's d eath? Who ? I ? H e? Nadia , you are a merciful Samaritan, should you try to save people who were hurt ? ... The door to the washroom banged shut. They always bang, someone shouted feebly from the next room. Dreaming. At the other end it started to ring . I started. I began to run, the doors are lea ping a t my side and are running b ehind me, there is ringing, a seco nd alarm clock. A third . A fourth. Simultaneously. Voices, banging , slippers , fee t , the first door, a person . Woma n. I closed m y eyes a nd eve rything around m e vibrated, unknown sounds a nd voices, something securely lived here. I stood for a mome nt in front of our room, I heard Liz . I quickly ente red , Good morning , girls . Hi , Nadia, why a re you h a untin g here? I opened the window, hun g the towel on the bed and started to dress quickly. The girls were still sleepy and watched me in surprise . I hurried . It seem ed to m e that it was late for eve rything . It would not be difficult to prove how Hyki sch 's style differs from the more orthodox styles of th e forties a nd fifti es - the sudde n cha nges of voice, the economy , the dynamism , the palpa ble presence of the furniture of life, the reali a, in short, the mode rn shorthand, telegraphic style is here clearly represe nted. But the experime ntal ch a racter of this novel lies in the implications of the plot , in the introduction of a characte r �SLOVAKIA 157 out of favo r with the P arty, a nd the int rodu ctory device of qu ota ti on s from au thors su ch as Campa n ella (his Th e City of the S un ), H. G . W ells (Th e Sh ap e of Thin gs to Com e), qu otation s th at pro m oted qu estionin g, skep ti cism a nd pess imi sm . These qu ota ti on s co m e from Robert, th e m an in di sfavor with wh om adi a, th e hero in e, fall s in love . W e are led to believe th a t R obe rt 's difficulti es ste m from the fact th a t he is a thinker, not a careerist , and also a man of p rinciple. N adi a, a n intellige nt but slightl y fri volou s econ omics student , does n ot measure up to the strictures a nd u tter seriou sn ess of Robert , a libraria n by p ro fession , but a philosoph er b y callin g. Of interest , too, is the sett in g , th e urban se tt in g - Brati slava - which will come to be the set tin g of man y works of the decade. But it is th e city see n throu gh the eyes of a n out sider , N adi a, who com es to Brati slava to study . Th e ambi gu ou s endin g (Robert commits sui cide, but h ove rs b etwee n life an~ death) is also som ethin g new . ot becau se of the a mbi guity , but again fo r su ggestin g (by impli cation) th a t perh aps N adi a was n ot entirely to bl am e for R obert 's sui cide. It woul d not be enti rely in a ppropria te to call R obert a m odern Slovak in carna tion of th e "supe rflu ou s m a n " known to u s from Russian litera ture . The isolated individual , the m a n against the world , against a K afk aesqu e bureau cracy: su ch is th e un co m fo rta bl e situ a tion of the new Slovak literary ch a rac te r of the sixties. In a nothe r urba n writer , J a n J oh a nides, the ch a racte r is isol ated without the h elp of politi cs . R a th er , h e is pressed a nd tried sorely b y the existential choice , by lack of com munication , a nd b y the alien world from which he seem s so woefull y estra n ged . C a mu s a nd Sartre a re the two m ost obviou s m en tors ofj oh a nides, especially the latter, according to Mil a n H amad a (SP , O ctob er 1963 , 134). L ack of co mmunication is the them e of an impressive story entitled Potapaca prit'ahuju pram ene m ora (A Di ve r I s Attracted by O cean Sprin gs). I qu ote from the co nclu sion : Everybody loves hi s wi fe fo r som e m ore or less co ncrete reason , b u t the re a re some who love fo r a less ce rta in , or eve n un ce rtain reason . And th at reaso n could b e the fact that he saw h er, th at they h ave me t a t all , th at sh e too exis ts. It seems tha t I loved Marth a for a sim il a r reason. I saw her, I looked at her w ith these my eyes a n d she wanted me to marry her. And that "more certain " reason fo r whi ch , if I ca n say so, m y love multi pli ed , was her beautiful a r rogan ce. T h a t is �158 SLOVAKIA wha t I would call he r in sisten t d esire to be h appy . Perh a ps she co uld gu ess a t the beginnin g that I could secure her existen ce and would make no claims on her. I call her desire for happiness beautiful a rrogance because she d a red to turn m e into a spring board to aims tha t she thou ght would m a ke h er ha ppy. This a r rogance - of wh a tever kind - I find interestin g; I do n ot judge h er for it. It p roves tha t M a rtha had to be profoundl y unha ppy a nd alone. Little things that I could furnish for her were designed to suggest to he r that this was not the way to ha ppiness. I do not know if she unde rstood . (SP, July 196 1, 111 ) Now the sen sitive n a rrator-hu sb a nd is him self d yin g of cance r , but still goin g a bout hi s tasks, unworried ab out his a pproaching end . Hi s profession is rather prosaic: he is a chef in a resta ura nt . Whe n he find s out a bout his wife ' s unfaithfuln ess, he fail s to ge t a n gry. When he learns a bou t her death of sudden heart failure while drivin g with her love r , he still m a intains his equ animity. Thu s he is almost superna turally calm a nd ra tion al, or em o tion ally defici e nt - a judgem ent th a t is sys tem a tically contradicted by his superior sen sitivity of perception and un d erstandin g . Still , hi s sta nce is suspicious to his fri end s who find him too stran ge for their compa n y . All thi s would b e new and unu su al in Slovak lite rature, but the essenti al experimental feature of J oha nides is his stress on th e private space of the individu al; n ot only his in ne r world tha t he so carefull y sketches, but the ou te r world as well. H owever , it is a highly individu al, private world tha t his cha racte rs see. And for that reaso n th ey are u nabl e to share it wi th an yon e. Con sequ entl y, these wo rlds often clash . Such a cl ash is described by the obj ective n arrator of a title story in J oha nides' s Sukromie (Privacy, 1963). During the fun e ral of a ve ry act ive wo rke r a nd Pa r ty m em ber, the orato r addresses the deceased: I d o n ot know h ow to tha nk you fra nkl y fo r all your effort a nd pe rso nal in volve m en t in our facto ry's cl ub of the R evolutio na ry U nion Move m e nt. You we re a good union m embe r , we deeply honor yo ur wo rk. W e knew yo u , we tru sted you . Bu t d id we really know you ? The wind lifted the red fl ag that covered the coffin, and som eo ne fro m the crowd p assed a n open bottle of soda water �SLOVAKIA 15 9 to the cl a rinet pl aye r . H e put it in to th e condu ctor's h a nd. - But w hy did you leave so su dd enl y? The bo ttle of soda water was ta ken by a sm all m a n in a gray sui t w ith a wart ri ght un der hi s eye. H e was holdin g the wife of the deceased in hi s arms, pou r in g the sod a water o n he r face th rou gh the veil , but som e wom a n too k th e bo ttle away from him a nd lifted the ve il . - Why did you leave so sudde nl y? 4 Two activities are in progress simultan eou sly. T he world of the deceased is no m o re; to who m , then , is th e orator a ddressing hi s m ela ncholy m essage? To him self, fo r th e widow h as fa inted , a nd people a re busy ta king care of h er. The commo tio n of the world " out the re" cl ashes w ith the wo rld of the o rator whose speech a nd qu estion s give the scen e an a b su rd a ir a t first ; it will turn out tha t n o on e, n ot eve n his wife, really kn ew the d eceased . Jan J oh a nid es b a ffl ed hi s critics and div id ed them sh a rply into two groups . Fo r the first group , here is Mila n H am ad a: '' The failure of intellect in J ohanides caused the loss of spiritual and artistic tran scendence " (SP , Au gu st 1966 , 9). For the second , Fra nti sek Miko: "The stren gth of J oh a nides ' s style I see m a inly in w h a t I would like to call indep enden ce. It shows itself in the a n alys is, con cretely in the sh a rp , m a tter -offact an alyti cal to ne. This tone was always very rare h e re, a nd the refore always desirable a nd n ew" (SP , D ecember 1966, 15). In this m a tter-of-fact tone a nd in hi s som etim es excess ive a ttention to detail J oh anides was bested by P eter J aros, who brings into Slovak litera ture perh ap s the m ost experim ental features th a t we associa te with the a nti-n ovel or n ou vea u rom an. H e is playing with ti me, "coll apsing" it , d iffu sin g o ur a ttenti o n in paren thetical deta il s that seem to be la rgely irrelevant to the main action , which itself is ve ry difficult to de fin e . H ere is an example from hi s work Vah y (Scales, 1966): (Some movemen ts attract by the ir u nexpected vigorou sness or their unusual character. Ri gh t now a hu ge clou d mu st have fl ow n away a nd uncove red th e settin g su n , for it su ddenl y brightened up .) We move away carefu ll y from the door , hi t somethin g ge ntl y a nd feel behind our b ack the wall ( eve n the sitting man can be seen mo re clearly). Sudde nl y , as if by m iracle, we e n ter the room w he re the man is sitti ng , and we �160 SLOVAKIA stay there even after the sun sets and the twilight turns to darkness. (The room is a spacious one, from the armchair in which the man is sitting, one can see, n ear the glass door, a double chest of brown walnut wood. There is nothing on the rear wall , although be tween the doo r a nd the chest there is sufficie nt space to fit a big elongated vase that would moderate the sudden transition between the chest and the door. )5 Und erstanda bly , we a re dealing here with literature heavily influenced by foreign models; the expe rime ntatio n does not seem to follow a native model, unless we see J a ros as a follower ofjohanides . Even so , there is injohanides's work also a lyricism which is missing fromjaros's work. Lyricism or rather " lyrical prose " is the main accomplishment of perhaps the most talented writer of the new generation, Vincent Sikula. H ere, for example, is the conclusion of Sikula' s story Dlhe tyzdne sjasnymi n ocami pred odletmi st'ahovavych vtakov (Long Weeks with Bright Nights befo re the Flights of Birds). A boy , Rudko , befriends a village idiot , Viktor, who attracts the boy with his ri ch imagination and asks him to join him secretly at night. Outside, th ey observe the m ysteriou s n a ture, crawl in the wet grass, a nd th en Viktor blindfolds the boy: Rudko, maybe I lied to you, h e said. I told you an hour ago that it 's beginning to d awn , but you could have seen that this was not so. Is the ni gh t bright? I took a mirror with m e, maybe I wanted to confuse you with it . I 've thrown it away, a nd you didn't even notice it. T ell m e, Rudko , what do I n eed a mirror fo r? M aybe yo u really are sick a nd maybe yo u feel like slee ping . But how could you slee p when the ni gh t is so bright? I p rom ised to give you a handke rchief, I didn ' t make a parachute out of it , because I would be sorry to see it go . H e told me th a t he would talk to m e un til I fall asleep. H e m entioned thin gs abo ut which he u sed to talk to me all summ er lo n g, that is, th e merry-go-round , the du ck , ... but also the gander , m aybe it will b e a wild gander and it will take off, lift itself off th e gro und, fl y over Koligram, it will avo id the poplars, it will disa ppear over the fi eld s ... �SLOVAKIA 161 Rudko, can you still see me? I can't. They found me in the morning with my head in the ditch. On my back, there was a heavy stone that was supposed to kill me. 6 Sikula admits that he is a follower of the outstanding village prose writers of the older generation, Jozef Ciger-Hronsky and Milo Urban, but his arrival on the literary scene with his lyricism was still an experiment under the circumstances. He does not flinch from horror when he shows the destruction of the village by sudden change brought on by war or revolution. But the violence of war has been more strikingly portrayed in the work of Ladislav Tazky, especially in his work Amenmaria: Sam[ dobrf vojaci (Amenmaria: All the Good Soldiers, 1964). H ere we see a conscious departure from the older socialist realist depiction of war, such as the schematic picture of the resistance and the horrors of the uprising against the Germans that we find in Jilemnicky' s Kronika (Chronicle, 1947) , where everything is simple and clear. On the one side the partisans, on the other - Germans. In Tazky we find a difference . The experiment lies in introducing to the reader a hero who is a soldier of the Slovak Army fighting in the Ukraine against the Red Army and on the side of the Germans . Although , to be sure, the narrator is a communist, the difficult period, the ambiguities, the different pulls and demands on soldiers, the hell of war, are all rendered in a striking style that lacks comforting simplicity and bewilders us by its provocative character. What follows is a description of a German attack on a hut harboring deserters: Why do the Germans keep the light on at D aytim e and How Come they don 't Shout " H eil "? What are you doing, soldier-boys? At this time they h ave to be near the hut and the officer is commanding them to hit the snow and crawl towards the bark bunker. Boys , how long will you be playing this game? You've done it once before. Do you remember, we answered you then, and now the hut stays mum , it is waiting for you , so break �162 SLOVAKIA her waist, who will fire into he r warmth smelling of human warmth? Nobody will leave the grave, nobody will a nswer, the dead do not fear death , you are death , only the living are afraid of you, those whose waist is still unbroken (SP, June 1965, 154) . But lest I leave the impression that m ost of the n ew prose of the sixties was so depressing and utterly serious, let me turn to humor. Clearly, the most talented practitioners at the time were Milan Lasica and Julius Satinsky : humorists, satirists, p arodists and performers of their work. But I would like to turn to Milan Zelinka instead, because of the allusive character of Lasica and Satinsky's work . Zelinka's work , from which I will quote, won the competition organized by the prestigious journal Slovenske Pohl'ady in 1968 . The story is a pseudo-historical take-off on folklore and infirmities of the age reminiscent of Alfred Jarry' s Ubu . A kingdom is harrassed by a robber whom no one is able to stop. Finally , after cau sing the death of the king, the robber engages the n ew king in correspondence. H ere then is an exchange of letters from Povest' o strasnom zbojnfkovi Folstynskom a nest'astnom katovi Holcusko vi (The Story about the T errible Robber Folstynsky and the Unfortunate Executio n er Holcuska) . After the capture of the robber , who finds out that he is about to be shown to tourists instead of being executed , the robber fires a letter of protest to the king: D ear Sir, I thought tha t you h ad character , but today I found out otherwise . I a m a nnouncing thereby that I protest again st being put on a show for tourists just because you lack good economists! It is against my con science. I swear that if you force m e to do what I hate with all m y soul , I sh all spit upon the tourists and haran gu e them with u gly words to su ch an effe ct that they will be unable to sleep in our guest h ou ses not only because of the fleas, bu t also b ecause of the horror cau sed b y my tongue . Folstynsky �SLOVAKIA 163 The king answered the robber: Dear buddy, I think you are being unfair . Even though I do believe that the postponement of your execution has disappointed you deeply, there's nothing to be done, you'll have to go on living for some time ye t. As for the tourists , don't forget that our country needs money badly . It is partly and mainly your own fault that we find ourselves in a deep economic crisis. You should not forget that . Who was zipping up and down our country causing mischief, but you alone? After all, if I published your opinions in the press, our young people would laugh at you. And you do not want to appear ridiculous to them , do you? Your friend , King Bazulfk P .S . Finally, have no fear . It is not going to be so bad with those tourists. They are generous, I experienced it personally . You ' ll get lots of chewing gum. (SP, March 1968 , 154) . It would be difficult to pretend that anything except broad currents of the variety found in Slovak literature of the sixties were mentioned here. Peter Balgha and Rudolf Slaboda should have been and Vlado Bednar could have been m entioned as well. But rather than piling up a great number of names and titles, it seemed more appropriate to communicate the special flavor of the new prose . Moreover , it is also the special excitem ent that greeted the new experiments, the new works, the new names in the sixties that one would want to evoke here. And that excitem ent was, as is only natural , the property of those who had a good knowledge of the standard , or older socialist realist literature , those who could see how much this new literature differed from the older one. They could see how , quite co nsciously , the new authors began to displace the old rules, the schemata, and above all, the fear. When these were pushed away, the experimenting began . In some cases it was a modest kind of experim ent : the author wanted to see if he could write the way people used to write in the thirties or even twenties. Other writers wanted to bring in forbidde n topics: repressed people, eroticism, foreign philosoph y. Others still concentrated on the style, the form, th e structure of their work. Taken together , the effor ts of youn g Slovak authors (and som e not so you n g) made the decade of the sixties a veritable liter- �164 SLOVAKIA ary revival. That it happened at all is a miracle , despite the ready explanations . One wonders how right Thomas Merton was when he said that "tomorrow the abstract paintings will be on the walls of the Commissars.' ' 8 NOTES ' Czech Literature since 1956: A Symposium , ed . William E . Harkins a nd Paul I. Trensky (New York: Bohemica, 1980). ' Frantisek Vnuk ' ~ Sedemnast' neurodnych rokov (Middletown: Slovak v Amerike , 1965) discusses literary developments after 1956 and into 1962. It is pa rticularly valuable for its description of the infertile period of the reign of socialist realism , as the fertile period of the sixties is mostly outside th e com pass of his work . 3 Jozef Kot , " Ako dalej ," Slovenske pohl'ady, 78 Oanuary 1962), 136-3 7. This journal will hence appear in the text as SP. Translations a re mine . • JanJohanides, Sukromie (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel' , 1963), p. 118 . ' Peter Jaros , Vahy (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel', 1968), p. 1011 . 6 Vincent Sikula, Povetrie (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel', 1968) , p . 13. 7 Thomas Merton, Raids on the Unspeakable (New York : New Directions , 1965), p. 168). Presented in Panel 128, '' Slovak Literature as a Mirror of the National Awakening, ' ' at the AAASS co nventi on in Philadelphia on 8 November 1980. � SLOVAKIA 153 Modern Slovak Fiction: The Sixties, A Decade of Experimentation Peter Petro During the l 960's literatures of the Eastern European countries experienced a revival. On the one hand this revival became possible by the gradual relaxation of political control over literature; on the other hand it was spurred on by literary developments in the West as well as in the East. I t would be difficult to overestimate this foreign factor in the general revival. Nor was it always a case of the local application of some hitherto unavailabl e literary techniques of experimental character. Very often it was simply the act of rediscovering authors whose reputations had already been made some decades ago. This was the case with Proust , Joyce , Hemingway, T.S. Eliot, Babel , Pilnyak, Platonov, and many , many others. Franz Kafka held a special position among these rediscovered authors. His appearance in print was hailed as a symbolic, liberating event of major proportion in the literary ( and cultural) history of both the Czech and Slovak nations. As for the experimental impulses emanating from the West, the anti-novel or nouveau-roman (of Alain Robbe-Grillet, Nathalie Sarraute) , and the thea tre of the absurd (not only oflonesco, but of the mu ch older Alfred Jarry) quickly found willing practitioners as well. Not the least among these factors was the re-evaluation of native authors rehabilitated and brought back from oblivion, or rather from a literary limbo (in Slovakia they were Milo Urban , J.C. Hronsk y, Tido J. Gaspar, and others). In Slovakia, as indeed in the entire Eastern Europe, the important mileposts were the years 1956 and 1962. We can get an insight into what went on after 1956 and 1962 in Czech literature from a recently published work edited by William E. Harkins and Paul I. Trensky . 1 But here, too, the center of grav ity lies in the sixties and the reader's atten tion is directed to some half a dozen names that became known , not only in Bohemia , but also abroad. Slovak literary developments, inasmuch as these were influ en ced by political events occurring in the power cen- �154 SLOV AKI A te rs of P ragu e a nd Mosco w, to which Sl ovak literatu re h ad b ee n di rectly o r indirectly subo rdin a ted , could n ot bu t foll ow a path simil a r to the Czech d evelo pments . However , thi s d oes n ot m ean tha t th ey d evelop ed in the sam e directio n , o r even a t the sam e p ace. U po n examina ti o n of som e re p rese nta tive wo rks of Slovak a u th o r s who a ppea red durin g the p e ri od of th e revival of the six ti es, o n e is impressed b y the varie t y a nd quality of th e literature if compa red to the d ecades tha t preced e a nd follow it. Th a t so m e m as te rpieces p rodu ced a t the t im e still re m a in unkno wn in the W es t is p e rh a p s n o t e n t irely th e fa ult of write r s; the lack of tra n sla tion s is equ ally crippling. F o r this reaso n a look a t some examples of the ex perime ntal fictio n of the sixties could be o f som e help . Tha t decad e was a n ew b eginnin g in Slovak litearture; its accomplishme nts will help us to o rientate ou rselves in co ntemporary Slovak lite ra ture a nd they will help u s, in all proba bility, in the future a s well . If the six ties wer e indeed the n e w b eginnin g, what is really m eant b y thi s " n e wness" and al so b y "expe rime nt " in the context of the six ties? To start w ith , the conte xt o f the sixties w as the coll a pse of the d octrine, concept , or m e thod of socialist realism . 2 Of course, socialist realism h ad n o t b ee n re tired b y a n a dminist ra ti ve fi a t ; it h a d b ee n re -defin ed . But the sp ell h ad b een b ro ke n a nd the ch a n ges in theor y we re follo wed b y ch a n ges in p ractice. E ver yon e still p a id lip service to socialist realism but wh a t matte red m ost to p a rt y offi cials, namely the control of lite rature, was gradually slippin g from the ir h a nds, a nd their periodic a ttempts to re-establi sh con trol we re n ot su ccess ful : they h a d le t the genie out of the b o ttle. And so, whil e th e critics still p e nned th e ir tribu te s to su ch model a u th o r s as F ra n t isek H eck o (b . 190 5), P e te r Jile mnick y (b . 1901 ) , a nd Frano Kral' (b . 1903), the new w rite rs th at b egan to ap pear in print w rote in a w ay th a t w as ofte n e ntirely alie n to th ese " cl assics," som e t im es eve n to the exte nt of u sin g th e sociali st realist m od els in a w ay th at parod ied th e o ri ginal. T h e n ewn ess o f th e li teratu re of th e sixties, th e n , li es in breaki ng with th e p ast, o r rath e r with th e im m edi a te past of socialist real ist literat ure of b uildin g a nd co n stru c tin g, o f o p timi sm, of tr a n spare nt sch e m e a nd ideological or phil osophi cal m o n och rome. H owever , w h en we com e to th e "exp e rim e n t ," we fi n d th at m atters are much more complex tha n th at. F irs t o f a ll , at th e b eginnin g of th e decade (an d already in th e seco nd h alf o f th e fifti es), a n y veerin g off th e established model h ad to b e co n sidered a n experiment. For this reason , o n e h as to take "experi men t" �SLOVAKIA 155 in our con text quite liberally and broadly as meaning a wide variety of writing, from that which merely joins an already established prose current to that which attempts at importing certain contemporary western literary techniques . Most importantly , we have to understand it as the development of a genuine, new literary voice with its own style, its own original seeing of the world. It would hardly be possible for new, unknown writers simply to appear with their new work and displace the established authors overnight. What happened instead was a transition period when the next literary generation of authors following Hecko , Jil emnicky, Kral', and others - namely Vladimfr Minac (b.1922), Ladislav Mnacko (b.1919), Dominik Tata rko (b.1913), and Peter Karvas (b.1920), among others - abandoned their orthodoxy to such an extent that further experiments along the same lines seemed no longer astonishing. Even here one would like to stress that the authors of the sixties were by no means readily accepted. There was first a struggle. There was very often harsh criticism; and , objectively spea king, such criticism was sometimes quite ju stified. On the whole , however, any criticism had to be fundamentally unfair if we take into consideration the still limited freedom to write as the author pleased. Thus , we witness the sorry spectacle of compromised literature criticized by compromised critics. A good example would be the case ofjaroslava Blazkova's Nylonovy mesiac (Nylon Moon, 1961 ). Jozef Kot attacked it by saying: "I do not know why, but Slovak prose has suddenly discovered ero ticism , and Sagan and others," adding a statement difficult to challenge: " Bratislava will never be a Paris and Slovaks will never be erotomaniacs. " 3 Of course, Kot knows full well why was it that there was no erot icism before. It simply was not allowed. Nor were any modern western authors pe rmitted to serve as model s, before. Kot perceives the change and his reaction is a good, though mild , sign of his bewilderment. Alas, in a very few years, by Kot 's standards, Bratislava was teeming with erotomaniac authors as socialist puritanism fizzl ed out. In fact, the standards used to measure the quality of lite rary production in Slovakia were high. P erhaps too high , and that led to contradictions . Thus , J an Rozner took the young writers Blazkova and Anton H ykisch to task: "We can not call that which is being done by the young prose writers experime ntin g. It is ceaseless searching, learning , testing, but not experimenting" (SP, September 1961 , 17) . In the case �156 SLOVAKIA of Hykisch , he was take n to task for using the inte rnal monologu e or strea m of consciousness technique , and it was pointed out to him that this was not new at all , as it h ad been used by mode rnist authors a long time ago. Again the crit ic pretended to be unaware of the fact that even su ch a basic and harmless technique h ad been very suspect just recently. And Hykisch was reacting to the literature immediately preceding him , even though , pe rhaps unconsciously , he actuall y returned to the interrupted modernist line of Slovak prose. " Modernism " - a word of opprobrium only rece ntly - became th e most desired aim in the ge neral atmosphe re of catching up with the W est. But H ykisch would not stop experimenting. Here is the conclusion of his sho rt novel Nad'a (SP August-Dece mbe r 1963): Who is guilty of the librarian 's d eath? Who ? I ? H e? Nadia , you are a merciful Samaritan, should you try to save people who were hurt ? ... The door to the washroom banged shut. They always bang, someone shouted feebly from the next room. Dreaming. At the other end it started to ring . I started. I began to run, the doors are lea ping a t my side and are running b ehind me, there is ringing, a seco nd alarm clock. A third . A fourth. Simultaneously. Voices, banging , slippers , fee t , the first door, a person . Woma n. I closed m y eyes a nd eve rything around m e vibrated, unknown sounds a nd voices, something securely lived here. I stood for a mome nt in front of our room, I heard Liz . I quickly ente red , Good morning , girls . Hi , Nadia, why a re you h a untin g here? I opened the window, hun g the towel on the bed and started to dress quickly. The girls were still sleepy and watched me in surprise . I hurried . It seem ed to m e that it was late for eve rything . It would not be difficult to prove how Hyki sch 's style differs from the more orthodox styles of th e forties a nd fifti es - the sudde n cha nges of voice, the economy , the dynamism , the palpa ble presence of the furniture of life, the reali a, in short, the mode rn shorthand, telegraphic style is here clearly represe nted. But the experime ntal ch a racter of this novel lies in the implications of the plot , in the introduction of a characte r �SLOVAKIA 157 out of favo r with the P arty, a nd the int rodu ctory device of qu ota ti on s from au thors su ch as Campa n ella (his Th e City of the S un ), H. G . W ells (Th e Sh ap e of Thin gs to Com e), qu otation s th at pro m oted qu estionin g, skep ti cism a nd pess imi sm . These qu ota ti on s co m e from Robert, th e m an in di sfavor with wh om adi a, th e hero in e, fall s in love . W e are led to believe th a t R obe rt 's difficulti es ste m from the fact th a t he is a thinker, not a careerist , and also a man of p rinciple. N adi a, a n intellige nt but slightl y fri volou s econ omics student , does n ot measure up to the strictures a nd u tter seriou sn ess of Robert , a libraria n by p ro fession , but a philosoph er b y callin g. Of interest , too, is the sett in g , th e urban se tt in g - Brati slava - which will come to be the set tin g of man y works of the decade. But it is th e city see n throu gh the eyes of a n out sider , N adi a, who com es to Brati slava to study . Th e ambi gu ou s endin g (Robert commits sui cide, but h ove rs b etwee n life an~ death) is also som ethin g new . ot becau se of the a mbi guity , but again fo r su ggestin g (by impli cation) th a t perh aps N adi a was n ot entirely to bl am e for R obert 's sui cide. It woul d not be enti rely in a ppropria te to call R obert a m odern Slovak in carna tion of th e "supe rflu ou s m a n " known to u s from Russian litera ture . The isolated individual , the m a n against the world , against a K afk aesqu e bureau cracy: su ch is th e un co m fo rta bl e situ a tion of the new Slovak literary ch a rac te r of the sixties. In a nothe r urba n writer , J a n J oh a nides, the ch a racte r is isol ated without the h elp of politi cs . R a th er , h e is pressed a nd tried sorely b y the existential choice , by lack of com munication , a nd b y the alien world from which he seem s so woefull y estra n ged . C a mu s a nd Sartre a re the two m ost obviou s m en tors ofj oh a nides, especially the latter, according to Mil a n H amad a (SP , O ctob er 1963 , 134). L ack of co mmunication is the them e of an impressive story entitled Potapaca prit'ahuju pram ene m ora (A Di ve r I s Attracted by O cean Sprin gs). I qu ote from the co nclu sion : Everybody loves hi s wi fe fo r som e m ore or less co ncrete reason , b u t the re a re some who love fo r a less ce rta in , or eve n un ce rtain reason . And th at reaso n could b e the fact that he saw h er, th at they h ave me t a t all , th at sh e too exis ts. It seems tha t I loved Marth a for a sim il a r reason. I saw her, I looked at her w ith these my eyes a n d she wanted me to marry her. And that "more certain " reason fo r whi ch , if I ca n say so, m y love multi pli ed , was her beautiful a r rogan ce. T h a t is �158 SLOVAKIA wha t I would call he r in sisten t d esire to be h appy . Perh a ps she co uld gu ess a t the beginnin g that I could secure her existen ce and would make no claims on her. I call her desire for happiness beautiful a rrogance because she d a red to turn m e into a spring board to aims tha t she thou ght would m a ke h er ha ppy. This a r rogance - of wh a tever kind - I find interestin g; I do n ot judge h er for it. It p roves tha t M a rtha had to be profoundl y unha ppy a nd alone. Little things that I could furnish for her were designed to suggest to he r that this was not the way to ha ppiness. I do not know if she unde rstood . (SP, July 196 1, 111 ) Now the sen sitive n a rrator-hu sb a nd is him self d yin g of cance r , but still goin g a bout hi s tasks, unworried ab out his a pproaching end . Hi s profession is rather prosaic: he is a chef in a resta ura nt . Whe n he find s out a bout his wife ' s unfaithfuln ess, he fail s to ge t a n gry. When he learns a bou t her death of sudden heart failure while drivin g with her love r , he still m a intains his equ animity. Thu s he is almost superna turally calm a nd ra tion al, or em o tion ally defici e nt - a judgem ent th a t is sys tem a tically contradicted by his superior sen sitivity of perception and un d erstandin g . Still , hi s sta nce is suspicious to his fri end s who find him too stran ge for their compa n y . All thi s would b e new and unu su al in Slovak lite rature, but the essenti al experimental feature of J oha nides is his stress on th e private space of the individu al; n ot only his in ne r world tha t he so carefull y sketches, but the ou te r world as well. H owever , it is a highly individu al, private world tha t his cha racte rs see. And for that reaso n th ey are u nabl e to share it wi th an yon e. Con sequ entl y, these wo rlds often clash . Such a cl ash is described by the obj ective n arrator of a title story in J oha nides' s Sukromie (Privacy, 1963). During the fun e ral of a ve ry act ive wo rke r a nd Pa r ty m em ber, the orato r addresses the deceased: I d o n ot know h ow to tha nk you fra nkl y fo r all your effort a nd pe rso nal in volve m en t in our facto ry's cl ub of the R evolutio na ry U nion Move m e nt. You we re a good union m embe r , we deeply honor yo ur wo rk. W e knew yo u , we tru sted you . Bu t d id we really know you ? The wind lifted the red fl ag that covered the coffin, and som eo ne fro m the crowd p assed a n open bottle of soda water �SLOVAKIA 15 9 to the cl a rinet pl aye r . H e put it in to th e condu ctor's h a nd. - But w hy did you leave so su dd enl y? The bo ttle of soda water was ta ken by a sm all m a n in a gray sui t w ith a wart ri ght un der hi s eye. H e was holdin g the wife of the deceased in hi s arms, pou r in g the sod a water o n he r face th rou gh the veil , but som e wom a n too k th e bo ttle away from him a nd lifted the ve il . - Why did you leave so sudde nl y? 4 Two activities are in progress simultan eou sly. T he world of the deceased is no m o re; to who m , then , is th e orator a ddressing hi s m ela ncholy m essage? To him self, fo r th e widow h as fa inted , a nd people a re busy ta king care of h er. The commo tio n of the world " out the re" cl ashes w ith the wo rld of the o rator whose speech a nd qu estion s give the scen e an a b su rd a ir a t first ; it will turn out tha t n o on e, n ot eve n his wife, really kn ew the d eceased . Jan J oh a nid es b a ffl ed hi s critics and div id ed them sh a rply into two groups . Fo r the first group , here is Mila n H am ad a: '' The failure of intellect in J ohanides caused the loss of spiritual and artistic tran scendence " (SP , Au gu st 1966 , 9). For the second , Fra nti sek Miko: "The stren gth of J oh a nides ' s style I see m a inly in w h a t I would like to call indep enden ce. It shows itself in the a n alys is, con cretely in the sh a rp , m a tter -offact an alyti cal to ne. This tone was always very rare h e re, a nd the refore always desirable a nd n ew" (SP , D ecember 1966, 15). In this m a tter-of-fact tone a nd in hi s som etim es excess ive a ttention to detail J oh anides was bested by P eter J aros, who brings into Slovak litera ture perh ap s the m ost experim ental features th a t we associa te with the a nti-n ovel or n ou vea u rom an. H e is playing with ti me, "coll apsing" it , d iffu sin g o ur a ttenti o n in paren thetical deta il s that seem to be la rgely irrelevant to the main action , which itself is ve ry difficult to de fin e . H ere is an example from hi s work Vah y (Scales, 1966): (Some movemen ts attract by the ir u nexpected vigorou sness or their unusual character. Ri gh t now a hu ge clou d mu st have fl ow n away a nd uncove red th e settin g su n , for it su ddenl y brightened up .) We move away carefu ll y from the door , hi t somethin g ge ntl y a nd feel behind our b ack the wall ( eve n the sitting man can be seen mo re clearly). Sudde nl y , as if by m iracle, we e n ter the room w he re the man is sitti ng , and we �160 SLOVAKIA stay there even after the sun sets and the twilight turns to darkness. (The room is a spacious one, from the armchair in which the man is sitting, one can see, n ear the glass door, a double chest of brown walnut wood. There is nothing on the rear wall , although be tween the doo r a nd the chest there is sufficie nt space to fit a big elongated vase that would moderate the sudden transition between the chest and the door. )5 Und erstanda bly , we a re dealing here with literature heavily influenced by foreign models; the expe rime ntatio n does not seem to follow a native model, unless we see J a ros as a follower ofjohanides . Even so , there is injohanides's work also a lyricism which is missing fromjaros's work. Lyricism or rather " lyrical prose " is the main accomplishment of perhaps the most talented writer of the new generation, Vincent Sikula. H ere, for example, is the conclusion of Sikula' s story Dlhe tyzdne sjasnymi n ocami pred odletmi st'ahovavych vtakov (Long Weeks with Bright Nights befo re the Flights of Birds). A boy , Rudko , befriends a village idiot , Viktor, who attracts the boy with his ri ch imagination and asks him to join him secretly at night. Outside, th ey observe the m ysteriou s n a ture, crawl in the wet grass, a nd th en Viktor blindfolds the boy: Rudko, maybe I lied to you, h e said. I told you an hour ago that it 's beginning to d awn , but you could have seen that this was not so. Is the ni gh t bright? I took a mirror with m e, maybe I wanted to confuse you with it . I 've thrown it away, a nd you didn't even notice it. T ell m e, Rudko , what do I n eed a mirror fo r? M aybe yo u really are sick a nd maybe yo u feel like slee ping . But how could you slee p when the ni gh t is so bright? I p rom ised to give you a handke rchief, I didn ' t make a parachute out of it , because I would be sorry to see it go . H e told me th a t he would talk to m e un til I fall asleep. H e m entioned thin gs abo ut which he u sed to talk to me all summ er lo n g, that is, th e merry-go-round , the du ck , ... but also the gander , m aybe it will b e a wild gander and it will take off, lift itself off th e gro und, fl y over Koligram, it will avo id the poplars, it will disa ppear over the fi eld s ... �SLOVAKIA 161 Rudko, can you still see me? I can't. They found me in the morning with my head in the ditch. On my back, there was a heavy stone that was supposed to kill me. 6 Sikula admits that he is a follower of the outstanding village prose writers of the older generation, Jozef Ciger-Hronsky and Milo Urban, but his arrival on the literary scene with his lyricism was still an experiment under the circumstances. He does not flinch from horror when he shows the destruction of the village by sudden change brought on by war or revolution. But the violence of war has been more strikingly portrayed in the work of Ladislav Tazky, especially in his work Amenmaria: Sam[ dobrf vojaci (Amenmaria: All the Good Soldiers, 1964). H ere we see a conscious departure from the older socialist realist depiction of war, such as the schematic picture of the resistance and the horrors of the uprising against the Germans that we find in Jilemnicky' s Kronika (Chronicle, 1947) , where everything is simple and clear. On the one side the partisans, on the other - Germans. In Tazky we find a difference . The experiment lies in introducing to the reader a hero who is a soldier of the Slovak Army fighting in the Ukraine against the Red Army and on the side of the Germans . Although , to be sure, the narrator is a communist, the difficult period, the ambiguities, the different pulls and demands on soldiers, the hell of war, are all rendered in a striking style that lacks comforting simplicity and bewilders us by its provocative character. What follows is a description of a German attack on a hut harboring deserters: Why do the Germans keep the light on at D aytim e and How Come they don 't Shout " H eil "? What are you doing, soldier-boys? At this time they h ave to be near the hut and the officer is commanding them to hit the snow and crawl towards the bark bunker. Boys , how long will you be playing this game? You've done it once before. Do you remember, we answered you then, and now the hut stays mum , it is waiting for you , so break �162 SLOVAKIA her waist, who will fire into he r warmth smelling of human warmth? Nobody will leave the grave, nobody will a nswer, the dead do not fear death , you are death , only the living are afraid of you, those whose waist is still unbroken (SP, June 1965, 154) . But lest I leave the impression that m ost of the n ew prose of the sixties was so depressing and utterly serious, let me turn to humor. Clearly, the most talented practitioners at the time were Milan Lasica and Julius Satinsky : humorists, satirists, p arodists and performers of their work. But I would like to turn to Milan Zelinka instead, because of the allusive character of Lasica and Satinsky's work . Zelinka's work , from which I will quote, won the competition organized by the prestigious journal Slovenske Pohl'ady in 1968 . The story is a pseudo-historical take-off on folklore and infirmities of the age reminiscent of Alfred Jarry' s Ubu . A kingdom is harrassed by a robber whom no one is able to stop. Finally , after cau sing the death of the king, the robber engages the n ew king in correspondence. H ere then is an exchange of letters from Povest' o strasnom zbojnfkovi Folstynskom a nest'astnom katovi Holcusko vi (The Story about the T errible Robber Folstynsky and the Unfortunate Executio n er Holcuska) . After the capture of the robber , who finds out that he is about to be shown to tourists instead of being executed , the robber fires a letter of protest to the king: D ear Sir, I thought tha t you h ad character , but today I found out otherwise . I a m a nnouncing thereby that I protest again st being put on a show for tourists just because you lack good economists! It is against my con science. I swear that if you force m e to do what I hate with all m y soul , I sh all spit upon the tourists and haran gu e them with u gly words to su ch an effe ct that they will be unable to sleep in our guest h ou ses not only because of the fleas, bu t also b ecause of the horror cau sed b y my tongue . Folstynsky �SLOVAKIA 163 The king answered the robber: Dear buddy, I think you are being unfair . Even though I do believe that the postponement of your execution has disappointed you deeply, there's nothing to be done, you'll have to go on living for some time ye t. As for the tourists , don't forget that our country needs money badly . It is partly and mainly your own fault that we find ourselves in a deep economic crisis. You should not forget that . Who was zipping up and down our country causing mischief, but you alone? After all, if I published your opinions in the press, our young people would laugh at you. And you do not want to appear ridiculous to them , do you? Your friend , King Bazulfk P .S . Finally, have no fear . It is not going to be so bad with those tourists. They are generous, I experienced it personally . You ' ll get lots of chewing gum. (SP, March 1968 , 154) . It would be difficult to pretend that anything except broad currents of the variety found in Slovak literature of the sixties were mentioned here. Peter Balgha and Rudolf Slaboda should have been and Vlado Bednar could have been m entioned as well. But rather than piling up a great number of names and titles, it seemed more appropriate to communicate the special flavor of the new prose . Moreover , it is also the special excitem ent that greeted the new experiments, the new works, the new names in the sixties that one would want to evoke here. And that excitem ent was, as is only natural , the property of those who had a good knowledge of the standard , or older socialist realist literature , those who could see how much this new literature differed from the older one. They could see how , quite co nsciously , the new authors began to displace the old rules, the schemata, and above all, the fear. When these were pushed away, the experimenting began . In some cases it was a modest kind of experim ent : the author wanted to see if he could write the way people used to write in the thirties or even twenties. Other writers wanted to bring in forbidde n topics: repressed people, eroticism, foreign philosoph y. Others still concentrated on the style, the form, th e structure of their work. Taken together , the effor ts of youn g Slovak authors (and som e not so you n g) made the decade of the sixties a veritable liter- �164 SLOVAKIA ary revival. That it happened at all is a miracle , despite the ready explanations . One wonders how right Thomas Merton was when he said that "tomorrow the abstract paintings will be on the walls of the Commissars.' ' 8 NOTES ' Czech Literature since 1956: A Symposium , ed . William E . Harkins a nd Paul I. Trensky (New York: Bohemica, 1980). ' Frantisek Vnuk ' ~ Sedemnast' neurodnych rokov (Middletown: Slovak v Amerike , 1965) discusses literary developments after 1956 and into 1962. It is pa rticularly valuable for its description of the infertile period of the reign of socialist realism , as the fertile period of the sixties is mostly outside th e com pass of his work . 3 Jozef Kot , " Ako dalej ," Slovenske pohl'ady, 78 Oanuary 1962), 136-3 7. This journal will hence appear in the text as SP. Translations a re mine . • JanJohanides, Sukromie (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel' , 1963), p. 118 . ' Peter Jaros , Vahy (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel', 1968), p. 1011 . 6 Vincent Sikula, Povetrie (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel', 1968) , p . 13. 7 Thomas Merton, Raids on the Unspeakable (New York : New Directions , 1965), p. 168). Presented in Panel 128, '' Slovak Literature as a Mirror of the National Awakening, ' ' at the AAASS co nventi on in Philadelphia on 8 November 1980. � 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 1982-83, Vol. 30 Description An account of the resource Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83. 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 1982-83 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 153 Modern Slovak Fiction: The Sixties, A Decade of Experimentation Peter Petro During the l 960's literatures of the Eastern European countries experienced a revival. On the one hand this revival became possible by the gradual relaxation of political control over literature; on the other hand it was spurred on by literary developments in the West as well as in the East. I t would be difficult to overestimate this foreign factor in the general revival. Nor was it always a case of the local application of some hitherto unavailabl e literary techniques of experimental character. Very often it was simply the act of rediscovering authors whose reputations had already been made some decades ago. This was the case with Proust , Joyce , Hemingway, T.S. Eliot, Babel , Pilnyak, Platonov, and many , many others. Franz Kafka held a special position among these rediscovered authors. His appearance in print was hailed as a symbolic, liberating event of major proportion in the literary ( and cultural) history of both the Czech and Slovak nations. As for the experimental impulses emanating from the West, the anti-novel or nouveau-roman (of Alain Robbe-Grillet, Nathalie Sarraute) , and the thea tre of the absurd (not only oflonesco, but of the mu ch older Alfred Jarry) quickly found willing practitioners as well. Not the least among these factors was the re-evaluation of native authors rehabilitated and brought back from oblivion, or rather from a literary limbo (in Slovakia they were Milo Urban , J.C. Hronsk y, Tido J. Gaspar, and others). In Slovakia, as indeed in the entire Eastern Europe, the important mileposts were the years 1956 and 1962. We can get an insight into what went on after 1956 and 1962 in Czech literature from a recently published work edited by William E. Harkins and Paul I. Trensky . 1 But here, too, the center of grav ity lies in the sixties and the reader's atten tion is directed to some half a dozen names that became known , not only in Bohemia , but also abroad. Slovak literary developments, inasmuch as these were influ en ced by political events occurring in the power cen- 154 SLOV AKI A te rs of P ragu e a nd Mosco w, to which Sl ovak literatu re h ad b ee n di rectly o r indirectly subo rdin a ted , could n ot bu t foll ow a path simil a r to the Czech d evelo pments . However , thi s d oes n ot m ean tha t th ey d evelop ed in the sam e directio n , o r even a t the sam e p ace. U po n examina ti o n of som e re p rese nta tive wo rks of Slovak a u th o r s who a ppea red durin g the p e ri od of th e revival of the six ti es, o n e is impressed b y the varie t y a nd quality of th e literature if compa red to the d ecades tha t preced e a nd follow it. Th a t so m e m as te rpieces p rodu ced a t the t im e still re m a in unkno wn in the W es t is p e rh a p s n o t e n t irely th e fa ult of write r s; the lack of tra n sla tion s is equ ally crippling. F o r this reaso n a look a t some examples of the ex perime ntal fictio n of the sixties could be o f som e help . Tha t decad e was a n ew b eginnin g in Slovak litearture; its accomplishme nts will help us to o rientate ou rselves in co ntemporary Slovak lite ra ture a nd they will help u s, in all proba bility, in the future a s well . If the six ties wer e indeed the n e w b eginnin g, what is really m eant b y thi s " n e wness" and al so b y "expe rime nt " in the context of the six ties? To start w ith , the conte xt o f the sixties w as the coll a pse of the d octrine, concept , or m e thod of socialist realism . 2 Of course, socialist realism h ad n o t b ee n re tired b y a n a dminist ra ti ve fi a t ; it h a d b ee n re -defin ed . But the sp ell h ad b een b ro ke n a nd the ch a n ges in theor y we re follo wed b y ch a n ges in p ractice. E ver yon e still p a id lip service to socialist realism but wh a t matte red m ost to p a rt y offi cials, namely the control of lite rature, was gradually slippin g from the ir h a nds, a nd their periodic a ttempts to re-establi sh con trol we re n ot su ccess ful : they h a d le t the genie out of the b o ttle. And so, whil e th e critics still p e nned th e ir tribu te s to su ch model a u th o r s as F ra n t isek H eck o (b . 190 5), P e te r Jile mnick y (b . 1901 ) , a nd Frano Kral' (b . 1903), the new w rite rs th at b egan to ap pear in print w rote in a w ay th a t w as ofte n e ntirely alie n to th ese " cl assics," som e t im es eve n to the exte nt of u sin g th e sociali st realist m od els in a w ay th at parod ied th e o ri ginal. T h e n ewn ess o f th e li teratu re of th e sixties, th e n , li es in breaki ng with th e p ast, o r rath e r with th e im m edi a te past of socialist real ist literat ure of b uildin g a nd co n stru c tin g, o f o p timi sm, of tr a n spare nt sch e m e a nd ideological or phil osophi cal m o n och rome. H owever , w h en we com e to th e "exp e rim e n t ," we fi n d th at m atters are much more complex tha n th at. F irs t o f a ll , at th e b eginnin g of th e decade (an d already in th e seco nd h alf o f th e fifti es), a n y veerin g off th e established model h ad to b e co n sidered a n experiment. For this reason , o n e h as to take "experi men t" SLOVAKIA 155 in our con text quite liberally and broadly as meaning a wide variety of writing, from that which merely joins an already established prose current to that which attempts at importing certain contemporary western literary techniques . Most importantly , we have to understand it as the development of a genuine, new literary voice with its own style, its own original seeing of the world. It would hardly be possible for new, unknown writers simply to appear with their new work and displace the established authors overnight. What happened instead was a transition period when the next literary generation of authors following Hecko , Jil emnicky, Kral', and others - namely Vladimfr Minac (b.1922), Ladislav Mnacko (b.1919), Dominik Tata rko (b.1913), and Peter Karvas (b.1920), among others - abandoned their orthodoxy to such an extent that further experiments along the same lines seemed no longer astonishing. Even here one would like to stress that the authors of the sixties were by no means readily accepted. There was first a struggle. There was very often harsh criticism; and , objectively spea king, such criticism was sometimes quite ju stified. On the whole , however, any criticism had to be fundamentally unfair if we take into consideration the still limited freedom to write as the author pleased. Thus , we witness the sorry spectacle of compromised literature criticized by compromised critics. A good example would be the case ofjaroslava Blazkova's Nylonovy mesiac (Nylon Moon, 1961 ). Jozef Kot attacked it by saying: "I do not know why, but Slovak prose has suddenly discovered ero ticism , and Sagan and others," adding a statement difficult to challenge: " Bratislava will never be a Paris and Slovaks will never be erotomaniacs. " 3 Of course, Kot knows full well why was it that there was no erot icism before. It simply was not allowed. Nor were any modern western authors pe rmitted to serve as model s, before. Kot perceives the change and his reaction is a good, though mild , sign of his bewilderment. Alas, in a very few years, by Kot 's standards, Bratislava was teeming with erotomaniac authors as socialist puritanism fizzl ed out. In fact, the standards used to measure the quality of lite rary production in Slovakia were high. P erhaps too high , and that led to contradictions . Thus , J an Rozner took the young writers Blazkova and Anton H ykisch to task: "We can not call that which is being done by the young prose writers experime ntin g. It is ceaseless searching, learning , testing, but not experimenting" (SP, September 1961 , 17) . In the case 156 SLOVAKIA of Hykisch , he was take n to task for using the inte rnal monologu e or strea m of consciousness technique , and it was pointed out to him that this was not new at all , as it h ad been used by mode rnist authors a long time ago. Again the crit ic pretended to be unaware of the fact that even su ch a basic and harmless technique h ad been very suspect just recently. And Hykisch was reacting to the literature immediately preceding him , even though , pe rhaps unconsciously , he actuall y returned to the interrupted modernist line of Slovak prose. " Modernism " - a word of opprobrium only rece ntly - became th e most desired aim in the ge neral atmosphe re of catching up with the W est. But H ykisch would not stop experimenting. Here is the conclusion of his sho rt novel Nad'a (SP August-Dece mbe r 1963): Who is guilty of the librarian 's d eath? Who ? I ? H e? Nadia , you are a merciful Samaritan, should you try to save people who were hurt ? ... The door to the washroom banged shut. They always bang, someone shouted feebly from the next room. Dreaming. At the other end it started to ring . I started. I began to run, the doors are lea ping a t my side and are running b ehind me, there is ringing, a seco nd alarm clock. A third . A fourth. Simultaneously. Voices, banging , slippers , fee t , the first door, a person . Woma n. I closed m y eyes a nd eve rything around m e vibrated, unknown sounds a nd voices, something securely lived here. I stood for a mome nt in front of our room, I heard Liz . I quickly ente red , Good morning , girls . Hi , Nadia, why a re you h a untin g here? I opened the window, hun g the towel on the bed and started to dress quickly. The girls were still sleepy and watched me in surprise . I hurried . It seem ed to m e that it was late for eve rything . It would not be difficult to prove how Hyki sch 's style differs from the more orthodox styles of th e forties a nd fifti es - the sudde n cha nges of voice, the economy , the dynamism , the palpa ble presence of the furniture of life, the reali a, in short, the mode rn shorthand, telegraphic style is here clearly represe nted. But the experime ntal ch a racter of this novel lies in the implications of the plot , in the introduction of a characte r SLOVAKIA 157 out of favo r with the P arty, a nd the int rodu ctory device of qu ota ti on s from au thors su ch as Campa n ella (his Th e City of the S un ), H. G . W ells (Th e Sh ap e of Thin gs to Com e), qu otation s th at pro m oted qu estionin g, skep ti cism a nd pess imi sm . These qu ota ti on s co m e from Robert, th e m an in di sfavor with wh om adi a, th e hero in e, fall s in love . W e are led to believe th a t R obe rt 's difficulti es ste m from the fact th a t he is a thinker, not a careerist , and also a man of p rinciple. N adi a, a n intellige nt but slightl y fri volou s econ omics student , does n ot measure up to the strictures a nd u tter seriou sn ess of Robert , a libraria n by p ro fession , but a philosoph er b y callin g. Of interest , too, is the sett in g , th e urban se tt in g - Brati slava - which will come to be the set tin g of man y works of the decade. But it is th e city see n throu gh the eyes of a n out sider , N adi a, who com es to Brati slava to study . Th e ambi gu ou s endin g (Robert commits sui cide, but h ove rs b etwee n life an~ death) is also som ethin g new . ot becau se of the a mbi guity , but again fo r su ggestin g (by impli cation) th a t perh aps N adi a was n ot entirely to bl am e for R obert 's sui cide. It woul d not be enti rely in a ppropria te to call R obert a m odern Slovak in carna tion of th e "supe rflu ou s m a n " known to u s from Russian litera ture . The isolated individual , the m a n against the world , against a K afk aesqu e bureau cracy: su ch is th e un co m fo rta bl e situ a tion of the new Slovak literary ch a rac te r of the sixties. In a nothe r urba n writer , J a n J oh a nides, the ch a racte r is isol ated without the h elp of politi cs . R a th er , h e is pressed a nd tried sorely b y the existential choice , by lack of com munication , a nd b y the alien world from which he seem s so woefull y estra n ged . C a mu s a nd Sartre a re the two m ost obviou s m en tors ofj oh a nides, especially the latter, according to Mil a n H amad a (SP , O ctob er 1963 , 134). L ack of co mmunication is the them e of an impressive story entitled Potapaca prit'ahuju pram ene m ora (A Di ve r I s Attracted by O cean Sprin gs). I qu ote from the co nclu sion : Everybody loves hi s wi fe fo r som e m ore or less co ncrete reason , b u t the re a re some who love fo r a less ce rta in , or eve n un ce rtain reason . And th at reaso n could b e the fact that he saw h er, th at they h ave me t a t all , th at sh e too exis ts. It seems tha t I loved Marth a for a sim il a r reason. I saw her, I looked at her w ith these my eyes a n d she wanted me to marry her. And that "more certain " reason fo r whi ch , if I ca n say so, m y love multi pli ed , was her beautiful a r rogan ce. T h a t is 158 SLOVAKIA wha t I would call he r in sisten t d esire to be h appy . Perh a ps she co uld gu ess a t the beginnin g that I could secure her existen ce and would make no claims on her. I call her desire for happiness beautiful a rrogance because she d a red to turn m e into a spring board to aims tha t she thou ght would m a ke h er ha ppy. This a r rogance - of wh a tever kind - I find interestin g; I do n ot judge h er for it. It p roves tha t M a rtha had to be profoundl y unha ppy a nd alone. Little things that I could furnish for her were designed to suggest to he r that this was not the way to ha ppiness. I do not know if she unde rstood . (SP, July 196 1, 111 ) Now the sen sitive n a rrator-hu sb a nd is him self d yin g of cance r , but still goin g a bout hi s tasks, unworried ab out his a pproaching end . Hi s profession is rather prosaic: he is a chef in a resta ura nt . Whe n he find s out a bout his wife ' s unfaithfuln ess, he fail s to ge t a n gry. When he learns a bou t her death of sudden heart failure while drivin g with her love r , he still m a intains his equ animity. Thu s he is almost superna turally calm a nd ra tion al, or em o tion ally defici e nt - a judgem ent th a t is sys tem a tically contradicted by his superior sen sitivity of perception and un d erstandin g . Still , hi s sta nce is suspicious to his fri end s who find him too stran ge for their compa n y . All thi s would b e new and unu su al in Slovak lite rature, but the essenti al experimental feature of J oha nides is his stress on th e private space of the individu al; n ot only his in ne r world tha t he so carefull y sketches, but the ou te r world as well. H owever , it is a highly individu al, private world tha t his cha racte rs see. And for that reaso n th ey are u nabl e to share it wi th an yon e. Con sequ entl y, these wo rlds often clash . Such a cl ash is described by the obj ective n arrator of a title story in J oha nides' s Sukromie (Privacy, 1963). During the fun e ral of a ve ry act ive wo rke r a nd Pa r ty m em ber, the orato r addresses the deceased: I d o n ot know h ow to tha nk you fra nkl y fo r all your effort a nd pe rso nal in volve m en t in our facto ry's cl ub of the R evolutio na ry U nion Move m e nt. You we re a good union m embe r , we deeply honor yo ur wo rk. W e knew yo u , we tru sted you . Bu t d id we really know you ? The wind lifted the red fl ag that covered the coffin, and som eo ne fro m the crowd p assed a n open bottle of soda water SLOVAKIA 15 9 to the cl a rinet pl aye r . H e put it in to th e condu ctor's h a nd. - But w hy did you leave so su dd enl y? The bo ttle of soda water was ta ken by a sm all m a n in a gray sui t w ith a wart ri ght un der hi s eye. H e was holdin g the wife of the deceased in hi s arms, pou r in g the sod a water o n he r face th rou gh the veil , but som e wom a n too k th e bo ttle away from him a nd lifted the ve il . - Why did you leave so sudde nl y? 4 Two activities are in progress simultan eou sly. T he world of the deceased is no m o re; to who m , then , is th e orator a ddressing hi s m ela ncholy m essage? To him self, fo r th e widow h as fa inted , a nd people a re busy ta king care of h er. The commo tio n of the world " out the re" cl ashes w ith the wo rld of the o rator whose speech a nd qu estion s give the scen e an a b su rd a ir a t first ; it will turn out tha t n o on e, n ot eve n his wife, really kn ew the d eceased . Jan J oh a nid es b a ffl ed hi s critics and div id ed them sh a rply into two groups . Fo r the first group , here is Mila n H am ad a: '' The failure of intellect in J ohanides caused the loss of spiritual and artistic tran scendence " (SP , Au gu st 1966 , 9). For the second , Fra nti sek Miko: "The stren gth of J oh a nides ' s style I see m a inly in w h a t I would like to call indep enden ce. It shows itself in the a n alys is, con cretely in the sh a rp , m a tter -offact an alyti cal to ne. This tone was always very rare h e re, a nd the refore always desirable a nd n ew" (SP , D ecember 1966, 15). In this m a tter-of-fact tone a nd in hi s som etim es excess ive a ttention to detail J oh anides was bested by P eter J aros, who brings into Slovak litera ture perh ap s the m ost experim ental features th a t we associa te with the a nti-n ovel or n ou vea u rom an. H e is playing with ti me, "coll apsing" it , d iffu sin g o ur a ttenti o n in paren thetical deta il s that seem to be la rgely irrelevant to the main action , which itself is ve ry difficult to de fin e . H ere is an example from hi s work Vah y (Scales, 1966): (Some movemen ts attract by the ir u nexpected vigorou sness or their unusual character. Ri gh t now a hu ge clou d mu st have fl ow n away a nd uncove red th e settin g su n , for it su ddenl y brightened up .) We move away carefu ll y from the door , hi t somethin g ge ntl y a nd feel behind our b ack the wall ( eve n the sitting man can be seen mo re clearly). Sudde nl y , as if by m iracle, we e n ter the room w he re the man is sitti ng , and we 160 SLOVAKIA stay there even after the sun sets and the twilight turns to darkness. (The room is a spacious one, from the armchair in which the man is sitting, one can see, n ear the glass door, a double chest of brown walnut wood. There is nothing on the rear wall , although be tween the doo r a nd the chest there is sufficie nt space to fit a big elongated vase that would moderate the sudden transition between the chest and the door. )5 Und erstanda bly , we a re dealing here with literature heavily influenced by foreign models; the expe rime ntatio n does not seem to follow a native model, unless we see J a ros as a follower ofjohanides . Even so , there is injohanides's work also a lyricism which is missing fromjaros's work. Lyricism or rather " lyrical prose " is the main accomplishment of perhaps the most talented writer of the new generation, Vincent Sikula. H ere, for example, is the conclusion of Sikula' s story Dlhe tyzdne sjasnymi n ocami pred odletmi st'ahovavych vtakov (Long Weeks with Bright Nights befo re the Flights of Birds). A boy , Rudko , befriends a village idiot , Viktor, who attracts the boy with his ri ch imagination and asks him to join him secretly at night. Outside, th ey observe the m ysteriou s n a ture, crawl in the wet grass, a nd th en Viktor blindfolds the boy: Rudko, maybe I lied to you, h e said. I told you an hour ago that it 's beginning to d awn , but you could have seen that this was not so. Is the ni gh t bright? I took a mirror with m e, maybe I wanted to confuse you with it . I 've thrown it away, a nd you didn't even notice it. T ell m e, Rudko , what do I n eed a mirror fo r? M aybe yo u really are sick a nd maybe yo u feel like slee ping . But how could you slee p when the ni gh t is so bright? I p rom ised to give you a handke rchief, I didn ' t make a parachute out of it , because I would be sorry to see it go . H e told me th a t he would talk to m e un til I fall asleep. H e m entioned thin gs abo ut which he u sed to talk to me all summ er lo n g, that is, th e merry-go-round , the du ck , ... but also the gander , m aybe it will b e a wild gander and it will take off, lift itself off th e gro und, fl y over Koligram, it will avo id the poplars, it will disa ppear over the fi eld s ... SLOVAKIA 161 Rudko, can you still see me? I can't. They found me in the morning with my head in the ditch. On my back, there was a heavy stone that was supposed to kill me. 6 Sikula admits that he is a follower of the outstanding village prose writers of the older generation, Jozef Ciger-Hronsky and Milo Urban, but his arrival on the literary scene with his lyricism was still an experiment under the circumstances. He does not flinch from horror when he shows the destruction of the village by sudden change brought on by war or revolution. But the violence of war has been more strikingly portrayed in the work of Ladislav Tazky, especially in his work Amenmaria: Sam[ dobrf vojaci (Amenmaria: All the Good Soldiers, 1964). H ere we see a conscious departure from the older socialist realist depiction of war, such as the schematic picture of the resistance and the horrors of the uprising against the Germans that we find in Jilemnicky' s Kronika (Chronicle, 1947) , where everything is simple and clear. On the one side the partisans, on the other - Germans. In Tazky we find a difference . The experiment lies in introducing to the reader a hero who is a soldier of the Slovak Army fighting in the Ukraine against the Red Army and on the side of the Germans . Although , to be sure, the narrator is a communist, the difficult period, the ambiguities, the different pulls and demands on soldiers, the hell of war, are all rendered in a striking style that lacks comforting simplicity and bewilders us by its provocative character. What follows is a description of a German attack on a hut harboring deserters: Why do the Germans keep the light on at D aytim e and How Come they don 't Shout " H eil "? What are you doing, soldier-boys? At this time they h ave to be near the hut and the officer is commanding them to hit the snow and crawl towards the bark bunker. Boys , how long will you be playing this game? You've done it once before. Do you remember, we answered you then, and now the hut stays mum , it is waiting for you , so break 162 SLOVAKIA her waist, who will fire into he r warmth smelling of human warmth? Nobody will leave the grave, nobody will a nswer, the dead do not fear death , you are death , only the living are afraid of you, those whose waist is still unbroken (SP, June 1965, 154) . But lest I leave the impression that m ost of the n ew prose of the sixties was so depressing and utterly serious, let me turn to humor. Clearly, the most talented practitioners at the time were Milan Lasica and Julius Satinsky : humorists, satirists, p arodists and performers of their work. But I would like to turn to Milan Zelinka instead, because of the allusive character of Lasica and Satinsky's work . Zelinka's work , from which I will quote, won the competition organized by the prestigious journal Slovenske Pohl'ady in 1968 . The story is a pseudo-historical take-off on folklore and infirmities of the age reminiscent of Alfred Jarry' s Ubu . A kingdom is harrassed by a robber whom no one is able to stop. Finally , after cau sing the death of the king, the robber engages the n ew king in correspondence. H ere then is an exchange of letters from Povest' o strasnom zbojnfkovi Folstynskom a nest'astnom katovi Holcusko vi (The Story about the T errible Robber Folstynsky and the Unfortunate Executio n er Holcuska) . After the capture of the robber , who finds out that he is about to be shown to tourists instead of being executed , the robber fires a letter of protest to the king: D ear Sir, I thought tha t you h ad character , but today I found out otherwise . I a m a nnouncing thereby that I protest again st being put on a show for tourists just because you lack good economists! It is against my con science. I swear that if you force m e to do what I hate with all m y soul , I sh all spit upon the tourists and haran gu e them with u gly words to su ch an effe ct that they will be unable to sleep in our guest h ou ses not only because of the fleas, bu t also b ecause of the horror cau sed b y my tongue . Folstynsky SLOVAKIA 163 The king answered the robber: Dear buddy, I think you are being unfair . Even though I do believe that the postponement of your execution has disappointed you deeply, there's nothing to be done, you'll have to go on living for some time ye t. As for the tourists , don't forget that our country needs money badly . It is partly and mainly your own fault that we find ourselves in a deep economic crisis. You should not forget that . Who was zipping up and down our country causing mischief, but you alone? After all, if I published your opinions in the press, our young people would laugh at you. And you do not want to appear ridiculous to them , do you? Your friend , King Bazulfk P .S . Finally, have no fear . It is not going to be so bad with those tourists. They are generous, I experienced it personally . You ' ll get lots of chewing gum. (SP, March 1968 , 154) . It would be difficult to pretend that anything except broad currents of the variety found in Slovak literature of the sixties were mentioned here. Peter Balgha and Rudolf Slaboda should have been and Vlado Bednar could have been m entioned as well. But rather than piling up a great number of names and titles, it seemed more appropriate to communicate the special flavor of the new prose . Moreover , it is also the special excitem ent that greeted the new experiments, the new works, the new names in the sixties that one would want to evoke here. And that excitem ent was, as is only natural , the property of those who had a good knowledge of the standard , or older socialist realist literature , those who could see how much this new literature differed from the older one. They could see how , quite co nsciously , the new authors began to displace the old rules, the schemata, and above all, the fear. When these were pushed away, the experimenting began . In some cases it was a modest kind of experim ent : the author wanted to see if he could write the way people used to write in the thirties or even twenties. Other writers wanted to bring in forbidde n topics: repressed people, eroticism, foreign philosoph y. Others still concentrated on the style, the form, th e structure of their work. Taken together , the effor ts of youn g Slovak authors (and som e not so you n g) made the decade of the sixties a veritable liter- 164 SLOVAKIA ary revival. That it happened at all is a miracle , despite the ready explanations . One wonders how right Thomas Merton was when he said that "tomorrow the abstract paintings will be on the walls of the Commissars.' ' 8 NOTES ' Czech Literature since 1956: A Symposium , ed . William E . Harkins a nd Paul I. Trensky (New York: Bohemica, 1980). ' Frantisek Vnuk ' ~ Sedemnast' neurodnych rokov (Middletown: Slovak v Amerike , 1965) discusses literary developments after 1956 and into 1962. It is pa rticularly valuable for its description of the infertile period of the reign of socialist realism , as the fertile period of the sixties is mostly outside th e com pass of his work . 3 Jozef Kot , " Ako dalej ," Slovenske pohl'ady, 78 Oanuary 1962), 136-3 7. This journal will hence appear in the text as SP. Translations a re mine . • JanJohanides, Sukromie (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel' , 1963), p. 118 . ' Peter Jaros , Vahy (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel', 1968), p. 1011 . 6 Vincent Sikula, Povetrie (Bratislava: Slovensky Spisovatel', 1968) , p . 13. 7 Thomas Merton, Raids on the Unspeakable (New York : New Directions , 1965), p. 168). Presented in Panel 128, '' Slovak Literature as a Mirror of the National Awakening, ' ' at the AAASS co nventi on in Philadelphia on 8 November 1980.  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 Modern Slovak Fiction: The Sixties, a Decade of Experimentation Description An account of the resource Peter Petro Slovakia, Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83 pp. 153-164 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Petro, Peter Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/1ba38c6ef7721653399bdfc41322ddda.pdf f2ef06811d3b44a0bb2f7fd6d5dce9f6 PDF Text Text 142 SLOVAKIA Jozef Cfger-Hronsky: A Major Slovak Novelist Pete r P etro Slovak literature is still a Cinderalla even among the Central European literatures. This is ce rta inly not because of a lack of good authors; but one is naturally drawn towards the larger literatures of the Slavic world , and Slovak translations are rare and good translations rarer still ; finally, some of the more interestin g a u th ors su ch as J .C . Hronsky are often ignored, instead of bein g actively promoted by the literary establishment at home. Ye t , one feels, if it ever happen s that a single author will represent the best in Slovak literature , that author will be J .C. Hronsky. Jozef Cfger Hronsky ( 1896-1960) was an unknown writer for the Slovak generation that grew up after 1945 . His name could not be found in any hi story of modern literature publish ed after the war. Officially , then , he did not exist in Slovakia , becau se he had left his homela nd in 1945. Hronsky eventually settled in Argentina , where he also died . The official prohibition lasted until 1965 , and then he was publish ed again. Yet , even before his departure in 1945 , he was already recognized as a maj or novelist and a worthy follower of the great Slovak writer , M artin Kukucfn , whom he came to overshadow . Curiously e nou gh, the two decad es-long pen an ce worked to Hronsky's advantage. And not because he published that much in exile: two major works Andreas Bur M ajster (Master Andreas Bur, 1948) and Svet na Trasovisku (The World Caught in Quicksand , 1960) , a re fascinating in their own right a nd round out his life's work, m akin g it m ore complete and articulate. Yet even without them his reputation would be safe. The following is an attempt to account for the undisputed p romin ence of Hronsky a nd thu s give a n introdu ct ion to hi s work. Hronsky is usually pl aced with the gen eration of a uthors th at appeared after the Great W a r and therefo re is most often m entioned in discu ss ions of the literature of the interwar pe riod. Howeve r , some of his b est novels appeared during a nd after the Second W orld War , and the reappearan ce of his work after 1965 played a n unpreced ented role �SLOVAKIA 143 in the literary life of the country when it influenced the newest generation at its most productive stage. Thus, he clearly transcends formal periodization as is only fitting for an author of his scope, accomplishment, and importance. Then again, the posthumous stage of Hronsky's literary fortune must have caught by surprise even such an admirer of his work as the author of an excellent monograph, Alexander Matuska. 1 Hronsky also transcends the attempt to limit his significance to one particular genre: that of the village novel. The temptation to so limit him grows quite naturally from the success of his noveljozefMak (1933), where h e demonstrated in a definitive fashion his mastery of the genre, having previously published a great number of short stories 2 and an im portant novel, Chlieb (Bread, 1931), all dealing with the village. Born in the town of Zvolen , Hronsky taught school in several central Slovak villages. But in writing about the village, Hronsky simply shows himself as a traditionalist, satisfied with the development and the continuation of an established genre, playing with it, adding and subtracting, and finally, withjozefMak, "fulfilling" the genre by producing a work in which it culminates. That he should start with village prose is hardly surprising. In Matuska's words, the whole of Slovakia was just a big village and as such a starting point for the development of Slovak realism, whether of the fantastic, idyllic, or local variety. 3 But Hronsky does not stop there, for he is also the author of a profoundly urban novel, Pisar Grae (Grae the Clerk, 1940) , one of his best, wherein typically urban concerns appear in the guise of an innovative, formally daring experiment in the novel , an experiment, moreover, that works and which, despite the crit ical attention it inspired, still seems underrated. 4 Finally , there is an attempt to claim Hronsky as an author of the "social novel" - or what others call the " problem novel , " that is , a novel concerned with social issues, as Jan Stevcek, otherwise a sensitive critic of Hronsky, has done. 5 Stevcek claims that Hronsky pointed out "some n ew facets of social reality and created, o n an artistic level , a new type of social novel , the main point of which was not a clearly determin ed issu e, but a hidden secret of social resistance. " 6 But this fancy footwork cannot hide the absence of the kind of social commitment that wou ld warrant the description of Jozef Mak as a " n ew type of social novel. '' On e could say with equal justification that this is a n ew type of reli giou s novel , a nd perhaps one would be closer to the truth, but even that would be insufficient. �144 SLOVAKIA If it is true that Hronsky transcends such partial treatment, how can we get at his core, his essential characteristic? For, to be sure, there is a grain of truth in the partial views mentioned here. The problem is , they are not too helpful in presenting us with the essential Hronsky. For this reason, Alexander Matuska comes much closer to this essential Hronsky, in his evaluation of Hronsky's stories, saying that they impress one as fairy tales from the past; as a neglect of the real problems of the village; as a dream village, not a real one; yet never as a lie , because they simultaneously impress one as something ancient, a joyful message to a younger, less fortunate age; as a universe that has besides its lower truth a higher significance, something akin to a reservation, where the "good man is still alive,'' something - if one can put it that way - like a miraculous ghetto, where basic human values are preserved, where man can exist whole and undivided , not because he let chaos and contradictions in and defeated them, but becau se he did not let them in and rejected them. 7 How far this is from a "social novel"! The ambivalence, or rather the polyvalence of Hronsky makes one hesitate: J. M . Rydlo says that Hronsky is a "truthful expressionist," an experimentalist , and an author who " lyricized " French reali sm, having been influenced, among others, by Jean Giono (1895-1970) and the Swiss Charles Ferdinand Ramuz (1878-194 7), whose work exemplifies " lyricized symbolism. " 8 Without going to outside sources and influences for Hronsky's unique, highly personal, and above all influential vision of the world , one can agree that he writes what is called ' ' lyricized'' or '' lyrical'' prose . With the advantage of hind sight, one notes that the school of lyrical prose has made a major impact on both the Slovak interwar period and the literature of the sixties and seventies. This was mainly due to H ronsky and it found worthy followers in such contemporary writers as Vincent Sikula and others . 9 Perhaps a few words about the phenomenon of lyrical prose might be in place here. Lyrical prose destroys the realistic convention by substituting for the conventionally objective narrative one that originates in a consciousness which is lyrical, poetic, and thus must of necessity clash with the underlying realistic background. Then again, "realistic" �SLOVAKIA 145 action may be submerged or enveloped in a lyrical, poetic, idealistic, even mystical light which itself serves as a background. At times this consciousness may seem childlike in its freshness of impression, reminding us of the well-known device of defamiliarization; yet in Bronsky the change in focus arrived at through defamiliarization is not at all the point of the device as he uses it. In Bronsky, such vision is a part of his belief system, his world view: it is always integral, never extraneous or exotic. The lyrical , poetic figures and symbols exist side by side with the realistic ones, often playing a key role, or "explaining" a character, by suggesting his raison d'etre . Thus, the opening ofJozef Mak is bathed in a green mist which is and is not of this world: From the wispy green fog emerged a white figure that leaves no tracks , has no weight, and can enter any courtyard without opening the gates, because the figure has no body but only hands bleeding from their pierced palms, and wise and good eyes. Its fingers were so m e rciful and light that the sleeping Jan Mak did not feel them upon his head. The son (and now since dawn the brother) heard only the movement of the wind, yet he understood every thing while he slept. The figure enters : " You're here, Jozef Mak? Yes, you are. I 've come too late . I have nothing left to give you. Since yesterday I 've been walking among quiet m en and women, and they've begged from me everything I had - by dawn there was nothing left. I gave away eve rything I had. And here you were born, Jozef Mak, with no one waiting for you except your mother ' s fright. No one welcomed you , no one brought you any presents. Well , I'll give you at least what I still have. I give you my crucified hands - they were left from the ni ght. Take them, but don't expect a mouth to match them, n ot even when you grow up and understand people and they try to persuade you that you should also get a voice somewhere.'' At that J ozef Mak sighed on his pillow. He sighed for joy that someone had given him something, for otherwise he would have had n othing in all his life. (p. 9) Thus starts the life of Jozef Mak, full of suffering that is never voiced , though it never lacks m eaning: a meaning that is ultimately liberating. �146 SLOVAKIA Mak is explained by this introduction , as are his good and evil actions. A poor man is traditionally close to God. A totally destitute one is closer still. Such proximity is M ak's birthright, yet he too goes astray, and only purification through suffering, a leitmotif in Hronsky , offers hope . But the crucified hands remain at the end of the novel: So then, suffer, Jozef Mak . You are just one of millions, a mere statistic, but you will endure everything, because it is not true that the hardest element in the world is stone , and the strongest steel. The truth is that the ordinary Jozef Mak will endure the most of all . (p. 301) It is not difficult to interpret the character as a symbol of the Slovak people, or even the nation . There is evidence in the novel that this unvoiced suffering fascinated the author, as if he were unwilling to part with his character whom he even engaged in imaginary conversations: Well , you can't run away, no matter what, you have to listen since you are h ere. Understand this , everything h as not come to an end yet. Things like this end only in a novel. In a novel something would happen to remove Jozef Mak from the world. But life is not a novel. Life is a cliff, a valley, mountains, tree stumps, an ax, passions, bread , and hoarfrost, and all these things are not just pieces of scenery and stage props which one can move a bout to suit one's fantasy. So you can not disappear just like that, Jozef Mak . (p. 300) And indeed, Mak survives in the ordinary man, in the mass man, if you like, for his inarticulateness grants him anonymity, as well as the distinction of being a symbol for the downtrodden anywhere anytime . Thus the essentially and even clinically authentic Slovak villager, as no one else could draw him , becomes also Hronsky's most universal creation . At this point , it has to be said that Hronsky does not idealize the village, nor is it a case of artifi cially preserving folklore . He is able, after all, to see the village without illusions , and often in painfully sh arp relief with its attendant cruelty and even savagery that are the obverse of the traditional lyricism found in the evocat ion of village li fe in prose . Stevcek goes even farther, saying that Hronsky "de-folklorizes old motifs and the old literary tradition, " and is "faithful to his dual optics, which he made his own, elevating it to his creative prin ciple.'' 10 lnjozef Mak �SLOVAKIA 147 the principle of " dual optics" is communicated throu gh the d evice of a "monologue inwardly made into a dialogue," 11 but this shou ld not b e confusing or surprising, b ecause the a uthor has to co mmunicate by such means what would h ave otherwise bee n communicated through a more articulate character. In addition, Hron sky is characte ristically indirect. The most importa nt , vital events takes place in the lives of his characters without anyone uttering a singl e word , as if Hronsky disbelieved in the power of the word. His characte rs are rarely swayed by example, m o re often b y passion , but a lastin g mark o n their behavior is exacted only b y the force of seemin gly m e rciless suffe ring. It is for this reason that Pisar Grae occupies much a distinctive place in th~ entire work of Hronsky. For here Hron sky reve rses himself, as he presents to u s a garrulous character, described by another as an "angry dog . Just like an a ngry dog! You will eve n b a rk at the pe rson who o ffers you a slice of bread; you h ave no God, a nd better people than you were h a n ged , but you ' ll just go on barking a nd barking until someone gives you a good kick " (p . 7) . What is more, this loquacious ch aracter indulges in conversations with the reade r and with a d ead m a n , the late second hu sband of his (Grac's) wife-to-be. Grae writes to the dead man , reminisces a bout the Great War, philosophizes, but lets us know only indirec tly a bout what is really most important to him , namely hi s love for Jana: a ha unting and luminous figure at the center of the novel. This indirect approach is submerged, as it were, in the noise of th e incessant monologue inte rrupted by non -chronologically arranged scen es which n eve rtheless follow a n internal o rder, leading u s, however circuito u sly, to a resolution which we co me to half expect anyway . One particul a rly admires the way in which J ana, the beau tiful , even tragic widow a nd narrator's wife-to-be, is revealed to u s, stage b y stage. W e find her fl ee tingly a ppearing a nd di sappearing in mirrors co nvenie ntly supplied b y the n arrator in the guise of o the r ch aracters a nd the ir rem ini scences, their stories, where Jan a appears as if by ch a n ce. But all this ·is beau tifull y, cooll y controll ed , for the seemin gly cyn ical n arrator has within him a ce nte r that hi s mundane and unprepossessing ex terior formed b y the monolo gue replete with aphorisms and quotidian wisdom , hides without co mpletely co ncealing it from our view. At first we only gu ess that it ex ists, later we kn ow. The distan ce between these stages is bridged by events osten sibl y unrelated to th e " main" hidden content, eve nts su ch as the dyin g a nd d eath of little Miklu sko. �148 SLOVAKIA This genuin ely tragic death is opposed to the death of Jan a's second hu sband , Greskovie, which Hronsky chooses to treat with a degree of co m edy , if not grotesqueness, as if to highlight the profoundly tragic death of Miklusko . Hron sky's cool , understated narrative is the proper vehicle: we cannot consider it maudlin , nor sentimental , for it is presented to u s by a n arrator that excludes such possibilities and for that very reason enables the reader to feel with great empathy the tragedy of the event. The boy 's d eath leads to the recon ciliation of old lovers - Jan a and Grae; Grae d escribes the eve nt to J ana's late hu sband : We m et , Mr. Greskovie, but not the way J ana and I imagined it , nor the way you im agined it! It happened very simply. When Mik.lusko was dying, J ana offered to let m e stay in a room upstairs during those nights that his mother wanted to spend taking leave of her son. She led m e into her room herself. She loved the boy , so her eyes were full of sadness . W e just stood next to each other and did not talk much . P erhaps we said almost nothing. Jana maybe did m ention somethin g or other, saying that the war has died, but I am not quite sure she actually said that . She bent down her head a bit , and I felt as if she had touched my shoulder, so I stretched out my arm across her back and unsurely and timidly drew her to myself. She hardly moved , and m erely rested her head on m y shoulder. And so quietly , ever so quietly she started to cry, so that I could hardly hear her .. . . D o you unders tand m e, Mr. Greskovi e? (p. 221) Mr. Greskovie understands and d oes not answer Grae the clerk, letting the reader know that a painful , but somehow inevitable chapter ofGrac's life is over, producing a different Grae, minus his cynicism, which , at any rate, the read er suspects is only a m ask covering a suffering heart , in love and waiting for the beloved . Suddenly the waiting is over, and it is as if an enchantment were lifted. The war, the Great War that plays such a large role in the n arrator's fl ash backs, dies with the boy, which is not as ill ogical as it seem s. For the boy is an offsprin g of a father who dies in the war , leaving hi s little son "trapped" in the world, an example of an unresolved , unfinished business awaiting resolution. Hronsky's universe has its rules and one of them is a fateful and perhap s �SLOVAKIA 149 strange symmetry , occasionally overly tragic, as with Miklusko. His d eath is required by Hronsky' s sense of tragic symme try . But lest it be thought that Pisar is just a brilliant experiment with a dash of black humor , the grotesque, and a ha ppy e nding, one has to point out another level of the novel in which Hronsky takes stock of the entire interwar generation. H e th rows also a fasci n ating light on the then young Slovak Republic ( 1939- 1945), express ing with prophetic exactitude his misgivings about the Slovak nat io n al ch aracter. In such passages, the generally light-hearted, bantering to ne g ives way to sob ering earnestness in a sweeping indictment of hi s ge nerat io n: Grae Watch out! There are a lot of clich es in today's world! I admit that we hardly know what a n idea is a nd what a n em pty cliche. There a re a lot of speech es, everybod y is a n o ra tor, especia lly those who have n o ideas, so they throw around cliches. In twenty year s one cannot tear out a ll the weeds. But that's how it is , and it cannot be otherwise. It is also true that the war has poisoned us . W e ran a bout like horses that were suddenly let loose, running back and forth, no lon ger liste ning on e ithe r the right or the left , not knowi n g what it was we wanted. One d ay we would b e on the road, the next day we would be stomping over a freshly sow n fi eld a nd find ourselves in a morass . Each minute someone would shoo t at u s, then would g ive u s something, then would take something from u s, a nd so, wounded, we moon ed about the world. W e soiled every thing we walked on, poisoned it , made it u gly, but most of all we hurt ourselves. (p.213) One h as to conclude that Grae is a surv ivor, nursing his wounds, regretting hi s sins on the way to a recovery effected when he fin ally putt; aside hi s tedium vitae, hi s acedie. But there a re also apologetics and d ark , proph etic warn ings on this level of the n ovel. First the apologetics: I would like to add that we sho uld b e forgiven a lot. It has to be co nsidered that nobody helped us, that we could rely only o n o urselves. And how m a n y stupid thin gs we have yet to comm it! (p. 215) Next, the prophecy: H ow much idiocy there is! . . . W e are capa ble of sett in g fire to our own b a rn a nd sitting down in it , if we get it in o ur �150 SLOVAKIA heads that it is a wise thing to do. And we can ge t such ideas quickly ! W e think we understand eve rythin g, know eve rythin g, a nd can overcome anythin g. (Ibid.) Such was hi s fate that H ro nsky lived to see hi s d arkest forebodings realized , with the cruel twist that eve n he was un able to picture the consequences and would ha rdl y have beli eved them had he been told about them in ad vance. Thus it is in exil e in Rom e - the spiritu al capital of Slovaks - that H ron sky wrote his next work, the novelette Predavac talizmanov Liberiu s Caius (The T alism a n M erchant : Liberius C aiu s, 1947 ),'i a bout the earl y C hri stians in R om e, focusing on the painful tran sition from paganism to Christianity. H ere, clearly, yet another stage of Hronsky's literary career began . According to K arol Strmen , a friend of Hronsky and one of his sensitive readers, this short work is a breakthrou gh , a key that enables the reader to see in a different li ght not only the foll owin g, but also hi s precedin g work. Consequently , to follow Strmen, we should not see Hronsky's characters such as M ak a nd Grae as typically post-Christian fi gures vagu ely dependent on the Christian ethos, but as pre-Christian , and existentially imprisoned on the borderland of the C hri stian m essage, which they never heard in its completeness, or loudly enou gh . 13 But such advice would seem a radical departure from the general acceptance of Hronsky's unive rse as a quintessentially Christian one . Perha ps it is easier to accept Strmen 's testimonial as a witness to th e intensification of Hronsky's Christian world view in his last works. Also written in R om e, Andreas Bur Majster , an important novel, is a nother hi storical wo rk deal ing with a tragic story of a misunderstood ecce ntric, or mystic, whose proximity to G od makes him suspiciou s in the eyes of his fellow m en who ridicul e, fear, and finall y kill him . Written in the m anner of the ' ' novel of secrets,'' it is a powerful evocati on of the force, beauty, and otherworldly quality of pure co ntempl ation and saintly openn ess. Thou gh saintly, Bur is no saint, at least not until the end , which find s him purified by sufferin g and read y to share the fa te of hi s M as ter . There a re eni gm atic m om ents here, and one se nses the closeness between Bur and the author . The enigm as, left unexplained , und erscore the essen tiall y mysterious cha racter of life when lived on a sp iritu al level. For here we are far above M ak and Grae. In th at se nse, one can speak about a trilogy of Mak-Grae-Bur , as Stevee k does, 14 onl y in a very n arrow way. For if we take Mak and Grae as antipodes, Bur �SLOVAKIA 15 1 will be defin ed n ot in relation to them but , as Stevcek him self admits , in relation to the absolute arch e type, to God . 15 Andreas Bur Majster is for Stevcek the "completion and the crown in g effort of the school of lyrical prose." 16 It would be h ard to find a more complimentary word of pra ise. For it is ge nerally recognized that the most valu able accompli shment of Slovak literature is found in the school or movement known as lyrical prose of which B ron sky is an undisputed master. And here, perhaps, on su ch a high n ote, w ithout actually exhau sting Bronsky' s work, 17 we sh ould stop to ask for a good reason why the world should be interested in this lyrical prose of Bronsky . It could be that the renewed interest in his work stems from a desire, partl y sentimental, to learn a bout the world of the recent p ast , at least in Slovakia, when people, however destitute, still lived in harmon y with their so il in which they were so firmly rooted. Nor were they prey to the moral and sp iritu al uprootedness that we h ave come to know as an integral part of the experie nce of modernity. This is espec ially true of Jozef Mak , who, perhaps qui te subconsciou sly but for th at matter so mu ch m ore emphat ically a nd essentially, resists uprootedness in all its forms. What a unique figure in modern wo rld literature this pained but su ccessful resistance makes him ! What a feast of meaning , of hope, and of spiritu al insight - a nd all that accomplish ed through a character unable to a rticu late his pain. Truly , this is a masterpiece that goes against the gra in in an age of modernity, a n age when uprootedness is extolled and fas hioned into a marketable life style, an age of noisy, aimless, chatter debasin g the logos. Bronsky knew of our true desires, of the mysteries of faith and hope . Th ese he articulated as no other Slovak author before or after him ; furthermore, h e has done so with force and beauty that are by no means destined to be admired only by Slovaks. That is why the world should want to know aboutjozefMak, Pisar Grae, Andreas Bur Majster, and Hronsky 's other work. For that reaso n and for many others that will occur to us as we e nter more deeply into hi s world . NOTES ' Al exa nd er M atus ka , j. C. H ronsk y (Brati slava: Slove n sky Spisovatel', 1970) ; also in Osobnosci (Bratislava: Slove nsky Spisovatel', 1973), Vol. JV of V y brane spisy Alexandra 1"1acusku . R eferences in the text a re to the 1973 editi on . �152 SLOVAKIA ' The most remarkable among th em are collected in Podpolian sk e rozpravky ( 1932), and Tomcikovci ( 1933) . M y references are to the collected works in ten volumes (Turcia nsky Sv . M art in : M a ti ca Slovenska, 1938-44). ' M a tu ska, p. 408. ◄ See " Hronskeho Pisar Grae a slovenska pr6za" (A round-tabl e discussion), Slovenske Pohl'ady, LXXXVI ( 1970), n .3, pp. 30-43. 5 J an Stevcek, " R oma n J ozef Mak ajeho histo ricky obsah , " inJ. C . Hronsky,jozef Mak (Bratislava: Tatran, 1980) , pp . 283-290. ' Ibid ., p. 290. 7 Matuska , p. 413. 8 J . M . R ydlo , " The World on a Quagmire : The Last Literary Work of Jozef Giger Hron sky," Slovak Studies, XV ( 1975), p . 119 . 9 For a study of " lyrical prose," see J . Stevcek, Lyrizovana pr6za (Bra tislava: Slovensky Spisovatel', 1973), and Oskar Cepan , K on tury naturiam u (Bratislava: Slovensky spisovatel', 1977). 10 J. Stevcek, "Doslov," in]. C. Hronsky, Podpolianske rozpravky (Bratislava: Tatran, 197 1), p . 242. 11 R ydlo, p. 12 1. " J . C. H ronsky , Predavac talizmanov , in Nadej vftazna (Scranton: Obrana Press, 1947) , pp . 7-50; 2nd ed. (Cambrid ge , Ont.: Dobra Knih a, 1972) . A literal English translation was made by J ohn J . K ester, Seller ofTalizm ans: Liberius Caius (Scotch Plai ns, N .J ., pri vately printed , 1978). " K . Strmei\ , " Zapadalo slnko, " in]. C . H ronsky, Predavac talizmanov Liberius Caius , 2nd ed. , ibid. , p. 79. " See J . Stevcek '' Hronskeho romanova legenda, '' in J. C. Hronsky, Andreas Bur M ajster (Bratislava: Tatran, 1970), p . 263. " Ibid. , p. 266. 16 Ibid ., p. 268. 17 J .C. Hronsky , Svet na Trasovisku (Whiting, I N: R ev. Jan]. Lach, Publisher, 1960), was his last novel. Presented in P anel 109, " Changin g Views of Slovak Literature," at the AAASS convent ion in Washington, D .C. on 17 O ctober 1982. � 142 SLOVAKIA Jozef Cfger-Hronsky: A Major Slovak Novelist Pete r P etro Slovak literature is still a Cinderalla even among the Central European literatures. This is ce rta inly not because of a lack of good authors; but one is naturally drawn towards the larger literatures of the Slavic world , and Slovak translations are rare and good translations rarer still ; finally, some of the more interestin g a u th ors su ch as J .C . Hronsky are often ignored, instead of bein g actively promoted by the literary establishment at home. Ye t , one feels, if it ever happen s that a single author will represent the best in Slovak literature , that author will be J .C. Hronsky. Jozef Cfger Hronsky ( 1896-1960) was an unknown writer for the Slovak generation that grew up after 1945 . His name could not be found in any hi story of modern literature publish ed after the war. Officially , then , he did not exist in Slovakia , becau se he had left his homela nd in 1945. Hronsky eventually settled in Argentina , where he also died . The official prohibition lasted until 1965 , and then he was publish ed again. Yet , even before his departure in 1945 , he was already recognized as a maj or novelist and a worthy follower of the great Slovak writer , M artin Kukucfn , whom he came to overshadow . Curiously e nou gh, the two decad es-long pen an ce worked to Hronsky's advantage. And not because he published that much in exile: two major works Andreas Bur M ajster (Master Andreas Bur, 1948) and Svet na Trasovisku (The World Caught in Quicksand , 1960) , a re fascinating in their own right a nd round out his life's work, m akin g it m ore complete and articulate. Yet even without them his reputation would be safe. The following is an attempt to account for the undisputed p romin ence of Hronsky a nd thu s give a n introdu ct ion to hi s work. Hronsky is usually pl aced with the gen eration of a uthors th at appeared after the Great W a r and therefo re is most often m entioned in discu ss ions of the literature of the interwar pe riod. Howeve r , some of his b est novels appeared during a nd after the Second W orld War , and the reappearan ce of his work after 1965 played a n unpreced ented role �SLOVAKIA 143 in the literary life of the country when it influenced the newest generation at its most productive stage. Thus, he clearly transcends formal periodization as is only fitting for an author of his scope, accomplishment, and importance. Then again, the posthumous stage of Hronsky's literary fortune must have caught by surprise even such an admirer of his work as the author of an excellent monograph, Alexander Matuska. 1 Hronsky also transcends the attempt to limit his significance to one particular genre: that of the village novel. The temptation to so limit him grows quite naturally from the success of his noveljozefMak (1933), where h e demonstrated in a definitive fashion his mastery of the genre, having previously published a great number of short stories 2 and an im portant novel, Chlieb (Bread, 1931), all dealing with the village. Born in the town of Zvolen , Hronsky taught school in several central Slovak villages. But in writing about the village, Hronsky simply shows himself as a traditionalist, satisfied with the development and the continuation of an established genre, playing with it, adding and subtracting, and finally, withjozefMak, "fulfilling" the genre by producing a work in which it culminates. That he should start with village prose is hardly surprising. In Matuska's words, the whole of Slovakia was just a big village and as such a starting point for the development of Slovak realism, whether of the fantastic, idyllic, or local variety. 3 But Hronsky does not stop there, for he is also the author of a profoundly urban novel, Pisar Grae (Grae the Clerk, 1940) , one of his best, wherein typically urban concerns appear in the guise of an innovative, formally daring experiment in the novel , an experiment, moreover, that works and which, despite the crit ical attention it inspired, still seems underrated. 4 Finally , there is an attempt to claim Hronsky as an author of the "social novel" - or what others call the " problem novel , " that is , a novel concerned with social issues, as Jan Stevcek, otherwise a sensitive critic of Hronsky, has done. 5 Stevcek claims that Hronsky pointed out "some n ew facets of social reality and created, o n an artistic level , a new type of social novel , the main point of which was not a clearly determin ed issu e, but a hidden secret of social resistance. " 6 But this fancy footwork cannot hide the absence of the kind of social commitment that wou ld warrant the description of Jozef Mak as a " n ew type of social novel. '' On e could say with equal justification that this is a n ew type of reli giou s novel , a nd perhaps one would be closer to the truth, but even that would be insufficient. �144 SLOVAKIA If it is true that Hronsky transcends such partial treatment, how can we get at his core, his essential characteristic? For, to be sure, there is a grain of truth in the partial views mentioned here. The problem is , they are not too helpful in presenting us with the essential Hronsky. For this reason, Alexander Matuska comes much closer to this essential Hronsky, in his evaluation of Hronsky's stories, saying that they impress one as fairy tales from the past; as a neglect of the real problems of the village; as a dream village, not a real one; yet never as a lie , because they simultaneously impress one as something ancient, a joyful message to a younger, less fortunate age; as a universe that has besides its lower truth a higher significance, something akin to a reservation, where the "good man is still alive,'' something - if one can put it that way - like a miraculous ghetto, where basic human values are preserved, where man can exist whole and undivided , not because he let chaos and contradictions in and defeated them, but becau se he did not let them in and rejected them. 7 How far this is from a "social novel"! The ambivalence, or rather the polyvalence of Hronsky makes one hesitate: J. M . Rydlo says that Hronsky is a "truthful expressionist," an experimentalist , and an author who " lyricized " French reali sm, having been influenced, among others, by Jean Giono (1895-1970) and the Swiss Charles Ferdinand Ramuz (1878-194 7), whose work exemplifies " lyricized symbolism. " 8 Without going to outside sources and influences for Hronsky's unique, highly personal, and above all influential vision of the world , one can agree that he writes what is called ' ' lyricized'' or '' lyrical'' prose . With the advantage of hind sight, one notes that the school of lyrical prose has made a major impact on both the Slovak interwar period and the literature of the sixties and seventies. This was mainly due to H ronsky and it found worthy followers in such contemporary writers as Vincent Sikula and others . 9 Perhaps a few words about the phenomenon of lyrical prose might be in place here. Lyrical prose destroys the realistic convention by substituting for the conventionally objective narrative one that originates in a consciousness which is lyrical, poetic, and thus must of necessity clash with the underlying realistic background. Then again, "realistic" �SLOVAKIA 145 action may be submerged or enveloped in a lyrical, poetic, idealistic, even mystical light which itself serves as a background. At times this consciousness may seem childlike in its freshness of impression, reminding us of the well-known device of defamiliarization; yet in Bronsky the change in focus arrived at through defamiliarization is not at all the point of the device as he uses it. In Bronsky, such vision is a part of his belief system, his world view: it is always integral, never extraneous or exotic. The lyrical , poetic figures and symbols exist side by side with the realistic ones, often playing a key role, or "explaining" a character, by suggesting his raison d'etre . Thus, the opening ofJozef Mak is bathed in a green mist which is and is not of this world: From the wispy green fog emerged a white figure that leaves no tracks , has no weight, and can enter any courtyard without opening the gates, because the figure has no body but only hands bleeding from their pierced palms, and wise and good eyes. Its fingers were so m e rciful and light that the sleeping Jan Mak did not feel them upon his head. The son (and now since dawn the brother) heard only the movement of the wind, yet he understood every thing while he slept. The figure enters : " You're here, Jozef Mak? Yes, you are. I 've come too late . I have nothing left to give you. Since yesterday I 've been walking among quiet m en and women, and they've begged from me everything I had - by dawn there was nothing left. I gave away eve rything I had. And here you were born, Jozef Mak, with no one waiting for you except your mother ' s fright. No one welcomed you , no one brought you any presents. Well , I'll give you at least what I still have. I give you my crucified hands - they were left from the ni ght. Take them, but don't expect a mouth to match them, n ot even when you grow up and understand people and they try to persuade you that you should also get a voice somewhere.'' At that J ozef Mak sighed on his pillow. He sighed for joy that someone had given him something, for otherwise he would have had n othing in all his life. (p. 9) Thus starts the life of Jozef Mak, full of suffering that is never voiced , though it never lacks m eaning: a meaning that is ultimately liberating. �146 SLOVAKIA Mak is explained by this introduction , as are his good and evil actions. A poor man is traditionally close to God. A totally destitute one is closer still. Such proximity is M ak's birthright, yet he too goes astray, and only purification through suffering, a leitmotif in Hronsky , offers hope . But the crucified hands remain at the end of the novel: So then, suffer, Jozef Mak . You are just one of millions, a mere statistic, but you will endure everything, because it is not true that the hardest element in the world is stone , and the strongest steel. The truth is that the ordinary Jozef Mak will endure the most of all . (p. 301) It is not difficult to interpret the character as a symbol of the Slovak people, or even the nation . There is evidence in the novel that this unvoiced suffering fascinated the author, as if he were unwilling to part with his character whom he even engaged in imaginary conversations: Well , you can't run away, no matter what, you have to listen since you are h ere. Understand this , everything h as not come to an end yet. Things like this end only in a novel. In a novel something would happen to remove Jozef Mak from the world. But life is not a novel. Life is a cliff, a valley, mountains, tree stumps, an ax, passions, bread , and hoarfrost, and all these things are not just pieces of scenery and stage props which one can move a bout to suit one's fantasy. So you can not disappear just like that, Jozef Mak . (p. 300) And indeed, Mak survives in the ordinary man, in the mass man, if you like, for his inarticulateness grants him anonymity, as well as the distinction of being a symbol for the downtrodden anywhere anytime . Thus the essentially and even clinically authentic Slovak villager, as no one else could draw him , becomes also Hronsky's most universal creation . At this point , it has to be said that Hronsky does not idealize the village, nor is it a case of artifi cially preserving folklore . He is able, after all, to see the village without illusions , and often in painfully sh arp relief with its attendant cruelty and even savagery that are the obverse of the traditional lyricism found in the evocat ion of village li fe in prose . Stevcek goes even farther, saying that Hronsky "de-folklorizes old motifs and the old literary tradition, " and is "faithful to his dual optics, which he made his own, elevating it to his creative prin ciple.'' 10 lnjozef Mak �SLOVAKIA 147 the principle of " dual optics" is communicated throu gh the d evice of a "monologue inwardly made into a dialogue," 11 but this shou ld not b e confusing or surprising, b ecause the a uthor has to co mmunicate by such means what would h ave otherwise bee n communicated through a more articulate character. In addition, Hron sky is characte ristically indirect. The most importa nt , vital events takes place in the lives of his characters without anyone uttering a singl e word , as if Hronsky disbelieved in the power of the word. His characte rs are rarely swayed by example, m o re often b y passion , but a lastin g mark o n their behavior is exacted only b y the force of seemin gly m e rciless suffe ring. It is for this reason that Pisar Grae occupies much a distinctive place in th~ entire work of Hronsky. For here Hron sky reve rses himself, as he presents to u s a garrulous character, described by another as an "angry dog . Just like an a ngry dog! You will eve n b a rk at the pe rson who o ffers you a slice of bread; you h ave no God, a nd better people than you were h a n ged , but you ' ll just go on barking a nd barking until someone gives you a good kick " (p . 7) . What is more, this loquacious ch aracter indulges in conversations with the reade r and with a d ead m a n , the late second hu sband of his (Grac's) wife-to-be. Grae writes to the dead man , reminisces a bout the Great War, philosophizes, but lets us know only indirec tly a bout what is really most important to him , namely hi s love for Jana: a ha unting and luminous figure at the center of the novel. This indirect approach is submerged, as it were, in the noise of th e incessant monologue inte rrupted by non -chronologically arranged scen es which n eve rtheless follow a n internal o rder, leading u s, however circuito u sly, to a resolution which we co me to half expect anyway . One particul a rly admires the way in which J ana, the beau tiful , even tragic widow a nd narrator's wife-to-be, is revealed to u s, stage b y stage. W e find her fl ee tingly a ppearing a nd di sappearing in mirrors co nvenie ntly supplied b y the n arrator in the guise of o the r ch aracters a nd the ir rem ini scences, their stories, where Jan a appears as if by ch a n ce. But all this ·is beau tifull y, cooll y controll ed , for the seemin gly cyn ical n arrator has within him a ce nte r that hi s mundane and unprepossessing ex terior formed b y the monolo gue replete with aphorisms and quotidian wisdom , hides without co mpletely co ncealing it from our view. At first we only gu ess that it ex ists, later we kn ow. The distan ce between these stages is bridged by events osten sibl y unrelated to th e " main" hidden content, eve nts su ch as the dyin g a nd d eath of little Miklu sko. �148 SLOVAKIA This genuin ely tragic death is opposed to the death of Jan a's second hu sband , Greskovie, which Hronsky chooses to treat with a degree of co m edy , if not grotesqueness, as if to highlight the profoundly tragic death of Miklusko . Hron sky's cool , understated narrative is the proper vehicle: we cannot consider it maudlin , nor sentimental , for it is presented to u s by a n arrator that excludes such possibilities and for that very reason enables the reader to feel with great empathy the tragedy of the event. The boy 's d eath leads to the recon ciliation of old lovers - Jan a and Grae; Grae d escribes the eve nt to J ana's late hu sband : We m et , Mr. Greskovie, but not the way J ana and I imagined it , nor the way you im agined it! It happened very simply. When Mik.lusko was dying, J ana offered to let m e stay in a room upstairs during those nights that his mother wanted to spend taking leave of her son. She led m e into her room herself. She loved the boy , so her eyes were full of sadness . W e just stood next to each other and did not talk much . P erhaps we said almost nothing. Jana maybe did m ention somethin g or other, saying that the war has died, but I am not quite sure she actually said that . She bent down her head a bit , and I felt as if she had touched my shoulder, so I stretched out my arm across her back and unsurely and timidly drew her to myself. She hardly moved , and m erely rested her head on m y shoulder. And so quietly , ever so quietly she started to cry, so that I could hardly hear her .. . . D o you unders tand m e, Mr. Greskovi e? (p. 221) Mr. Greskovie understands and d oes not answer Grae the clerk, letting the reader know that a painful , but somehow inevitable chapter ofGrac's life is over, producing a different Grae, minus his cynicism, which , at any rate, the read er suspects is only a m ask covering a suffering heart , in love and waiting for the beloved . Suddenly the waiting is over, and it is as if an enchantment were lifted. The war, the Great War that plays such a large role in the n arrator's fl ash backs, dies with the boy, which is not as ill ogical as it seem s. For the boy is an offsprin g of a father who dies in the war , leaving hi s little son "trapped" in the world, an example of an unresolved , unfinished business awaiting resolution. Hronsky's universe has its rules and one of them is a fateful and perhap s �SLOVAKIA 149 strange symmetry , occasionally overly tragic, as with Miklusko. His d eath is required by Hronsky' s sense of tragic symme try . But lest it be thought that Pisar is just a brilliant experiment with a dash of black humor , the grotesque, and a ha ppy e nding, one has to point out another level of the novel in which Hronsky takes stock of the entire interwar generation. H e th rows also a fasci n ating light on the then young Slovak Republic ( 1939- 1945), express ing with prophetic exactitude his misgivings about the Slovak nat io n al ch aracter. In such passages, the generally light-hearted, bantering to ne g ives way to sob ering earnestness in a sweeping indictment of hi s ge nerat io n: Grae Watch out! There are a lot of clich es in today's world! I admit that we hardly know what a n idea is a nd what a n em pty cliche. There a re a lot of speech es, everybod y is a n o ra tor, especia lly those who have n o ideas, so they throw around cliches. In twenty year s one cannot tear out a ll the weeds. But that's how it is , and it cannot be otherwise. It is also true that the war has poisoned us . W e ran a bout like horses that were suddenly let loose, running back and forth, no lon ger liste ning on e ithe r the right or the left , not knowi n g what it was we wanted. One d ay we would b e on the road, the next day we would be stomping over a freshly sow n fi eld a nd find ourselves in a morass . Each minute someone would shoo t at u s, then would g ive u s something, then would take something from u s, a nd so, wounded, we moon ed about the world. W e soiled every thing we walked on, poisoned it , made it u gly, but most of all we hurt ourselves. (p.213) One h as to conclude that Grae is a surv ivor, nursing his wounds, regretting hi s sins on the way to a recovery effected when he fin ally putt; aside hi s tedium vitae, hi s acedie. But there a re also apologetics and d ark , proph etic warn ings on this level of the n ovel. First the apologetics: I would like to add that we sho uld b e forgiven a lot. It has to be co nsidered that nobody helped us, that we could rely only o n o urselves. And how m a n y stupid thin gs we have yet to comm it! (p. 215) Next, the prophecy: H ow much idiocy there is! . . . W e are capa ble of sett in g fire to our own b a rn a nd sitting down in it , if we get it in o ur �150 SLOVAKIA heads that it is a wise thing to do. And we can ge t such ideas quickly ! W e think we understand eve rythin g, know eve rythin g, a nd can overcome anythin g. (Ibid.) Such was hi s fate that H ro nsky lived to see hi s d arkest forebodings realized , with the cruel twist that eve n he was un able to picture the consequences and would ha rdl y have beli eved them had he been told about them in ad vance. Thus it is in exil e in Rom e - the spiritu al capital of Slovaks - that H ron sky wrote his next work, the novelette Predavac talizmanov Liberiu s Caius (The T alism a n M erchant : Liberius C aiu s, 1947 ),'i a bout the earl y C hri stians in R om e, focusing on the painful tran sition from paganism to Christianity. H ere, clearly, yet another stage of Hronsky's literary career began . According to K arol Strmen , a friend of Hronsky and one of his sensitive readers, this short work is a breakthrou gh , a key that enables the reader to see in a different li ght not only the foll owin g, but also hi s precedin g work. Consequently , to follow Strmen, we should not see Hronsky's characters such as M ak a nd Grae as typically post-Christian fi gures vagu ely dependent on the Christian ethos, but as pre-Christian , and existentially imprisoned on the borderland of the C hri stian m essage, which they never heard in its completeness, or loudly enou gh . 13 But such advice would seem a radical departure from the general acceptance of Hronsky's unive rse as a quintessentially Christian one . Perha ps it is easier to accept Strmen 's testimonial as a witness to th e intensification of Hronsky's Christian world view in his last works. Also written in R om e, Andreas Bur Majster , an important novel, is a nother hi storical wo rk deal ing with a tragic story of a misunderstood ecce ntric, or mystic, whose proximity to G od makes him suspiciou s in the eyes of his fellow m en who ridicul e, fear, and finall y kill him . Written in the m anner of the ' ' novel of secrets,'' it is a powerful evocati on of the force, beauty, and otherworldly quality of pure co ntempl ation and saintly openn ess. Thou gh saintly, Bur is no saint, at least not until the end , which find s him purified by sufferin g and read y to share the fa te of hi s M as ter . There a re eni gm atic m om ents here, and one se nses the closeness between Bur and the author . The enigm as, left unexplained , und erscore the essen tiall y mysterious cha racter of life when lived on a sp iritu al level. For here we are far above M ak and Grae. In th at se nse, one can speak about a trilogy of Mak-Grae-Bur , as Stevee k does, 14 onl y in a very n arrow way. For if we take Mak and Grae as antipodes, Bur �SLOVAKIA 15 1 will be defin ed n ot in relation to them but , as Stevcek him self admits , in relation to the absolute arch e type, to God . 15 Andreas Bur Majster is for Stevcek the "completion and the crown in g effort of the school of lyrical prose." 16 It would be h ard to find a more complimentary word of pra ise. For it is ge nerally recognized that the most valu able accompli shment of Slovak literature is found in the school or movement known as lyrical prose of which B ron sky is an undisputed master. And here, perhaps, on su ch a high n ote, w ithout actually exhau sting Bronsky' s work, 17 we sh ould stop to ask for a good reason why the world should be interested in this lyrical prose of Bronsky . It could be that the renewed interest in his work stems from a desire, partl y sentimental, to learn a bout the world of the recent p ast , at least in Slovakia, when people, however destitute, still lived in harmon y with their so il in which they were so firmly rooted. Nor were they prey to the moral and sp iritu al uprootedness that we h ave come to know as an integral part of the experie nce of modernity. This is espec ially true of Jozef Mak , who, perhaps qui te subconsciou sly but for th at matter so mu ch m ore emphat ically a nd essentially, resists uprootedness in all its forms. What a unique figure in modern wo rld literature this pained but su ccessful resistance makes him ! What a feast of meaning , of hope, and of spiritu al insight - a nd all that accomplish ed through a character unable to a rticu late his pain. Truly , this is a masterpiece that goes against the gra in in an age of modernity, a n age when uprootedness is extolled and fas hioned into a marketable life style, an age of noisy, aimless, chatter debasin g the logos. Bronsky knew of our true desires, of the mysteries of faith and hope . Th ese he articulated as no other Slovak author before or after him ; furthermore, h e has done so with force and beauty that are by no means destined to be admired only by Slovaks. That is why the world should want to know aboutjozefMak, Pisar Grae, Andreas Bur Majster, and Hronsky 's other work. For that reaso n and for many others that will occur to us as we e nter more deeply into hi s world . NOTES ' Al exa nd er M atus ka , j. C. H ronsk y (Brati slava: Slove n sky Spisovatel', 1970) ; also in Osobnosci (Bratislava: Slove nsky Spisovatel', 1973), Vol. JV of V y brane spisy Alexandra 1"1acusku . R eferences in the text a re to the 1973 editi on . �152 SLOVAKIA ' The most remarkable among th em are collected in Podpolian sk e rozpravky ( 1932), and Tomcikovci ( 1933) . M y references are to the collected works in ten volumes (Turcia nsky Sv . M art in : M a ti ca Slovenska, 1938-44). ' M a tu ska, p. 408. ◄ See " Hronskeho Pisar Grae a slovenska pr6za" (A round-tabl e discussion), Slovenske Pohl'ady, LXXXVI ( 1970), n .3, pp. 30-43. 5 J an Stevcek, " R oma n J ozef Mak ajeho histo ricky obsah , " inJ. C . Hronsky,jozef Mak (Bratislava: Tatran, 1980) , pp . 283-290. ' Ibid ., p. 290. 7 Matuska , p. 413. 8 J . M . R ydlo , " The World on a Quagmire : The Last Literary Work of Jozef Giger Hron sky," Slovak Studies, XV ( 1975), p . 119 . 9 For a study of " lyrical prose," see J . Stevcek, Lyrizovana pr6za (Bra tislava: Slovensky Spisovatel', 1973), and Oskar Cepan , K on tury naturiam u (Bratislava: Slovensky spisovatel', 1977). 10 J. Stevcek, "Doslov," in]. C. Hronsky, Podpolianske rozpravky (Bratislava: Tatran, 197 1), p . 242. 11 R ydlo, p. 12 1. " J . C. H ronsky , Predavac talizmanov , in Nadej vftazna (Scranton: Obrana Press, 1947) , pp . 7-50; 2nd ed. (Cambrid ge , Ont.: Dobra Knih a, 1972) . A literal English translation was made by J ohn J . K ester, Seller ofTalizm ans: Liberius Caius (Scotch Plai ns, N .J ., pri vately printed , 1978). " K . Strmei\ , " Zapadalo slnko, " in]. C . H ronsky, Predavac talizmanov Liberius Caius , 2nd ed. , ibid. , p. 79. " See J . Stevcek '' Hronskeho romanova legenda, '' in J. C. Hronsky, Andreas Bur M ajster (Bratislava: Tatran, 1970), p . 263. " Ibid. , p. 266. 16 Ibid ., p. 268. 17 J .C. Hronsky , Svet na Trasovisku (Whiting, I N: R ev. Jan]. Lach, Publisher, 1960), was his last novel. Presented in P anel 109, " Changin g Views of Slovak Literature," at the AAASS convent ion in Washington, D .C. on 17 O ctober 1982. � 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 1982-83, Vol. 30 Description An account of the resource Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83. 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 1982-83 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 142 SLOVAKIA Jozef Cfger-Hronsky: A Major Slovak Novelist Pete r P etro Slovak literature is still a Cinderalla even among the Central European literatures. This is ce rta inly not because of a lack of good authors; but one is naturally drawn towards the larger literatures of the Slavic world , and Slovak translations are rare and good translations rarer still ; finally, some of the more interestin g a u th ors su ch as J .C . Hronsky are often ignored, instead of bein g actively promoted by the literary establishment at home. Ye t , one feels, if it ever happen s that a single author will represent the best in Slovak literature , that author will be J .C. Hronsky. Jozef Cfger Hronsky ( 1896-1960) was an unknown writer for the Slovak generation that grew up after 1945 . His name could not be found in any hi story of modern literature publish ed after the war. Officially , then , he did not exist in Slovakia , becau se he had left his homela nd in 1945. Hronsky eventually settled in Argentina , where he also died . The official prohibition lasted until 1965 , and then he was publish ed again. Yet , even before his departure in 1945 , he was already recognized as a maj or novelist and a worthy follower of the great Slovak writer , M artin Kukucfn , whom he came to overshadow . Curiously e nou gh, the two decad es-long pen an ce worked to Hronsky's advantage. And not because he published that much in exile: two major works Andreas Bur M ajster (Master Andreas Bur, 1948) and Svet na Trasovisku (The World Caught in Quicksand , 1960) , a re fascinating in their own right a nd round out his life's work, m akin g it m ore complete and articulate. Yet even without them his reputation would be safe. The following is an attempt to account for the undisputed p romin ence of Hronsky a nd thu s give a n introdu ct ion to hi s work. Hronsky is usually pl aced with the gen eration of a uthors th at appeared after the Great W a r and therefo re is most often m entioned in discu ss ions of the literature of the interwar pe riod. Howeve r , some of his b est novels appeared during a nd after the Second W orld War , and the reappearan ce of his work after 1965 played a n unpreced ented role SLOVAKIA 143 in the literary life of the country when it influenced the newest generation at its most productive stage. Thus, he clearly transcends formal periodization as is only fitting for an author of his scope, accomplishment, and importance. Then again, the posthumous stage of Hronsky's literary fortune must have caught by surprise even such an admirer of his work as the author of an excellent monograph, Alexander Matuska. 1 Hronsky also transcends the attempt to limit his significance to one particular genre: that of the village novel. The temptation to so limit him grows quite naturally from the success of his noveljozefMak (1933), where h e demonstrated in a definitive fashion his mastery of the genre, having previously published a great number of short stories 2 and an im portant novel, Chlieb (Bread, 1931), all dealing with the village. Born in the town of Zvolen , Hronsky taught school in several central Slovak villages. But in writing about the village, Hronsky simply shows himself as a traditionalist, satisfied with the development and the continuation of an established genre, playing with it, adding and subtracting, and finally, withjozefMak, "fulfilling" the genre by producing a work in which it culminates. That he should start with village prose is hardly surprising. In Matuska's words, the whole of Slovakia was just a big village and as such a starting point for the development of Slovak realism, whether of the fantastic, idyllic, or local variety. 3 But Hronsky does not stop there, for he is also the author of a profoundly urban novel, Pisar Grae (Grae the Clerk, 1940) , one of his best, wherein typically urban concerns appear in the guise of an innovative, formally daring experiment in the novel , an experiment, moreover, that works and which, despite the crit ical attention it inspired, still seems underrated. 4 Finally , there is an attempt to claim Hronsky as an author of the "social novel" - or what others call the " problem novel , " that is , a novel concerned with social issues, as Jan Stevcek, otherwise a sensitive critic of Hronsky, has done. 5 Stevcek claims that Hronsky pointed out "some n ew facets of social reality and created, o n an artistic level , a new type of social novel , the main point of which was not a clearly determin ed issu e, but a hidden secret of social resistance. " 6 But this fancy footwork cannot hide the absence of the kind of social commitment that wou ld warrant the description of Jozef Mak as a " n ew type of social novel. '' On e could say with equal justification that this is a n ew type of reli giou s novel , a nd perhaps one would be closer to the truth, but even that would be insufficient. 144 SLOVAKIA If it is true that Hronsky transcends such partial treatment, how can we get at his core, his essential characteristic? For, to be sure, there is a grain of truth in the partial views mentioned here. The problem is , they are not too helpful in presenting us with the essential Hronsky. For this reason, Alexander Matuska comes much closer to this essential Hronsky, in his evaluation of Hronsky's stories, saying that they impress one as fairy tales from the past; as a neglect of the real problems of the village; as a dream village, not a real one; yet never as a lie , because they simultaneously impress one as something ancient, a joyful message to a younger, less fortunate age; as a universe that has besides its lower truth a higher significance, something akin to a reservation, where the "good man is still alive,'' something - if one can put it that way - like a miraculous ghetto, where basic human values are preserved, where man can exist whole and undivided , not because he let chaos and contradictions in and defeated them, but becau se he did not let them in and rejected them. 7 How far this is from a "social novel"! The ambivalence, or rather the polyvalence of Hronsky makes one hesitate: J. M . Rydlo says that Hronsky is a "truthful expressionist," an experimentalist , and an author who " lyricized " French reali sm, having been influenced, among others, by Jean Giono (1895-1970) and the Swiss Charles Ferdinand Ramuz (1878-194 7), whose work exemplifies " lyricized symbolism. " 8 Without going to outside sources and influences for Hronsky's unique, highly personal, and above all influential vision of the world , one can agree that he writes what is called ' ' lyricized'' or '' lyrical'' prose . With the advantage of hind sight, one notes that the school of lyrical prose has made a major impact on both the Slovak interwar period and the literature of the sixties and seventies. This was mainly due to H ronsky and it found worthy followers in such contemporary writers as Vincent Sikula and others . 9 Perhaps a few words about the phenomenon of lyrical prose might be in place here. Lyrical prose destroys the realistic convention by substituting for the conventionally objective narrative one that originates in a consciousness which is lyrical, poetic, and thus must of necessity clash with the underlying realistic background. Then again, "realistic" SLOVAKIA 145 action may be submerged or enveloped in a lyrical, poetic, idealistic, even mystical light which itself serves as a background. At times this consciousness may seem childlike in its freshness of impression, reminding us of the well-known device of defamiliarization; yet in Bronsky the change in focus arrived at through defamiliarization is not at all the point of the device as he uses it. In Bronsky, such vision is a part of his belief system, his world view: it is always integral, never extraneous or exotic. The lyrical , poetic figures and symbols exist side by side with the realistic ones, often playing a key role, or "explaining" a character, by suggesting his raison d'etre . Thus, the opening ofJozef Mak is bathed in a green mist which is and is not of this world: From the wispy green fog emerged a white figure that leaves no tracks , has no weight, and can enter any courtyard without opening the gates, because the figure has no body but only hands bleeding from their pierced palms, and wise and good eyes. Its fingers were so m e rciful and light that the sleeping Jan Mak did not feel them upon his head. The son (and now since dawn the brother) heard only the movement of the wind, yet he understood every thing while he slept. The figure enters : " You're here, Jozef Mak? Yes, you are. I 've come too late . I have nothing left to give you. Since yesterday I 've been walking among quiet m en and women, and they've begged from me everything I had - by dawn there was nothing left. I gave away eve rything I had. And here you were born, Jozef Mak, with no one waiting for you except your mother ' s fright. No one welcomed you , no one brought you any presents. Well , I'll give you at least what I still have. I give you my crucified hands - they were left from the ni ght. Take them, but don't expect a mouth to match them, n ot even when you grow up and understand people and they try to persuade you that you should also get a voice somewhere.'' At that J ozef Mak sighed on his pillow. He sighed for joy that someone had given him something, for otherwise he would have had n othing in all his life. (p. 9) Thus starts the life of Jozef Mak, full of suffering that is never voiced , though it never lacks m eaning: a meaning that is ultimately liberating. 146 SLOVAKIA Mak is explained by this introduction , as are his good and evil actions. A poor man is traditionally close to God. A totally destitute one is closer still. Such proximity is M ak's birthright, yet he too goes astray, and only purification through suffering, a leitmotif in Hronsky , offers hope . But the crucified hands remain at the end of the novel: So then, suffer, Jozef Mak . You are just one of millions, a mere statistic, but you will endure everything, because it is not true that the hardest element in the world is stone , and the strongest steel. The truth is that the ordinary Jozef Mak will endure the most of all . (p. 301) It is not difficult to interpret the character as a symbol of the Slovak people, or even the nation . There is evidence in the novel that this unvoiced suffering fascinated the author, as if he were unwilling to part with his character whom he even engaged in imaginary conversations: Well , you can't run away, no matter what, you have to listen since you are h ere. Understand this , everything h as not come to an end yet. Things like this end only in a novel. In a novel something would happen to remove Jozef Mak from the world. But life is not a novel. Life is a cliff, a valley, mountains, tree stumps, an ax, passions, bread , and hoarfrost, and all these things are not just pieces of scenery and stage props which one can move a bout to suit one's fantasy. So you can not disappear just like that, Jozef Mak . (p. 300) And indeed, Mak survives in the ordinary man, in the mass man, if you like, for his inarticulateness grants him anonymity, as well as the distinction of being a symbol for the downtrodden anywhere anytime . Thus the essentially and even clinically authentic Slovak villager, as no one else could draw him , becomes also Hronsky's most universal creation . At this point , it has to be said that Hronsky does not idealize the village, nor is it a case of artifi cially preserving folklore . He is able, after all, to see the village without illusions , and often in painfully sh arp relief with its attendant cruelty and even savagery that are the obverse of the traditional lyricism found in the evocat ion of village li fe in prose . Stevcek goes even farther, saying that Hronsky "de-folklorizes old motifs and the old literary tradition, " and is "faithful to his dual optics, which he made his own, elevating it to his creative prin ciple.'' 10 lnjozef Mak SLOVAKIA 147 the principle of " dual optics" is communicated throu gh the d evice of a "monologue inwardly made into a dialogue," 11 but this shou ld not b e confusing or surprising, b ecause the a uthor has to co mmunicate by such means what would h ave otherwise bee n communicated through a more articulate character. In addition, Hron sky is characte ristically indirect. The most importa nt , vital events takes place in the lives of his characters without anyone uttering a singl e word , as if Hronsky disbelieved in the power of the word. His characte rs are rarely swayed by example, m o re often b y passion , but a lastin g mark o n their behavior is exacted only b y the force of seemin gly m e rciless suffe ring. It is for this reason that Pisar Grae occupies much a distinctive place in th~ entire work of Hronsky. For here Hron sky reve rses himself, as he presents to u s a garrulous character, described by another as an "angry dog . Just like an a ngry dog! You will eve n b a rk at the pe rson who o ffers you a slice of bread; you h ave no God, a nd better people than you were h a n ged , but you ' ll just go on barking a nd barking until someone gives you a good kick " (p . 7) . What is more, this loquacious ch aracter indulges in conversations with the reade r and with a d ead m a n , the late second hu sband of his (Grac's) wife-to-be. Grae writes to the dead man , reminisces a bout the Great War, philosophizes, but lets us know only indirec tly a bout what is really most important to him , namely hi s love for Jana: a ha unting and luminous figure at the center of the novel. This indirect approach is submerged, as it were, in the noise of th e incessant monologue inte rrupted by non -chronologically arranged scen es which n eve rtheless follow a n internal o rder, leading u s, however circuito u sly, to a resolution which we co me to half expect anyway . One particul a rly admires the way in which J ana, the beau tiful , even tragic widow a nd narrator's wife-to-be, is revealed to u s, stage b y stage. W e find her fl ee tingly a ppearing a nd di sappearing in mirrors co nvenie ntly supplied b y the n arrator in the guise of o the r ch aracters a nd the ir rem ini scences, their stories, where Jan a appears as if by ch a n ce. But all this ·is beau tifull y, cooll y controll ed , for the seemin gly cyn ical n arrator has within him a ce nte r that hi s mundane and unprepossessing ex terior formed b y the monolo gue replete with aphorisms and quotidian wisdom , hides without co mpletely co ncealing it from our view. At first we only gu ess that it ex ists, later we kn ow. The distan ce between these stages is bridged by events osten sibl y unrelated to th e " main" hidden content, eve nts su ch as the dyin g a nd d eath of little Miklu sko. 148 SLOVAKIA This genuin ely tragic death is opposed to the death of Jan a's second hu sband , Greskovie, which Hronsky chooses to treat with a degree of co m edy , if not grotesqueness, as if to highlight the profoundly tragic death of Miklusko . Hron sky's cool , understated narrative is the proper vehicle: we cannot consider it maudlin , nor sentimental , for it is presented to u s by a n arrator that excludes such possibilities and for that very reason enables the reader to feel with great empathy the tragedy of the event. The boy 's d eath leads to the recon ciliation of old lovers - Jan a and Grae; Grae d escribes the eve nt to J ana's late hu sband : We m et , Mr. Greskovie, but not the way J ana and I imagined it , nor the way you im agined it! It happened very simply. When Mik.lusko was dying, J ana offered to let m e stay in a room upstairs during those nights that his mother wanted to spend taking leave of her son. She led m e into her room herself. She loved the boy , so her eyes were full of sadness . W e just stood next to each other and did not talk much . P erhaps we said almost nothing. Jana maybe did m ention somethin g or other, saying that the war has died, but I am not quite sure she actually said that . She bent down her head a bit , and I felt as if she had touched my shoulder, so I stretched out my arm across her back and unsurely and timidly drew her to myself. She hardly moved , and m erely rested her head on m y shoulder. And so quietly , ever so quietly she started to cry, so that I could hardly hear her .. . . D o you unders tand m e, Mr. Greskovi e? (p. 221) Mr. Greskovie understands and d oes not answer Grae the clerk, letting the reader know that a painful , but somehow inevitable chapter ofGrac's life is over, producing a different Grae, minus his cynicism, which , at any rate, the read er suspects is only a m ask covering a suffering heart , in love and waiting for the beloved . Suddenly the waiting is over, and it is as if an enchantment were lifted. The war, the Great War that plays such a large role in the n arrator's fl ash backs, dies with the boy, which is not as ill ogical as it seem s. For the boy is an offsprin g of a father who dies in the war , leaving hi s little son "trapped" in the world, an example of an unresolved , unfinished business awaiting resolution. Hronsky's universe has its rules and one of them is a fateful and perhap s SLOVAKIA 149 strange symmetry , occasionally overly tragic, as with Miklusko. His d eath is required by Hronsky' s sense of tragic symme try . But lest it be thought that Pisar is just a brilliant experiment with a dash of black humor , the grotesque, and a ha ppy e nding, one has to point out another level of the novel in which Hronsky takes stock of the entire interwar generation. H e th rows also a fasci n ating light on the then young Slovak Republic ( 1939- 1945), express ing with prophetic exactitude his misgivings about the Slovak nat io n al ch aracter. In such passages, the generally light-hearted, bantering to ne g ives way to sob ering earnestness in a sweeping indictment of hi s ge nerat io n: Grae Watch out! There are a lot of clich es in today's world! I admit that we hardly know what a n idea is a nd what a n em pty cliche. There a re a lot of speech es, everybod y is a n o ra tor, especia lly those who have n o ideas, so they throw around cliches. In twenty year s one cannot tear out a ll the weeds. But that's how it is , and it cannot be otherwise. It is also true that the war has poisoned us . W e ran a bout like horses that were suddenly let loose, running back and forth, no lon ger liste ning on e ithe r the right or the left , not knowi n g what it was we wanted. One d ay we would b e on the road, the next day we would be stomping over a freshly sow n fi eld a nd find ourselves in a morass . Each minute someone would shoo t at u s, then would g ive u s something, then would take something from u s, a nd so, wounded, we moon ed about the world. W e soiled every thing we walked on, poisoned it , made it u gly, but most of all we hurt ourselves. (p.213) One h as to conclude that Grae is a surv ivor, nursing his wounds, regretting hi s sins on the way to a recovery effected when he fin ally putt; aside hi s tedium vitae, hi s acedie. But there a re also apologetics and d ark , proph etic warn ings on this level of the n ovel. First the apologetics: I would like to add that we sho uld b e forgiven a lot. It has to be co nsidered that nobody helped us, that we could rely only o n o urselves. And how m a n y stupid thin gs we have yet to comm it! (p. 215) Next, the prophecy: H ow much idiocy there is! . . . W e are capa ble of sett in g fire to our own b a rn a nd sitting down in it , if we get it in o ur 150 SLOVAKIA heads that it is a wise thing to do. And we can ge t such ideas quickly ! W e think we understand eve rythin g, know eve rythin g, a nd can overcome anythin g. (Ibid.) Such was hi s fate that H ro nsky lived to see hi s d arkest forebodings realized , with the cruel twist that eve n he was un able to picture the consequences and would ha rdl y have beli eved them had he been told about them in ad vance. Thus it is in exil e in Rom e - the spiritu al capital of Slovaks - that H ron sky wrote his next work, the novelette Predavac talizmanov Liberiu s Caius (The T alism a n M erchant : Liberius C aiu s, 1947 ),'i a bout the earl y C hri stians in R om e, focusing on the painful tran sition from paganism to Christianity. H ere, clearly, yet another stage of Hronsky's literary career began . According to K arol Strmen , a friend of Hronsky and one of his sensitive readers, this short work is a breakthrou gh , a key that enables the reader to see in a different li ght not only the foll owin g, but also hi s precedin g work. Consequently , to follow Strmen, we should not see Hronsky's characters such as M ak a nd Grae as typically post-Christian fi gures vagu ely dependent on the Christian ethos, but as pre-Christian , and existentially imprisoned on the borderland of the C hri stian m essage, which they never heard in its completeness, or loudly enou gh . 13 But such advice would seem a radical departure from the general acceptance of Hronsky's unive rse as a quintessentially Christian one . Perha ps it is easier to accept Strmen 's testimonial as a witness to th e intensification of Hronsky's Christian world view in his last works. Also written in R om e, Andreas Bur Majster , an important novel, is a nother hi storical wo rk deal ing with a tragic story of a misunderstood ecce ntric, or mystic, whose proximity to G od makes him suspiciou s in the eyes of his fellow m en who ridicul e, fear, and finall y kill him . Written in the m anner of the ' ' novel of secrets,'' it is a powerful evocati on of the force, beauty, and otherworldly quality of pure co ntempl ation and saintly openn ess. Thou gh saintly, Bur is no saint, at least not until the end , which find s him purified by sufferin g and read y to share the fa te of hi s M as ter . There a re eni gm atic m om ents here, and one se nses the closeness between Bur and the author . The enigm as, left unexplained , und erscore the essen tiall y mysterious cha racter of life when lived on a sp iritu al level. For here we are far above M ak and Grae. In th at se nse, one can speak about a trilogy of Mak-Grae-Bur , as Stevee k does, 14 onl y in a very n arrow way. For if we take Mak and Grae as antipodes, Bur SLOVAKIA 15 1 will be defin ed n ot in relation to them but , as Stevcek him self admits , in relation to the absolute arch e type, to God . 15 Andreas Bur Majster is for Stevcek the "completion and the crown in g effort of the school of lyrical prose." 16 It would be h ard to find a more complimentary word of pra ise. For it is ge nerally recognized that the most valu able accompli shment of Slovak literature is found in the school or movement known as lyrical prose of which B ron sky is an undisputed master. And here, perhaps, on su ch a high n ote, w ithout actually exhau sting Bronsky' s work, 17 we sh ould stop to ask for a good reason why the world should be interested in this lyrical prose of Bronsky . It could be that the renewed interest in his work stems from a desire, partl y sentimental, to learn a bout the world of the recent p ast , at least in Slovakia, when people, however destitute, still lived in harmon y with their so il in which they were so firmly rooted. Nor were they prey to the moral and sp iritu al uprootedness that we h ave come to know as an integral part of the experie nce of modernity. This is espec ially true of Jozef Mak , who, perhaps qui te subconsciou sly but for th at matter so mu ch m ore emphat ically a nd essentially, resists uprootedness in all its forms. What a unique figure in modern wo rld literature this pained but su ccessful resistance makes him ! What a feast of meaning , of hope, and of spiritu al insight - a nd all that accomplish ed through a character unable to a rticu late his pain. Truly , this is a masterpiece that goes against the gra in in an age of modernity, a n age when uprootedness is extolled and fas hioned into a marketable life style, an age of noisy, aimless, chatter debasin g the logos. Bronsky knew of our true desires, of the mysteries of faith and hope . Th ese he articulated as no other Slovak author before or after him ; furthermore, h e has done so with force and beauty that are by no means destined to be admired only by Slovaks. That is why the world should want to know aboutjozefMak, Pisar Grae, Andreas Bur Majster, and Hronsky 's other work. For that reaso n and for many others that will occur to us as we e nter more deeply into hi s world . NOTES ' Al exa nd er M atus ka , j. C. H ronsk y (Brati slava: Slove n sky Spisovatel', 1970) ; also in Osobnosci (Bratislava: Slove nsky Spisovatel', 1973), Vol. JV of V y brane spisy Alexandra 1"1acusku . R eferences in the text a re to the 1973 editi on . 152 SLOVAKIA ' The most remarkable among th em are collected in Podpolian sk e rozpravky ( 1932), and Tomcikovci ( 1933) . M y references are to the collected works in ten volumes (Turcia nsky Sv . M art in : M a ti ca Slovenska, 1938-44). ' M a tu ska, p. 408. ◄ See " Hronskeho Pisar Grae a slovenska pr6za" (A round-tabl e discussion), Slovenske Pohl'ady, LXXXVI ( 1970), n .3, pp. 30-43. 5 J an Stevcek, " R oma n J ozef Mak ajeho histo ricky obsah , " inJ. C . Hronsky,jozef Mak (Bratislava: Tatran, 1980) , pp . 283-290. ' Ibid ., p. 290. 7 Matuska , p. 413. 8 J . M . R ydlo , " The World on a Quagmire : The Last Literary Work of Jozef Giger Hron sky," Slovak Studies, XV ( 1975), p . 119 . 9 For a study of " lyrical prose," see J . Stevcek, Lyrizovana pr6za (Bra tislava: Slovensky Spisovatel', 1973), and Oskar Cepan , K on tury naturiam u (Bratislava: Slovensky spisovatel', 1977). 10 J. Stevcek, "Doslov," in]. C. Hronsky, Podpolianske rozpravky (Bratislava: Tatran, 197 1), p . 242. 11 R ydlo, p. 12 1. " J . C. H ronsky , Predavac talizmanov , in Nadej vftazna (Scranton: Obrana Press, 1947) , pp . 7-50; 2nd ed. (Cambrid ge , Ont.: Dobra Knih a, 1972) . A literal English translation was made by J ohn J . K ester, Seller ofTalizm ans: Liberius Caius (Scotch Plai ns, N .J ., pri vately printed , 1978). " K . Strmei\ , " Zapadalo slnko, " in]. C . H ronsky, Predavac talizmanov Liberius Caius , 2nd ed. , ibid. , p. 79. " See J . Stevcek '' Hronskeho romanova legenda, '' in J. C. Hronsky, Andreas Bur M ajster (Bratislava: Tatran, 1970), p . 263. " Ibid. , p. 266. 16 Ibid ., p. 268. 17 J .C. Hronsky , Svet na Trasovisku (Whiting, I N: R ev. Jan]. Lach, Publisher, 1960), was his last novel. Presented in P anel 109, " Changin g Views of Slovak Literature," at the AAASS convent ion in Washington, D .C. on 17 O ctober 1982.  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 Jozef Cíger-Hronský: A Major Slovak Novelist Description An account of the resource Peter Petro Slovakia, Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83 pp. 142-152 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Petro, Peter Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/d5ca604b2842a13c278dcbf43ea4444b.pdf 2f5839c0f8a3d217907d270afe55a836 PDF Text Text 128 SLOVAKIA Jozef Ciger-Hronsky: Chronology and Partial Bibliography Norma L. Rudinsky The fi ctio n ofjozefCiger-Hronsky, besides being exte n sive , shows such a variety of techniques and styles that only a full critical and descriptive bibliography could indi cate its range of experime ntal forms. The following chronology merely indicates that variety and is not complete, because Hronsky's works have not been collected and many shorter pieces are scattered in magazines in Slovakia and in other publications in North and South America ; his literary remains have not been published. Some previously unreported information is given of Hronsky's service as an infantryman in the Hungarian army on the Italian front in World War I ; this experience is mentioned in one of the biblio graphies ( 1) and is referred to by Hron sky in his tribute to a fellow soldier, the sculptor Ferdin a nd Motoska ( 13). The re is also previously unpublish ed information on his experiences in 1944. Not included here are brief or general refere nces to Hronsky in histories and encyclopedias, e.g . in English, J. M . Kirschbaum , Slovak Language and Literature (Winnipeg, 1975) and The Catholic Encyclopedia (Washington, 1967). In fact, there are almost no noti ces of Hronsky' s fiction in the standard English treatments of Slavic or eve n Czechoslovak literature despite his establi shed place in Slovak literary criticism . Hronsky's nam e is so tied to the activity of the Matica slovenska that the Chronology gives more than might be expected of his administrative activity as director (spravca). The concept of a matica, which is specifically Slavic and central/eastern European , needs explanation for the Anglo-Saxon reader to understand the great devotion inspired by this institution among the Slavic nations that had few other cultural institutions in th e Austro-Hungarian empire. A matica was a national library , publishing house, university, scientific in st itute, academy of scholars, and nationalistic missionary society - all in one. Founded in 1863, but abolished by the M agyar government in 1875, and reopened �SLOVAKIA 129 with the origin of Czechoslovakia in 1918 , the Slovak Matica was esse ntiall y the national center also later (May 1932) in the disagreement with Czech linguists ove r the status of Slovak as a separate language , in which Hronsky played a leading role (6,8,11,14) . Hronsky's life abroad a fter World War II was in many ways tragic . After suffering at the h and s of partisans near the end of the war ( 18 , 22) , he went into exile while still a t the height of his creativity. In the remaining fifteen years of his life , he published only two novels and a novella, mostly writte n in the first two years abroad. According to Konstantfn Culen (22), Hronsky expected to move to the United States fro m Italy in 1945-48 , but was prevented from obtaining a visa by the U .S . policy of agreement with the Czechoslovak " R e pa triation Commi ss ion ,'' the full story of which may be co mp a rable to the tragedies revealed by Julius Epstein in Operation Keelh aul (New York : D evinAdair , 1973). The part played by Slovak-Ameri cans or their inactivity o n Hronsky's beh alf, h as also not been told (22). H owever, who can say whether H ro nsky's literary activity would have gai ned o r lost if he had settled a mong Slovak-Americans? He might have been spared the tiring work by which he earned a living in Argentin a; however, physical nearness to the Slovak exil e centers in North America a nd therefore greater involvement in the difficulties, frustration s, a nd frequently fruitless activities in ev itable to ex il e politi cal groups, might not have stimulated him to further literary creation . This qu es tio n can only b e conside red w hen all of Hronsky's unpublished a nd unfini shed writings beco m e avail able; at prese nt , o nly one is known to me ( 17). Hronsky did not live to know of his "rehabilitation " in Bratislava, nor the recognition of his novels as, in the words of J a n Stevcek, '' the emb ryos of almost every developin g tendency of Slovak prose, the most distinctive of which is the line joining the mode rn socia l novel with the la ter, specificall y Slovak ' natu ral' expressionism but also wit h other importa nt develo pme n ts" (35, p . 108 ; tran slation min e) no r th e judge m ent of Alexander Matuska that Hronsky is so far the only Slovak author whose trul y excellent works number not o ne or two but at least fi ve (34 , pp. 574-75). 1896 Born on 23 February as Jozef Cfger in Zvolen , central Slovaki a, of working-class parents, hi s fat he r being a sawyer. �130 1914 1914-18 1917-18 1919 1918-23 1922 1923-33 1923 1924 1925 1927 1928 1929 1930 SLOVAKIA He attended school in Zvolen, Krupina , and Levice. Received a teacher's diploma in Levice. Taught school in Horne Madunice and Senohrad. Was in the 16th Infantry Division of the Hungarian army from 1 October 1917 to 20 November 1918, and participated in the very bloody defeat of the Austro-Hungarian summer offensive at Piava on the Italian front. He stayed in the reserve until 1928, and his fin al rank as an officer was rotny v zaloze, as listed on his discharge papers. Hronsky' s military experience is reflected in several of his works , includingjozef Mak, b,ut especially Pisar Grae. Married Anna Valeria Ruzinakova on 1 M arch . Taught school in Senohrad and Krupina. His only child Juraj was born . Taught school in Kremnica and Martin. Published his first collection of realistic adult stories, U nas (At Our Place), many of which had been published previously in magazines. He took the additional name Hronsky in the Pan-Slav tradition of earlier Slovak writers, from the Hron River that runs through central Slovakia . Published his first children's book, Najmladsf Zavodsky (The Youngest Zavodsky Child) . Published Domov (Going Home), another collection of realistic stories similar to those of Martin Kukucfn, and Kremnicke povesti (Tales of Kremnica) for children, as well as a collection of adapted Serbian tales . Published his first novel Zlty dom v Klokoci (The Yellow House in the Village Klokoc), which was still realistic but refl ected Hronsky' s interest in new psychologically expressive techniques (44, Strmen, p . xlv). During 1927-41 he also helped prepare numerous grade school readers . Published the collection Pod kozubkom (By the Hearth) . He also became an editor of the children's m agazine Slniecko (Little Sun). Published another collection of adult stories , Medove srdce (Gingerbread H eart). Published one of his few novels on artistic and urban life, Proroctvo Doktora Stankovskeho (The Prophecy of Dr. Stankov- �SLOVAKIA 193 1 1932 1933-40 131 sky) and also one of his most popular animal stories for children , Smely zajko (The D a ring R a bbit). Published a variety of books: the sequel Smely zajko v Afrike (The D aring R a bbit in Africa); two collec tions of roma ntic legends a nd historical novellas, T raj a bratia (Three Brothers) and Zakopan y m ec (The Buried Sword) ; and the experimental novel C hlieb (Bread), in which Hronsky introdu ced the vill age as a livin g, indes tructibl e organism with a collective co nsc10u sness. Published an even greater variety: the romantic Podpolianske rozp rav ky (Stories from the Foot of Mount Pol'ana) in the spirit of Andrej Sladkovic; the animal story of Budkacik a Dubkaci k(un tra nslatable title: comic nam es for two pigs); a historical novel fo r young people, Sokoliar Tomas (The Falconer Thom as); the fairy tales Brondove rozpravky (Tales by the Storytell er J ozef Ru znak Bronda); and the educational book for children Zabav ky stryca Kurkovskeho (Gam es with Uncle Kurkovsky). In the so-call ed " May 12 affair, " Hronsky was a leading m ember of the group of 130 Slovak writers who signed a statem ent against the " C zechoslovak " linguistic tendency of the fi rs t P ravidla slovenskeho pravopisu ( 193 1), a gramm ar book and writer's guide which had been prepared p rim aril y by Czech linguists in the M atica and which m ad e Slovak m ore similar to Czech (6, 11 , 14). In 1933 H ro nsky stopped his teaching caree r on April 1 to beco me secreta ry of the M atica slove nska a t the time when its position was very shaky financially and politically after withdrawal of sta te fund s in 193 2 and the d epa rture of m an y Czechs from the M a tica because of the battle over the P ravidla slove nskeho pravopisu . For the next several years H ro nsky's intensive literary creation was acco mpanied by extensive administrative act ivities in the M a tica. Acco rdin g to fri ends ( 19,2 1) H ro nsky wrote m a inly at ni ght , seeming to th rive on lit tle slee p . O ne of hi s first adm inistrative efforts was to enlarge the m embership base of the M atica and to increase book sales fo r greater fin ancial security without a id (and su pervision) from P rague; ano ther a im was to enlarge the schola rly and cu ltural de partments ( 11 ). �132 1933 1934 1935 1935-36 193 7 1938 1939 1940 SLOVAKIA Published a children's book of tales Zlaty dazd' (The Golden Shower); a series of realistic satiric stories Tomefkovci (The Tomefk Clan); and his most important novel Jozef Mak. A major review of this novel was by Andrej Mraz in Slovenske pohl'ady , Vol. 49 , pp. 761-64 . Published a collection of stories about women, Sedem sfdc (Seven Hearts) , and a group of tales , Zlate hodinky (A Gold Watch). Published Strycovo vrtielko (Uncle's Spinning Top) for children, and numerous speeches and reports on Matica activities. Several chapters of a sequel to Jozef Mak were published in Slovenske pohl'ady , titled "Jozef Mak mladsf," in which Mak's inability to express his love is continued with his son; but the sequel was apparently abandoned. Led a delegation from the Matica to visit Slovak-Americans in the United States from November to July . H e also published Tri rozpravky (Three Stories). Published a collection of tales, Zlatovlasa sestra (The Goldenhaired Sister), and articles about Matica activities ( 1). In a major review (Slovenske pohl'ady , 53 , 366- 72) of the second edition of Jozef Mak, the critic Michal Povazan placed Hronsky between Martin Kukuefn and Milo Urban, author of Zivy bie (The Living Scourge, 1927). Published a collection of stories previously printed in magazines , Jarny vietor a ine rozpravky (Spring Wind and Other Tales) as the first volume of his collected works. Published the historical Budatfnski Frgacovci (The Frgae Family of Budatfn Castle); and the novel a krfznych cestach (At the Crossroads), which was serialized in Slovenske pohl'ady. A story was translated into English (51). Published the description of his American trip in Cesta slovenskou Amerikou (A Trip through Slovak America) (7); also the children's book Tri mudre kozliatka (Three Clever Kidlets) and the first "grotesqu e" novel in Slovak , Pisar Grae (Grae the Clerk) , in which Hronsky experimentall y developed a multi-level structure to express various depths of the human personality , both rational and irrational, consciou s and unconscious; it is built around an "axis of imagin ary con versa- �SLOVAKIA 133 tions betwee n the main character and a certain dead person " (43, p. 123). 1940-43 Was elected spravca or director of the Matica in 1940 . During this period (which also included increased government support during th e Slovak R epublic) , new research departments for philosophy, geography, and music were added, and other departments were enlarged , e.g. the dictionary group. A new cen tral building was built, and a modern press was purchased and named Neografia. M embership in the M atica rose to 74 ,000 , a nd from a debt-ridden status in 1933 Matica grew to be worth 80 ,000,000 crowns. Several new journals were begun, alo ng with a new edition of the Pravidla (11 ,52). Numerous re-editions of Hronsky's works were published . During this time Jozef M ak was translated into G erman by P . Kutzner and published in Stuttgart with the new title Die a rmen Seeligkeiten desjosefMak (no date give n in the book, probabl y 1942). In 1943 it was translated into Croatian by Jozip Niksic and published by the Matica hrvatska in Zagreb . 1944 Published the lyrical novel Na Bukvovo m d vore (In Bukva' s Courtyard) and a collec tion of satiric allegories, Smakova mucha (The Filthy Fl y) (42). In late August Hronsky was seized, abused, and threatened with death by partisans in Martin during the '' Slovak National Uprising'' despite the fact that he had neve r been politically active. This very unhappy eve nt , whi ch apparentl y occurred at the instigation of other Matica offi cials ( 18 ,22,28), profoundly shocked and demoralized H ronsky, who was ultim a tely freed at the personal intervention of a leader of the Uprising ( 18), said to be the Communist poet Laco ovomesky. D etail s have been published onl y in part. 1945 Organi zed the evacuation of part of the Matica before the advancing front of Soviet and G erman arrriies, and left Slovakia for Austria and Bavaria, then moved to Italy with hi s wife a nd son ( 18, 19). 1946-47 Li ved in R ome and studied painting besides writing . H e publi shed a short novell a about ancient R om a n Christians, Predavac talizmanov: Liberius Caius (The Talisman Mercha nt: Liberiu s Caius), which Strmen says shows Hronsky �134 1948 1949 1950-55 1956 1957 SLOVAKIA "without a mask" and thus makes his previous heroes appear as "pre-Christian heroes, existentially imprisoned on the fringes of the Christian message , which has never been heard completely or distinctly " (9, p . 79 , translation mine). He also wrote his novel about the war, though it was published only in 1960 (12,16 ,2 7). Published the lyrical novel Andreas Bur Majster (Andrew Bur, Master Sawyer) in the U.S ., from the manuscript completed in Rome in 1947 (10). He also emigrated to Argentina , because the Czechoslovak government was attempting to have him extradited. Through the intervention a nd influence of Karol Sidor, he was helped to leave Italy by sympathetic Italian officials; he had been refused a visa to the U.S. by American officials who failed to understand the Slovak situation (22). Settled in the Argentine town of Lujan, near Buenos Aires , where he worked as a draftsman and textile designer, taught painting, painted, designed stained glass windows, etc. (18), but was also somewhat active in Slovak emigre cultural activities. He published an account of his administration of the Matica slovenska ( 11). Lived quietly in Lujan working and sometimes writing, but little of this work is known, except one fragment (17). His son Juraj described their life in Argentine (18). Was elected honorary president of the exile '' Spolok slovenskych spisovatel'ov a umelcov" (12). In honor of his 60th birthday, the journal Most published a reminiscence of Hronsky (19) with a partial bibliography of his works. In the last issue of Most for 1956 Hronsky wrote a short but sympathetic reminiscence of the Slovak playwright Jozef Gregor Tajovsky' s apologetic retraction (shortly before his death) of his previous position on the "Czechoslovak language" in the Matica affair of May 1932 (14). In the same issue, Hronsky published three satiric sketches: Dazdnik (Umbrella), Gombfk (Button) , and Rebrfk (Ladder), the latter signed by "Jozef Mak" (for other such pieces see 2). Became honorary president of the political and cultural organization "Slovak National Council Abroad ," but was not �SLOVAKIA 1958 1959 1959-60 1960 1964 1965 1966 135 active in it. Published Dve slovenske Ameriky (Two Slovak Americas) about the Slovak League of America and the Argentine Slovak Cultural Society ( 15). Organized the " Zahranicna Matica Slovenska" after the Matica in Martin was relieved of its publishing and educational activities and given the status of a national library by the law of 1953. The purpose of this '' Matica Abroad'' was to encourage Slovak cultural publications and other educational activities impossible in Slovakia. H ad a column in the weekly newspaper Slovak v Amerike (Middletown , PA) titled "Lepsie zazfhat' svetielko aka preklinat' tmu" (Better to Light a Candle than to Curse the Darkness). Hronsky published his last novel, Svet na Trasovisku (The People of the Village Trasovisko and also a pun meaning The World Caught in Quicksand), as a serial in Slovak v Amerike, then in book form (16). This novel gives a complex picture of the effects of World War II on a Slovak village, especiall y the effects of the Uprising, which Hronsky presents as a tragic betrayal of the Slovak people and the R epublic of 1939-45 . On July 13 Hronsky died suddenly of a stroke in Lujan. Memorial articles were published by the Slovak League in Pamiatkejozefa Cfgra-Hronskeho (20-24) , by Most (25) , and by the Zahranicna Matica (26). Hronsky's,wife died six weeks later. Posthumously, a collection of stories, Poha.r z bruseneho skla (A Cut-Glass Goblet) was published in Buenos Aires; one story, " Dobry syn " (A Good Son), was new, the rest having been printed in Slovak magazines in 1940-41 (36-3 7). The "thaw" in Bratislava brought an announcement in the newspaper Pravda that some of Hronsky's works would be reprinted. The children's book Budka.cik a Dubka.cik was set to music and presented in a Bratislava puppet theater, then republished by the Mlade Leto press. One of the foremost Bratislava critics , Alexander Matuska , published " Profil na skusku" (A n Attempt at a Profile) on Hronsky in a weekly newspaper (29) . �136 SLOVAKIA Jozef Mak was republished with a foreword by another major critic, Jan Stevcek (30). In Buenos Aires the Zahranicna Matica republished in book form Hronsky's serialized novel from 1939, Na krfznych cestach, with an analysis by Stanislav Meciar (38). 1967-69 Numerous re-editions of Hronsky's works were published in Bratislava and Martin with critical appreciations (1-2). During the liberal period of Alexander Dubcek, efforts were made in both Argentina and Slovakia to return Hronsky's body for burial in the National Cemetery in Martin (18), but they were unsuccessful. Jozef Mak was translated into Magyar by Zaly~mi Antal and published in Bratislava in 1968 . 1970 Andreas Bur Majster was republished in Bratislava, the only "exile" work to appear in Slovakia (10). Alexander Matuska's perceptive criticism of this book too and his brief analysis of Svet na Trasovisku in j. C. Hronsky (34) completed the rehabilitation process except for continued (to this day) condemnation or silence about Svet na Trasovisku . 1971 Jan Stevcek's analysis of "lyrizovana pr6za " related Hronsky to its origins (35). Jozef M . Rydlo 's Italian disserta tion on Hronsky at the University of Padua was apparently the first critical study in a western language ( 41 ), with the possible exception of G erman studies following the translation of Jozef Mak and of Podpolianske rozpravky (Stuttgart, 1944). 1972 Jozef Mak was translated into Russian by I. Bogdanova (Moscow, Progress Publishers) and into Czech by Emil Charous with the new title Clovek milion (The Ordinary Person of Whom There are Millions) and a critical evaluation of the novel as an achievement on the European level (Prague, Odeon). In Canada Predavac talizmanov was republished with an introduction by Karol Strmen (9,27). 197 3 Jan Stevcek further developed his analysis of Hronsky' s work as the most importa nt impulse in Slovak lyri cal prose (35). 1975 The first intensive criticism ofHronsky's work in English was published by Rydlo (43). 1976 The second translation into English , excerpts fromJozefMak and from Tomcfkovci, was made by Andrew C incura (44). 1977 Jozef Mak was translated into Polish by Andrzej Sieczkowski �SLOVAKIA 1978 1982 1983 137 (Warsaw, Panstrv . Inst.). In Buenos Aires was published a single piece from Bronsky's litera ry remains about Argentine life ( 1 7). Predavac tali zmanov was translated into English (45). J ozef Mak was translated into English by Andrew Cincura with a critical analysis of Bronsky' s importance by Peter Petro (46) . The Bra ti slava critic Juliu s Noge prepared a n ew study of Bronsky, includin g som e of the unfinished manuscripts in th e archi ves of the Matica sloven ska ( 4 7). A panel on Bronsky at the American Associat ion for the Advancement of Slavic Studies annu al meeting had papers on three novels ( 48-50), wh ich will be printed in the journal Slovakia as the first compreh ensive studies of Bronsky in English . Bibliographies of Hronsky's work: 1. Mat'ovcfk, A., G. R ezna, V . Podmajerska. " Bio-bibliografiaJozefa Cfgra-Bronskeho." Biograficke studie (Martin), II (1971), 101-20 . 2. R ydlo, J . M. J ozef Cfger Bronsky 1896-1 960. Abbozzo bibliografico . Scuola Vaticana di Bibliotecomia , C itta de! Vaticano, 1973 . 3. Lacko, Mich al. Slovak Studies : Bibliographica 1, VII ( 1967), a nd Slovak Studies: Bibliographica 2, XVII (1977). Autobiographical , reminscient, and other writings by Hronsky: 4. Bronsky, J .C. "Zivotopis" [11 May 1922], in " ' Obsfrnejsf 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. zivotopis' J .C . B ronskeho," by J . M . R ydlo, Most (C leveland), XX , No. 1-2 (1973), 44-47. ________ "Autobiografia , 10 Nov. 1930," Slovenske pohl'ady, 86, No. 3 ( 1970), 44. - - - - - - - - and Elen a Mar6thy Soltesova. "Slovenskej verejnosti," Narodnie noviny, 00 May 1932, vol. 63, p. 2. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Cesta slovenskou Am erikou. 2 vols. Turc. Sv. Martin: M at ica slovenska, 1940 . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "Nove Slovensko." Slovensko, V (1939), 3-5; "Sme na novej ceste." Slovensko, V (1939), 36-38; "Ako treba zit' n a svete." Slovenske pohl'ady , 60 (1944), 670-77. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "Pred avac talizmanov Liberius Gaius od Por- �138 10 . 11. 12 . 13 . 14 . 15. 16. 17 . SLOVAKIA ta Collina." In N adej vft'azn a . Scranton: Ob rana Press, 1947, pp . 7-50 (not seen); Predavac talizmanov , 2nd ed . Introduction " Zapadalo slnko" by K arol Strmen. Cambridge (Ontario) : Dobra Kniha, 1972 . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Andreas Bur M aj ster. Scranton : Obrana Press , 1948; 2nd ed. Bratislava : T atran , 1970 . _ _ __ _ _ _ '' Rozvoj Matice sloven skej . '' In Sloven ska republika 1939-49 . Ed . Mikul as Sprinc. Obrana Press, Inc. , 1949 , pp . 191 -201. _ _ __ _ _ _ " List redaktorovi ." Most, II , No. 4 (1 955) , 1-3; and "Spolku' slovenskych spisovatel'ov a umelcov ." Most, III , No . 4 (1956), 145-46 . _ _ __ _ __ " Mostoskovi ." Most, III , No . 4 (1956) , 160-61. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ " O Gregorovi Tajovskom. " Most , III , No . 4 ( 1956) , 189-90 . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Dve slovenske Ameriky. ' 'Svetl a No. 1.'' Buenos Aires, 1958. 44 pp. (not seen) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Svet na Trasovisku . Knizni ca Litera rneho Almanachu , Vol. 2 , Whiting, Ind.: Rev. Jan . J . Lach , Publisher , 1960 . _ _ __ __ _ " Lucko patra Andrea." In K alenda r slovenskeho kulturneho spolku v Argentfne. Ed . Ladislav Jankovic. Buenos Aires: Sloven sky kulturny spolok, 1977, pp . 182-99. Reminiscences by family and friends: 18 . Cfger, Anton , " Nesplnena tu zba J . C . Hronskeho." M aticne cftanie (Martin) , 23 N ove mber 1968, pp . 1-2 . (This article includes a letter from Hronsky's so n about their life in Argentin a .) 19. Hrusovsky , Frantisek . " J ozef C fger-Hron sky. " M ost , III , o. 1 (1956), 2-1 2. 20. Sprinc, Mikulas. " Nad hrobomJozefa C. Hronskeho. " In Pam iatke J ozefa Cfgra- Hron skeho. Ed . J ozef P au co . V ol. 3 Li te rarn y Alm anach Slovaka v Am erike . Middletown , PA : J edn ota Press, 1960 , pp . 5-6. 21. Bor, J an E. (pseud . E rnest Zatko). " Spisovatel' J ozefC. H ron sky" and " P ochovali sme spi sovatel'a J ozefa Cfgra-H ro nskeho." In P am iatke (ref. 20), pp. 8-20 and 38-44 . 22 . Culen , K on stantfn . " P osled ne posedenie s j ozefom Cfgrom H ron- �SLOV AKIA 23 . 24 . 25 . 26. 27. 28 . 139 skym . " In P amiatke, pp . 21-32. Kirschbaum , ]. M . " Pamiatke J ozefa C . H ronskeho." In Pamiatke, pp . 35 -36. J ankovic, Ladislav . " O statne chvfle J . C. Hronskeho." InPamiatke, p . 37. O ka!', J an . " Spomien ka na J ozefa C fgra- H ron skeho ." M ost , VII , No. 3-4 (1960) , 97 -104. M eciar , Stanislav. " J ozef Cfger-Hronsky (1896-1 960), " (Speech given on 12 Au gust 1960). In Letopis M atice sloven skej v zahranicf. Ed . Sta ni slav M eciar . Buenos Aires : Zahranicn a M a tica Slovenska , 1963, pp . 141- 46 . Oka!' , J an. " K omu dnes patrf satocka?" Most , XIX , No . 1-2 (1972), 20-25 . (This is also a review of Predavac talizmanov , ref. 9) . R ydlo , J ozef. " J .C . H ronsky - vazen ." In Litera rny almanach Slovaka v Amerike. Ed . J ozef P auco . Middletown , 1974 , pp . 13-17 . Critical studies (in Slovakia, in the West, then in preparation): 29 . M a tu ska , Alexander . " Profil na sku sku . " Kulturny zivot (Bratislava), 4 M arch 1966 , pp . 2-3. 30. Stevcek , J an . " D oslov." In Jozef Mak by J ozef Cfger-Hronsky . Bratislava : Tatran , 1966, pp . 233-3 8. 31. Stevcek, J an . " JozefCfger Hronsky." In Slovensky literarny album . Ed. J anJurfcek and Vl adimir P etrfk . Bratislava: Obzor, 1968, pp . 38 1-84 . 32. N inzansky, J ozefR . " J edno a sedem sfdc ." In Sedem sfdc by J ozef C fge r H ron sky . Bra tislava: T a tra n , 1969, pp . 217-33. 33 . " H ro nskeho Pisar Grae a sloven ska pr6za" [symposium] . Slovenske pohl'ady , 86 , No. 3 (1970), 30-43. 34. M atu ska , Alexander , J . C . H ronsky. Bratislava : Sloven sky spisovatel' , 1970 . Rpt. in O sobnosti : V ybrane spisy Alexa ndra M a tu sku. Bra tislava: Sloven sky spisovatel' , 1973 . 35. Stevcek, J an . Nezbadane pr6zy. Bratislava: Slove nsky spisovatel' , 1971 ; Lyrizova na pr6za . Brati slava: T atran , 197 3. 36. M eciar , Stanislav . " D oslov . " In P ohar z bru se neho skla by J . C . H ro nsky. Buenos A ire s: Zahranicna Matica Sloven ska , 1964, pp . 169-74. 37. Kru zli ak, Im rich . R eview of Poha r z bru seneho skla . M ost , XII , No . 1-2 ( 1965) , 89-9 1. �140 SLOVAKIA 38. Meciar, Stanislav. "Doslov ." In Nakrfznychcestach byJ. C. Hronsky. Buenos Aires: Zahranicna Matica Slovenska, 1966, pp. 165-73. 39. Kruzliak, lmrich, "Domov boljeho vesmfrom (Na. 10. vyrocie smrti J.C. Hronskeho, 23.11.1896 - 13.VII.1960)." Most, XVII, No. 1-2 (1970), 1-10. 40. Kruzliak, Imrich. Review ofJ. C. Hronsky, by Alexander Matuska (ref. 34). Most, XVII, No. 3-4 (1970), 179-82. 41. Rydlo, Jozef M . "Svet na Trasovisku" nell'opera letteraria di Jozef Cfger-Hronsky. Con un epistolario inedito . Ph.D . Dissertation , University of Padua, 1971. 431 pp. typescript (not seen) 42. Rydlo, Jozef. "Smakova mucha . " Most, XIX, No . 1-2 (1972), 32 -38. 43 . Rydlo, Jozef M. "The World on a Quagmire : The Last Literary Work of JozefCfger Hronsky." Slovak Studies, XV (1975), 117-42. 44 . Cincura, Andrew, trans . An Anthology of Slovak Literature, with "Slovak Literature : A Brief History" by Karol Strmen. Riverside, CA: University Hardcovers, 1976. 45 . Kester, JohnJ . , trans. Seller of Talismans : Liberius Gaius. Scotch Plains , N.J. : privately printed , 1978. 46. Cincura, Andrew, trans . Jozef Mak. Introduction by Peter Petro. Columbus, OH : Slavica Publishers, in press. 47. Noge,Julius. Podoby realizmu v medzivojnovej pr6ze. Bratislava: Veda, 1983 (in preparation). 48. Lackova-Furimska, Maria. "Jozef Mak , " (in preparation). 49. Petro, Peter . "Pisar Grae," (in preparation) . 50. Sabo, Gerald J. " Andreas Bur Majster and Predavac talizmanov," (in preparation). 51. Morison, W.A., trans. " Mother Macik Goes to the Polls," Slavonic Review (London), XVII (1938-39), 21-35. 52. Winkler, Tomas. Matica slovenska v rokoch 1919-1945. Martin: Matica Slovenska, 1971. �SLOVAKIA 141 Much of the published information was verified with unpublished materials in the Literarny archfv of the Matica slovenska in Martin, Czechoslovakia, which I was able to examine while on an International Research and Exchange Board fellowship in 1982 . Presented in part in Panel 11-10 , "20th Century Slovak Literature : Jozef CfgerHronsky," and Panel 10-6, The Matica Slovenska: 120 Years of Survival," at the AAASS convention in Kansas C ity, MO on 24 October 1983 . � 128 SLOVAKIA Jozef Ciger-Hronsky: Chronology and Partial Bibliography Norma L. Rudinsky The fi ctio n ofjozefCiger-Hronsky, besides being exte n sive , shows such a variety of techniques and styles that only a full critical and descriptive bibliography could indi cate its range of experime ntal forms. The following chronology merely indicates that variety and is not complete, because Hronsky's works have not been collected and many shorter pieces are scattered in magazines in Slovakia and in other publications in North and South America ; his literary remains have not been published. Some previously unreported information is given of Hronsky's service as an infantryman in the Hungarian army on the Italian front in World War I ; this experience is mentioned in one of the biblio graphies ( 1) and is referred to by Hron sky in his tribute to a fellow soldier, the sculptor Ferdin a nd Motoska ( 13). The re is also previously unpublish ed information on his experiences in 1944. Not included here are brief or general refere nces to Hronsky in histories and encyclopedias, e.g . in English, J. M . Kirschbaum , Slovak Language and Literature (Winnipeg, 1975) and The Catholic Encyclopedia (Washington, 1967). In fact, there are almost no noti ces of Hronsky' s fiction in the standard English treatments of Slavic or eve n Czechoslovak literature despite his establi shed place in Slovak literary criticism . Hronsky's nam e is so tied to the activity of the Matica slovenska that the Chronology gives more than might be expected of his administrative activity as director (spravca). The concept of a matica, which is specifically Slavic and central/eastern European , needs explanation for the Anglo-Saxon reader to understand the great devotion inspired by this institution among the Slavic nations that had few other cultural institutions in th e Austro-Hungarian empire. A matica was a national library , publishing house, university, scientific in st itute, academy of scholars, and nationalistic missionary society - all in one. Founded in 1863, but abolished by the M agyar government in 1875, and reopened �SLOVAKIA 129 with the origin of Czechoslovakia in 1918 , the Slovak Matica was esse ntiall y the national center also later (May 1932) in the disagreement with Czech linguists ove r the status of Slovak as a separate language , in which Hronsky played a leading role (6,8,11,14) . Hronsky's life abroad a fter World War II was in many ways tragic . After suffering at the h and s of partisans near the end of the war ( 18 , 22) , he went into exile while still a t the height of his creativity. In the remaining fifteen years of his life , he published only two novels and a novella, mostly writte n in the first two years abroad. According to Konstantfn Culen (22), Hronsky expected to move to the United States fro m Italy in 1945-48 , but was prevented from obtaining a visa by the U .S . policy of agreement with the Czechoslovak " R e pa triation Commi ss ion ,'' the full story of which may be co mp a rable to the tragedies revealed by Julius Epstein in Operation Keelh aul (New York : D evinAdair , 1973). The part played by Slovak-Ameri cans or their inactivity o n Hronsky's beh alf, h as also not been told (22). H owever, who can say whether H ro nsky's literary activity would have gai ned o r lost if he had settled a mong Slovak-Americans? He might have been spared the tiring work by which he earned a living in Argentin a; however, physical nearness to the Slovak exil e centers in North America a nd therefore greater involvement in the difficulties, frustration s, a nd frequently fruitless activities in ev itable to ex il e politi cal groups, might not have stimulated him to further literary creation . This qu es tio n can only b e conside red w hen all of Hronsky's unpublished a nd unfini shed writings beco m e avail able; at prese nt , o nly one is known to me ( 17). Hronsky did not live to know of his "rehabilitation " in Bratislava, nor the recognition of his novels as, in the words of J a n Stevcek, '' the emb ryos of almost every developin g tendency of Slovak prose, the most distinctive of which is the line joining the mode rn socia l novel with the la ter, specificall y Slovak ' natu ral' expressionism but also wit h other importa nt develo pme n ts" (35, p . 108 ; tran slation min e) no r th e judge m ent of Alexander Matuska that Hronsky is so far the only Slovak author whose trul y excellent works number not o ne or two but at least fi ve (34 , pp. 574-75). 1896 Born on 23 February as Jozef Cfger in Zvolen , central Slovaki a, of working-class parents, hi s fat he r being a sawyer. �130 1914 1914-18 1917-18 1919 1918-23 1922 1923-33 1923 1924 1925 1927 1928 1929 1930 SLOVAKIA He attended school in Zvolen, Krupina , and Levice. Received a teacher's diploma in Levice. Taught school in Horne Madunice and Senohrad. Was in the 16th Infantry Division of the Hungarian army from 1 October 1917 to 20 November 1918, and participated in the very bloody defeat of the Austro-Hungarian summer offensive at Piava on the Italian front. He stayed in the reserve until 1928, and his fin al rank as an officer was rotny v zaloze, as listed on his discharge papers. Hronsky' s military experience is reflected in several of his works , includingjozef Mak, b,ut especially Pisar Grae. Married Anna Valeria Ruzinakova on 1 M arch . Taught school in Senohrad and Krupina. His only child Juraj was born . Taught school in Kremnica and Martin. Published his first collection of realistic adult stories, U nas (At Our Place), many of which had been published previously in magazines. He took the additional name Hronsky in the Pan-Slav tradition of earlier Slovak writers, from the Hron River that runs through central Slovakia . Published his first children's book, Najmladsf Zavodsky (The Youngest Zavodsky Child) . Published Domov (Going Home), another collection of realistic stories similar to those of Martin Kukucfn, and Kremnicke povesti (Tales of Kremnica) for children, as well as a collection of adapted Serbian tales . Published his first novel Zlty dom v Klokoci (The Yellow House in the Village Klokoc), which was still realistic but refl ected Hronsky' s interest in new psychologically expressive techniques (44, Strmen, p . xlv). During 1927-41 he also helped prepare numerous grade school readers . Published the collection Pod kozubkom (By the Hearth) . He also became an editor of the children's m agazine Slniecko (Little Sun). Published another collection of adult stories , Medove srdce (Gingerbread H eart). Published one of his few novels on artistic and urban life, Proroctvo Doktora Stankovskeho (The Prophecy of Dr. Stankov- �SLOVAKIA 193 1 1932 1933-40 131 sky) and also one of his most popular animal stories for children , Smely zajko (The D a ring R a bbit). Published a variety of books: the sequel Smely zajko v Afrike (The D aring R a bbit in Africa); two collec tions of roma ntic legends a nd historical novellas, T raj a bratia (Three Brothers) and Zakopan y m ec (The Buried Sword) ; and the experimental novel C hlieb (Bread), in which Hronsky introdu ced the vill age as a livin g, indes tructibl e organism with a collective co nsc10u sness. Published an even greater variety: the romantic Podpolianske rozp rav ky (Stories from the Foot of Mount Pol'ana) in the spirit of Andrej Sladkovic; the animal story of Budkacik a Dubkaci k(un tra nslatable title: comic nam es for two pigs); a historical novel fo r young people, Sokoliar Tomas (The Falconer Thom as); the fairy tales Brondove rozpravky (Tales by the Storytell er J ozef Ru znak Bronda); and the educational book for children Zabav ky stryca Kurkovskeho (Gam es with Uncle Kurkovsky). In the so-call ed " May 12 affair, " Hronsky was a leading m ember of the group of 130 Slovak writers who signed a statem ent against the " C zechoslovak " linguistic tendency of the fi rs t P ravidla slovenskeho pravopisu ( 193 1), a gramm ar book and writer's guide which had been prepared p rim aril y by Czech linguists in the M atica and which m ad e Slovak m ore similar to Czech (6, 11 , 14). In 1933 H ro nsky stopped his teaching caree r on April 1 to beco me secreta ry of the M atica slove nska a t the time when its position was very shaky financially and politically after withdrawal of sta te fund s in 193 2 and the d epa rture of m an y Czechs from the M a tica because of the battle over the P ravidla slove nskeho pravopisu . For the next several years H ro nsky's intensive literary creation was acco mpanied by extensive administrative act ivities in the M a tica. Acco rdin g to fri ends ( 19,2 1) H ro nsky wrote m a inly at ni ght , seeming to th rive on lit tle slee p . O ne of hi s first adm inistrative efforts was to enlarge the m embership base of the M atica and to increase book sales fo r greater fin ancial security without a id (and su pervision) from P rague; ano ther a im was to enlarge the schola rly and cu ltural de partments ( 11 ). �132 1933 1934 1935 1935-36 193 7 1938 1939 1940 SLOVAKIA Published a children's book of tales Zlaty dazd' (The Golden Shower); a series of realistic satiric stories Tomefkovci (The Tomefk Clan); and his most important novel Jozef Mak. A major review of this novel was by Andrej Mraz in Slovenske pohl'ady , Vol. 49 , pp. 761-64 . Published a collection of stories about women, Sedem sfdc (Seven Hearts) , and a group of tales , Zlate hodinky (A Gold Watch). Published Strycovo vrtielko (Uncle's Spinning Top) for children, and numerous speeches and reports on Matica activities. Several chapters of a sequel to Jozef Mak were published in Slovenske pohl'ady , titled "Jozef Mak mladsf," in which Mak's inability to express his love is continued with his son; but the sequel was apparently abandoned. Led a delegation from the Matica to visit Slovak-Americans in the United States from November to July . H e also published Tri rozpravky (Three Stories). Published a collection of tales, Zlatovlasa sestra (The Goldenhaired Sister), and articles about Matica activities ( 1). In a major review (Slovenske pohl'ady , 53 , 366- 72) of the second edition of Jozef Mak, the critic Michal Povazan placed Hronsky between Martin Kukuefn and Milo Urban, author of Zivy bie (The Living Scourge, 1927). Published a collection of stories previously printed in magazines , Jarny vietor a ine rozpravky (Spring Wind and Other Tales) as the first volume of his collected works. Published the historical Budatfnski Frgacovci (The Frgae Family of Budatfn Castle); and the novel a krfznych cestach (At the Crossroads), which was serialized in Slovenske pohl'ady. A story was translated into English (51). Published the description of his American trip in Cesta slovenskou Amerikou (A Trip through Slovak America) (7); also the children's book Tri mudre kozliatka (Three Clever Kidlets) and the first "grotesqu e" novel in Slovak , Pisar Grae (Grae the Clerk) , in which Hronsky experimentall y developed a multi-level structure to express various depths of the human personality , both rational and irrational, consciou s and unconscious; it is built around an "axis of imagin ary con versa- �SLOVAKIA 133 tions betwee n the main character and a certain dead person " (43, p. 123). 1940-43 Was elected spravca or director of the Matica in 1940 . During this period (which also included increased government support during th e Slovak R epublic) , new research departments for philosophy, geography, and music were added, and other departments were enlarged , e.g. the dictionary group. A new cen tral building was built, and a modern press was purchased and named Neografia. M embership in the M atica rose to 74 ,000 , a nd from a debt-ridden status in 1933 Matica grew to be worth 80 ,000,000 crowns. Several new journals were begun, alo ng with a new edition of the Pravidla (11 ,52). Numerous re-editions of Hronsky's works were published . During this time Jozef M ak was translated into G erman by P . Kutzner and published in Stuttgart with the new title Die a rmen Seeligkeiten desjosefMak (no date give n in the book, probabl y 1942). In 1943 it was translated into Croatian by Jozip Niksic and published by the Matica hrvatska in Zagreb . 1944 Published the lyrical novel Na Bukvovo m d vore (In Bukva' s Courtyard) and a collec tion of satiric allegories, Smakova mucha (The Filthy Fl y) (42). In late August Hronsky was seized, abused, and threatened with death by partisans in Martin during the '' Slovak National Uprising'' despite the fact that he had neve r been politically active. This very unhappy eve nt , whi ch apparentl y occurred at the instigation of other Matica offi cials ( 18 ,22,28), profoundly shocked and demoralized H ronsky, who was ultim a tely freed at the personal intervention of a leader of the Uprising ( 18), said to be the Communist poet Laco ovomesky. D etail s have been published onl y in part. 1945 Organi zed the evacuation of part of the Matica before the advancing front of Soviet and G erman arrriies, and left Slovakia for Austria and Bavaria, then moved to Italy with hi s wife a nd son ( 18, 19). 1946-47 Li ved in R ome and studied painting besides writing . H e publi shed a short novell a about ancient R om a n Christians, Predavac talizmanov: Liberius Caius (The Talisman Mercha nt: Liberiu s Caius), which Strmen says shows Hronsky �134 1948 1949 1950-55 1956 1957 SLOVAKIA "without a mask" and thus makes his previous heroes appear as "pre-Christian heroes, existentially imprisoned on the fringes of the Christian message , which has never been heard completely or distinctly " (9, p . 79 , translation mine). He also wrote his novel about the war, though it was published only in 1960 (12,16 ,2 7). Published the lyrical novel Andreas Bur Majster (Andrew Bur, Master Sawyer) in the U.S ., from the manuscript completed in Rome in 1947 (10). He also emigrated to Argentina , because the Czechoslovak government was attempting to have him extradited. Through the intervention a nd influence of Karol Sidor, he was helped to leave Italy by sympathetic Italian officials; he had been refused a visa to the U.S. by American officials who failed to understand the Slovak situation (22). Settled in the Argentine town of Lujan, near Buenos Aires , where he worked as a draftsman and textile designer, taught painting, painted, designed stained glass windows, etc. (18), but was also somewhat active in Slovak emigre cultural activities. He published an account of his administration of the Matica slovenska ( 11). Lived quietly in Lujan working and sometimes writing, but little of this work is known, except one fragment (17). His son Juraj described their life in Argentine (18). Was elected honorary president of the exile '' Spolok slovenskych spisovatel'ov a umelcov" (12). In honor of his 60th birthday, the journal Most published a reminiscence of Hronsky (19) with a partial bibliography of his works. In the last issue of Most for 1956 Hronsky wrote a short but sympathetic reminiscence of the Slovak playwright Jozef Gregor Tajovsky' s apologetic retraction (shortly before his death) of his previous position on the "Czechoslovak language" in the Matica affair of May 1932 (14). In the same issue, Hronsky published three satiric sketches: Dazdnik (Umbrella), Gombfk (Button) , and Rebrfk (Ladder), the latter signed by "Jozef Mak" (for other such pieces see 2). Became honorary president of the political and cultural organization "Slovak National Council Abroad ," but was not �SLOVAKIA 1958 1959 1959-60 1960 1964 1965 1966 135 active in it. Published Dve slovenske Ameriky (Two Slovak Americas) about the Slovak League of America and the Argentine Slovak Cultural Society ( 15). Organized the " Zahranicna Matica Slovenska" after the Matica in Martin was relieved of its publishing and educational activities and given the status of a national library by the law of 1953. The purpose of this '' Matica Abroad'' was to encourage Slovak cultural publications and other educational activities impossible in Slovakia. H ad a column in the weekly newspaper Slovak v Amerike (Middletown , PA) titled "Lepsie zazfhat' svetielko aka preklinat' tmu" (Better to Light a Candle than to Curse the Darkness). Hronsky published his last novel, Svet na Trasovisku (The People of the Village Trasovisko and also a pun meaning The World Caught in Quicksand), as a serial in Slovak v Amerike, then in book form (16). This novel gives a complex picture of the effects of World War II on a Slovak village, especiall y the effects of the Uprising, which Hronsky presents as a tragic betrayal of the Slovak people and the R epublic of 1939-45 . On July 13 Hronsky died suddenly of a stroke in Lujan. Memorial articles were published by the Slovak League in Pamiatkejozefa Cfgra-Hronskeho (20-24) , by Most (25) , and by the Zahranicna Matica (26). Hronsky's,wife died six weeks later. Posthumously, a collection of stories, Poha.r z bruseneho skla (A Cut-Glass Goblet) was published in Buenos Aires; one story, " Dobry syn " (A Good Son), was new, the rest having been printed in Slovak magazines in 1940-41 (36-3 7). The "thaw" in Bratislava brought an announcement in the newspaper Pravda that some of Hronsky's works would be reprinted. The children's book Budka.cik a Dubka.cik was set to music and presented in a Bratislava puppet theater, then republished by the Mlade Leto press. One of the foremost Bratislava critics , Alexander Matuska , published " Profil na skusku" (A n Attempt at a Profile) on Hronsky in a weekly newspaper (29) . �136 SLOVAKIA Jozef Mak was republished with a foreword by another major critic, Jan Stevcek (30). In Buenos Aires the Zahranicna Matica republished in book form Hronsky's serialized novel from 1939, Na krfznych cestach, with an analysis by Stanislav Meciar (38). 1967-69 Numerous re-editions of Hronsky's works were published in Bratislava and Martin with critical appreciations (1-2). During the liberal period of Alexander Dubcek, efforts were made in both Argentina and Slovakia to return Hronsky's body for burial in the National Cemetery in Martin (18), but they were unsuccessful. Jozef Mak was translated into Magyar by Zaly~mi Antal and published in Bratislava in 1968 . 1970 Andreas Bur Majster was republished in Bratislava, the only "exile" work to appear in Slovakia (10). Alexander Matuska's perceptive criticism of this book too and his brief analysis of Svet na Trasovisku in j. C. Hronsky (34) completed the rehabilitation process except for continued (to this day) condemnation or silence about Svet na Trasovisku . 1971 Jan Stevcek's analysis of "lyrizovana pr6za " related Hronsky to its origins (35). Jozef M . Rydlo 's Italian disserta tion on Hronsky at the University of Padua was apparently the first critical study in a western language ( 41 ), with the possible exception of G erman studies following the translation of Jozef Mak and of Podpolianske rozpravky (Stuttgart, 1944). 1972 Jozef Mak was translated into Russian by I. Bogdanova (Moscow, Progress Publishers) and into Czech by Emil Charous with the new title Clovek milion (The Ordinary Person of Whom There are Millions) and a critical evaluation of the novel as an achievement on the European level (Prague, Odeon). In Canada Predavac talizmanov was republished with an introduction by Karol Strmen (9,27). 197 3 Jan Stevcek further developed his analysis of Hronsky' s work as the most importa nt impulse in Slovak lyri cal prose (35). 1975 The first intensive criticism ofHronsky's work in English was published by Rydlo (43). 1976 The second translation into English , excerpts fromJozefMak and from Tomcfkovci, was made by Andrew C incura (44). 1977 Jozef Mak was translated into Polish by Andrzej Sieczkowski �SLOVAKIA 1978 1982 1983 137 (Warsaw, Panstrv . Inst.). In Buenos Aires was published a single piece from Bronsky's litera ry remains about Argentine life ( 1 7). Predavac tali zmanov was translated into English (45). J ozef Mak was translated into English by Andrew Cincura with a critical analysis of Bronsky' s importance by Peter Petro (46) . The Bra ti slava critic Juliu s Noge prepared a n ew study of Bronsky, includin g som e of the unfinished manuscripts in th e archi ves of the Matica sloven ska ( 4 7). A panel on Bronsky at the American Associat ion for the Advancement of Slavic Studies annu al meeting had papers on three novels ( 48-50), wh ich will be printed in the journal Slovakia as the first compreh ensive studies of Bronsky in English . Bibliographies of Hronsky's work: 1. Mat'ovcfk, A., G. R ezna, V . Podmajerska. " Bio-bibliografiaJozefa Cfgra-Bronskeho." Biograficke studie (Martin), II (1971), 101-20 . 2. R ydlo, J . M. J ozef Cfger Bronsky 1896-1 960. Abbozzo bibliografico . Scuola Vaticana di Bibliotecomia , C itta de! Vaticano, 1973 . 3. Lacko, Mich al. Slovak Studies : Bibliographica 1, VII ( 1967), a nd Slovak Studies: Bibliographica 2, XVII (1977). Autobiographical , reminscient, and other writings by Hronsky: 4. Bronsky, J .C. "Zivotopis" [11 May 1922], in " ' Obsfrnejsf 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. zivotopis' J .C . B ronskeho," by J . M . R ydlo, Most (C leveland), XX , No. 1-2 (1973), 44-47. ________ "Autobiografia , 10 Nov. 1930," Slovenske pohl'ady, 86, No. 3 ( 1970), 44. - - - - - - - - and Elen a Mar6thy Soltesova. "Slovenskej verejnosti," Narodnie noviny, 00 May 1932, vol. 63, p. 2. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Cesta slovenskou Am erikou. 2 vols. Turc. Sv. Martin: M at ica slovenska, 1940 . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "Nove Slovensko." Slovensko, V (1939), 3-5; "Sme na novej ceste." Slovensko, V (1939), 36-38; "Ako treba zit' n a svete." Slovenske pohl'ady , 60 (1944), 670-77. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "Pred avac talizmanov Liberius Gaius od Por- �138 10 . 11. 12 . 13 . 14 . 15. 16. 17 . SLOVAKIA ta Collina." In N adej vft'azn a . Scranton: Ob rana Press, 1947, pp . 7-50 (not seen); Predavac talizmanov , 2nd ed . Introduction " Zapadalo slnko" by K arol Strmen. Cambridge (Ontario) : Dobra Kniha, 1972 . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Andreas Bur M aj ster. Scranton : Obrana Press , 1948; 2nd ed. Bratislava : T atran , 1970 . _ _ __ _ _ _ '' Rozvoj Matice sloven skej . '' In Sloven ska republika 1939-49 . Ed . Mikul as Sprinc. Obrana Press, Inc. , 1949 , pp . 191 -201. _ _ __ _ _ _ " List redaktorovi ." Most, II , No. 4 (1 955) , 1-3; and "Spolku' slovenskych spisovatel'ov a umelcov ." Most, III , No . 4 (1956), 145-46 . _ _ __ _ __ " Mostoskovi ." Most, III , No . 4 (1956) , 160-61. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ " O Gregorovi Tajovskom. " Most , III , No . 4 ( 1956) , 189-90 . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Dve slovenske Ameriky. ' 'Svetl a No. 1.'' Buenos Aires, 1958. 44 pp. (not seen) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Svet na Trasovisku . Knizni ca Litera rneho Almanachu , Vol. 2 , Whiting, Ind.: Rev. Jan . J . Lach , Publisher , 1960 . _ _ __ __ _ " Lucko patra Andrea." In K alenda r slovenskeho kulturneho spolku v Argentfne. Ed . Ladislav Jankovic. Buenos Aires: Sloven sky kulturny spolok, 1977, pp . 182-99. Reminiscences by family and friends: 18 . Cfger, Anton , " Nesplnena tu zba J . C . Hronskeho." M aticne cftanie (Martin) , 23 N ove mber 1968, pp . 1-2 . (This article includes a letter from Hronsky's so n about their life in Argentin a .) 19. Hrusovsky , Frantisek . " J ozef C fger-Hron sky. " M ost , III , o. 1 (1956), 2-1 2. 20. Sprinc, Mikulas. " Nad hrobomJozefa C. Hronskeho. " In Pam iatke J ozefa Cfgra- Hron skeho. Ed . J ozef P au co . V ol. 3 Li te rarn y Alm anach Slovaka v Am erike . Middletown , PA : J edn ota Press, 1960 , pp . 5-6. 21. Bor, J an E. (pseud . E rnest Zatko). " Spisovatel' J ozefC. H ron sky" and " P ochovali sme spi sovatel'a J ozefa Cfgra-H ro nskeho." In P am iatke (ref. 20), pp. 8-20 and 38-44 . 22 . Culen , K on stantfn . " P osled ne posedenie s j ozefom Cfgrom H ron- �SLOV AKIA 23 . 24 . 25 . 26. 27. 28 . 139 skym . " In P amiatke, pp . 21-32. Kirschbaum , ]. M . " Pamiatke J ozefa C . H ronskeho." In Pamiatke, pp . 35 -36. J ankovic, Ladislav . " O statne chvfle J . C. Hronskeho." InPamiatke, p . 37. O ka!', J an . " Spomien ka na J ozefa C fgra- H ron skeho ." M ost , VII , No. 3-4 (1960) , 97 -104. M eciar , Stanislav. " J ozef Cfger-Hronsky (1896-1 960), " (Speech given on 12 Au gust 1960). In Letopis M atice sloven skej v zahranicf. Ed . Sta ni slav M eciar . Buenos Aires : Zahranicn a M a tica Slovenska , 1963, pp . 141- 46 . Oka!' , J an. " K omu dnes patrf satocka?" Most , XIX , No . 1-2 (1972), 20-25 . (This is also a review of Predavac talizmanov , ref. 9) . R ydlo , J ozef. " J .C . H ronsky - vazen ." In Litera rny almanach Slovaka v Amerike. Ed . J ozef P auco . Middletown , 1974 , pp . 13-17 . Critical studies (in Slovakia, in the West, then in preparation): 29 . M a tu ska , Alexander . " Profil na sku sku . " Kulturny zivot (Bratislava), 4 M arch 1966 , pp . 2-3. 30. Stevcek , J an . " D oslov." In Jozef Mak by J ozef Cfger-Hronsky . Bratislava : Tatran , 1966, pp . 233-3 8. 31. Stevcek, J an . " JozefCfger Hronsky." In Slovensky literarny album . Ed. J anJurfcek and Vl adimir P etrfk . Bratislava: Obzor, 1968, pp . 38 1-84 . 32. N inzansky, J ozefR . " J edno a sedem sfdc ." In Sedem sfdc by J ozef C fge r H ron sky . Bra tislava: T a tra n , 1969, pp . 217-33. 33 . " H ro nskeho Pisar Grae a sloven ska pr6za" [symposium] . Slovenske pohl'ady , 86 , No. 3 (1970), 30-43. 34. M atu ska , Alexander , J . C . H ronsky. Bratislava : Sloven sky spisovatel' , 1970 . Rpt. in O sobnosti : V ybrane spisy Alexa ndra M a tu sku. Bra tislava: Sloven sky spisovatel' , 1973 . 35. Stevcek, J an . Nezbadane pr6zy. Bratislava: Slove nsky spisovatel' , 1971 ; Lyrizova na pr6za . Brati slava: T atran , 197 3. 36. M eciar , Stanislav . " D oslov . " In P ohar z bru se neho skla by J . C . H ro nsky. Buenos A ire s: Zahranicna Matica Sloven ska , 1964, pp . 169-74. 37. Kru zli ak, Im rich . R eview of Poha r z bru seneho skla . M ost , XII , No . 1-2 ( 1965) , 89-9 1. �140 SLOVAKIA 38. Meciar, Stanislav. "Doslov ." In Nakrfznychcestach byJ. C. Hronsky. Buenos Aires: Zahranicna Matica Slovenska, 1966, pp. 165-73. 39. Kruzliak, lmrich, "Domov boljeho vesmfrom (Na. 10. vyrocie smrti J.C. Hronskeho, 23.11.1896 - 13.VII.1960)." Most, XVII, No. 1-2 (1970), 1-10. 40. Kruzliak, Imrich. Review ofJ. C. Hronsky, by Alexander Matuska (ref. 34). Most, XVII, No. 3-4 (1970), 179-82. 41. Rydlo, Jozef M . "Svet na Trasovisku" nell'opera letteraria di Jozef Cfger-Hronsky. Con un epistolario inedito . Ph.D . Dissertation , University of Padua, 1971. 431 pp. typescript (not seen) 42. Rydlo, Jozef. "Smakova mucha . " Most, XIX, No . 1-2 (1972), 32 -38. 43 . Rydlo, Jozef M. "The World on a Quagmire : The Last Literary Work of JozefCfger Hronsky." Slovak Studies, XV (1975), 117-42. 44 . Cincura, Andrew, trans . An Anthology of Slovak Literature, with "Slovak Literature : A Brief History" by Karol Strmen. Riverside, CA: University Hardcovers, 1976. 45 . Kester, JohnJ . , trans. Seller of Talismans : Liberius Gaius. Scotch Plains , N.J. : privately printed , 1978. 46. Cincura, Andrew, trans . Jozef Mak. Introduction by Peter Petro. Columbus, OH : Slavica Publishers, in press. 47. Noge,Julius. Podoby realizmu v medzivojnovej pr6ze. Bratislava: Veda, 1983 (in preparation). 48. Lackova-Furimska, Maria. "Jozef Mak , " (in preparation). 49. Petro, Peter . "Pisar Grae," (in preparation) . 50. Sabo, Gerald J. " Andreas Bur Majster and Predavac talizmanov," (in preparation). 51. Morison, W.A., trans. " Mother Macik Goes to the Polls," Slavonic Review (London), XVII (1938-39), 21-35. 52. Winkler, Tomas. Matica slovenska v rokoch 1919-1945. Martin: Matica Slovenska, 1971. �SLOVAKIA 141 Much of the published information was verified with unpublished materials in the Literarny archfv of the Matica slovenska in Martin, Czechoslovakia, which I was able to examine while on an International Research and Exchange Board fellowship in 1982 . Presented in part in Panel 11-10 , "20th Century Slovak Literature : Jozef CfgerHronsky," and Panel 10-6, The Matica Slovenska: 120 Years of Survival," at the AAASS convention in Kansas C ity, MO on 24 October 1983 . � 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 1982-83, Vol. 30 Description An account of the resource Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83. 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 1982-83 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 128 SLOVAKIA Jozef Ciger-Hronsky: Chronology and Partial Bibliography Norma L. Rudinsky The fi ctio n ofjozefCiger-Hronsky, besides being exte n sive , shows such a variety of techniques and styles that only a full critical and descriptive bibliography could indi cate its range of experime ntal forms. The following chronology merely indicates that variety and is not complete, because Hronsky's works have not been collected and many shorter pieces are scattered in magazines in Slovakia and in other publications in North and South America ; his literary remains have not been published. Some previously unreported information is given of Hronsky's service as an infantryman in the Hungarian army on the Italian front in World War I ; this experience is mentioned in one of the biblio graphies ( 1) and is referred to by Hron sky in his tribute to a fellow soldier, the sculptor Ferdin a nd Motoska ( 13). The re is also previously unpublish ed information on his experiences in 1944. Not included here are brief or general refere nces to Hronsky in histories and encyclopedias, e.g . in English, J. M . Kirschbaum , Slovak Language and Literature (Winnipeg, 1975) and The Catholic Encyclopedia (Washington, 1967). In fact, there are almost no noti ces of Hronsky' s fiction in the standard English treatments of Slavic or eve n Czechoslovak literature despite his establi shed place in Slovak literary criticism . Hronsky's nam e is so tied to the activity of the Matica slovenska that the Chronology gives more than might be expected of his administrative activity as director (spravca). The concept of a matica, which is specifically Slavic and central/eastern European , needs explanation for the Anglo-Saxon reader to understand the great devotion inspired by this institution among the Slavic nations that had few other cultural institutions in th e Austro-Hungarian empire. A matica was a national library , publishing house, university, scientific in st itute, academy of scholars, and nationalistic missionary society - all in one. Founded in 1863, but abolished by the M agyar government in 1875, and reopened SLOVAKIA 129 with the origin of Czechoslovakia in 1918 , the Slovak Matica was esse ntiall y the national center also later (May 1932) in the disagreement with Czech linguists ove r the status of Slovak as a separate language , in which Hronsky played a leading role (6,8,11,14) . Hronsky's life abroad a fter World War II was in many ways tragic . After suffering at the h and s of partisans near the end of the war ( 18 , 22) , he went into exile while still a t the height of his creativity. In the remaining fifteen years of his life , he published only two novels and a novella, mostly writte n in the first two years abroad. According to Konstantfn Culen (22), Hronsky expected to move to the United States fro m Italy in 1945-48 , but was prevented from obtaining a visa by the U .S . policy of agreement with the Czechoslovak " R e pa triation Commi ss ion ,'' the full story of which may be co mp a rable to the tragedies revealed by Julius Epstein in Operation Keelh aul (New York : D evinAdair , 1973). The part played by Slovak-Ameri cans or their inactivity o n Hronsky's beh alf, h as also not been told (22). H owever, who can say whether H ro nsky's literary activity would have gai ned o r lost if he had settled a mong Slovak-Americans? He might have been spared the tiring work by which he earned a living in Argentin a; however, physical nearness to the Slovak exil e centers in North America a nd therefore greater involvement in the difficulties, frustration s, a nd frequently fruitless activities in ev itable to ex il e politi cal groups, might not have stimulated him to further literary creation . This qu es tio n can only b e conside red w hen all of Hronsky's unpublished a nd unfini shed writings beco m e avail able; at prese nt , o nly one is known to me ( 17). Hronsky did not live to know of his "rehabilitation " in Bratislava, nor the recognition of his novels as, in the words of J a n Stevcek, '' the emb ryos of almost every developin g tendency of Slovak prose, the most distinctive of which is the line joining the mode rn socia l novel with the la ter, specificall y Slovak ' natu ral' expressionism but also wit h other importa nt develo pme n ts" (35, p . 108 ; tran slation min e) no r th e judge m ent of Alexander Matuska that Hronsky is so far the only Slovak author whose trul y excellent works number not o ne or two but at least fi ve (34 , pp. 574-75). 1896 Born on 23 February as Jozef Cfger in Zvolen , central Slovaki a, of working-class parents, hi s fat he r being a sawyer. 130 1914 1914-18 1917-18 1919 1918-23 1922 1923-33 1923 1924 1925 1927 1928 1929 1930 SLOVAKIA He attended school in Zvolen, Krupina , and Levice. Received a teacher's diploma in Levice. Taught school in Horne Madunice and Senohrad. Was in the 16th Infantry Division of the Hungarian army from 1 October 1917 to 20 November 1918, and participated in the very bloody defeat of the Austro-Hungarian summer offensive at Piava on the Italian front. He stayed in the reserve until 1928, and his fin al rank as an officer was rotny v zaloze, as listed on his discharge papers. Hronsky' s military experience is reflected in several of his works , includingjozef Mak, b,ut especially Pisar Grae. Married Anna Valeria Ruzinakova on 1 M arch . Taught school in Senohrad and Krupina. His only child Juraj was born . Taught school in Kremnica and Martin. Published his first collection of realistic adult stories, U nas (At Our Place), many of which had been published previously in magazines. He took the additional name Hronsky in the Pan-Slav tradition of earlier Slovak writers, from the Hron River that runs through central Slovakia . Published his first children's book, Najmladsf Zavodsky (The Youngest Zavodsky Child) . Published Domov (Going Home), another collection of realistic stories similar to those of Martin Kukucfn, and Kremnicke povesti (Tales of Kremnica) for children, as well as a collection of adapted Serbian tales . Published his first novel Zlty dom v Klokoci (The Yellow House in the Village Klokoc), which was still realistic but refl ected Hronsky' s interest in new psychologically expressive techniques (44, Strmen, p . xlv). During 1927-41 he also helped prepare numerous grade school readers . Published the collection Pod kozubkom (By the Hearth) . He also became an editor of the children's m agazine Slniecko (Little Sun). Published another collection of adult stories , Medove srdce (Gingerbread H eart). Published one of his few novels on artistic and urban life, Proroctvo Doktora Stankovskeho (The Prophecy of Dr. Stankov- SLOVAKIA 193 1 1932 1933-40 131 sky) and also one of his most popular animal stories for children , Smely zajko (The D a ring R a bbit). Published a variety of books: the sequel Smely zajko v Afrike (The D aring R a bbit in Africa); two collec tions of roma ntic legends a nd historical novellas, T raj a bratia (Three Brothers) and Zakopan y m ec (The Buried Sword) ; and the experimental novel C hlieb (Bread), in which Hronsky introdu ced the vill age as a livin g, indes tructibl e organism with a collective co nsc10u sness. Published an even greater variety: the romantic Podpolianske rozp rav ky (Stories from the Foot of Mount Pol'ana) in the spirit of Andrej Sladkovic; the animal story of Budkacik a Dubkaci k(un tra nslatable title: comic nam es for two pigs); a historical novel fo r young people, Sokoliar Tomas (The Falconer Thom as); the fairy tales Brondove rozpravky (Tales by the Storytell er J ozef Ru znak Bronda); and the educational book for children Zabav ky stryca Kurkovskeho (Gam es with Uncle Kurkovsky). In the so-call ed " May 12 affair, " Hronsky was a leading m ember of the group of 130 Slovak writers who signed a statem ent against the " C zechoslovak " linguistic tendency of the fi rs t P ravidla slovenskeho pravopisu ( 193 1), a gramm ar book and writer's guide which had been prepared p rim aril y by Czech linguists in the M atica and which m ad e Slovak m ore similar to Czech (6, 11 , 14). In 1933 H ro nsky stopped his teaching caree r on April 1 to beco me secreta ry of the M atica slove nska a t the time when its position was very shaky financially and politically after withdrawal of sta te fund s in 193 2 and the d epa rture of m an y Czechs from the M a tica because of the battle over the P ravidla slove nskeho pravopisu . For the next several years H ro nsky's intensive literary creation was acco mpanied by extensive administrative act ivities in the M a tica. Acco rdin g to fri ends ( 19,2 1) H ro nsky wrote m a inly at ni ght , seeming to th rive on lit tle slee p . O ne of hi s first adm inistrative efforts was to enlarge the m embership base of the M atica and to increase book sales fo r greater fin ancial security without a id (and su pervision) from P rague; ano ther a im was to enlarge the schola rly and cu ltural de partments ( 11 ). 132 1933 1934 1935 1935-36 193 7 1938 1939 1940 SLOVAKIA Published a children's book of tales Zlaty dazd' (The Golden Shower); a series of realistic satiric stories Tomefkovci (The Tomefk Clan); and his most important novel Jozef Mak. A major review of this novel was by Andrej Mraz in Slovenske pohl'ady , Vol. 49 , pp. 761-64 . Published a collection of stories about women, Sedem sfdc (Seven Hearts) , and a group of tales , Zlate hodinky (A Gold Watch). Published Strycovo vrtielko (Uncle's Spinning Top) for children, and numerous speeches and reports on Matica activities. Several chapters of a sequel to Jozef Mak were published in Slovenske pohl'ady , titled "Jozef Mak mladsf," in which Mak's inability to express his love is continued with his son; but the sequel was apparently abandoned. Led a delegation from the Matica to visit Slovak-Americans in the United States from November to July . H e also published Tri rozpravky (Three Stories). Published a collection of tales, Zlatovlasa sestra (The Goldenhaired Sister), and articles about Matica activities ( 1). In a major review (Slovenske pohl'ady , 53 , 366- 72) of the second edition of Jozef Mak, the critic Michal Povazan placed Hronsky between Martin Kukuefn and Milo Urban, author of Zivy bie (The Living Scourge, 1927). Published a collection of stories previously printed in magazines , Jarny vietor a ine rozpravky (Spring Wind and Other Tales) as the first volume of his collected works. Published the historical Budatfnski Frgacovci (The Frgae Family of Budatfn Castle); and the novel a krfznych cestach (At the Crossroads), which was serialized in Slovenske pohl'ady. A story was translated into English (51). Published the description of his American trip in Cesta slovenskou Amerikou (A Trip through Slovak America) (7); also the children's book Tri mudre kozliatka (Three Clever Kidlets) and the first "grotesqu e" novel in Slovak , Pisar Grae (Grae the Clerk) , in which Hronsky experimentall y developed a multi-level structure to express various depths of the human personality , both rational and irrational, consciou s and unconscious; it is built around an "axis of imagin ary con versa- SLOVAKIA 133 tions betwee n the main character and a certain dead person " (43, p. 123). 1940-43 Was elected spravca or director of the Matica in 1940 . During this period (which also included increased government support during th e Slovak R epublic) , new research departments for philosophy, geography, and music were added, and other departments were enlarged , e.g. the dictionary group. A new cen tral building was built, and a modern press was purchased and named Neografia. M embership in the M atica rose to 74 ,000 , a nd from a debt-ridden status in 1933 Matica grew to be worth 80 ,000,000 crowns. Several new journals were begun, alo ng with a new edition of the Pravidla (11 ,52). Numerous re-editions of Hronsky's works were published . During this time Jozef M ak was translated into G erman by P . Kutzner and published in Stuttgart with the new title Die a rmen Seeligkeiten desjosefMak (no date give n in the book, probabl y 1942). In 1943 it was translated into Croatian by Jozip Niksic and published by the Matica hrvatska in Zagreb . 1944 Published the lyrical novel Na Bukvovo m d vore (In Bukva' s Courtyard) and a collec tion of satiric allegories, Smakova mucha (The Filthy Fl y) (42). In late August Hronsky was seized, abused, and threatened with death by partisans in Martin during the '' Slovak National Uprising'' despite the fact that he had neve r been politically active. This very unhappy eve nt , whi ch apparentl y occurred at the instigation of other Matica offi cials ( 18 ,22,28), profoundly shocked and demoralized H ronsky, who was ultim a tely freed at the personal intervention of a leader of the Uprising ( 18), said to be the Communist poet Laco ovomesky. D etail s have been published onl y in part. 1945 Organi zed the evacuation of part of the Matica before the advancing front of Soviet and G erman arrriies, and left Slovakia for Austria and Bavaria, then moved to Italy with hi s wife a nd son ( 18, 19). 1946-47 Li ved in R ome and studied painting besides writing . H e publi shed a short novell a about ancient R om a n Christians, Predavac talizmanov: Liberius Caius (The Talisman Mercha nt: Liberiu s Caius), which Strmen says shows Hronsky 134 1948 1949 1950-55 1956 1957 SLOVAKIA "without a mask" and thus makes his previous heroes appear as "pre-Christian heroes, existentially imprisoned on the fringes of the Christian message , which has never been heard completely or distinctly " (9, p . 79 , translation mine). He also wrote his novel about the war, though it was published only in 1960 (12,16 ,2 7). Published the lyrical novel Andreas Bur Majster (Andrew Bur, Master Sawyer) in the U.S ., from the manuscript completed in Rome in 1947 (10). He also emigrated to Argentina , because the Czechoslovak government was attempting to have him extradited. Through the intervention a nd influence of Karol Sidor, he was helped to leave Italy by sympathetic Italian officials; he had been refused a visa to the U.S. by American officials who failed to understand the Slovak situation (22). Settled in the Argentine town of Lujan, near Buenos Aires , where he worked as a draftsman and textile designer, taught painting, painted, designed stained glass windows, etc. (18), but was also somewhat active in Slovak emigre cultural activities. He published an account of his administration of the Matica slovenska ( 11). Lived quietly in Lujan working and sometimes writing, but little of this work is known, except one fragment (17). His son Juraj described their life in Argentine (18). Was elected honorary president of the exile '' Spolok slovenskych spisovatel'ov a umelcov" (12). In honor of his 60th birthday, the journal Most published a reminiscence of Hronsky (19) with a partial bibliography of his works. In the last issue of Most for 1956 Hronsky wrote a short but sympathetic reminiscence of the Slovak playwright Jozef Gregor Tajovsky' s apologetic retraction (shortly before his death) of his previous position on the "Czechoslovak language" in the Matica affair of May 1932 (14). In the same issue, Hronsky published three satiric sketches: Dazdnik (Umbrella), Gombfk (Button) , and Rebrfk (Ladder), the latter signed by "Jozef Mak" (for other such pieces see 2). Became honorary president of the political and cultural organization "Slovak National Council Abroad ," but was not SLOVAKIA 1958 1959 1959-60 1960 1964 1965 1966 135 active in it. Published Dve slovenske Ameriky (Two Slovak Americas) about the Slovak League of America and the Argentine Slovak Cultural Society ( 15). Organized the " Zahranicna Matica Slovenska" after the Matica in Martin was relieved of its publishing and educational activities and given the status of a national library by the law of 1953. The purpose of this '' Matica Abroad'' was to encourage Slovak cultural publications and other educational activities impossible in Slovakia. H ad a column in the weekly newspaper Slovak v Amerike (Middletown , PA) titled "Lepsie zazfhat' svetielko aka preklinat' tmu" (Better to Light a Candle than to Curse the Darkness). Hronsky published his last novel, Svet na Trasovisku (The People of the Village Trasovisko and also a pun meaning The World Caught in Quicksand), as a serial in Slovak v Amerike, then in book form (16). This novel gives a complex picture of the effects of World War II on a Slovak village, especiall y the effects of the Uprising, which Hronsky presents as a tragic betrayal of the Slovak people and the R epublic of 1939-45 . On July 13 Hronsky died suddenly of a stroke in Lujan. Memorial articles were published by the Slovak League in Pamiatkejozefa Cfgra-Hronskeho (20-24) , by Most (25) , and by the Zahranicna Matica (26). Hronsky's,wife died six weeks later. Posthumously, a collection of stories, Poha.r z bruseneho skla (A Cut-Glass Goblet) was published in Buenos Aires; one story, " Dobry syn " (A Good Son), was new, the rest having been printed in Slovak magazines in 1940-41 (36-3 7). The "thaw" in Bratislava brought an announcement in the newspaper Pravda that some of Hronsky's works would be reprinted. The children's book Budka.cik a Dubka.cik was set to music and presented in a Bratislava puppet theater, then republished by the Mlade Leto press. One of the foremost Bratislava critics , Alexander Matuska , published " Profil na skusku" (A n Attempt at a Profile) on Hronsky in a weekly newspaper (29) . 136 SLOVAKIA Jozef Mak was republished with a foreword by another major critic, Jan Stevcek (30). In Buenos Aires the Zahranicna Matica republished in book form Hronsky's serialized novel from 1939, Na krfznych cestach, with an analysis by Stanislav Meciar (38). 1967-69 Numerous re-editions of Hronsky's works were published in Bratislava and Martin with critical appreciations (1-2). During the liberal period of Alexander Dubcek, efforts were made in both Argentina and Slovakia to return Hronsky's body for burial in the National Cemetery in Martin (18), but they were unsuccessful. Jozef Mak was translated into Magyar by Zaly~mi Antal and published in Bratislava in 1968 . 1970 Andreas Bur Majster was republished in Bratislava, the only "exile" work to appear in Slovakia (10). Alexander Matuska's perceptive criticism of this book too and his brief analysis of Svet na Trasovisku in j. C. Hronsky (34) completed the rehabilitation process except for continued (to this day) condemnation or silence about Svet na Trasovisku . 1971 Jan Stevcek's analysis of "lyrizovana pr6za " related Hronsky to its origins (35). Jozef M . Rydlo 's Italian disserta tion on Hronsky at the University of Padua was apparently the first critical study in a western language ( 41 ), with the possible exception of G erman studies following the translation of Jozef Mak and of Podpolianske rozpravky (Stuttgart, 1944). 1972 Jozef Mak was translated into Russian by I. Bogdanova (Moscow, Progress Publishers) and into Czech by Emil Charous with the new title Clovek milion (The Ordinary Person of Whom There are Millions) and a critical evaluation of the novel as an achievement on the European level (Prague, Odeon). In Canada Predavac talizmanov was republished with an introduction by Karol Strmen (9,27). 197 3 Jan Stevcek further developed his analysis of Hronsky' s work as the most importa nt impulse in Slovak lyri cal prose (35). 1975 The first intensive criticism ofHronsky's work in English was published by Rydlo (43). 1976 The second translation into English , excerpts fromJozefMak and from Tomcfkovci, was made by Andrew C incura (44). 1977 Jozef Mak was translated into Polish by Andrzej Sieczkowski SLOVAKIA 1978 1982 1983 137 (Warsaw, Panstrv . Inst.). In Buenos Aires was published a single piece from Bronsky's litera ry remains about Argentine life ( 1 7). Predavac tali zmanov was translated into English (45). J ozef Mak was translated into English by Andrew Cincura with a critical analysis of Bronsky' s importance by Peter Petro (46) . The Bra ti slava critic Juliu s Noge prepared a n ew study of Bronsky, includin g som e of the unfinished manuscripts in th e archi ves of the Matica sloven ska ( 4 7). A panel on Bronsky at the American Associat ion for the Advancement of Slavic Studies annu al meeting had papers on three novels ( 48-50), wh ich will be printed in the journal Slovakia as the first compreh ensive studies of Bronsky in English . Bibliographies of Hronsky's work: 1. Mat'ovcfk, A., G. R ezna, V . Podmajerska. " Bio-bibliografiaJozefa Cfgra-Bronskeho." Biograficke studie (Martin), II (1971), 101-20 . 2. R ydlo, J . M. J ozef Cfger Bronsky 1896-1 960. Abbozzo bibliografico . Scuola Vaticana di Bibliotecomia , C itta de! Vaticano, 1973 . 3. Lacko, Mich al. Slovak Studies : Bibliographica 1, VII ( 1967), a nd Slovak Studies: Bibliographica 2, XVII (1977). Autobiographical , reminscient, and other writings by Hronsky: 4. Bronsky, J .C. "Zivotopis" [11 May 1922], in " ' Obsfrnejsf 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. zivotopis' J .C . B ronskeho," by J . M . R ydlo, Most (C leveland), XX , No. 1-2 (1973), 44-47. ________ "Autobiografia , 10 Nov. 1930," Slovenske pohl'ady, 86, No. 3 ( 1970), 44. - - - - - - - - and Elen a Mar6thy Soltesova. "Slovenskej verejnosti," Narodnie noviny, 00 May 1932, vol. 63, p. 2. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Cesta slovenskou Am erikou. 2 vols. Turc. Sv. Martin: M at ica slovenska, 1940 . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "Nove Slovensko." Slovensko, V (1939), 3-5; "Sme na novej ceste." Slovensko, V (1939), 36-38; "Ako treba zit' n a svete." Slovenske pohl'ady , 60 (1944), 670-77. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "Pred avac talizmanov Liberius Gaius od Por- 138 10 . 11. 12 . 13 . 14 . 15. 16. 17 . SLOVAKIA ta Collina." In N adej vft'azn a . Scranton: Ob rana Press, 1947, pp . 7-50 (not seen); Predavac talizmanov , 2nd ed . Introduction " Zapadalo slnko" by K arol Strmen. Cambridge (Ontario) : Dobra Kniha, 1972 . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Andreas Bur M aj ster. Scranton : Obrana Press , 1948; 2nd ed. Bratislava : T atran , 1970 . _ _ __ _ _ _ '' Rozvoj Matice sloven skej . '' In Sloven ska republika 1939-49 . Ed . Mikul as Sprinc. Obrana Press, Inc. , 1949 , pp . 191 -201. _ _ __ _ _ _ " List redaktorovi ." Most, II , No. 4 (1 955) , 1-3; and "Spolku' slovenskych spisovatel'ov a umelcov ." Most, III , No . 4 (1956), 145-46 . _ _ __ _ __ " Mostoskovi ." Most, III , No . 4 (1956) , 160-61. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ " O Gregorovi Tajovskom. " Most , III , No . 4 ( 1956) , 189-90 . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Dve slovenske Ameriky. ' 'Svetl a No. 1.'' Buenos Aires, 1958. 44 pp. (not seen) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Svet na Trasovisku . Knizni ca Litera rneho Almanachu , Vol. 2 , Whiting, Ind.: Rev. Jan . J . Lach , Publisher , 1960 . _ _ __ __ _ " Lucko patra Andrea." In K alenda r slovenskeho kulturneho spolku v Argentfne. Ed . Ladislav Jankovic. Buenos Aires: Sloven sky kulturny spolok, 1977, pp . 182-99. Reminiscences by family and friends: 18 . Cfger, Anton , " Nesplnena tu zba J . C . Hronskeho." M aticne cftanie (Martin) , 23 N ove mber 1968, pp . 1-2 . (This article includes a letter from Hronsky's so n about their life in Argentin a .) 19. Hrusovsky , Frantisek . " J ozef C fger-Hron sky. " M ost , III , o. 1 (1956), 2-1 2. 20. Sprinc, Mikulas. " Nad hrobomJozefa C. Hronskeho. " In Pam iatke J ozefa Cfgra- Hron skeho. Ed . J ozef P au co . V ol. 3 Li te rarn y Alm anach Slovaka v Am erike . Middletown , PA : J edn ota Press, 1960 , pp . 5-6. 21. Bor, J an E. (pseud . E rnest Zatko). " Spisovatel' J ozefC. H ron sky" and " P ochovali sme spi sovatel'a J ozefa Cfgra-H ro nskeho." In P am iatke (ref. 20), pp. 8-20 and 38-44 . 22 . Culen , K on stantfn . " P osled ne posedenie s j ozefom Cfgrom H ron- SLOV AKIA 23 . 24 . 25 . 26. 27. 28 . 139 skym . " In P amiatke, pp . 21-32. Kirschbaum , ]. M . " Pamiatke J ozefa C . H ronskeho." In Pamiatke, pp . 35 -36. J ankovic, Ladislav . " O statne chvfle J . C. Hronskeho." InPamiatke, p . 37. O ka!', J an . " Spomien ka na J ozefa C fgra- H ron skeho ." M ost , VII , No. 3-4 (1960) , 97 -104. M eciar , Stanislav. " J ozef Cfger-Hronsky (1896-1 960), " (Speech given on 12 Au gust 1960). In Letopis M atice sloven skej v zahranicf. Ed . Sta ni slav M eciar . Buenos Aires : Zahranicn a M a tica Slovenska , 1963, pp . 141- 46 . Oka!' , J an. " K omu dnes patrf satocka?" Most , XIX , No . 1-2 (1972), 20-25 . (This is also a review of Predavac talizmanov , ref. 9) . R ydlo , J ozef. " J .C . H ronsky - vazen ." In Litera rny almanach Slovaka v Amerike. Ed . J ozef P auco . Middletown , 1974 , pp . 13-17 . Critical studies (in Slovakia, in the West, then in preparation): 29 . M a tu ska , Alexander . " Profil na sku sku . " Kulturny zivot (Bratislava), 4 M arch 1966 , pp . 2-3. 30. Stevcek , J an . " D oslov." In Jozef Mak by J ozef Cfger-Hronsky . Bratislava : Tatran , 1966, pp . 233-3 8. 31. Stevcek, J an . " JozefCfger Hronsky." In Slovensky literarny album . Ed. J anJurfcek and Vl adimir P etrfk . Bratislava: Obzor, 1968, pp . 38 1-84 . 32. N inzansky, J ozefR . " J edno a sedem sfdc ." In Sedem sfdc by J ozef C fge r H ron sky . Bra tislava: T a tra n , 1969, pp . 217-33. 33 . " H ro nskeho Pisar Grae a sloven ska pr6za" [symposium] . Slovenske pohl'ady , 86 , No. 3 (1970), 30-43. 34. M atu ska , Alexander , J . C . H ronsky. Bratislava : Sloven sky spisovatel' , 1970 . Rpt. in O sobnosti : V ybrane spisy Alexa ndra M a tu sku. Bra tislava: Sloven sky spisovatel' , 1973 . 35. Stevcek, J an . Nezbadane pr6zy. Bratislava: Slove nsky spisovatel' , 1971 ; Lyrizova na pr6za . Brati slava: T atran , 197 3. 36. M eciar , Stanislav . " D oslov . " In P ohar z bru se neho skla by J . C . H ro nsky. Buenos A ire s: Zahranicna Matica Sloven ska , 1964, pp . 169-74. 37. Kru zli ak, Im rich . R eview of Poha r z bru seneho skla . M ost , XII , No . 1-2 ( 1965) , 89-9 1. 140 SLOVAKIA 38. Meciar, Stanislav. "Doslov ." In Nakrfznychcestach byJ. C. Hronsky. Buenos Aires: Zahranicna Matica Slovenska, 1966, pp. 165-73. 39. Kruzliak, lmrich, "Domov boljeho vesmfrom (Na. 10. vyrocie smrti J.C. Hronskeho, 23.11.1896 - 13.VII.1960)." Most, XVII, No. 1-2 (1970), 1-10. 40. Kruzliak, Imrich. Review ofJ. C. Hronsky, by Alexander Matuska (ref. 34). Most, XVII, No. 3-4 (1970), 179-82. 41. Rydlo, Jozef M . "Svet na Trasovisku" nell'opera letteraria di Jozef Cfger-Hronsky. Con un epistolario inedito . Ph.D . Dissertation , University of Padua, 1971. 431 pp. typescript (not seen) 42. Rydlo, Jozef. "Smakova mucha . " Most, XIX, No . 1-2 (1972), 32 -38. 43 . Rydlo, Jozef M. "The World on a Quagmire : The Last Literary Work of JozefCfger Hronsky." Slovak Studies, XV (1975), 117-42. 44 . Cincura, Andrew, trans . An Anthology of Slovak Literature, with "Slovak Literature : A Brief History" by Karol Strmen. Riverside, CA: University Hardcovers, 1976. 45 . Kester, JohnJ . , trans. Seller of Talismans : Liberius Gaius. Scotch Plains , N.J. : privately printed , 1978. 46. Cincura, Andrew, trans . Jozef Mak. Introduction by Peter Petro. Columbus, OH : Slavica Publishers, in press. 47. Noge,Julius. Podoby realizmu v medzivojnovej pr6ze. Bratislava: Veda, 1983 (in preparation). 48. Lackova-Furimska, Maria. "Jozef Mak , " (in preparation). 49. Petro, Peter . "Pisar Grae," (in preparation) . 50. Sabo, Gerald J. " Andreas Bur Majster and Predavac talizmanov," (in preparation). 51. Morison, W.A., trans. " Mother Macik Goes to the Polls," Slavonic Review (London), XVII (1938-39), 21-35. 52. Winkler, Tomas. Matica slovenska v rokoch 1919-1945. Martin: Matica Slovenska, 1971. SLOVAKIA 141 Much of the published information was verified with unpublished materials in the Literarny archfv of the Matica slovenska in Martin, Czechoslovakia, which I was able to examine while on an International Research and Exchange Board fellowship in 1982 . Presented in part in Panel 11-10 , "20th Century Slovak Literature : Jozef CfgerHronsky," and Panel 10-6, The Matica Slovenska: 120 Years of Survival," at the AAASS convention in Kansas C ity, MO on 24 October 1983 .  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 Jozef Cíger-Hronský: Chronology and Partial Bibliography Description An account of the resource Norma L. Rudinsky Slovakia, Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83 pp. 128-141 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rudinsky, Norma Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/cc95dcff198ab0f0d9f8cf94c98703d5.pdf 31701ba8374c84847f687ba1aa345854 PDF Text Text 112 SLOVAKIA Kukucfn's Village Stories and Shukshin's ''Snowball Berry-Red" Gerald J. Sabo The topic of this article stems from an experien ce I had in Slovakia some years ago attending a showing of Vasily Shukshin ' s film Kalina Krasnaja (Snowball Berry- R ed), which is based on his story of the same name. The showing, indeed every showing of the movie, w as sold out. When I attended, the audience was predominantly university students, and I wondered what valu es and per spectives from this contempora ry Russian story in a rural setting reson a ted with this mostly young and urban Slovak audience. Why were they captivated b y the story of a n ex-convict who struggles to find a place in peasant , rural society only to be killed by his form er gang just as he is finding p eace of soul? In deciding , then , on a topic for the panel o n the village in Slovak literature, I chose to compare co untry livin g in Shukshin as ex pressed in the story and film " Snowball Berry- R ed " with several village stories b y Martin Kukucfn: a contemporary Ru ss ia n author, indeed a prominent write r in the "rural or village prose" genre, and a Slovak writer of the late nineteenth-early twentieth century , whose positive evalu a tion of the Slova k village as the best repository of ethnic and human values is well known . F rom Kukucfn 's corpus, I have chosen three stories . 2 Neprebuden y (The Unawakened Boy) , published in 1886, is con sidered " the paramount work of the years 1884-86 . " 3 Dies irae, L atin for "Day of Wrath , " 4 published some seven years a fter Neprebudeny, is seen as belonging to "the best Slovak stories of all, " 5 as " indisputably the summi t ofKukucfn's creative work in the story genre." 6 And finall y, Na obecnom salasi (At the Community Sheepfold), published just sh ortl y a fter Neprebuden y in 1886 , can be considered Kukucfn 's paean to Slovak village and salas or mountain-shepherdin g life. 7 In the story " At the Community Sheepfold," the na rrator , in effect Kukucfn 's persona, is a n urban a dult who is remini scing a bout an especially m emorable boyhood visit to a village and salas. From the begin1 �SLOVAKIA 11 3 ning of the story, the narrator shows a definite Slovak ethnic consciousness. He insists that the vill age of his m emorable visit will always be known as Topol'any, the Slovak name for it, rather than Topoian, the Magyar designation for his beloved village . The narrator's description of Topol'a ny 's location conveys the natural , distinctive beauty of the village, so close to nature and as though protected by nature against any encroachments from outside the village environs. Even though the boy's father is a confirmed city dweller, his godfather is the richta.r (village mayor) ofTopol'any. Like his father, the boy is and will be urban , but through visits to the village of his godfather - someone who is a father to him in spirit and religion - he nurtures a spiritual relationship to village life. His parents may be very intent on his becoming someone through education in the city, yet ironically success in his formal studies gives him an opportunity to deepen his knowledge precisely in that area from which his parents try to keep him isolated: village life . Because of a good academic report, the parents accede to their son's wish to visit his godfather, the richtar of Topol'any . It is this visit that will prove the most memorable and influential of all his stays. From the arrival of the narrator as a boy in Topol'any through the last sentences of the story, the reader witnesses a significant change in his outlook on life and self-appreciation. On his arrival, he perce ives himself as a stranger in this rural setting. Indeed, he is too self-conscious. Gradually, though, as he spends time in the village and especially in the salas, that sense of strangeness disappears. By the end of the story, he has become an intiate, in a very real sense, a spiritual m e mber of village and salas society. Now even nature h as becom e an attractive and deepl y a ppreciated part of his living. The boy readily admits that he has n ever been in a salas, when the opportunity to visit one presents itself. His visit to the salas and his actual stay in it mark the turning point in his special sojourn in Topol'any . As he becomes more familiar with the various aspects of salas life and society, he increasin gly eulogizes this way of living: To know all the markings, to remember every sh eep : what kind of wool it has ; where it was born, where it was bought, for what price, when, h ow old it is, how good it is for milking, and besides all this to give it a name . These people know their responsibilities and their flo ck. It was not in vain that the Savior had before his eyes the example of the good �114 SLOVAKIA shepherd when he said: "I am the good shepherd and I know mine and mine know me." (III, 73) H owever much he tries to play the devil's advocate in evalu ating salas life, his comments and reflections reveal a growing admiration for the salas and his desire to be very much a part of it: This fresh, fine-smelling air, the immediate friendly closeness to great nature, this free view of life, the sun's morning rise and evening setting: I envied them all of this .. .. Salas - salas! To remain here, to forget everything that I have learned ... and to learn to recognize the ancient signs of the sheep's ears .. . . To forget also algebra . .. and to study rather from the baca [head-shepherd] . . . the passage of large sph eres in the heavens. (I II , 76) The aspiration of Kukucfn's narrator is especially for ta vol'nost' (that freedom) of salas life, ''wide and not restricted by anyone,'' ' ' what was dearest" to him (II I , 78). His aspiration for ta vol'nost' resonates with the consuming desire of Shukshin's Egor Prokudin for volja (freedom) . Indeed, for Shukshin in general, and for Egor in particular, volja is a key word. 8 Just as for the narrator of Kukucfn' s story, so for Egor of'' Snowball Berry-Red,'' freedom is associated with nature and rural settings. In the beginning of the story, Egor links freedom with spring, that time of year when nature is new, fresh, and alive: "Freedom and Spring! What else does a person need?" (208/ 128) There are also a number of scenes with the white birches when Egor is so at ease with himself and the natural world around him. 9 For instance: All around was an unbroken birch forest.... Egor leaned against a birch tree and looked around. "Well, will you look at what we have here!" he said with quiet rapture . He turned toward the birch tree and stroked it with the palm of his hand. "Hullo, there! Ah, you look so ... You're like a bride . Are you waiting for your groom? Soon, soon he'll come." (210/ 131) And there spread out before his eyes was a birch grove: the entire numerous family of trees seemed to run up and greet him . "Ah, you!" he said. And he walked into the grove. �SLOVAKIA 115 He strolled among the birches . . .. He stepped back and admired them from the side . . . . He felt a lot better now. (255/ 1 79) For the narrator of Kukucfn 's story, the salas is an especially apt setting in which to express his d esire for vol'nost'. For in Slovak history and culture, the salas and valasi or mountain shepherds have acquired a tradition of special associations. In Kukucfn 's time as even today, the salas and valasi connote a closeness to nature, a distinctively Slovak consciousness, and a special status of freedom and movement in a society more and more regimented and organized. 10 The eventful night spent by the narrator as a boy in the salas, his description of the baca, the good-natured trick played on him by the valasi, and finally the appropriate sharing of story, bowl , and spoon all these show how deeply and irrevocably he has become a member of this Slovak village and salas life. Indeed, the last sentences of the story aptly express this as well in the readiness of the villagers to defend what they , like the narrator , know to be most important to their being their village and salas way oflife. As the narrator notes, the mackintosh worn by him that fateful night in the salas is always taken along by him on his trips to Topol'any . And the then honelnfk (young shepherd), now the baca, retorts to the narrator's reminder of the form er' s teasing on that fateful night: "Akf su pani, takf budeme i my (We'll act just like the gentlemen)" (III, 86). From the story '' At the Community Sheepfold,' ' the reader would have the impression that Slovak village life is the perfect repository of Slovak ethnic and human values. Yet just as Topol'any is a single village in the Slovak countryside, so this story is simply one expression of Kukucfn's appreciation of village society and living. Indeed, Kukucfn's awe for the village and salas in this story does give way to a credible, rather realistic view of human relations in a rural setting in the stories " The Unawaken ed Boy ," and Dies irae. In Dies irae , the focus is on self, strongly accentuated by the element of money , m aterial gain and possession. Indeed, Julius N oge con tends in writing about Dies irae that money is "merely the physically graspable expression of the societal system that rules and permeates the morality, economics, psychology, and emotional relations of this era.'' 11 From the very beginning of Dies irae, three forces course through the lives of the villagers of Lomnica: the cholera epidemic, money, and �116 SLOVAKIA a related concern for self. Together , these three forces drastically change the lives of so m any in Lomni ca. Indeed , the physical infection of the cholera epidemic seems to refl ect in a way the serious infection eating away at the life of the village , many of whose inhabitants a re focused on themselves and are concerned with the role of money in their lives. The ex treme situation caused by the cholera epidemic h elps to bring to the surface what has been for a long time an undercurrent in the lives of many villagers: concern for money and, relatedl y, for self. Greed and egotism pervade the character of Sykora, the vice-rich tar (deputy mayor) of the village, who drove his older sonjan into the army. Sykora' s younger son J uro is in love with Evka, the daughter of Sykora' s rival, the richtar Jan Zima, but Sykora's concern for his mon ey" leads him to suspect - quite incorrectly - that the Zima family is luring Juro into marriage with Evka for the sake of Sykora 's money . Sykora, in effect , forcesjuro to leave his family home, and even whenjuro catches cholera, Sykora goes to the Zima ho use where J uro is a ilin g for only one reason: to see the rich tar about some lost money. In Kukucfn's characterization of Sykora, the latter is virtually the embodiment of evil. Even Sykora's house is aptly described as "cold and dark, " suitable words not only for the house but for Sykora's character (V, 342 and 362). Money also plays a definite role in the lives of all the other major characters. For them, however , unlike for'Sykora, money is not an end in itself. Eithe r money is used to achieve some non-materialistic end , or they becom e its suffering victims. Masliacka, a former sweetheart of the rich tar Zima , uses money to avenge herself on Zima and also his family . In his secret borrowings from Masliacka for the sake of the village community, Zim a jeopardizes himself as rich tar but most of all his marriage and family. On hearing about h er husband 's secret meetings with Masliacka, Zim a's wife Katre na alternately expresses jealousy of Masliacka , anger at her husband, and bitte r self- castigation for marryin g Zima. (Still , she must h ave been aware that Masliacka was pregnant by Zima before his marriage to herself and that he r own riches were a factor in their marriage .) A stock character - the village usurer , here the Jewish tave rnkeeper Mojzis - is not depicted in the usual negative, anti-Semitic tone. 12 Rather , his Christian-like characterization and tran sfe r of money to his wife are very positive features of the story. Still , throughout the narrative, Mojzis suffers because of money-related activities, done actually for old Sykora. �SLOVAKIA 117 Although the young characters, Evka Zima a nd espec iall y Juro Sykora, suffer from the ill e ffects o f m o ney graspin g a nd u se, their characterization s help to counter the evil the reb y cau sed a nd bode well for the future of the vill age community. Indeed , each of them becomes for others a catalyst to change for the bette r - Evka for Masliacka and her father, J uro for his father. Because of Evka a nd J uro , love and forgiveness are the fate of Masliacka, Zima , and old Sykora . For Zima but especially for old Sykora, the ir childre n become the m edium for m etanoia . 13 The basically good village r s a mong th e m ajo r characters, Evka a nd Juro , em bod y well the co ntrast to old Sykora's d efinition of a n ob ec (co mmunity) as con suming but neve r helpin g (V, 292 ). Disd a ining the e ntrapm ent o f m on etary and m a te rial accumul at ion , Evka a nd J uro essentiall y forget th emselves for the sake o f othe rs. In Shukshin 's "S nowb all Berry- R ed," m o ney a nd co ncern for self pl ay a d e finite role in the characte rizatio n o f Egor Prokudin . Through money, Egor tries to satisfy th e longing of his sou l for a holiday. H owever much he tries to achieve this, he never su cceeds . Gradually, though, perhaps only subconsciously, Egor appreciates tha t m o ney d oes not bring real happiness . Finally , he gives up trying to give his soul peace through mon ey -related activities. Money and concern for self give way to newly rece ived feelin gs for hi s mothe r , to actions in d efen se of his '' pe n pal'' L yuba against her for m er alcoholic hu sband , a nd above all , to an ever growin g closeness to n ature, as yet unspoiled b y the so-call ed prog ress of civili zatio n . Unfortunately, Egor's unexpected murder by hi s former gan g cut s short the hope ful glimme rs o f hum a n life that hi s ex iste nce had been showing. "S nowb all Be rry- R ed " h as its m ost signifi can t resonance w ith Kukucfn 's sto ry "The Unawakened Boy." H ere, as in "S nowball BerryR ed," good triumph s over evil but only with th e death of the main ch aracter. Like the characte r a nd death of Egor Prokudin , those of Ondras Machu Fa are poignantly depicted. This m ay be o ne of the reasons why these stories stand ou t among the writings of their respective authors. In " The Unawakened Boy , " there is a stro ng contrast between real ity and im agin at io n/ appearan ce, cru cia l to th e plot a nd present from the first se nte nce of the story . The focal ch aracte r o f the sto ry, Ondras M achul'a, is called a hu sar. 14 I s he a hu ssar-husar , the dashing youn g soldie r who steals th e hearts of v ill age g irl s o nl y to run off to b attle or to a nother village for furth e r a morou s co nqu ests? Or is Ondras a �118 SLOVAKIA goose herd-hu sar , whose occupation is usuall y performed by girls and women but hardly eve r by a man ? Within a few sentences, it becomes clear that Ondras is a gooseherd but with hussar fantasies. The stark co ntrast between what matters are a nd what they m ay be imagined or may a ppear to be is continuou sly ev ident in the story becau se of certain human flaws and weaknesses : caprice and presumptu ousness, fear and shame , a lack of forthright but sensitive honesty , and a lack of committed genuine feeling for another whatever this entails . In their fallibility and human frailty, the characters of " The Unawakened Boy" act in ways that may seem good and apt but merely co ntribute to the power of evil in their lives . In his hu sacia respublika (Republic of G eese), Ondras may play a prominent role, but in village society, he occupies a special caste of one . Th rou gh no fault of hi s ow n , hi s m ental retardation and less than attractive physical a ppearance make him a problem , a cause of difficulty in the village. Even though he is a human being like everyone else, Ondras simpl y does not m easure up to the expectations of others - not that of his father who becom es a drunkard and abandons the family nor those of the other villagers. As his mother observes , " People always look for what they d o not have . What they do have, they value less than a gra in of poppyseed " (II, 177). So many of the villagers seem to forget that in Ondras , there is a soul as in everyone else. Eve n though Ondras is twenty years old , young children are his peers in society , for among them , he ge ts along best because in some ways Ondras is childlike but also perhaps becau se among the young children , he is treated seriously a nd respectfully accepted as a peer. The conflict in the story arises from a caprice of the village girl Zuzka Bezan, a contemporary of Ondras. After giving Ondras his lunch out in the fi elds where he is tending the geese, Zuzka becomes upset tha t Ondras is apparently not his u su al submissive self before her. In order to re-asse rt her hold over him and his affections, she lead s Ondras to believe that he has a cha nce to becom e her betrothed and hu sband even though she is betrothed to J ano Dubrav . For Ondras, Zu zka then becom es the em bodiment of the fairytale princess whom in hi s d aydreams he seeks to win for him self. In the course of the story , Zuzka and her mother never really tell Ondras that he will not realize hi s dream of marrying Zuzka, while hi s aunt cannot reason with him . Ondras, always relating to others do vern e (trustingly) (II , 182 a nd 195), rem a ins co n- �SLOVAKIA 119 vinced of Zuzka' s capricious proposal almost to the tragic end of the story. The "evil" world of the village is evident among the villagers on the wedding day of Zuzka and J ano Dubrav. The young men may be happy for J ano in his marriage to Zuzka, but they are also glad that he would no longer be competing with them for the young girls. Many villagers do attend the wedding ceremony, but especially to see whether Zuzka wears a flower wreath as a sign of her virginity, for she had rarely been seen outside her house before the wedding day. Zuzka does wear the wreath, for she is not pregnant as some villagers suspect. Belatedly, the suspicions about Zuzka aroused by moving forward the wedding date are further shown groundless by the wedding celebration. For the quality of the feast and the music are the effects of long-range planning and not the result of rush preparation . After escaping from the room where his aunt locked him up, Ondras arrives at the wedding celebration in the Bezan home. Ironically, the first person he meets all alone in the yard is the zvac, the villager who invites people to wedding celebrations in the village . The zvac whom Ondras meets is quite drunk and heading for the hayshed with a cigar stump in his mouth. The irony here is that Ondras should meet the man who called people to Zuzka's wedding withjano but not with Ondras as Ondras had hoped. Even more ironic is that the zvac will be the one whose condition - drunk and smoking in the hayshed - is the cause of the fire for which Ondras will be accused and in which the two of them will perish. The zvac, then, the man who heralded the happiness of Zuzka, seems also to have been the unwitting instrument of God's punishment against her and her mother for their carelessness and insensitivity in dealing with Ondras. 15 Like the wedding ceremony and celebration, the fire provides another occasion for the villagers to reveal their true character. The dancers go from an extreme mood of carefreeness to a frenetic rush through doors and windows to save their own lives. The villagers whose homes are close by run first of all to save their own possessions. As the fire consumes the hayshed, Zuzka's mother realizes that her most productive goose is trapped in the burning hayshed. To her pleas to save the goose, one bystander replies , "Aja ie co! (And what am I!) " (II, 227). For him, his human life outweighs that of a goose . For Ondras, though, the pleas are a different matter. He attempts to save the goose, �120 SLO VAKIA a m ember of hi s husacia respublika, onl y to peri sh with it a mid the fl am es ben eath the coll a p sin g hayshed roof. P rofo und gri ef ove r Ondras's death overcom es virtu all y all of the v ill age rs w ho h a d see n the hayshed roof coll a p se. The gooseherd 's a unt ex presses tha t now at least O ndras "won ' t be in a n yo ne's way" (II , 228). Onl y the starejsf (M aster of C erem o ni es) m a r s the scen e of grief with hi s in sen sitiv ity . Ri gh teou sly , he n o tes tha t su ch is God 's punishm en t fo r a rsoni sts who can n eve r escape Him . In th e last two sentences, Kuku cfn see m s to impl y th a t a t last even the cl ever, ri gh teo u s M C m ay also b e sha rin g to som e exte n t in the profound gri e f ex pressed b y so m a n y a t the d eath of On dras: "They co uld n o t find th e zvac a n yw here. Th e cleve r MC n o lo n ge r no ted : ' H e re's the puni shm e nt of G od , the puni shm ent of God ... ' " (II , 228). Fro m the tragic end of the sto ry, it m ight seem tha t Ond ras dies a senseless d eath for th e sake of a goose. P erha p s by th e stand ards of th e vill age world, dy in g for a goose is folly, but Ondras' a ttempt to help on e of hi s own , eve n if it is a goose, is m ore exe mpl a ry th a n a t first reali zed. It is Ond ras w ho lays d own his life, n ot Zu zka's m other wh o so treasu red the goose but n o t e nou gh to end a n ge r her own life. The m a n who was m ade a foo l ofb y the d a u ghte r of the goose's own er shows a ce rta in selfl essn ess th at few, if a n y, of the vill age rs ex hibi t in the sto ry. Un a bl e to reali ze hi s hu ssar-husar fantasy of marryin g Zu zka, Ondras gives up hi s life as wh a t he is - a gooseh e rd-hu sa.r . H e m ay n o t h ave saved th e goose, bu t in hi s death , h e sobe rs the vill ager s. Indeed , in Kuku cfn 's ve ry sympathet ic po r trayal o fO ndras th rough o u t th e story, a ce rta in desc ript ion sta n ds ou t whi ch may be a clue to O nd ras' proto type. Ju st before the fire, the n arrato r d escribes him as " tich y ak a j ahniatko (qui e t as a la mb)" (II , 21 9). T he wo rd s brin g to m ind a ve rse fro m th e d esc rip tio n of th e S u ffe rin g Se rvant b y the prophe t I saia h a d esc rip tio n u su all y associa ted in C h r isti an interp re ta ti o n w ith C hri st : H e was oppressed , a n d he was a ffli cted, ye t he o pened n o t hi mou th ; like a lamb that is led to the sla u ghter a nd like a sheep before it s sh eare rs is du m b , so he o pe ned n o t hi s mo u th . I s. 53:7 Eve n more str ikin g are man y of th e o th er ver ses in the passage on the Suffe rin g Se rvan t w he n compared to Kuku cfn 's characte ri zatio n of O nd ras: �SLOVAKIA 121 H e had not form or co m elin ess that we shou ld look at him and no beauty th a t we should des ire him. H e was d espised and rejected by m en ; a m a n of sorrows a nd acqu a inted with grief a nd as one from whom m e n hid e the ir faces, he was despised a nd we es tee m ed him not. Surely, he h as b o rne our griefs a nd carri ed o ut so rrows; yet we esteem ed him st ri cke n b y God a nd a ffli cted. But he was wounded for o ur transgressions, he was brui sed for ou r iniquiti es; upo n him was the ch astisement th a t m ad e us whole ... All we like sh eep have go ne astray ; we h ave turn ed eve ryon e to his own way ; a nd the Lord has la id on him th e iniqui ty of u s all. (Verse 7 quoted above occurs here.) By op press io n a nd judg m ent , he was taken away ...... he had d one no violen ce a nd there was no deceit in hi s m outh . Ye t it was th e will of th e Lord to bruise him ; he has put him to g ri ef; when he makes himself an offering for sin ... T he refo re I will divide him a portion with the g reat , ... becau se he poured out hi s sou l to death and was numbe red with the tra nsgresso rs; ye t he bore the sin of m a n y a nd m ade inte rcess ion for the transgressor s. (vv. 26-12) Lik e th e Isaian Suffe rin g Se rva nt (and Christ) , Ondras is not a handsom e person , a nd he suffers in variou s ways a t the hands of o ther human beings. Acco rdin g to the vol'a bozia (God 's will) (II , 219) , Ondras' life , but es pec iall y hi s death , have so m e bene fi cia l effect on those ame persons who rejected him a nd ot hers who m a li gn ed him without cause. If we co mpare th e portrayal of Ondras with the ch aracterization of Shukshin's Egor Prokudin , ce rt a in points of simila rity a r e ev ide nt. Lik e Ondras, Egor Prokudin finds som e sort of ease and peace in a na tura l se ttin g. For Ondras, it is with hi s geese in th e fi eld s, but for Ego r , it is espec iall y with the white birches, as already noted a bove in rela ti on to " At th e Comm unity Sheepfold." Indeed , Shukshin 's portrayal of Egor's dying a nd death shows th at Egor is n ot on ly close to nature but even o nce again rooted in it : H e stagge red, clutchin g at the trees with hi s ot he r ha nd . And o n the white birches bri g ht -red sta in s appeared. �122 SLOVAKIA ... A single tear squeezed out from Egor's closed eyelids, rolled down his scalp toward his ear, hung there a minute, detached itself and fell into the grass. Egor was dead . And there he lay, a Russian peasant [krestJanin] on his native steppe, not far from home ... He lay with his cheek pressed to the earth , as though he were listening to something that only he could hear. That was how he had listened to telegraph poles in his childhood . (271- 72/196-98) In the film version of the story, in a scene just after what is quoted above, the gang member Fat Lip , Egor 's murderer , says of him : " He was not even a man. H e was a muzhik [Russian peasant/country dweller as opposed to urban resident]. And of these Rus ' [ ancient name for Russian area] has many. '' 16 In the movie, this comment further emphasizes Egor's rural roots and commitment to historical country living in Rus ' . Like Ondras, Egor stands out in the rural collective where Lyuba his "pen pal " lives with her family, and where Egor was finally beginning to settle down . Here, though, it is not a matter of mental condition and physical appearance, but criminal background that distinguishes Egor from others. As the story of Egor proceeds, his criminal past becomes less damning. As Geoffrey Hosking has said: Egor is a classic victim of Soviet social experimentation. Brought up as a small child in a Siberian village, he becomes separated from his mother during the terrible famine of 1933 , and has never seen her since (till the events of the story). When the old people of the villages round about get together , they discuss the fates which befell their families at the times of "dekulakization," so that we know this is a memory which is still living, indeed dominant , in the villagers' life .... The collectivization, dekulakization, and famine form the setting in which Egor's life must be seen. 17 Under the circumstances, Egor has learned to live as best he could. Like the tragic love story of Ondras which ends in his death, the search of Egor for his much desired freedom also ends unhappily with his d eath . It is notewo rthy that among the various meanings associated with the kalina plant (in the title and the song sung in a couple of places in the story) is one with a tragic love quality. "According to popular �SLOVAKIA 123 belief, the red kalina berry is a symbol of first love, more often than not, of unhappy love." 18 In Egor's search for volja, d eath prevents him from really achieving his deeply felt and loved goal of freedom. The most striking similarity of characterization b etween Ondras and Egor is their respective religious associations and interpretations. As noted above, Ondras' characterization seems to resemble the depiction of Isaiah's Suffering Servant extended in Christian interpretation to J esus Christ. Egor, whose nickname is Gore (Grief/Sorrow) (212/132), can also be seen as refl ecting the Suffering Servant. Even more , however, Donald Fiene contends and shows extensively that the story of Egor Prokudin makes sense psychologically and literarily only if we see it as a modern hagiograph y modeled on the ancient Russian saints' lives. What this means is that Egor's often strangely unaccountable pacifistic behavior is ... the embodiment of an ancient Russian ideal of kenotic martyrdom exemplified by Boris and Gleb, the first saints canonized by the Russian church . What is of interest in Boris and Gleb is . .. that they yielded voluntarily to dea th. Ultimately, this act of nonresistance becomes a national Ru ssian feature, which G . P . Fedotov in the Russian R eligious Mind considers an "authentic religious discovery of the newly-converted Russian Christians . '' 19 Allegorically, Egor is a disciple of the Russian Christ both as an innocent sufferer in the tradition of the suffering Ru ssian p eople (the narod) 20 and as a voluntary sufferer in the kenotic tradition of Boris and Gleb . But in the Ru ssian kenotic tradition , the Christian is not m erely a follower of Christ , but an imitator of him. One is saved only through suffering in the image of a meek and suffering Christ. 21 In his death, then , Egor, like Ondras, is not acting foolishl y or even commiting suicide. Indeed, in his dying , Egor shows a certain forgetfuln ess of self in hi s own unfolding tragedy. As he is dying, he implores L yu ba : " 'Mo ney .. .' Egor strained to get out his last words . 'in jacket. .share it. .. with my mothe r. . .' "(272/197) In the film , to spare Lyuba the sight of him dying, he sends her for some water nearby. When she returns, he is dead. In response to his death , P etro, Lyuba's brother, then chases the gan g in his truck a nd drives them an d their car into �124 SLOVAKIA th e ri ve r. G ood does triumph ove r ev il even if, o r pe rh a p s more appropriately sa id, especially if there has bee n some selfl ess sacrifi ce of life . In th e Christian view of life, the death of Egor , like that of Ondras , becomes m eaningful a nd in some way even bene fi cial fo r ot hers ' sake. n At first sight, a comparison of Kukucfn with Shukshin is provocative but somewhat farfetched . Chronologically, they a re not co ntempora ries. Kuku cfn died in 1928, while Shukshin was born in 1929 . They may both be Slavs ·but from distinctly diffe re nt n a tional gro up s - the b as icall y C a tholic or Lutheran , Western Slav ic Slovaks vs. the Ru ss ian Orthodox, Easte rn Slavic Ru ssians. Eve n more, the soc iet ies a nd a udie n ces of these two a uthQrs a re d ec id edly di stin ctive. For Kuku cfn , society m ay be ex pe rie ncing some of the e ffects of urba nization , but for Shukshin , urbani zed livin g is the predomin a nt mode of ex istence that e ncroaches even upon re mote rural coll ect ions. In his writing , Kuku cfn con veys a " fightin g cha nce" for village life, while Shukshin depicts rather nostalgicall y country livin g which is found in creasingly furth er from the primary co nce rn s of Soviet n at ional consciou sness. These diffe re nces, then , betwee n Kuku cfn a nd Shukshin a re re fl ect io n s of time a nd socie ty , of histor ical, cultural background . The two writers are similar or co ncur precisely in valu es a nd perspect ives that transce nd tim e, culture , a nd society. In the writings o f both , th ere i~ a d e finit e d es ire for freedom - a hum a ne freedom whi ch is often assoc iated with n a tural set tings. Ind eed , both a utho rs show a great se n sit iv ity to nat ure a nd its beaut y in hum an li ving. In Kuku cfn, as wel l as in Shukshin , there is a d e finit e se nse o f the tra n sce nde ntal, espec ially as ex pre ·sed th rough the J udaeo Chri stia n traditi o n . D o nald Fiene conte nds tha t es peciall y in " Snowball Be rr y- R ed ," '' Shukshin 's basic m essage is ... all m e n a re Christ; we must love one a not her o r die. " 23 And as Geoffrey H os kin g has noted: "Shuk shin h as red iscovered an d dram a ti zed m a n 's dri ve towa rds the t ra n sce nd e nt a l , whi ch M a rxi sm d e ni ed a nd Socia li st R eali sm di storted. " 24 Th e importance of C h r isti an love a nd to le rance, a nd the stro n g feelin g th at these a re in so m e way integral to vill age li fe is evid ent in bo th write rs: Christian se lfless ness is worthy co ndu ct , eve n if its conseq ue nce is as drastic as death, whi le ac tion s pursu ed for th e sake o f money or through the m edium o f mon ey o ffer little, if any, real human happin ess. It might th e n be sa id that Kuku cfn a nd Shukshin do differ in some obvious ways but substantively rese mbl e each othe r a nd even �SLOVAKIA 125 concur in principles of human li ving that are in ext ri cably pa rt of and especially evident in rural life. NOTES ' Vasil y Shukshin , " K alina krasnaj a," Kin opovesti (M oscow: Isku ss tvo , 1975), pp . 205-72 ; " Snowba ll Berry-Red ," S nowball Berry-R ed and Oth er Stories, D onald Fiene, ed. (Ann Arbor, Michi gan : Ardis , 1979), pp . 125 -199. H ereaft er , references for qu otations from this wo rk will be given in the text with Ru ssia n page number(s) first , th en those for th e Engli sh ve rsion . ' The stories a re taken from the criti cal edition of Kuku cfn 's works: M artin Kuku cin : Die/o , M arian na Prfdav kova- Min a rikova , ed ., 21 vols. (Brati slava, 195 7-74). An English translation of all three is in Seven Slovak Stories by M artin Kukucfn , Norma Rudin sky, tr. and ed . (Clevela nd and Rom e: Slova k I nstitute , 1980). H ereaft er , volu me a nd page refere nces of th e Slovak ve rsion are give n in the text. ' Juliu s N oge, Martin Kukucfn: tradicionalista a novator (Zivot a die/o 1860-1 907) (Brat islava: Y yd avatel'stvo Slove nskej akademie v ied, 1962), p . 75. • The phrase Dies irae co mes from Zephaniah 1:15: "A day of wrath is th at d ay, a d ay o f distress and angui sh , a day of ruin a nd devastat ion , a day of d a rkn ess and gloom ," Th e New Ox fo rd Annotated Bible with th e Apocryph a (New Yo rk : O xford University Press, 1977) , p . 1141 . 5 Noge, p. 182. 6 N oge , p . 183. ' On pages 85 and 86, Noge discusses Kuku cfn 's familiarity with and documentary- like prese ntat ion of th e sa/a s. 8 Michel H elle r , " Vasil y Shukshin: In Search of Freedom ," George G utsche, tr. , Sn owball Berry -R ed and Och er Stories, Donald Fiene , ed. (A nn Arbor, Michigan : Ardi s, 1979),), pp . 2 15 an d 2 17 especiall y. For volja , see: " Snowba ll ," 205 / 125; 207 / 128; 208/ 128; 2 18/ 139; 248/ 171 ; a nd 253/ 177. On page 225, H elle r notes that in his stories , " Shukshin 's hero is look ing for freedom .... The sea rch ... bears a speculative character, a philosophical character. In Shukshin 's world an answe r to the 'main quest ions' is sought with unu sual intensity, with a powerful pass ion : I n what is the mean ing of life, what is death , wha t is God ?" 9 Besides those cited, see also: 253/ 177 a nd 263/ 188-1 89. On pages 228-29, H eller notes that in th e film ve rsion , a " white church - and th e white birches - appea r on th e sc ree n each time Egor P ro kudin pond ers the mea nin g of his life.'' 0 ' On th·e histo ry and culture of va/asi , especiall y in Slovaki a, see: Gerald J. Sabo , "Slova k Didac ti c Poet ry: G av lovic's V alask a Skala, V olum e I - Introdu ctory Stud y, " Ph .D . d isse rt at ion , Yale, 1978, pp . 37-38 a nd rela ted footno tes. Also , J an Podolak, " The Pas toral C ul ture o f th e Carpathi ans as a Subjec t of an Ethnological Study , " E thn ologica s/avica, 1 ( 1969), especiall y 70-77; a nd Encyklopedia Slovenska , Y I ( 1982) , sub verbo " Valasi," " Y a lass ka l'udova pieseil. ," a nd " V a!ass ke pravo ." For oth er sources , see foo tnote 24 of m y a rticl e on Hu golfn Gav lovic in cluded in th is journal issue. �126 SLOVAKIA " N oge , p . 183. " In her in trodu ctory commentary for Dies irae, N orma Rudin sky is probabl y the first crit ic to d iscuss Kuku cfn 's fa vorable depiction of M oj zis; this portrayal contras ts with those of other J ewish characters in Kukucin and other Slovak writers where the J ewish fi gure is d epicted in th e negative tones of ant i-Semi tism : Seven Slovak Stories by M artin Kuku cfn , pp . 160-62. " Indeed , the narrator as Kukucin 's persona comments in two places especially to make clear the indictmen t of Sykora and fathers like him who treat their children so poo rly: Dies irae, (V , 367 -68). Acco rdin g to Noge (p. 138), Kuku cin wro te in a lette r to Skultety that the authori al comm enta ry on page 367 noted above was a very importan t part of the text. W ere it to be removed, Kukucin would have bee n "gri eved ." " In contemporar y, standard Slova k, hu sar is a hussar : Slo vnfk slo ven sk eh o j azyk a: I die], a-k , 2nd editi on (Bratislava: Vyd ava tel'stvo Slovenskej akad emie vied , 197 1), p . 542. T hat hu sar also can m ean a gooseherd (hu siar in contem po rary, standard Slova k) is clear from K a rel Kalal and Mi ros lav K alal, Sloven sk y slovn fk z literatury aj n arecf (Banska Bys trica: Slovenska gra fi a, 1923), p . 192. " Indeed , the fire, even Ond ras' death , seem in a way to be G od's response to the word s ofOnd ras ' aunt ju st a short time before the fire is noti ced : " W ell let God's will (vol'a boiia) be done. I entru st everything to Him . H e knows best what is needed" (II , 219). For Zu zka, her wedding day will always rem ain a sad even t; fo r her moth er, her precious goose tha t perishes in the fire will be gone fo rever , but for Ondras , death in th e fire see m s almos t a blessing. " Donald Fiene, "Vasily Shukshin 's 'Kalina krasania ', " Snowball Berry-R ed and O ther Stories, D onald Fiene, ed . (Ann A rbor , Michi gan : Ardis, 1979), pp. 2 11-1 2, footnote 12. Michel H eller notes this same informati on on page 217. 11 G eoffrey H oskin g, " V asily Shukshin ," Beyond Socialist R ealism : S oviet Fiction Since I van D enisovich (New York : H olmes a nd M eier Publishers, I nc., 1980), p . 166. " Fiene, p . 202. 19 Th e Ru ssian R eligious Min d (I ), volume 3 in the Collected Wo rks of George P . Fed otov (Belmont , M ass: N ordland Publishin g C ompan y, 1975) p . 104. 0 ' In his foo tn ote 12 (pp . 211-1 2), Fiene notes tha t Fat Li p's comments about Ego r as a mu zhik in Ru s' emphas ize in the fil m Egor as a symbolic represe ntati ve of the sufferin g n arod. H e also ind icates tha t Fat Lip ' s co mments do not appear in the published film sc ript . Fiene hi mself used as the text for th ese comments the ve rsion of them quoted by J urii Tiurin in ' ' 'Kalina k rasn aia ' - kin opovest' i fil'm , '' M osk va, 4 (1976), 194 . " Fiene, pp. 206-07 . " M y m em ory of the film 's endin g is not perfect , but I do recall th a t th e last sce ne, unli ke that of the pu blished story, has Lyuba mentally recalling wo rds by Ego r about living, about wha t it mean s to li ve and how one should live. T here m ay also have bee n menti oned so methin g about pass ing th is info rm a ti on on to othe rs an d oth er genera tions. If eve n a pa rt of wh a t I have noted is correct , this woul d furth er affirm the m eanin gfuln ess and benefit of Egor 's life and deat h . " Fiene, p . 2 11 . M ichel H eller notes on page 229: " The th eme of fa ith and God whi ch parallels the th em e of death - occu pies a place in Shukshin 's short stories �SLOVAKIA 127 that gradually becomes more and more noticable.'' And also on page 23 2, in Shukshin's stories, the " hero . .. fill s the emptiness in his soul with a faith in Russia which is more and m ore oft en symbolized by a church. " " Hosking, p. 179 . Presented in Pa nel 65 , " The Village in Slovak Literature," at the AAASS conventi on in Asiloma r , C alifornia on 21 September 1981. � 112 SLOVAKIA Kukucfn's Village Stories and Shukshin's ''Snowball Berry-Red" Gerald J. Sabo The topic of this article stems from an experien ce I had in Slovakia some years ago attending a showing of Vasily Shukshin ' s film Kalina Krasnaja (Snowball Berry- R ed), which is based on his story of the same name. The showing, indeed every showing of the movie, w as sold out. When I attended, the audience was predominantly university students, and I wondered what valu es and per spectives from this contempora ry Russian story in a rural setting reson a ted with this mostly young and urban Slovak audience. Why were they captivated b y the story of a n ex-convict who struggles to find a place in peasant , rural society only to be killed by his form er gang just as he is finding p eace of soul? In deciding , then , on a topic for the panel o n the village in Slovak literature, I chose to compare co untry livin g in Shukshin as ex pressed in the story and film " Snowball Berry- R ed " with several village stories b y Martin Kukucfn: a contemporary Ru ss ia n author, indeed a prominent write r in the "rural or village prose" genre, and a Slovak writer of the late nineteenth-early twentieth century , whose positive evalu a tion of the Slova k village as the best repository of ethnic and human values is well known . F rom Kukucfn 's corpus, I have chosen three stories . 2 Neprebuden y (The Unawakened Boy) , published in 1886, is con sidered " the paramount work of the years 1884-86 . " 3 Dies irae, L atin for "Day of Wrath , " 4 published some seven years a fter Neprebudeny, is seen as belonging to "the best Slovak stories of all, " 5 as " indisputably the summi t ofKukucfn's creative work in the story genre." 6 And finall y, Na obecnom salasi (At the Community Sheepfold), published just sh ortl y a fter Neprebuden y in 1886 , can be considered Kukucfn 's paean to Slovak village and salas or mountain-shepherdin g life. 7 In the story " At the Community Sheepfold," the na rrator , in effect Kukucfn 's persona, is a n urban a dult who is remini scing a bout an especially m emorable boyhood visit to a village and salas. From the begin1 �SLOVAKIA 11 3 ning of the story, the narrator shows a definite Slovak ethnic consciousness. He insists that the vill age of his m emorable visit will always be known as Topol'any, the Slovak name for it, rather than Topoian, the Magyar designation for his beloved village . The narrator's description of Topol'a ny 's location conveys the natural , distinctive beauty of the village, so close to nature and as though protected by nature against any encroachments from outside the village environs. Even though the boy's father is a confirmed city dweller, his godfather is the richta.r (village mayor) ofTopol'any. Like his father, the boy is and will be urban , but through visits to the village of his godfather - someone who is a father to him in spirit and religion - he nurtures a spiritual relationship to village life. His parents may be very intent on his becoming someone through education in the city, yet ironically success in his formal studies gives him an opportunity to deepen his knowledge precisely in that area from which his parents try to keep him isolated: village life . Because of a good academic report, the parents accede to their son's wish to visit his godfather, the richtar of Topol'any . It is this visit that will prove the most memorable and influential of all his stays. From the arrival of the narrator as a boy in Topol'any through the last sentences of the story, the reader witnesses a significant change in his outlook on life and self-appreciation. On his arrival, he perce ives himself as a stranger in this rural setting. Indeed, he is too self-conscious. Gradually, though, as he spends time in the village and especially in the salas, that sense of strangeness disappears. By the end of the story, he has become an intiate, in a very real sense, a spiritual m e mber of village and salas society. Now even nature h as becom e an attractive and deepl y a ppreciated part of his living. The boy readily admits that he has n ever been in a salas, when the opportunity to visit one presents itself. His visit to the salas and his actual stay in it mark the turning point in his special sojourn in Topol'any . As he becomes more familiar with the various aspects of salas life and society, he increasin gly eulogizes this way of living: To know all the markings, to remember every sh eep : what kind of wool it has ; where it was born, where it was bought, for what price, when, h ow old it is, how good it is for milking, and besides all this to give it a name . These people know their responsibilities and their flo ck. It was not in vain that the Savior had before his eyes the example of the good �114 SLOVAKIA shepherd when he said: "I am the good shepherd and I know mine and mine know me." (III, 73) H owever much he tries to play the devil's advocate in evalu ating salas life, his comments and reflections reveal a growing admiration for the salas and his desire to be very much a part of it: This fresh, fine-smelling air, the immediate friendly closeness to great nature, this free view of life, the sun's morning rise and evening setting: I envied them all of this .. .. Salas - salas! To remain here, to forget everything that I have learned ... and to learn to recognize the ancient signs of the sheep's ears .. . . To forget also algebra . .. and to study rather from the baca [head-shepherd] . . . the passage of large sph eres in the heavens. (I II , 76) The aspiration of Kukucfn's narrator is especially for ta vol'nost' (that freedom) of salas life, ''wide and not restricted by anyone,'' ' ' what was dearest" to him (II I , 78). His aspiration for ta vol'nost' resonates with the consuming desire of Shukshin's Egor Prokudin for volja (freedom) . Indeed, for Shukshin in general, and for Egor in particular, volja is a key word. 8 Just as for the narrator of Kukucfn' s story, so for Egor of'' Snowball Berry-Red,'' freedom is associated with nature and rural settings. In the beginning of the story, Egor links freedom with spring, that time of year when nature is new, fresh, and alive: "Freedom and Spring! What else does a person need?" (208/ 128) There are also a number of scenes with the white birches when Egor is so at ease with himself and the natural world around him. 9 For instance: All around was an unbroken birch forest.... Egor leaned against a birch tree and looked around. "Well, will you look at what we have here!" he said with quiet rapture . He turned toward the birch tree and stroked it with the palm of his hand. "Hullo, there! Ah, you look so ... You're like a bride . Are you waiting for your groom? Soon, soon he'll come." (210/ 131) And there spread out before his eyes was a birch grove: the entire numerous family of trees seemed to run up and greet him . "Ah, you!" he said. And he walked into the grove. �SLOVAKIA 115 He strolled among the birches . . .. He stepped back and admired them from the side . . . . He felt a lot better now. (255/ 1 79) For the narrator of Kukucfn 's story, the salas is an especially apt setting in which to express his d esire for vol'nost'. For in Slovak history and culture, the salas and valasi or mountain shepherds have acquired a tradition of special associations. In Kukucfn 's time as even today, the salas and valasi connote a closeness to nature, a distinctively Slovak consciousness, and a special status of freedom and movement in a society more and more regimented and organized. 10 The eventful night spent by the narrator as a boy in the salas, his description of the baca, the good-natured trick played on him by the valasi, and finally the appropriate sharing of story, bowl , and spoon all these show how deeply and irrevocably he has become a member of this Slovak village and salas life. Indeed, the last sentences of the story aptly express this as well in the readiness of the villagers to defend what they , like the narrator , know to be most important to their being their village and salas way oflife. As the narrator notes, the mackintosh worn by him that fateful night in the salas is always taken along by him on his trips to Topol'any . And the then honelnfk (young shepherd), now the baca, retorts to the narrator's reminder of the form er' s teasing on that fateful night: "Akf su pani, takf budeme i my (We'll act just like the gentlemen)" (III, 86). From the story '' At the Community Sheepfold,' ' the reader would have the impression that Slovak village life is the perfect repository of Slovak ethnic and human values. Yet just as Topol'any is a single village in the Slovak countryside, so this story is simply one expression of Kukucfn's appreciation of village society and living. Indeed, Kukucfn's awe for the village and salas in this story does give way to a credible, rather realistic view of human relations in a rural setting in the stories " The Unawaken ed Boy ," and Dies irae. In Dies irae , the focus is on self, strongly accentuated by the element of money , m aterial gain and possession. Indeed, Julius N oge con tends in writing about Dies irae that money is "merely the physically graspable expression of the societal system that rules and permeates the morality, economics, psychology, and emotional relations of this era.'' 11 From the very beginning of Dies irae, three forces course through the lives of the villagers of Lomnica: the cholera epidemic, money, and �116 SLOVAKIA a related concern for self. Together , these three forces drastically change the lives of so m any in Lomni ca. Indeed , the physical infection of the cholera epidemic seems to refl ect in a way the serious infection eating away at the life of the village , many of whose inhabitants a re focused on themselves and are concerned with the role of money in their lives. The ex treme situation caused by the cholera epidemic h elps to bring to the surface what has been for a long time an undercurrent in the lives of many villagers: concern for money and, relatedl y, for self. Greed and egotism pervade the character of Sykora, the vice-rich tar (deputy mayor) of the village, who drove his older sonjan into the army. Sykora' s younger son J uro is in love with Evka, the daughter of Sykora' s rival, the richtar Jan Zima, but Sykora's concern for his mon ey" leads him to suspect - quite incorrectly - that the Zima family is luring Juro into marriage with Evka for the sake of Sykora 's money . Sykora, in effect , forcesjuro to leave his family home, and even whenjuro catches cholera, Sykora goes to the Zima ho use where J uro is a ilin g for only one reason: to see the rich tar about some lost money. In Kukucfn's characterization of Sykora, the latter is virtually the embodiment of evil. Even Sykora's house is aptly described as "cold and dark, " suitable words not only for the house but for Sykora's character (V, 342 and 362). Money also plays a definite role in the lives of all the other major characters. For them, however , unlike for'Sykora, money is not an end in itself. Eithe r money is used to achieve some non-materialistic end , or they becom e its suffering victims. Masliacka, a former sweetheart of the rich tar Zima , uses money to avenge herself on Zima and also his family . In his secret borrowings from Masliacka for the sake of the village community, Zim a jeopardizes himself as rich tar but most of all his marriage and family. On hearing about h er husband 's secret meetings with Masliacka, Zim a's wife Katre na alternately expresses jealousy of Masliacka , anger at her husband, and bitte r self- castigation for marryin g Zima. (Still , she must h ave been aware that Masliacka was pregnant by Zima before his marriage to herself and that he r own riches were a factor in their marriage .) A stock character - the village usurer , here the Jewish tave rnkeeper Mojzis - is not depicted in the usual negative, anti-Semitic tone. 12 Rather , his Christian-like characterization and tran sfe r of money to his wife are very positive features of the story. Still , throughout the narrative, Mojzis suffers because of money-related activities, done actually for old Sykora. �SLOVAKIA 117 Although the young characters, Evka Zima a nd espec iall y Juro Sykora, suffer from the ill e ffects o f m o ney graspin g a nd u se, their characterization s help to counter the evil the reb y cau sed a nd bode well for the future of the vill age community. Indeed , each of them becomes for others a catalyst to change for the bette r - Evka for Masliacka and her father, J uro for his father. Because of Evka a nd J uro , love and forgiveness are the fate of Masliacka, Zima , and old Sykora . For Zima but especially for old Sykora, the ir childre n become the m edium for m etanoia . 13 The basically good village r s a mong th e m ajo r characters, Evka a nd Juro , em bod y well the co ntrast to old Sykora's d efinition of a n ob ec (co mmunity) as con suming but neve r helpin g (V, 292 ). Disd a ining the e ntrapm ent o f m on etary and m a te rial accumul at ion , Evka a nd J uro essentiall y forget th emselves for the sake o f othe rs. In Shukshin 's "S nowb all Berry- R ed," m o ney a nd co ncern for self pl ay a d e finite role in the characte rizatio n o f Egor Prokudin . Through money, Egor tries to satisfy th e longing of his sou l for a holiday. H owever much he tries to achieve this, he never su cceeds . Gradually, though, perhaps only subconsciously, Egor appreciates tha t m o ney d oes not bring real happiness . Finally , he gives up trying to give his soul peace through mon ey -related activities. Money and concern for self give way to newly rece ived feelin gs for hi s mothe r , to actions in d efen se of his '' pe n pal'' L yuba against her for m er alcoholic hu sband , a nd above all , to an ever growin g closeness to n ature, as yet unspoiled b y the so-call ed prog ress of civili zatio n . Unfortunately, Egor's unexpected murder by hi s former gan g cut s short the hope ful glimme rs o f hum a n life that hi s ex iste nce had been showing. "S nowb all Be rry- R ed " h as its m ost signifi can t resonance w ith Kukucfn 's sto ry "The Unawakened Boy." H ere, as in "S nowball BerryR ed," good triumph s over evil but only with th e death of the main ch aracter. Like the characte r a nd death of Egor Prokudin , those of Ondras Machu Fa are poignantly depicted. This m ay be o ne of the reasons why these stories stand ou t among the writings of their respective authors. In " The Unawakened Boy , " there is a stro ng contrast between real ity and im agin at io n/ appearan ce, cru cia l to th e plot a nd present from the first se nte nce of the story . The focal ch aracte r o f the sto ry, Ondras M achul'a, is called a hu sar. 14 I s he a hu ssar-husar , the dashing youn g soldie r who steals th e hearts of v ill age g irl s o nl y to run off to b attle or to a nother village for furth e r a morou s co nqu ests? Or is Ondras a �118 SLOVAKIA goose herd-hu sar , whose occupation is usuall y performed by girls and women but hardly eve r by a man ? Within a few sentences, it becomes clear that Ondras is a gooseherd but with hussar fantasies. The stark co ntrast between what matters are a nd what they m ay be imagined or may a ppear to be is continuou sly ev ident in the story becau se of certain human flaws and weaknesses : caprice and presumptu ousness, fear and shame , a lack of forthright but sensitive honesty , and a lack of committed genuine feeling for another whatever this entails . In their fallibility and human frailty, the characters of " The Unawakened Boy" act in ways that may seem good and apt but merely co ntribute to the power of evil in their lives . In his hu sacia respublika (Republic of G eese), Ondras may play a prominent role, but in village society, he occupies a special caste of one . Th rou gh no fault of hi s ow n , hi s m ental retardation and less than attractive physical a ppearance make him a problem , a cause of difficulty in the village. Even though he is a human being like everyone else, Ondras simpl y does not m easure up to the expectations of others - not that of his father who becom es a drunkard and abandons the family nor those of the other villagers. As his mother observes , " People always look for what they d o not have . What they do have, they value less than a gra in of poppyseed " (II, 177). So many of the villagers seem to forget that in Ondras , there is a soul as in everyone else. Eve n though Ondras is twenty years old , young children are his peers in society , for among them , he ge ts along best because in some ways Ondras is childlike but also perhaps becau se among the young children , he is treated seriously a nd respectfully accepted as a peer. The conflict in the story arises from a caprice of the village girl Zuzka Bezan, a contemporary of Ondras. After giving Ondras his lunch out in the fi elds where he is tending the geese, Zuzka becomes upset tha t Ondras is apparently not his u su al submissive self before her. In order to re-asse rt her hold over him and his affections, she lead s Ondras to believe that he has a cha nce to becom e her betrothed and hu sband even though she is betrothed to J ano Dubrav . For Ondras, Zu zka then becom es the em bodiment of the fairytale princess whom in hi s d aydreams he seeks to win for him self. In the course of the story , Zuzka and her mother never really tell Ondras that he will not realize hi s dream of marrying Zuzka, while hi s aunt cannot reason with him . Ondras, always relating to others do vern e (trustingly) (II , 182 a nd 195), rem a ins co n- �SLOVAKIA 119 vinced of Zuzka' s capricious proposal almost to the tragic end of the story. The "evil" world of the village is evident among the villagers on the wedding day of Zuzka and J ano Dubrav. The young men may be happy for J ano in his marriage to Zuzka, but they are also glad that he would no longer be competing with them for the young girls. Many villagers do attend the wedding ceremony, but especially to see whether Zuzka wears a flower wreath as a sign of her virginity, for she had rarely been seen outside her house before the wedding day. Zuzka does wear the wreath, for she is not pregnant as some villagers suspect. Belatedly, the suspicions about Zuzka aroused by moving forward the wedding date are further shown groundless by the wedding celebration. For the quality of the feast and the music are the effects of long-range planning and not the result of rush preparation . After escaping from the room where his aunt locked him up, Ondras arrives at the wedding celebration in the Bezan home. Ironically, the first person he meets all alone in the yard is the zvac, the villager who invites people to wedding celebrations in the village . The zvac whom Ondras meets is quite drunk and heading for the hayshed with a cigar stump in his mouth. The irony here is that Ondras should meet the man who called people to Zuzka's wedding withjano but not with Ondras as Ondras had hoped. Even more ironic is that the zvac will be the one whose condition - drunk and smoking in the hayshed - is the cause of the fire for which Ondras will be accused and in which the two of them will perish. The zvac, then, the man who heralded the happiness of Zuzka, seems also to have been the unwitting instrument of God's punishment against her and her mother for their carelessness and insensitivity in dealing with Ondras. 15 Like the wedding ceremony and celebration, the fire provides another occasion for the villagers to reveal their true character. The dancers go from an extreme mood of carefreeness to a frenetic rush through doors and windows to save their own lives. The villagers whose homes are close by run first of all to save their own possessions. As the fire consumes the hayshed, Zuzka's mother realizes that her most productive goose is trapped in the burning hayshed. To her pleas to save the goose, one bystander replies , "Aja ie co! (And what am I!) " (II, 227). For him, his human life outweighs that of a goose . For Ondras, though, the pleas are a different matter. He attempts to save the goose, �120 SLO VAKIA a m ember of hi s husacia respublika, onl y to peri sh with it a mid the fl am es ben eath the coll a p sin g hayshed roof. P rofo und gri ef ove r Ondras's death overcom es virtu all y all of the v ill age rs w ho h a d see n the hayshed roof coll a p se. The gooseherd 's a unt ex presses tha t now at least O ndras "won ' t be in a n yo ne's way" (II , 228). Onl y the starejsf (M aster of C erem o ni es) m a r s the scen e of grief with hi s in sen sitiv ity . Ri gh teou sly , he n o tes tha t su ch is God 's punishm en t fo r a rsoni sts who can n eve r escape Him . In th e last two sentences, Kuku cfn see m s to impl y th a t a t last even the cl ever, ri gh teo u s M C m ay also b e sha rin g to som e exte n t in the profound gri e f ex pressed b y so m a n y a t the d eath of On dras: "They co uld n o t find th e zvac a n yw here. Th e cleve r MC n o lo n ge r no ted : ' H e re's the puni shm e nt of G od , the puni shm ent of God ... ' " (II , 228). Fro m the tragic end of the sto ry, it m ight seem tha t Ond ras dies a senseless d eath for th e sake of a goose. P erha p s by th e stand ards of th e vill age world, dy in g for a goose is folly, but Ondras' a ttempt to help on e of hi s own , eve n if it is a goose, is m ore exe mpl a ry th a n a t first reali zed. It is Ond ras w ho lays d own his life, n ot Zu zka's m other wh o so treasu red the goose but n o t e nou gh to end a n ge r her own life. The m a n who was m ade a foo l ofb y the d a u ghte r of the goose's own er shows a ce rta in selfl essn ess th at few, if a n y, of the vill age rs ex hibi t in the sto ry. Un a bl e to reali ze hi s hu ssar-husar fantasy of marryin g Zu zka, Ondras gives up hi s life as wh a t he is - a gooseh e rd-hu sa.r . H e m ay n o t h ave saved th e goose, bu t in hi s death , h e sobe rs the vill ager s. Indeed , in Kuku cfn 's ve ry sympathet ic po r trayal o fO ndras th rough o u t th e story, a ce rta in desc ript ion sta n ds ou t whi ch may be a clue to O nd ras' proto type. Ju st before the fire, the n arrato r d escribes him as " tich y ak a j ahniatko (qui e t as a la mb)" (II , 21 9). T he wo rd s brin g to m ind a ve rse fro m th e d esc rip tio n of th e S u ffe rin g Se rvant b y the prophe t I saia h a d esc rip tio n u su all y associa ted in C h r isti an interp re ta ti o n w ith C hri st : H e was oppressed , a n d he was a ffli cted, ye t he o pened n o t hi mou th ; like a lamb that is led to the sla u ghter a nd like a sheep before it s sh eare rs is du m b , so he o pe ned n o t hi s mo u th . I s. 53:7 Eve n more str ikin g are man y of th e o th er ver ses in the passage on the Suffe rin g Se rvan t w he n compared to Kuku cfn 's characte ri zatio n of O nd ras: �SLOVAKIA 121 H e had not form or co m elin ess that we shou ld look at him and no beauty th a t we should des ire him. H e was d espised and rejected by m en ; a m a n of sorrows a nd acqu a inted with grief a nd as one from whom m e n hid e the ir faces, he was despised a nd we es tee m ed him not. Surely, he h as b o rne our griefs a nd carri ed o ut so rrows; yet we esteem ed him st ri cke n b y God a nd a ffli cted. But he was wounded for o ur transgressions, he was brui sed for ou r iniquiti es; upo n him was the ch astisement th a t m ad e us whole ... All we like sh eep have go ne astray ; we h ave turn ed eve ryon e to his own way ; a nd the Lord has la id on him th e iniqui ty of u s all. (Verse 7 quoted above occurs here.) By op press io n a nd judg m ent , he was taken away ...... he had d one no violen ce a nd there was no deceit in hi s m outh . Ye t it was th e will of th e Lord to bruise him ; he has put him to g ri ef; when he makes himself an offering for sin ... T he refo re I will divide him a portion with the g reat , ... becau se he poured out hi s sou l to death and was numbe red with the tra nsgresso rs; ye t he bore the sin of m a n y a nd m ade inte rcess ion for the transgressor s. (vv. 26-12) Lik e th e Isaian Suffe rin g Se rva nt (and Christ) , Ondras is not a handsom e person , a nd he suffers in variou s ways a t the hands of o ther human beings. Acco rdin g to the vol'a bozia (God 's will) (II , 219) , Ondras' life , but es pec iall y hi s death , have so m e bene fi cia l effect on those ame persons who rejected him a nd ot hers who m a li gn ed him without cause. If we co mpare th e portrayal of Ondras with the ch aracterization of Shukshin's Egor Prokudin , ce rt a in points of simila rity a r e ev ide nt. Lik e Ondras, Egor Prokudin finds som e sort of ease and peace in a na tura l se ttin g. For Ondras, it is with hi s geese in th e fi eld s, but for Ego r , it is espec iall y with the white birches, as already noted a bove in rela ti on to " At th e Comm unity Sheepfold." Indeed , Shukshin 's portrayal of Egor's dying a nd death shows th at Egor is n ot on ly close to nature but even o nce again rooted in it : H e stagge red, clutchin g at the trees with hi s ot he r ha nd . And o n the white birches bri g ht -red sta in s appeared. �122 SLOVAKIA ... A single tear squeezed out from Egor's closed eyelids, rolled down his scalp toward his ear, hung there a minute, detached itself and fell into the grass. Egor was dead . And there he lay, a Russian peasant [krestJanin] on his native steppe, not far from home ... He lay with his cheek pressed to the earth , as though he were listening to something that only he could hear. That was how he had listened to telegraph poles in his childhood . (271- 72/196-98) In the film version of the story, in a scene just after what is quoted above, the gang member Fat Lip , Egor 's murderer , says of him : " He was not even a man. H e was a muzhik [Russian peasant/country dweller as opposed to urban resident]. And of these Rus ' [ ancient name for Russian area] has many. '' 16 In the movie, this comment further emphasizes Egor's rural roots and commitment to historical country living in Rus ' . Like Ondras, Egor stands out in the rural collective where Lyuba his "pen pal " lives with her family, and where Egor was finally beginning to settle down . Here, though, it is not a matter of mental condition and physical appearance, but criminal background that distinguishes Egor from others. As the story of Egor proceeds, his criminal past becomes less damning. As Geoffrey Hosking has said: Egor is a classic victim of Soviet social experimentation. Brought up as a small child in a Siberian village, he becomes separated from his mother during the terrible famine of 1933 , and has never seen her since (till the events of the story). When the old people of the villages round about get together , they discuss the fates which befell their families at the times of "dekulakization," so that we know this is a memory which is still living, indeed dominant , in the villagers' life .... The collectivization, dekulakization, and famine form the setting in which Egor's life must be seen. 17 Under the circumstances, Egor has learned to live as best he could. Like the tragic love story of Ondras which ends in his death, the search of Egor for his much desired freedom also ends unhappily with his d eath . It is notewo rthy that among the various meanings associated with the kalina plant (in the title and the song sung in a couple of places in the story) is one with a tragic love quality. "According to popular �SLOVAKIA 123 belief, the red kalina berry is a symbol of first love, more often than not, of unhappy love." 18 In Egor's search for volja, d eath prevents him from really achieving his deeply felt and loved goal of freedom. The most striking similarity of characterization b etween Ondras and Egor is their respective religious associations and interpretations. As noted above, Ondras' characterization seems to resemble the depiction of Isaiah's Suffering Servant extended in Christian interpretation to J esus Christ. Egor, whose nickname is Gore (Grief/Sorrow) (212/132), can also be seen as refl ecting the Suffering Servant. Even more , however, Donald Fiene contends and shows extensively that the story of Egor Prokudin makes sense psychologically and literarily only if we see it as a modern hagiograph y modeled on the ancient Russian saints' lives. What this means is that Egor's often strangely unaccountable pacifistic behavior is ... the embodiment of an ancient Russian ideal of kenotic martyrdom exemplified by Boris and Gleb, the first saints canonized by the Russian church . What is of interest in Boris and Gleb is . .. that they yielded voluntarily to dea th. Ultimately, this act of nonresistance becomes a national Ru ssian feature, which G . P . Fedotov in the Russian R eligious Mind considers an "authentic religious discovery of the newly-converted Russian Christians . '' 19 Allegorically, Egor is a disciple of the Russian Christ both as an innocent sufferer in the tradition of the suffering Ru ssian p eople (the narod) 20 and as a voluntary sufferer in the kenotic tradition of Boris and Gleb . But in the Ru ssian kenotic tradition , the Christian is not m erely a follower of Christ , but an imitator of him. One is saved only through suffering in the image of a meek and suffering Christ. 21 In his death, then , Egor, like Ondras, is not acting foolishl y or even commiting suicide. Indeed, in his dying , Egor shows a certain forgetfuln ess of self in hi s own unfolding tragedy. As he is dying, he implores L yu ba : " 'Mo ney .. .' Egor strained to get out his last words . 'in jacket. .share it. .. with my mothe r. . .' "(272/197) In the film , to spare Lyuba the sight of him dying, he sends her for some water nearby. When she returns, he is dead. In response to his death , P etro, Lyuba's brother, then chases the gan g in his truck a nd drives them an d their car into �124 SLOVAKIA th e ri ve r. G ood does triumph ove r ev il even if, o r pe rh a p s more appropriately sa id, especially if there has bee n some selfl ess sacrifi ce of life . In th e Christian view of life, the death of Egor , like that of Ondras , becomes m eaningful a nd in some way even bene fi cial fo r ot hers ' sake. n At first sight, a comparison of Kukucfn with Shukshin is provocative but somewhat farfetched . Chronologically, they a re not co ntempora ries. Kuku cfn died in 1928, while Shukshin was born in 1929 . They may both be Slavs ·but from distinctly diffe re nt n a tional gro up s - the b as icall y C a tholic or Lutheran , Western Slav ic Slovaks vs. the Ru ss ian Orthodox, Easte rn Slavic Ru ssians. Eve n more, the soc iet ies a nd a udie n ces of these two a uthQrs a re d ec id edly di stin ctive. For Kuku cfn , society m ay be ex pe rie ncing some of the e ffects of urba nization , but for Shukshin , urbani zed livin g is the predomin a nt mode of ex istence that e ncroaches even upon re mote rural coll ect ions. In his writing , Kuku cfn con veys a " fightin g cha nce" for village life, while Shukshin depicts rather nostalgicall y country livin g which is found in creasingly furth er from the primary co nce rn s of Soviet n at ional consciou sness. These diffe re nces, then , betwee n Kuku cfn a nd Shukshin a re re fl ect io n s of time a nd socie ty , of histor ical, cultural background . The two writers are similar or co ncur precisely in valu es a nd perspect ives that transce nd tim e, culture , a nd society. In the writings o f both , th ere i~ a d e finit e d es ire for freedom - a hum a ne freedom whi ch is often assoc iated with n a tural set tings. Ind eed , both a utho rs show a great se n sit iv ity to nat ure a nd its beaut y in hum an li ving. In Kuku cfn, as wel l as in Shukshin , there is a d e finit e se nse o f the tra n sce nde ntal, espec ially as ex pre ·sed th rough the J udaeo Chri stia n traditi o n . D o nald Fiene conte nds tha t es peciall y in " Snowball Be rr y- R ed ," '' Shukshin 's basic m essage is ... all m e n a re Christ; we must love one a not her o r die. " 23 And as Geoffrey H os kin g has noted: "Shuk shin h as red iscovered an d dram a ti zed m a n 's dri ve towa rds the t ra n sce nd e nt a l , whi ch M a rxi sm d e ni ed a nd Socia li st R eali sm di storted. " 24 Th e importance of C h r isti an love a nd to le rance, a nd the stro n g feelin g th at these a re in so m e way integral to vill age li fe is evid ent in bo th write rs: Christian se lfless ness is worthy co ndu ct , eve n if its conseq ue nce is as drastic as death, whi le ac tion s pursu ed for th e sake o f money or through the m edium o f mon ey o ffer little, if any, real human happin ess. It might th e n be sa id that Kuku cfn a nd Shukshin do differ in some obvious ways but substantively rese mbl e each othe r a nd even �SLOVAKIA 125 concur in principles of human li ving that are in ext ri cably pa rt of and especially evident in rural life. NOTES ' Vasil y Shukshin , " K alina krasnaj a," Kin opovesti (M oscow: Isku ss tvo , 1975), pp . 205-72 ; " Snowba ll Berry-Red ," S nowball Berry-R ed and Oth er Stories, D onald Fiene, ed. (Ann Arbor, Michi gan : Ardis , 1979), pp . 125 -199. H ereaft er , references for qu otations from this wo rk will be given in the text with Ru ssia n page number(s) first , th en those for th e Engli sh ve rsion . ' The stories a re taken from the criti cal edition of Kuku cfn 's works: M artin Kuku cin : Die/o , M arian na Prfdav kova- Min a rikova , ed ., 21 vols. (Brati slava, 195 7-74). An English translation of all three is in Seven Slovak Stories by M artin Kukucfn , Norma Rudin sky, tr. and ed . (Clevela nd and Rom e: Slova k I nstitute , 1980). H ereaft er , volu me a nd page refere nces of th e Slovak ve rsion are give n in the text. ' Juliu s N oge, Martin Kukucfn: tradicionalista a novator (Zivot a die/o 1860-1 907) (Brat islava: Y yd avatel'stvo Slove nskej akademie v ied, 1962), p . 75. • The phrase Dies irae co mes from Zephaniah 1:15: "A day of wrath is th at d ay, a d ay o f distress and angui sh , a day of ruin a nd devastat ion , a day of d a rkn ess and gloom ," Th e New Ox fo rd Annotated Bible with th e Apocryph a (New Yo rk : O xford University Press, 1977) , p . 1141 . 5 Noge, p. 182. 6 N oge , p . 183. ' On pages 85 and 86, Noge discusses Kuku cfn 's familiarity with and documentary- like prese ntat ion of th e sa/a s. 8 Michel H elle r , " Vasil y Shukshin: In Search of Freedom ," George G utsche, tr. , Sn owball Berry -R ed and Och er Stories, Donald Fiene , ed. (A nn Arbor, Michigan : Ardi s, 1979),), pp . 2 15 an d 2 17 especiall y. For volja , see: " Snowba ll ," 205 / 125; 207 / 128; 208/ 128; 2 18/ 139; 248/ 171 ; a nd 253/ 177. On page 225, H elle r notes that in his stories , " Shukshin 's hero is look ing for freedom .... The sea rch ... bears a speculative character, a philosophical character. In Shukshin 's world an answe r to the 'main quest ions' is sought with unu sual intensity, with a powerful pass ion : I n what is the mean ing of life, what is death , wha t is God ?" 9 Besides those cited, see also: 253/ 177 a nd 263/ 188-1 89. On pages 228-29, H eller notes that in th e film ve rsion , a " white church - and th e white birches - appea r on th e sc ree n each time Egor P ro kudin pond ers the mea nin g of his life.'' 0 ' On th·e histo ry and culture of va/asi , especiall y in Slovaki a, see: Gerald J. Sabo , "Slova k Didac ti c Poet ry: G av lovic's V alask a Skala, V olum e I - Introdu ctory Stud y, " Ph .D . d isse rt at ion , Yale, 1978, pp . 37-38 a nd rela ted footno tes. Also , J an Podolak, " The Pas toral C ul ture o f th e Carpathi ans as a Subjec t of an Ethnological Study , " E thn ologica s/avica, 1 ( 1969), especiall y 70-77; a nd Encyklopedia Slovenska , Y I ( 1982) , sub verbo " Valasi," " Y a lass ka l'udova pieseil. ," a nd " V a!ass ke pravo ." For oth er sources , see foo tnote 24 of m y a rticl e on Hu golfn Gav lovic in cluded in th is journal issue. �126 SLOVAKIA " N oge , p . 183. " In her in trodu ctory commentary for Dies irae, N orma Rudin sky is probabl y the first crit ic to d iscuss Kuku cfn 's fa vorable depiction of M oj zis; this portrayal contras ts with those of other J ewish characters in Kukucin and other Slovak writers where the J ewish fi gure is d epicted in th e negative tones of ant i-Semi tism : Seven Slovak Stories by M artin Kuku cfn , pp . 160-62. " Indeed , the narrator as Kukucin 's persona comments in two places especially to make clear the indictmen t of Sykora and fathers like him who treat their children so poo rly: Dies irae, (V , 367 -68). Acco rdin g to Noge (p. 138), Kuku cin wro te in a lette r to Skultety that the authori al comm enta ry on page 367 noted above was a very importan t part of the text. W ere it to be removed, Kukucin would have bee n "gri eved ." " In contemporar y, standard Slova k, hu sar is a hussar : Slo vnfk slo ven sk eh o j azyk a: I die], a-k , 2nd editi on (Bratislava: Vyd ava tel'stvo Slovenskej akad emie vied , 197 1), p . 542. T hat hu sar also can m ean a gooseherd (hu siar in contem po rary, standard Slova k) is clear from K a rel Kalal and Mi ros lav K alal, Sloven sk y slovn fk z literatury aj n arecf (Banska Bys trica: Slovenska gra fi a, 1923), p . 192. " Indeed , the fire, even Ond ras' death , seem in a way to be G od's response to the word s ofOnd ras ' aunt ju st a short time before the fire is noti ced : " W ell let God's will (vol'a boiia) be done. I entru st everything to Him . H e knows best what is needed" (II , 219). For Zu zka, her wedding day will always rem ain a sad even t; fo r her moth er, her precious goose tha t perishes in the fire will be gone fo rever , but for Ondras , death in th e fire see m s almos t a blessing. " Donald Fiene, "Vasily Shukshin 's 'Kalina krasania ', " Snowball Berry-R ed and O ther Stories, D onald Fiene, ed . (Ann A rbor , Michi gan : Ardis, 1979), pp. 2 11-1 2, footnote 12. Michel H eller notes this same informati on on page 217. 11 G eoffrey H oskin g, " V asily Shukshin ," Beyond Socialist R ealism : S oviet Fiction Since I van D enisovich (New York : H olmes a nd M eier Publishers, I nc., 1980), p . 166. " Fiene, p . 202. 19 Th e Ru ssian R eligious Min d (I ), volume 3 in the Collected Wo rks of George P . Fed otov (Belmont , M ass: N ordland Publishin g C ompan y, 1975) p . 104. 0 ' In his foo tn ote 12 (pp . 211-1 2), Fiene notes tha t Fat Li p's comments about Ego r as a mu zhik in Ru s' emphas ize in the fil m Egor as a symbolic represe ntati ve of the sufferin g n arod. H e also ind icates tha t Fat Lip ' s co mments do not appear in the published film sc ript . Fiene hi mself used as the text for th ese comments the ve rsion of them quoted by J urii Tiurin in ' ' 'Kalina k rasn aia ' - kin opovest' i fil'm , '' M osk va, 4 (1976), 194 . " Fiene, pp. 206-07 . " M y m em ory of the film 's endin g is not perfect , but I do recall th a t th e last sce ne, unli ke that of the pu blished story, has Lyuba mentally recalling wo rds by Ego r about living, about wha t it mean s to li ve and how one should live. T here m ay also have bee n menti oned so methin g about pass ing th is info rm a ti on on to othe rs an d oth er genera tions. If eve n a pa rt of wh a t I have noted is correct , this woul d furth er affirm the m eanin gfuln ess and benefit of Egor 's life and deat h . " Fiene, p . 2 11 . M ichel H eller notes on page 229: " The th eme of fa ith and God whi ch parallels the th em e of death - occu pies a place in Shukshin 's short stories �SLOVAKIA 127 that gradually becomes more and more noticable.'' And also on page 23 2, in Shukshin's stories, the " hero . .. fill s the emptiness in his soul with a faith in Russia which is more and m ore oft en symbolized by a church. " " Hosking, p. 179 . Presented in Pa nel 65 , " The Village in Slovak Literature," at the AAASS conventi on in Asiloma r , C alifornia on 21 September 1981. � 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 1982-83, Vol. 30 Description An account of the resource Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83. 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 1982-83 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 112 SLOVAKIA Kukucfn's Village Stories and Shukshin's ''Snowball Berry-Red" Gerald J. Sabo The topic of this article stems from an experien ce I had in Slovakia some years ago attending a showing of Vasily Shukshin ' s film Kalina Krasnaja (Snowball Berry- R ed), which is based on his story of the same name. The showing, indeed every showing of the movie, w as sold out. When I attended, the audience was predominantly university students, and I wondered what valu es and per spectives from this contempora ry Russian story in a rural setting reson a ted with this mostly young and urban Slovak audience. Why were they captivated b y the story of a n ex-convict who struggles to find a place in peasant , rural society only to be killed by his form er gang just as he is finding p eace of soul? In deciding , then , on a topic for the panel o n the village in Slovak literature, I chose to compare co untry livin g in Shukshin as ex pressed in the story and film " Snowball Berry- R ed " with several village stories b y Martin Kukucfn: a contemporary Ru ss ia n author, indeed a prominent write r in the "rural or village prose" genre, and a Slovak writer of the late nineteenth-early twentieth century , whose positive evalu a tion of the Slova k village as the best repository of ethnic and human values is well known . F rom Kukucfn 's corpus, I have chosen three stories . 2 Neprebuden y (The Unawakened Boy) , published in 1886, is con sidered " the paramount work of the years 1884-86 . " 3 Dies irae, L atin for "Day of Wrath , " 4 published some seven years a fter Neprebudeny, is seen as belonging to "the best Slovak stories of all, " 5 as " indisputably the summi t ofKukucfn's creative work in the story genre." 6 And finall y, Na obecnom salasi (At the Community Sheepfold), published just sh ortl y a fter Neprebuden y in 1886 , can be considered Kukucfn 's paean to Slovak village and salas or mountain-shepherdin g life. 7 In the story " At the Community Sheepfold," the na rrator , in effect Kukucfn 's persona, is a n urban a dult who is remini scing a bout an especially m emorable boyhood visit to a village and salas. From the begin1 SLOVAKIA 11 3 ning of the story, the narrator shows a definite Slovak ethnic consciousness. He insists that the vill age of his m emorable visit will always be known as Topol'any, the Slovak name for it, rather than Topoian, the Magyar designation for his beloved village . The narrator's description of Topol'a ny 's location conveys the natural , distinctive beauty of the village, so close to nature and as though protected by nature against any encroachments from outside the village environs. Even though the boy's father is a confirmed city dweller, his godfather is the richta.r (village mayor) ofTopol'any. Like his father, the boy is and will be urban , but through visits to the village of his godfather - someone who is a father to him in spirit and religion - he nurtures a spiritual relationship to village life. His parents may be very intent on his becoming someone through education in the city, yet ironically success in his formal studies gives him an opportunity to deepen his knowledge precisely in that area from which his parents try to keep him isolated: village life . Because of a good academic report, the parents accede to their son's wish to visit his godfather, the richtar of Topol'any . It is this visit that will prove the most memorable and influential of all his stays. From the arrival of the narrator as a boy in Topol'any through the last sentences of the story, the reader witnesses a significant change in his outlook on life and self-appreciation. On his arrival, he perce ives himself as a stranger in this rural setting. Indeed, he is too self-conscious. Gradually, though, as he spends time in the village and especially in the salas, that sense of strangeness disappears. By the end of the story, he has become an intiate, in a very real sense, a spiritual m e mber of village and salas society. Now even nature h as becom e an attractive and deepl y a ppreciated part of his living. The boy readily admits that he has n ever been in a salas, when the opportunity to visit one presents itself. His visit to the salas and his actual stay in it mark the turning point in his special sojourn in Topol'any . As he becomes more familiar with the various aspects of salas life and society, he increasin gly eulogizes this way of living: To know all the markings, to remember every sh eep : what kind of wool it has ; where it was born, where it was bought, for what price, when, h ow old it is, how good it is for milking, and besides all this to give it a name . These people know their responsibilities and their flo ck. It was not in vain that the Savior had before his eyes the example of the good 114 SLOVAKIA shepherd when he said: "I am the good shepherd and I know mine and mine know me." (III, 73) H owever much he tries to play the devil's advocate in evalu ating salas life, his comments and reflections reveal a growing admiration for the salas and his desire to be very much a part of it: This fresh, fine-smelling air, the immediate friendly closeness to great nature, this free view of life, the sun's morning rise and evening setting: I envied them all of this .. .. Salas - salas! To remain here, to forget everything that I have learned ... and to learn to recognize the ancient signs of the sheep's ears .. . . To forget also algebra . .. and to study rather from the baca [head-shepherd] . . . the passage of large sph eres in the heavens. (I II , 76) The aspiration of Kukucfn's narrator is especially for ta vol'nost' (that freedom) of salas life, ''wide and not restricted by anyone,'' ' ' what was dearest" to him (II I , 78). His aspiration for ta vol'nost' resonates with the consuming desire of Shukshin's Egor Prokudin for volja (freedom) . Indeed, for Shukshin in general, and for Egor in particular, volja is a key word. 8 Just as for the narrator of Kukucfn' s story, so for Egor of'' Snowball Berry-Red,'' freedom is associated with nature and rural settings. In the beginning of the story, Egor links freedom with spring, that time of year when nature is new, fresh, and alive: "Freedom and Spring! What else does a person need?" (208/ 128) There are also a number of scenes with the white birches when Egor is so at ease with himself and the natural world around him. 9 For instance: All around was an unbroken birch forest.... Egor leaned against a birch tree and looked around. "Well, will you look at what we have here!" he said with quiet rapture . He turned toward the birch tree and stroked it with the palm of his hand. "Hullo, there! Ah, you look so ... You're like a bride . Are you waiting for your groom? Soon, soon he'll come." (210/ 131) And there spread out before his eyes was a birch grove: the entire numerous family of trees seemed to run up and greet him . "Ah, you!" he said. And he walked into the grove. SLOVAKIA 115 He strolled among the birches . . .. He stepped back and admired them from the side . . . . He felt a lot better now. (255/ 1 79) For the narrator of Kukucfn 's story, the salas is an especially apt setting in which to express his d esire for vol'nost'. For in Slovak history and culture, the salas and valasi or mountain shepherds have acquired a tradition of special associations. In Kukucfn 's time as even today, the salas and valasi connote a closeness to nature, a distinctively Slovak consciousness, and a special status of freedom and movement in a society more and more regimented and organized. 10 The eventful night spent by the narrator as a boy in the salas, his description of the baca, the good-natured trick played on him by the valasi, and finally the appropriate sharing of story, bowl , and spoon all these show how deeply and irrevocably he has become a member of this Slovak village and salas life. Indeed, the last sentences of the story aptly express this as well in the readiness of the villagers to defend what they , like the narrator , know to be most important to their being their village and salas way oflife. As the narrator notes, the mackintosh worn by him that fateful night in the salas is always taken along by him on his trips to Topol'any . And the then honelnfk (young shepherd), now the baca, retorts to the narrator's reminder of the form er' s teasing on that fateful night: "Akf su pani, takf budeme i my (We'll act just like the gentlemen)" (III, 86). From the story '' At the Community Sheepfold,' ' the reader would have the impression that Slovak village life is the perfect repository of Slovak ethnic and human values. Yet just as Topol'any is a single village in the Slovak countryside, so this story is simply one expression of Kukucfn's appreciation of village society and living. Indeed, Kukucfn's awe for the village and salas in this story does give way to a credible, rather realistic view of human relations in a rural setting in the stories " The Unawaken ed Boy ," and Dies irae. In Dies irae , the focus is on self, strongly accentuated by the element of money , m aterial gain and possession. Indeed, Julius N oge con tends in writing about Dies irae that money is "merely the physically graspable expression of the societal system that rules and permeates the morality, economics, psychology, and emotional relations of this era.'' 11 From the very beginning of Dies irae, three forces course through the lives of the villagers of Lomnica: the cholera epidemic, money, and 116 SLOVAKIA a related concern for self. Together , these three forces drastically change the lives of so m any in Lomni ca. Indeed , the physical infection of the cholera epidemic seems to refl ect in a way the serious infection eating away at the life of the village , many of whose inhabitants a re focused on themselves and are concerned with the role of money in their lives. The ex treme situation caused by the cholera epidemic h elps to bring to the surface what has been for a long time an undercurrent in the lives of many villagers: concern for money and, relatedl y, for self. Greed and egotism pervade the character of Sykora, the vice-rich tar (deputy mayor) of the village, who drove his older sonjan into the army. Sykora' s younger son J uro is in love with Evka, the daughter of Sykora' s rival, the richtar Jan Zima, but Sykora's concern for his mon ey" leads him to suspect - quite incorrectly - that the Zima family is luring Juro into marriage with Evka for the sake of Sykora 's money . Sykora, in effect , forcesjuro to leave his family home, and even whenjuro catches cholera, Sykora goes to the Zima ho use where J uro is a ilin g for only one reason: to see the rich tar about some lost money. In Kukucfn's characterization of Sykora, the latter is virtually the embodiment of evil. Even Sykora's house is aptly described as "cold and dark, " suitable words not only for the house but for Sykora's character (V, 342 and 362). Money also plays a definite role in the lives of all the other major characters. For them, however , unlike for'Sykora, money is not an end in itself. Eithe r money is used to achieve some non-materialistic end , or they becom e its suffering victims. Masliacka, a former sweetheart of the rich tar Zima , uses money to avenge herself on Zima and also his family . In his secret borrowings from Masliacka for the sake of the village community, Zim a jeopardizes himself as rich tar but most of all his marriage and family. On hearing about h er husband 's secret meetings with Masliacka, Zim a's wife Katre na alternately expresses jealousy of Masliacka , anger at her husband, and bitte r self- castigation for marryin g Zima. (Still , she must h ave been aware that Masliacka was pregnant by Zima before his marriage to herself and that he r own riches were a factor in their marriage .) A stock character - the village usurer , here the Jewish tave rnkeeper Mojzis - is not depicted in the usual negative, anti-Semitic tone. 12 Rather , his Christian-like characterization and tran sfe r of money to his wife are very positive features of the story. Still , throughout the narrative, Mojzis suffers because of money-related activities, done actually for old Sykora. SLOVAKIA 117 Although the young characters, Evka Zima a nd espec iall y Juro Sykora, suffer from the ill e ffects o f m o ney graspin g a nd u se, their characterization s help to counter the evil the reb y cau sed a nd bode well for the future of the vill age community. Indeed , each of them becomes for others a catalyst to change for the bette r - Evka for Masliacka and her father, J uro for his father. Because of Evka a nd J uro , love and forgiveness are the fate of Masliacka, Zima , and old Sykora . For Zima but especially for old Sykora, the ir childre n become the m edium for m etanoia . 13 The basically good village r s a mong th e m ajo r characters, Evka a nd Juro , em bod y well the co ntrast to old Sykora's d efinition of a n ob ec (co mmunity) as con suming but neve r helpin g (V, 292 ). Disd a ining the e ntrapm ent o f m on etary and m a te rial accumul at ion , Evka a nd J uro essentiall y forget th emselves for the sake o f othe rs. In Shukshin 's "S nowb all Berry- R ed," m o ney a nd co ncern for self pl ay a d e finite role in the characte rizatio n o f Egor Prokudin . Through money, Egor tries to satisfy th e longing of his sou l for a holiday. H owever much he tries to achieve this, he never su cceeds . Gradually, though, perhaps only subconsciously, Egor appreciates tha t m o ney d oes not bring real happiness . Finally , he gives up trying to give his soul peace through mon ey -related activities. Money and concern for self give way to newly rece ived feelin gs for hi s mothe r , to actions in d efen se of his '' pe n pal'' L yuba against her for m er alcoholic hu sband , a nd above all , to an ever growin g closeness to n ature, as yet unspoiled b y the so-call ed prog ress of civili zatio n . Unfortunately, Egor's unexpected murder by hi s former gan g cut s short the hope ful glimme rs o f hum a n life that hi s ex iste nce had been showing. "S nowb all Be rry- R ed " h as its m ost signifi can t resonance w ith Kukucfn 's sto ry "The Unawakened Boy." H ere, as in "S nowball BerryR ed," good triumph s over evil but only with th e death of the main ch aracter. Like the characte r a nd death of Egor Prokudin , those of Ondras Machu Fa are poignantly depicted. This m ay be o ne of the reasons why these stories stand ou t among the writings of their respective authors. In " The Unawakened Boy , " there is a stro ng contrast between real ity and im agin at io n/ appearan ce, cru cia l to th e plot a nd present from the first se nte nce of the story . The focal ch aracte r o f the sto ry, Ondras M achul'a, is called a hu sar. 14 I s he a hu ssar-husar , the dashing youn g soldie r who steals th e hearts of v ill age g irl s o nl y to run off to b attle or to a nother village for furth e r a morou s co nqu ests? Or is Ondras a 118 SLOVAKIA goose herd-hu sar , whose occupation is usuall y performed by girls and women but hardly eve r by a man ? Within a few sentences, it becomes clear that Ondras is a gooseherd but with hussar fantasies. The stark co ntrast between what matters are a nd what they m ay be imagined or may a ppear to be is continuou sly ev ident in the story becau se of certain human flaws and weaknesses : caprice and presumptu ousness, fear and shame , a lack of forthright but sensitive honesty , and a lack of committed genuine feeling for another whatever this entails . In their fallibility and human frailty, the characters of " The Unawakened Boy" act in ways that may seem good and apt but merely co ntribute to the power of evil in their lives . In his hu sacia respublika (Republic of G eese), Ondras may play a prominent role, but in village society, he occupies a special caste of one . Th rou gh no fault of hi s ow n , hi s m ental retardation and less than attractive physical a ppearance make him a problem , a cause of difficulty in the village. Even though he is a human being like everyone else, Ondras simpl y does not m easure up to the expectations of others - not that of his father who becom es a drunkard and abandons the family nor those of the other villagers. As his mother observes , " People always look for what they d o not have . What they do have, they value less than a gra in of poppyseed " (II, 177). So many of the villagers seem to forget that in Ondras , there is a soul as in everyone else. Eve n though Ondras is twenty years old , young children are his peers in society , for among them , he ge ts along best because in some ways Ondras is childlike but also perhaps becau se among the young children , he is treated seriously a nd respectfully accepted as a peer. The conflict in the story arises from a caprice of the village girl Zuzka Bezan, a contemporary of Ondras. After giving Ondras his lunch out in the fi elds where he is tending the geese, Zuzka becomes upset tha t Ondras is apparently not his u su al submissive self before her. In order to re-asse rt her hold over him and his affections, she lead s Ondras to believe that he has a cha nce to becom e her betrothed and hu sband even though she is betrothed to J ano Dubrav . For Ondras, Zu zka then becom es the em bodiment of the fairytale princess whom in hi s d aydreams he seeks to win for him self. In the course of the story , Zuzka and her mother never really tell Ondras that he will not realize hi s dream of marrying Zuzka, while hi s aunt cannot reason with him . Ondras, always relating to others do vern e (trustingly) (II , 182 a nd 195), rem a ins co n- SLOVAKIA 119 vinced of Zuzka' s capricious proposal almost to the tragic end of the story. The "evil" world of the village is evident among the villagers on the wedding day of Zuzka and J ano Dubrav. The young men may be happy for J ano in his marriage to Zuzka, but they are also glad that he would no longer be competing with them for the young girls. Many villagers do attend the wedding ceremony, but especially to see whether Zuzka wears a flower wreath as a sign of her virginity, for she had rarely been seen outside her house before the wedding day. Zuzka does wear the wreath, for she is not pregnant as some villagers suspect. Belatedly, the suspicions about Zuzka aroused by moving forward the wedding date are further shown groundless by the wedding celebration. For the quality of the feast and the music are the effects of long-range planning and not the result of rush preparation . After escaping from the room where his aunt locked him up, Ondras arrives at the wedding celebration in the Bezan home. Ironically, the first person he meets all alone in the yard is the zvac, the villager who invites people to wedding celebrations in the village . The zvac whom Ondras meets is quite drunk and heading for the hayshed with a cigar stump in his mouth. The irony here is that Ondras should meet the man who called people to Zuzka's wedding withjano but not with Ondras as Ondras had hoped. Even more ironic is that the zvac will be the one whose condition - drunk and smoking in the hayshed - is the cause of the fire for which Ondras will be accused and in which the two of them will perish. The zvac, then, the man who heralded the happiness of Zuzka, seems also to have been the unwitting instrument of God's punishment against her and her mother for their carelessness and insensitivity in dealing with Ondras. 15 Like the wedding ceremony and celebration, the fire provides another occasion for the villagers to reveal their true character. The dancers go from an extreme mood of carefreeness to a frenetic rush through doors and windows to save their own lives. The villagers whose homes are close by run first of all to save their own possessions. As the fire consumes the hayshed, Zuzka's mother realizes that her most productive goose is trapped in the burning hayshed. To her pleas to save the goose, one bystander replies , "Aja ie co! (And what am I!) " (II, 227). For him, his human life outweighs that of a goose . For Ondras, though, the pleas are a different matter. He attempts to save the goose, 120 SLO VAKIA a m ember of hi s husacia respublika, onl y to peri sh with it a mid the fl am es ben eath the coll a p sin g hayshed roof. P rofo und gri ef ove r Ondras's death overcom es virtu all y all of the v ill age rs w ho h a d see n the hayshed roof coll a p se. The gooseherd 's a unt ex presses tha t now at least O ndras "won ' t be in a n yo ne's way" (II , 228). Onl y the starejsf (M aster of C erem o ni es) m a r s the scen e of grief with hi s in sen sitiv ity . Ri gh teou sly , he n o tes tha t su ch is God 's punishm en t fo r a rsoni sts who can n eve r escape Him . In th e last two sentences, Kuku cfn see m s to impl y th a t a t last even the cl ever, ri gh teo u s M C m ay also b e sha rin g to som e exte n t in the profound gri e f ex pressed b y so m a n y a t the d eath of On dras: "They co uld n o t find th e zvac a n yw here. Th e cleve r MC n o lo n ge r no ted : ' H e re's the puni shm e nt of G od , the puni shm ent of God ... ' " (II , 228). Fro m the tragic end of the sto ry, it m ight seem tha t Ond ras dies a senseless d eath for th e sake of a goose. P erha p s by th e stand ards of th e vill age world, dy in g for a goose is folly, but Ondras' a ttempt to help on e of hi s own , eve n if it is a goose, is m ore exe mpl a ry th a n a t first reali zed. It is Ond ras w ho lays d own his life, n ot Zu zka's m other wh o so treasu red the goose but n o t e nou gh to end a n ge r her own life. The m a n who was m ade a foo l ofb y the d a u ghte r of the goose's own er shows a ce rta in selfl essn ess th at few, if a n y, of the vill age rs ex hibi t in the sto ry. Un a bl e to reali ze hi s hu ssar-husar fantasy of marryin g Zu zka, Ondras gives up hi s life as wh a t he is - a gooseh e rd-hu sa.r . H e m ay n o t h ave saved th e goose, bu t in hi s death , h e sobe rs the vill ager s. Indeed , in Kuku cfn 's ve ry sympathet ic po r trayal o fO ndras th rough o u t th e story, a ce rta in desc ript ion sta n ds ou t whi ch may be a clue to O nd ras' proto type. Ju st before the fire, the n arrato r d escribes him as " tich y ak a j ahniatko (qui e t as a la mb)" (II , 21 9). T he wo rd s brin g to m ind a ve rse fro m th e d esc rip tio n of th e S u ffe rin g Se rvant b y the prophe t I saia h a d esc rip tio n u su all y associa ted in C h r isti an interp re ta ti o n w ith C hri st : H e was oppressed , a n d he was a ffli cted, ye t he o pened n o t hi mou th ; like a lamb that is led to the sla u ghter a nd like a sheep before it s sh eare rs is du m b , so he o pe ned n o t hi s mo u th . I s. 53:7 Eve n more str ikin g are man y of th e o th er ver ses in the passage on the Suffe rin g Se rvan t w he n compared to Kuku cfn 's characte ri zatio n of O nd ras: SLOVAKIA 121 H e had not form or co m elin ess that we shou ld look at him and no beauty th a t we should des ire him. H e was d espised and rejected by m en ; a m a n of sorrows a nd acqu a inted with grief a nd as one from whom m e n hid e the ir faces, he was despised a nd we es tee m ed him not. Surely, he h as b o rne our griefs a nd carri ed o ut so rrows; yet we esteem ed him st ri cke n b y God a nd a ffli cted. But he was wounded for o ur transgressions, he was brui sed for ou r iniquiti es; upo n him was the ch astisement th a t m ad e us whole ... All we like sh eep have go ne astray ; we h ave turn ed eve ryon e to his own way ; a nd the Lord has la id on him th e iniqui ty of u s all. (Verse 7 quoted above occurs here.) By op press io n a nd judg m ent , he was taken away ...... he had d one no violen ce a nd there was no deceit in hi s m outh . Ye t it was th e will of th e Lord to bruise him ; he has put him to g ri ef; when he makes himself an offering for sin ... T he refo re I will divide him a portion with the g reat , ... becau se he poured out hi s sou l to death and was numbe red with the tra nsgresso rs; ye t he bore the sin of m a n y a nd m ade inte rcess ion for the transgressor s. (vv. 26-12) Lik e th e Isaian Suffe rin g Se rva nt (and Christ) , Ondras is not a handsom e person , a nd he suffers in variou s ways a t the hands of o ther human beings. Acco rdin g to the vol'a bozia (God 's will) (II , 219) , Ondras' life , but es pec iall y hi s death , have so m e bene fi cia l effect on those ame persons who rejected him a nd ot hers who m a li gn ed him without cause. If we co mpare th e portrayal of Ondras with the ch aracterization of Shukshin's Egor Prokudin , ce rt a in points of simila rity a r e ev ide nt. Lik e Ondras, Egor Prokudin finds som e sort of ease and peace in a na tura l se ttin g. For Ondras, it is with hi s geese in th e fi eld s, but for Ego r , it is espec iall y with the white birches, as already noted a bove in rela ti on to " At th e Comm unity Sheepfold." Indeed , Shukshin 's portrayal of Egor's dying a nd death shows th at Egor is n ot on ly close to nature but even o nce again rooted in it : H e stagge red, clutchin g at the trees with hi s ot he r ha nd . And o n the white birches bri g ht -red sta in s appeared. 122 SLOVAKIA ... A single tear squeezed out from Egor's closed eyelids, rolled down his scalp toward his ear, hung there a minute, detached itself and fell into the grass. Egor was dead . And there he lay, a Russian peasant [krestJanin] on his native steppe, not far from home ... He lay with his cheek pressed to the earth , as though he were listening to something that only he could hear. That was how he had listened to telegraph poles in his childhood . (271- 72/196-98) In the film version of the story, in a scene just after what is quoted above, the gang member Fat Lip , Egor 's murderer , says of him : " He was not even a man. H e was a muzhik [Russian peasant/country dweller as opposed to urban resident]. And of these Rus ' [ ancient name for Russian area] has many. '' 16 In the movie, this comment further emphasizes Egor's rural roots and commitment to historical country living in Rus ' . Like Ondras, Egor stands out in the rural collective where Lyuba his "pen pal " lives with her family, and where Egor was finally beginning to settle down . Here, though, it is not a matter of mental condition and physical appearance, but criminal background that distinguishes Egor from others. As the story of Egor proceeds, his criminal past becomes less damning. As Geoffrey Hosking has said: Egor is a classic victim of Soviet social experimentation. Brought up as a small child in a Siberian village, he becomes separated from his mother during the terrible famine of 1933 , and has never seen her since (till the events of the story). When the old people of the villages round about get together , they discuss the fates which befell their families at the times of "dekulakization," so that we know this is a memory which is still living, indeed dominant , in the villagers' life .... The collectivization, dekulakization, and famine form the setting in which Egor's life must be seen. 17 Under the circumstances, Egor has learned to live as best he could. Like the tragic love story of Ondras which ends in his death, the search of Egor for his much desired freedom also ends unhappily with his d eath . It is notewo rthy that among the various meanings associated with the kalina plant (in the title and the song sung in a couple of places in the story) is one with a tragic love quality. "According to popular SLOVAKIA 123 belief, the red kalina berry is a symbol of first love, more often than not, of unhappy love." 18 In Egor's search for volja, d eath prevents him from really achieving his deeply felt and loved goal of freedom. The most striking similarity of characterization b etween Ondras and Egor is their respective religious associations and interpretations. As noted above, Ondras' characterization seems to resemble the depiction of Isaiah's Suffering Servant extended in Christian interpretation to J esus Christ. Egor, whose nickname is Gore (Grief/Sorrow) (212/132), can also be seen as refl ecting the Suffering Servant. Even more , however, Donald Fiene contends and shows extensively that the story of Egor Prokudin makes sense psychologically and literarily only if we see it as a modern hagiograph y modeled on the ancient Russian saints' lives. What this means is that Egor's often strangely unaccountable pacifistic behavior is ... the embodiment of an ancient Russian ideal of kenotic martyrdom exemplified by Boris and Gleb, the first saints canonized by the Russian church . What is of interest in Boris and Gleb is . .. that they yielded voluntarily to dea th. Ultimately, this act of nonresistance becomes a national Ru ssian feature, which G . P . Fedotov in the Russian R eligious Mind considers an "authentic religious discovery of the newly-converted Russian Christians . '' 19 Allegorically, Egor is a disciple of the Russian Christ both as an innocent sufferer in the tradition of the suffering Ru ssian p eople (the narod) 20 and as a voluntary sufferer in the kenotic tradition of Boris and Gleb . But in the Ru ssian kenotic tradition , the Christian is not m erely a follower of Christ , but an imitator of him. One is saved only through suffering in the image of a meek and suffering Christ. 21 In his death, then , Egor, like Ondras, is not acting foolishl y or even commiting suicide. Indeed, in his dying , Egor shows a certain forgetfuln ess of self in hi s own unfolding tragedy. As he is dying, he implores L yu ba : " 'Mo ney .. .' Egor strained to get out his last words . 'in jacket. .share it. .. with my mothe r. . .' "(272/197) In the film , to spare Lyuba the sight of him dying, he sends her for some water nearby. When she returns, he is dead. In response to his death , P etro, Lyuba's brother, then chases the gan g in his truck a nd drives them an d their car into 124 SLOVAKIA th e ri ve r. G ood does triumph ove r ev il even if, o r pe rh a p s more appropriately sa id, especially if there has bee n some selfl ess sacrifi ce of life . In th e Christian view of life, the death of Egor , like that of Ondras , becomes m eaningful a nd in some way even bene fi cial fo r ot hers ' sake. n At first sight, a comparison of Kukucfn with Shukshin is provocative but somewhat farfetched . Chronologically, they a re not co ntempora ries. Kuku cfn died in 1928, while Shukshin was born in 1929 . They may both be Slavs ·but from distinctly diffe re nt n a tional gro up s - the b as icall y C a tholic or Lutheran , Western Slav ic Slovaks vs. the Ru ss ian Orthodox, Easte rn Slavic Ru ssians. Eve n more, the soc iet ies a nd a udie n ces of these two a uthQrs a re d ec id edly di stin ctive. For Kuku cfn , society m ay be ex pe rie ncing some of the e ffects of urba nization , but for Shukshin , urbani zed livin g is the predomin a nt mode of ex istence that e ncroaches even upon re mote rural coll ect ions. In his writing , Kuku cfn con veys a " fightin g cha nce" for village life, while Shukshin depicts rather nostalgicall y country livin g which is found in creasingly furth er from the primary co nce rn s of Soviet n at ional consciou sness. These diffe re nces, then , betwee n Kuku cfn a nd Shukshin a re re fl ect io n s of time a nd socie ty , of histor ical, cultural background . The two writers are similar or co ncur precisely in valu es a nd perspect ives that transce nd tim e, culture , a nd society. In the writings o f both , th ere i~ a d e finit e d es ire for freedom - a hum a ne freedom whi ch is often assoc iated with n a tural set tings. Ind eed , both a utho rs show a great se n sit iv ity to nat ure a nd its beaut y in hum an li ving. In Kuku cfn, as wel l as in Shukshin , there is a d e finit e se nse o f the tra n sce nde ntal, espec ially as ex pre ·sed th rough the J udaeo Chri stia n traditi o n . D o nald Fiene conte nds tha t es peciall y in " Snowball Be rr y- R ed ," '' Shukshin 's basic m essage is ... all m e n a re Christ; we must love one a not her o r die. " 23 And as Geoffrey H os kin g has noted: "Shuk shin h as red iscovered an d dram a ti zed m a n 's dri ve towa rds the t ra n sce nd e nt a l , whi ch M a rxi sm d e ni ed a nd Socia li st R eali sm di storted. " 24 Th e importance of C h r isti an love a nd to le rance, a nd the stro n g feelin g th at these a re in so m e way integral to vill age li fe is evid ent in bo th write rs: Christian se lfless ness is worthy co ndu ct , eve n if its conseq ue nce is as drastic as death, whi le ac tion s pursu ed for th e sake o f money or through the m edium o f mon ey o ffer little, if any, real human happin ess. It might th e n be sa id that Kuku cfn a nd Shukshin do differ in some obvious ways but substantively rese mbl e each othe r a nd even SLOVAKIA 125 concur in principles of human li ving that are in ext ri cably pa rt of and especially evident in rural life. NOTES ' Vasil y Shukshin , " K alina krasnaj a," Kin opovesti (M oscow: Isku ss tvo , 1975), pp . 205-72 ; " Snowba ll Berry-Red ," S nowball Berry-R ed and Oth er Stories, D onald Fiene, ed. (Ann Arbor, Michi gan : Ardis , 1979), pp . 125 -199. H ereaft er , references for qu otations from this wo rk will be given in the text with Ru ssia n page number(s) first , th en those for th e Engli sh ve rsion . ' The stories a re taken from the criti cal edition of Kuku cfn 's works: M artin Kuku cin : Die/o , M arian na Prfdav kova- Min a rikova , ed ., 21 vols. (Brati slava, 195 7-74). An English translation of all three is in Seven Slovak Stories by M artin Kukucfn , Norma Rudin sky, tr. and ed . (Clevela nd and Rom e: Slova k I nstitute , 1980). H ereaft er , volu me a nd page refere nces of th e Slovak ve rsion are give n in the text. ' Juliu s N oge, Martin Kukucfn: tradicionalista a novator (Zivot a die/o 1860-1 907) (Brat islava: Y yd avatel'stvo Slove nskej akademie v ied, 1962), p . 75. • The phrase Dies irae co mes from Zephaniah 1:15: "A day of wrath is th at d ay, a d ay o f distress and angui sh , a day of ruin a nd devastat ion , a day of d a rkn ess and gloom ," Th e New Ox fo rd Annotated Bible with th e Apocryph a (New Yo rk : O xford University Press, 1977) , p . 1141 . 5 Noge, p. 182. 6 N oge , p . 183. ' On pages 85 and 86, Noge discusses Kuku cfn 's familiarity with and documentary- like prese ntat ion of th e sa/a s. 8 Michel H elle r , " Vasil y Shukshin: In Search of Freedom ," George G utsche, tr. , Sn owball Berry -R ed and Och er Stories, Donald Fiene , ed. (A nn Arbor, Michigan : Ardi s, 1979),), pp . 2 15 an d 2 17 especiall y. For volja , see: " Snowba ll ," 205 / 125; 207 / 128; 208/ 128; 2 18/ 139; 248/ 171 ; a nd 253/ 177. On page 225, H elle r notes that in his stories , " Shukshin 's hero is look ing for freedom .... The sea rch ... bears a speculative character, a philosophical character. In Shukshin 's world an answe r to the 'main quest ions' is sought with unu sual intensity, with a powerful pass ion : I n what is the mean ing of life, what is death , wha t is God ?" 9 Besides those cited, see also: 253/ 177 a nd 263/ 188-1 89. On pages 228-29, H eller notes that in th e film ve rsion , a " white church - and th e white birches - appea r on th e sc ree n each time Egor P ro kudin pond ers the mea nin g of his life.'' 0 ' On th·e histo ry and culture of va/asi , especiall y in Slovaki a, see: Gerald J. Sabo , "Slova k Didac ti c Poet ry: G av lovic's V alask a Skala, V olum e I - Introdu ctory Stud y, " Ph .D . d isse rt at ion , Yale, 1978, pp . 37-38 a nd rela ted footno tes. Also , J an Podolak, " The Pas toral C ul ture o f th e Carpathi ans as a Subjec t of an Ethnological Study , " E thn ologica s/avica, 1 ( 1969), especiall y 70-77; a nd Encyklopedia Slovenska , Y I ( 1982) , sub verbo " Valasi," " Y a lass ka l'udova pieseil. ," a nd " V a!ass ke pravo ." For oth er sources , see foo tnote 24 of m y a rticl e on Hu golfn Gav lovic in cluded in th is journal issue. 126 SLOVAKIA " N oge , p . 183. " In her in trodu ctory commentary for Dies irae, N orma Rudin sky is probabl y the first crit ic to d iscuss Kuku cfn 's fa vorable depiction of M oj zis; this portrayal contras ts with those of other J ewish characters in Kukucin and other Slovak writers where the J ewish fi gure is d epicted in th e negative tones of ant i-Semi tism : Seven Slovak Stories by M artin Kuku cfn , pp . 160-62. " Indeed , the narrator as Kukucin 's persona comments in two places especially to make clear the indictmen t of Sykora and fathers like him who treat their children so poo rly: Dies irae, (V , 367 -68). Acco rdin g to Noge (p. 138), Kuku cin wro te in a lette r to Skultety that the authori al comm enta ry on page 367 noted above was a very importan t part of the text. W ere it to be removed, Kukucin would have bee n "gri eved ." " In contemporar y, standard Slova k, hu sar is a hussar : Slo vnfk slo ven sk eh o j azyk a: I die], a-k , 2nd editi on (Bratislava: Vyd ava tel'stvo Slovenskej akad emie vied , 197 1), p . 542. T hat hu sar also can m ean a gooseherd (hu siar in contem po rary, standard Slova k) is clear from K a rel Kalal and Mi ros lav K alal, Sloven sk y slovn fk z literatury aj n arecf (Banska Bys trica: Slovenska gra fi a, 1923), p . 192. " Indeed , the fire, even Ond ras' death , seem in a way to be G od's response to the word s ofOnd ras ' aunt ju st a short time before the fire is noti ced : " W ell let God's will (vol'a boiia) be done. I entru st everything to Him . H e knows best what is needed" (II , 219). For Zu zka, her wedding day will always rem ain a sad even t; fo r her moth er, her precious goose tha t perishes in the fire will be gone fo rever , but for Ondras , death in th e fire see m s almos t a blessing. " Donald Fiene, "Vasily Shukshin 's 'Kalina krasania ', " Snowball Berry-R ed and O ther Stories, D onald Fiene, ed . (Ann A rbor , Michi gan : Ardis, 1979), pp. 2 11-1 2, footnote 12. Michel H eller notes this same informati on on page 217. 11 G eoffrey H oskin g, " V asily Shukshin ," Beyond Socialist R ealism : S oviet Fiction Since I van D enisovich (New York : H olmes a nd M eier Publishers, I nc., 1980), p . 166. " Fiene, p . 202. 19 Th e Ru ssian R eligious Min d (I ), volume 3 in the Collected Wo rks of George P . Fed otov (Belmont , M ass: N ordland Publishin g C ompan y, 1975) p . 104. 0 ' In his foo tn ote 12 (pp . 211-1 2), Fiene notes tha t Fat Li p's comments about Ego r as a mu zhik in Ru s' emphas ize in the fil m Egor as a symbolic represe ntati ve of the sufferin g n arod. H e also ind icates tha t Fat Lip ' s co mments do not appear in the published film sc ript . Fiene hi mself used as the text for th ese comments the ve rsion of them quoted by J urii Tiurin in ' ' 'Kalina k rasn aia ' - kin opovest' i fil'm , '' M osk va, 4 (1976), 194 . " Fiene, pp. 206-07 . " M y m em ory of the film 's endin g is not perfect , but I do recall th a t th e last sce ne, unli ke that of the pu blished story, has Lyuba mentally recalling wo rds by Ego r about living, about wha t it mean s to li ve and how one should live. T here m ay also have bee n menti oned so methin g about pass ing th is info rm a ti on on to othe rs an d oth er genera tions. If eve n a pa rt of wh a t I have noted is correct , this woul d furth er affirm the m eanin gfuln ess and benefit of Egor 's life and deat h . " Fiene, p . 2 11 . M ichel H eller notes on page 229: " The th eme of fa ith and God whi ch parallels the th em e of death - occu pies a place in Shukshin 's short stories SLOVAKIA 127 that gradually becomes more and more noticable.'' And also on page 23 2, in Shukshin's stories, the " hero . .. fill s the emptiness in his soul with a faith in Russia which is more and m ore oft en symbolized by a church. " " Hosking, p. 179 . Presented in Pa nel 65 , " The Village in Slovak Literature," at the AAASS conventi on in Asiloma r , C alifornia on 21 September 1981.  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 Kukučín's Village Stories and Shukshin's "Snowball Berry-Red" Description An account of the resource Gerald J. Sabo Slovakia, Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83 pp. 112-127 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sabo, Gerald J., 1945–2020 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/63368ebaa2d773b9a3c2b7630775e8f8.pdf 98018628eb3c119083d7cff21b39a0ee PDF Text Text 100 SLOVAKIA The Slovak Fairytale Tradition and J.R.R. Tolkien's ''Eucatastrophe'' in the Realistic Stories of Martin Kukucfn Norm a L. Rudinsky Although Martin Kukucfn is primarily and consciously a realistic author, there are noticeable remnants of the fairytale tradition in hi s short stories about Slovak village life. This is not surprising as fairytales were still very popular amon g the Slovak public that Kuku cfn wanted to reach in 1880-1900 ; Slovak folk literature in general and fairytales in particular remained an active part of Slovak cultural life and were universally very popular mu ch later than in most other European countries. The unu su ally long-lastin g oral tradition and the scarcity of written literature in Slovak until the 18th century made the Slovaks cling to their fairytales as vital evidence of their ancient n ational existence, since this folk literature had not been a ppropriated by the ruling M agyar or G erm an cultures, nor eve n by the Czech culture of Bohem ia and M oravia . This is the atmosphere in which Slovak literary realism began , and, of course, prose village realism essentially began with Kuku cfn. It a ppears that , co nsciously a nd probably unco nsciously, Kuku cfn kept some of the fairytale elements that were famili ar and "natural" to the co mmon readers he wanted to reach, even though he did not picture the knights , princesses, and witches of traditional tales, but instead the farme r , the hired hand , and the mayor of the real Slovak vi ll age in 1880-1894 . Num erous elem ents of folklore, superstition, and tradition al folk cu stoms have been cited in Kuku cfn's early stories.' Besides these in cidental similarities to folk literature, many of Kukucfn's central plots suggest the fairytale in one critical respect : they usually have a happy ending. This similarity is Kuku cfn 's m ost important rela tion to the fairytale tradition of hi s tim e, and the only relation that I shall �SLOVAKIA 101 take up here . Kuku cfn 's usu al happy ending may come suddenly and without mu ch prepa rat ion , a nd ce rtainl y it is not typical for a realist a uthor. In fact, his forced ha ppy endings are a puzzle in Kukucfn ' s work and co nstitute a problem for the criti c to expl ain. I rej ec t the idea that he was too ca reless or un skillful to write otherwise, or that he was simply following the tradition of his time, as he was too innovative for that. I think Kukucfn chose to e nd his stories this way , so the question is why did he force a happy e nding from materi al tha t could more naturall y be sad ? Th e result so m e times see ms sentimental, but it is not the sentim e ntalism of Thom as Hardy or Charles Dicke ns, who "milk" a sad sce ne . Kuku cfn neve r milks a sad scene. In fact, he has few such scenes, or he ends them hap pily after all. M a ny critics have commented upon this fact: Kuku cfn seldom shows a characte r suffering very long; he kills off ve ry few characters; he never shows evil triumphing; he seldom shows a merely moral victory in an o therw ise defeated characte r. Although there are a few except ions and some of hi s most ironic stories are ambivalent, Kukucfn , as Alexander Matuska has said, "sees evil but doesn't point a finge r at it. " 1 For this reaso n , I think, Kukucfn was for a long tim e regarded as o nl y a comi c writer, despite the fact tha t his themes a re often ve ry serious. The hap py e ndin g in Kuku cfn's work has b een analyzed by the pe rceptive Bra tislava critic O skar Cepan partly in Freudian terms of in fa ntil e repression of co nflict ing motives: " Kukucfn 'represses' confli ct ing motives a nd 'transfers' them to the infantile-archaic environment of the 'famil y nest.' " 3 Not being a Freudian I think Cepan's expl a na tion cove rs onl y part of the ground , a nd I am instead inclin ed to ex plain Kuku cfn ' s h appy endin gs in te rm s of his conscious beliefs as well as the unconscious desire for ha rmony and peace which Cepan writes of. The cleares t and most obvious belief of Kuku cfn , of cou rse, was his C hri stian faith . Particularly the critics Stanislav M eciar and Cyril Potocek have em phasized the C hri stia n them es of Kukucfn 's work , ranging from early sto ri es su ch as Dve cesty, Vianocne oblatky, a nd Zo stupna na stupen to th e last no vels, es pecially Mat' vola. 4 So, the seco nd part of my thesis here is that Kukucfn's fairytale-like happy ending , besides reflecting the then-curre nt Slovak interest in fairytales, also refl ects Kuku cfn 's ow n Christian optimism. To expla in a nd su pport this thesis , I should like to use the co n cept �102 SLOVAKIA of "eucatastrophe " that was developed by the English author J .R.R . Tolkien, the leading 20th-century creator of medieval fairytales , in his Andrew Lang lecture and essay '' On Fairy-stories .' ' For T olkien , much of the appeal of fairytal es lies in the Escape they provide, and he defends such escapism not as the "Flight of the D eserter " but as the "Escape of the Prisoner ,'' or the consolation of escaping imaginatively from the inev itable pains and evils of life. 5 The greatest consolation in fairytales is that of the Happy Ending, for which Tolkien made up the word "eucatastrophe": "the good catastrophe , the sudden joyous 'turn' " of the plot in contrast to the " dyscatastroph e of sorrow and failure." The eucatastrophe, Tolkien says, "denies universal final defeat " and is the "evangelium" (pp. 85-86). The religiou s suggestion of this word "evangelium" is made explicit when Tolkien says the joy of the happy ending can " be explained as a sudden glimpse of the underlying reality or truth '' of human life; the Eucatastrophe of a story is like the R esurrection in Christian history, and the R esurrection of Christ is the eucatastrophe of real life (p. 88). This is , very briefly, the theory of fairytales that governed Tolkien 's creation of his famous books Th e Hobbit and The Lord of th e Rings . The ''Consolation '' of a happy ending was apparently needed personally by Tolkien , whose fervent Catholicism was strongly tinged by Jansenism with its scrupulosity and depression. His biographer Humphrey Carpenter cites Tolkien's unpublished diary as evidence that he " was capable of bouts of profound despair , " 6 and says he " took an almost tragic view of himself as a weak man - which was another cause of his deep troughs of pessimism . '' 7 There is no indication of J ansenism in Kukucfn 's Christianity , during either his Lu theran or his R om an Catholic period ; in fact, the Jansenist heresy seems to have been more of a French, Irish, and English phenomenon than a Slavic one. But there is ample evidence that Kuku cfn too suffered a t times from severe depression. A s Stefan Krcmery wrote of him , The objectivity of Kuku cfn ' s art is deliberate . H e penetrated with th at sight of his into things and people so that he would not fall into th at internal sadness of his. H e lau ghed so that he would not weep .. . . There are things in life that just cannot be explained . Such are the roots of Kuku cfn ' s pessim ism . Did it com e from his feeling of sadness as a transplanted plant? Did it com e intellectually from hi s study? Philosophically , �SLOVAKIA 103 Dostoevsky and T olstoy reached most deeply into his soul. But his pessimism , even in its origins, has the stamp of the pessimism of great souls. It colors them as the dark side of their heroism . 8 Scarcely recognized by the reading public of Kukucfn 's time , this underlying pessimism and almost inadvertent sadness are more easily recognizable today . As Oskar Cepan says, Kukucfn 's ' realism ' today shows itself from a different side, and appears in a different light. It has unexpected lines . . . . More and more, we are today intrigued by his ' hidden planes,' his difficult-to-understand subtext, especially his risky balance on the ceaselessly vibrating metonymic border between epic assurance and dramatic doubt. Kukucfn's objectivity and mild humor conceal within themselves also the tinge of an indefinable and fleeting nostalgia, which is close to the most tragic chord known then to Slovak literature. 9 Thus, Kukucfn too , like Tolkien , may have personally needed the solace and consolation of the happy ending in his own creative life . '' Eu catastrophe,'' however, is not just a matter of personal need and satisfaction . Tolkien refers also to the social value of su ch consolation in the modern world of pollution , alienation , wars, depressions, and totalitarian power , in addition to the eternal evils : But there are also other and more profound "escapisms" that have always appeared in fairy-tale and legend . There are other things more grim and terrible to fly from than the noise, stench, ruthlessness, and extravagance of the internal-combustion machine . There are hunger, thirst, poverty, pain, sorrow , injustice , death . And even when men are not facing hard things such as these, there are ancient limitations from which fairy-stories offer a sort of escape. (p. 83) For Kukucfn, this social benefit in the fictional representation of ultim ate divine justice was probably even more important than it was for Tolkien , because Kukucfn ' s fiction was consciously didactic , as Tolkien's was not. In fact, almos t all of Slavic literary realism was didactic and se rved extra-literary functions not found in other literatu re because of the historical conditions of its origin . 10 In the Slovak students' club in Prague , called " D etvan," there were several arguments about the mean- �104 SLOVAKI A ing of realism and the rela tive valu e o f th e Ru ssia n a nd th e Fren ch schools. Kukucfn preferred the Ru ssia n reali sts becau se of th eir edu ca tional effect in a backwa rd society. 11 Criti cs agree th a t Kuku cfn delibera tely wrote about the Slovak v ill a ge for the Slovak vill age r in the speech o f the Slovak vill a ge r. 11 H e wrote for the purpose of raising the consciousness of the d owntrodden Slovak p easant , as he him self later explained in rejecting th e hope of El ena Mar6thy- Soltesova ( expressed in her novel Prati pnidu ) th a t the Slovak gentry wo uld fin ally resist Magyarization and begin to w a ke the Slovak comm o ne rs from '' their dream of self-forge tfuln ess.'' T o accomplish thi s awakenin g, the writer should combat the p assivity a nd d espair th a t ch aracte ri zed mu ch o f Slovak public life at thi s tim e - just afte r the M a ti ca slovenska and the three Slovak high school s were closed . 13 Th e re we re even fa mines in Orava at this time , whi ch Kuku cfn d escribed in Czech a rticles whose fund a ppeals w ere d esign ed to stin g the M agyar a uth orities into a id fo r the a rea . 14 C ertainly these we re compelling rea son s fo r Kuku cfn 's quiet but d efinite didacti c purpose eve n in his early hum o rou s ta les . In summary , then , I believe there were probably three forces pushin g Kukucfn to m a ke a ha ppy endin g for his sto ri es wh ere o ne mi ght expect a sadder outcome: 1) The living tradition o f the fair ytal e in the Slovak vill age of hi s tim e; 2) Kukucfn's own Christia n optimism and hi s "smile ove r hi s tears ' ' ; 3) His d ete rmination to chee r a nd en courage the d ow n trodden villager for whom h e wrote . P erh aps Kukucfn hon estl y could n ot bear to show sadn ess, fa ilure , a nd inju stice in hi s fi ction when these ev il s we re so comm on in the Slovak life of thi s tim e. N ow I should like to support these ideas with several example stories about Slovak village life, all of th em a mong Kuku cfn 's m os t celebra ted a nd ce rtainl y amon g his fin est stories. 15 First R ysava jalovica (The M o ttled H eife r , V ol. II ) is a n out- a nd out com ed y, a nd ver y su ccessful - no one would ask fo r a sad e ndin g to it! H ere the happy outcome is compl etely in keepin g w ith th e comi c plot a nd style; th e goodna tured drunk a rd Ada m Krt is a ch a rmin g caricature a nd th e pl o t is a n all ego ry so th a t K rt 's sudden reform a nd �SLOVAKIA 105 co nsequent wealth are e mine ntl y suitable to the sto ry. Krt is a classic und erdog hero - sm all , ridiculed , but cl ever in hi s ow n way; his trips to th e fair a nd then to find the lost heifer are a qu est from which h e re turn s victorious to everyone's a m azem ent. The subsidiary anecdotes , a bout the m ayo r 's troubles with the broken ha nd on the town cl ock , the feud betwee n Krt a nd hi s neighbor Trnka over a n a nn y goat a nd a rooster, a nd the d og with its head cau ght in a churn , are pure farce a nd their tone su pports the comic victory of Krt. No wonde r it was Kukucfn 's most popular story, a nd people asked for " m ore about Krt. " 16 The second exampl e, Neprebuden y (Vol. II ) is equally su ccessful , but in the oppos ite way . The titl e Neprebuden y m eans "The Unawakened" in th e m ascu lin e sin gul a r , a nd by writing of a youn g m a n who is m entall y retarded Kuku cfn in vokes the tradition of the " h oly idiot." Thi s sto ry is unique amo n g his work in b ein g trul y tragic , a nd each of th e characte rs is scarred by th e goose herd 's di scove ry of th e dece ption pract iced upon him b y the vill age bell e and h er fami ly, the n hi s subseque n t d eath in the fire that end s the wedd in g feast. Th e re is forebodin g irony throughout the story in the pun on the words husar as "gooseherd " a nd husar as "cavalryman," and this foreshadowin g is fulfill ed when the hu sar is killed tryin g to save a me re goose a nd her goslin gs in a burnin g barn. The story is really an anti-fairytale in which Kukucfn explicitly rejec ts the co nve ntion al roman ce. The gooseherd dream s of a princess in a cas tl e , the n awake ns to the teas ing of th e vill age b elle who am uses he rself by lettin g him think she will marry him . Thi s contrast between fa iryla nd a nd real life is d eveloped throu ghout the story . Neprebudeny is the closest of Kuku cfn 's stori es to th e French naturali sm of, fo r ex a mpl e , Em il e Zola , a nd it may have been a n ex perime nt on Kuku cfn 's pa rt , to imi tate Zola . If it was a n ex pe rim ent , it was on e Kuku cfn did not care to repeat , a nd late r (in 1925) he wrote to a fri end th a t he saw " no thin g spec ial" in Nepreb udeny. 17 An othe r trul y tragic story is Drotarove Vian oce (The Tinker ' s C hri st m as, Vol. III) , whi ch dramatizes a n incid e nt in the M agyar government 's actual campaign to assign Slovak children to M agyar far m fam ili es in southern Hun gary, chan gin g their names a nd preventin g their , return to Slovak a reas. T heo re ti call y all we re orph a ns, but not in realit y, a nd thi s story shows a fami ly 's failure to find their so n . H oweve r , Kuku cfn published this sto ry onl y in C zech in Bohemi a; thu s it was n ot one of hi s stories fo r th e ge neral Slovak read e r , in pa rt because it wou ld �106 SLOVAKIA have been dangerou s to print it in Hungary . Also, it was not included in his collected works published in the new Czechoslovakia. Several important stories have ironic, even ambivalent endings , such as K ed' bacik z Chochol'ova umrie (When M y Uncle from Chocholov Passes Away , Vol. IV) , which shows the co rruptive influence of an impoverished gentleman's great expectations of inheritance . Also , some stories have well-worked out happy endings to a spiritual conflict, such as an old woman's effort to understand and accept the fact that her neighbor ' s only son reached manhood and a happy wedding while her own only son had died as a young man , in D ve cesty (Two paths, Vol. V) . Another example is seen in the attempt of a young school-teacher to comprehend his vocation as willing servant to the com munity but not subservient to any individual , when he was expected to bake the traditional wafers for the whole village, in Vianocn e oblatky (Christmas Wafers, Vol. IV) . The story Zo stupna n a stupen (Going Down Step by Step, Vol. V) also shows a spiritual victory but it is only briefl y narrated , not dramatized , and the man 's happiness in poverty is only asserted, not presented . These effective happy endings , howeve r , are uncommon . The story that best illustrates my point that Kukucfn chose to force a happy ending where he could more naturally have had a sadder end, is Dies irae ... (The Day of Wrath , Vol. V) . It is a very successful story , which Bratislava critic Julius N oge calls one of the fin est in Slovak literature . 18 Dies irae is the account of a cholera epidemic, yet not one of the main characters dies. It is also the account of a spendthrift mayor who has abandoned his first love when she was expecti n g hi s child in order to marry someone else for m oney, yet he is punished only in his own view of himself. It is also the account of a miserly father whose selfishness drives out both his sons before he loses his fortune to thieves and cheating partners, yet he is able to win back one and perhaps both of his sons . The two characters, the mayor and the miser , reverberate with irony, and Kukuci'.n makes clear their moral imperfections , yet at the end he allows them all to live happily ever after. The abandoned woman loses her bitterness and her desire for revenge when she sees the mayor 's chagrin (it is not true humility), and the youn g lovers are not separated by cholera, nor by the miserly father . The last se ntence is " Now finally at the richtar's house there was peace, both the external kind and , above all, the peace that no one can take away" (p. 37 1). �SLOVAK IA 107 The story su cceed s, but I think it would have been even more moving if it h ad not end ed so well. A clear contrast to Kukucfn 's optimism is seen in the work ofBozena Slancfkova, p seudony m Timrava (1867-1951), whose long story T apa.kovci (The Tapak C la n , 1914) shows a family ' s stubborn, unimaginative adh eren ce to repressive old customs and its ill-tempered resista nce to the effort of a young bride to revamp the household. There is very little liberating humor a nd there is a much grimmer irony than Kukucfn 's iro n y would have been in the " h appy " ending whereby the bride gets a new house and the rest of the Tapak clan can stay contentedly crowded together in the old hom estead . 19 Several factors must have caused this difference between Kukucfn and Timrava . One would be the development o f their personalities, of course, but also there ar e philosophic contrasts. For example, the so-called " Tolstoyan " emphasis in Kukucfn' s Christianity is not present in Timrava ; in fact, Christian themes are less noticeable in Tim rava's work, and incipient fem inist themes are prese nt. But the sh ift in satiric to n e also com es from the historical development of' 'critical' ' realism out of classical realism , and, I believe , from the d ecreased popularity of fairytal es and other folk literary forms as the Slovak edu cat ional level rose and industrialization spread during the 20th ce ntury. Kukucfn was o b v iously aware of hi s tenden cy to gloss over some of the problems of real life becau se he wrote of it in a story published the year before Dies irae. In Po d eviatich rokoch (Afte r Nine Years, Vol. V), he has o ne of his roman ti c h ero ines return a nd accuse him ( as the a uthor) of a bandoning h er after the wedding b y n ot writing a nother story about the con fli cts that occu r within marriage. But Kukucfn allows himself to a n swer his heroin e with the easy excu se that read ers like romantic plots a bout young love, n ot domestic conflicts; thus, h e does not actuall y face the problem . H owever, later ( 1903) h e may have tried to work ou t this proble m in his novel D om v strani ( House on the Hillside) , which is about exactl y that same subj ect : the conflicts that would come if the wealthy landow ner 's so n Niko were to marry the simple peasant 's daughte r K at ica, since they are un suited b y their diffe rent upbringing and edu cation as well as by their different dispositions. 10 The novel is not a C inderella story, because Kukucfn is clearly on the n on-romantic side of class distin ctions and g ives no fairytal e endin g to this novel. It is worth noting , h owever, that even in this novel Kuku cfn does not ac- �SLOVAKIA tually show domestic conflicts resulting from an unsuita ble m arriage, because he prevents the marriage from occurring. With Dom v strani, howeve r , I am out of stories into novels, and Kukucfn was no longer writing in the fairytale tradition . Kukucfn wrote little of the origins of his work , saying only that he had learned to write from hearing and admiring the speech of the Slovak villagers in J asenova. 21 As he nowhere gave his theory of lite rature, it is only psychological speculation that his interior motiva tion was similar to Tolkien 's. Also, there can be no question of influence between Kukucfn and Tolkien, because of diffe rences in time and in language . Nor was Tolkien's specifically Christian theory offairytales anticipated in Slovak discussions of "fantasticke rozpravky," to my knowl edge. Y et the similarity is not really surprising with two writers whose Christian world view is impressed throughout their work. Tolkien's conce ption offairytales is a variation of the classic aesthetic theory that literature represents the underlying reality of huma n life, with or without the "realistic" detail of the surface phenom en a . Unfortunately, this same theory also covers the desire of many third-rate writers, including both the melodramatist and the socialist realist, to directly illustrate a clear moral ideal by rewarding goodness and punishing evil ; so whenever the didactic desire to teach and to reform becomes stronger than the artistic d esire to reveal and to express, a weakened literary effect b ecom es apparent. In some of Kukucfn 's stories, the result (as already stated), is a more or less sudden wrenching of a potential " dyscatastrophe " into a ''eucatastrophe.'' The ultimate cause of this wrench , b es ides whatever internal motivat ion lay in Kukucfn ' s creative personality, probably has to b e seen in the very h a rsh social and political structures of late 19th century Hungary. These unju st conditions stimulated a nd even forced Kukucfn to picture realistically (for the first tim e in Slovak prose) the life of the common villager, but they also stimulated a nd forced him to soften his realism with a hap p y e nding. In this way , he would not overwhelm the downtrodde n villagers ( or the dishearten ed Slovak intellectuals) with a full picture of the ir truly discouragin g lot but would instead encourage them and awaken them from their "drama of self-forge tfulness." Thus , we see 1) another illustration of the ge neral truth that literature results from the conjuncture of a particular writer with the intell ectual co nditions and the social audience of his time, a nd 2) a nothe r example of the fact that earlier Slovak culture mu st be a n a - �SLOVAKIA 109 lyzed a nd evaluated in relation to the severe limitation s impressed upo n it b y the hi sto rical conditions of Hungary . D espite the weak e ndings o f many of Kuku cfn 's stories, h e achieved a striking synthesis of both "seeing the evil " and expressin g his d eliberate Christian optimism; hi s synthesis remains as witness to a very difficult ye t promising p e riod in Slovak literar y history. It should also serve as a re minder that wherever fairytales a re a serious part o f a culture, they must also be take n seriou sly b y literary crit ics . In fac t , fairytales may h ave played a hidde n a nd unu su al role in Slovak lite r a ture simply b ecau se of the historical conditions r eferred to already. For example, Alexander M atuska su ggests that the m odern noveli st J ozef Ciger H ronsky was influ enced b y fairytales with " their natural and also unn atural a tmosph e re, their shifting border between the real a nd th e the unreal. " 11 Under this influence, Hronsky d evelop ed his unique blend of observation and realism with poe try and lyricism - a realism which stops beside d e tail but d oes n ot stop at detail, a realism to which n eithe r the miraculous nor the grotesque is foreign; and a poetry which magically fascinates u s b y its everyday subj ect and pull s u s toward deeper ideas, to the meaning of ex isten ce. 13 Probably the greatest noveli st in Slovak , Hron sk y is at o n ce one o f the most Slovak of writers and one of the m ost worldly and cosmopolitan in technique a nd style. It is ironic a nd revealing of the histo rical sp ecifics of Slovak literature that fairytales were apparently a mong the forces that led Hronsky to th e techniques that relate his work to European n atu ralism, expressio nism , a nd surrealism , to P rou st, J oyce, K a fka, and M usi l. 14 Su ch a force cannot be neglected in any p eriod. NOTES For exam ple. V iera Gasparfkova , "Prvky l'udovej kultury V Kuku cfnovej drobnej pr6ze , '' in Martin Kukucfn v kritike a spomien k ach: Sbornfk (Bratislava: Slovenske Vydavatel's tvo Kras nej Li teratury , 1957) , pp. 360-404. This book reprints a t least major parts of most known criti cism a nd recollections of Kuku cfn up to the time of its printing; hereafter Sbornfk. ' Alex ander M a tuska, " Doslov," in Sbornfk, p. 921. All translation s from Slovak are min e. ' O skar C epan, Kuku cfnove epick e istoty (Brati slava: Tatran , 1972), pp. 267 -68. I �110 SLOVAKIA • Stanislav Meciar, Kuku cfn i ivy, 2 vols. (B uenos Aires, 1958 and 1960); Cy ril J. Potocek, M artin Kuku cfn: A Link between Two Worlds (Passaic, N .J .: Slovak Catholic Sokol, 1943). William E. Harkins has perceptively summ ari zed Kuku cin's "expressive symbol of the truth tha t m an li ves under G od's judgment, and that he would d o well therefore to li ve justly," "Foreword," Seven Slovak Stories by Martin Kuku cfn , trans . and edited by Norma Leigh Rudi nsky (R ome: Slovak Institute, 1980) , p . ix . For a full a nd rich treatment of this idea, see G. J. Sabo, " Kuku cfn 's Village Stories and Shuksin 's 'Snowball Berry-R ed,' "Slovakia, XXX (1982-83), this issue. 5 J .R .R . T olkien , " On Fairy-stories," in T he Tolkien R eader (New York : Ballantine Books, 1966), p . 79. Further references a re give n in the tex t . • Humph rey Carpenter,J.R .R . Tolkien (London : George Allen & Unwin Ltd ., 1977), p. 3 1. 7 Carpen ter, p. 129 . ' Stefan Krcmery, Stopiit'desiat rokov slovenskej literatury (M artin 1943), II , 50, quoted here from Cepan , Epick e istoty, p. 24 and 253-54. ' Cepan, Epick e istoty, p . 19 . 0 ' Dmitrij Cizevskij , Comparative History of Slavic Literatures, trans. Richa rd Noel P orter and M artin P . Rice, ed. Serge A . Zenkovsky (Baltimore: Vanderbilt U ni versity Press, 197 1), pp. 164-75. " Milos Tomcik, " Z problem a tiky Kukucin ovej tvorby v Prazskom obdobi ," in S bornfk , pp . 167 -68; see also selections from the " D etva n " minutes in M a rtin Kuku cin , Dielo: Z avaine skusen osti (Bratislava: Tatran , 1971), XX , 512-14, 525-26, and 54 1-42. " C epa n , Epicke istoty, pp . 24-26 , and Cepan , " Literarno-hi storicke poznamky, " in Martin Kukucin, Dielo: R ozpravky (Bratislava: Slovenske Vydavatel'stvo Krasnej Literatury , 1957) , I , 326. " Kukucin , " Niekol'ko myslienok o romane Eleny M ar6th y-Soltesovej: Prati prudu ," in Dielo: Zavaine skusenosti, p . 400 . Further evidence of Kuku cfn 's belief in the village as the carrier of the na ti onal tradition is in my a rticl e " Preliminary Notes on Martin Kuku cin 's Criticism of Americanized Slovaks and His Opposition to the Slovak Gentry ," Slovak Studies, XVIII ( I 978), 153-67. 14 M a rtin Kuku cin , " O hladu v oravskej stolici," " Bra ti'im pod T a trami ," and " Hlad na Orave," in Dielo: Zavain e skusenosti , pp . 379-89. 15 The stori es a re in Volumes I-V of Dielo and are cited furth er in the tex t. Onl y eight of Kuku cin 's stories have been transla ted into Engl ish: R egruti by P aul Seiver in An Anthology of Czechoslovak Literature (London, 1929) and Obecne trampoty, Dedin sk y j armok, Z tepleho hniezda , R ysavajalovica, Neprebudeny, Na obecnom salasi, and Dies irae by Norma L. Rudin sky in Seven Slovak Stories of M artin Kuku cfn , op . cit . 16 Jozef Skultety , " M a rtin Kuku cin ( 17 /V .1860 - 17/V . 1920) ," in Sbornfk , p . 623 . 17 Letter to J an Cadra, in Dielo: Listy priatel'om a znam ym (Bratislava: Tatran , 1974), XXI , 202) . 18 Julius Noge, Martin Kuku cfn: Tradicionalista a novator , V ol. I (Bra tislava: V yd avatel'stvo Slovenskej Akadem ie Vied, 1962), p . 1982. �SLOVAKIA 111 " Bozena Slancikova , "Tapakovci , " Timrava, 2 vols. (Martin: Tatran, 1975), II, 413-50. 0 ' Dielo: Dom v strani (Bratislava: Slovenske Vydavatel'stvo Krasnej Literatury, 1961 ), Vol. IX. " "Odpoved' na anketu casopisu Stfedni skola," in Dielo: Zavazne skusenosti, pp. 457-58; see also his remarks on learning the best and richest Slovak from the dialects: "najkrajsou cestou k studiumu gramatikovi je studovat' dialekty, " in the minutes of the "Detvan" meetings, ibid., p. 548 . " Alexander Matuska,J.C. Hronsky (Bratislava, 1970) rpt. in Osobnosti (Slovensky Spisovatel', 1973), p. 458. " Matuska, p . 459. " Matuska, p. 458. Presented in Panel 128, "Slovak Literature as a Mirror of the National Awakening ," at the AAASS convention in Philadelphia on 8 November 1980. � 100 SLOVAKIA The Slovak Fairytale Tradition and J.R.R. Tolkien's ''Eucatastrophe'' in the Realistic Stories of Martin Kukucfn Norm a L. Rudinsky Although Martin Kukucfn is primarily and consciously a realistic author, there are noticeable remnants of the fairytale tradition in hi s short stories about Slovak village life. This is not surprising as fairytales were still very popular amon g the Slovak public that Kuku cfn wanted to reach in 1880-1900 ; Slovak folk literature in general and fairytales in particular remained an active part of Slovak cultural life and were universally very popular mu ch later than in most other European countries. The unu su ally long-lastin g oral tradition and the scarcity of written literature in Slovak until the 18th century made the Slovaks cling to their fairytales as vital evidence of their ancient n ational existence, since this folk literature had not been a ppropriated by the ruling M agyar or G erm an cultures, nor eve n by the Czech culture of Bohem ia and M oravia . This is the atmosphere in which Slovak literary realism began , and, of course, prose village realism essentially began with Kuku cfn. It a ppears that , co nsciously a nd probably unco nsciously, Kuku cfn kept some of the fairytale elements that were famili ar and "natural" to the co mmon readers he wanted to reach, even though he did not picture the knights , princesses, and witches of traditional tales, but instead the farme r , the hired hand , and the mayor of the real Slovak vi ll age in 1880-1894 . Num erous elem ents of folklore, superstition, and tradition al folk cu stoms have been cited in Kuku cfn's early stories.' Besides these in cidental similarities to folk literature, many of Kukucfn's central plots suggest the fairytale in one critical respect : they usually have a happy ending. This similarity is Kuku cfn 's m ost important rela tion to the fairytale tradition of hi s tim e, and the only relation that I shall �SLOVAKIA 101 take up here . Kuku cfn 's usu al happy ending may come suddenly and without mu ch prepa rat ion , a nd ce rtainl y it is not typical for a realist a uthor. In fact, his forced ha ppy endings are a puzzle in Kukucfn ' s work and co nstitute a problem for the criti c to expl ain. I rej ec t the idea that he was too ca reless or un skillful to write otherwise, or that he was simply following the tradition of his time, as he was too innovative for that. I think Kukucfn chose to e nd his stories this way , so the question is why did he force a happy e nding from materi al tha t could more naturall y be sad ? Th e result so m e times see ms sentimental, but it is not the sentim e ntalism of Thom as Hardy or Charles Dicke ns, who "milk" a sad sce ne . Kuku cfn neve r milks a sad scene. In fact, he has few such scenes, or he ends them hap pily after all. M a ny critics have commented upon this fact: Kuku cfn seldom shows a characte r suffering very long; he kills off ve ry few characters; he never shows evil triumphing; he seldom shows a merely moral victory in an o therw ise defeated characte r. Although there are a few except ions and some of hi s most ironic stories are ambivalent, Kukucfn , as Alexander Matuska has said, "sees evil but doesn't point a finge r at it. " 1 For this reaso n , I think, Kukucfn was for a long tim e regarded as o nl y a comi c writer, despite the fact tha t his themes a re often ve ry serious. The hap py e ndin g in Kuku cfn's work has b een analyzed by the pe rceptive Bra tislava critic O skar Cepan partly in Freudian terms of in fa ntil e repression of co nflict ing motives: " Kukucfn 'represses' confli ct ing motives a nd 'transfers' them to the infantile-archaic environment of the 'famil y nest.' " 3 Not being a Freudian I think Cepan's expl a na tion cove rs onl y part of the ground , a nd I am instead inclin ed to ex plain Kuku cfn ' s h appy endin gs in te rm s of his conscious beliefs as well as the unconscious desire for ha rmony and peace which Cepan writes of. The cleares t and most obvious belief of Kuku cfn , of cou rse, was his C hri stian faith . Particularly the critics Stanislav M eciar and Cyril Potocek have em phasized the C hri stia n them es of Kukucfn 's work , ranging from early sto ri es su ch as Dve cesty, Vianocne oblatky, a nd Zo stupna na stupen to th e last no vels, es pecially Mat' vola. 4 So, the seco nd part of my thesis here is that Kukucfn's fairytale-like happy ending , besides reflecting the then-curre nt Slovak interest in fairytales, also refl ects Kuku cfn 's ow n Christian optimism. To expla in a nd su pport this thesis , I should like to use the co n cept �102 SLOVAKIA of "eucatastrophe " that was developed by the English author J .R.R . Tolkien, the leading 20th-century creator of medieval fairytales , in his Andrew Lang lecture and essay '' On Fairy-stories .' ' For T olkien , much of the appeal of fairytal es lies in the Escape they provide, and he defends such escapism not as the "Flight of the D eserter " but as the "Escape of the Prisoner ,'' or the consolation of escaping imaginatively from the inev itable pains and evils of life. 5 The greatest consolation in fairytales is that of the Happy Ending, for which Tolkien made up the word "eucatastrophe": "the good catastrophe , the sudden joyous 'turn' " of the plot in contrast to the " dyscatastroph e of sorrow and failure." The eucatastrophe, Tolkien says, "denies universal final defeat " and is the "evangelium" (pp. 85-86). The religiou s suggestion of this word "evangelium" is made explicit when Tolkien says the joy of the happy ending can " be explained as a sudden glimpse of the underlying reality or truth '' of human life; the Eucatastrophe of a story is like the R esurrection in Christian history, and the R esurrection of Christ is the eucatastrophe of real life (p. 88). This is , very briefly, the theory of fairytales that governed Tolkien 's creation of his famous books Th e Hobbit and The Lord of th e Rings . The ''Consolation '' of a happy ending was apparently needed personally by Tolkien , whose fervent Catholicism was strongly tinged by Jansenism with its scrupulosity and depression. His biographer Humphrey Carpenter cites Tolkien's unpublished diary as evidence that he " was capable of bouts of profound despair , " 6 and says he " took an almost tragic view of himself as a weak man - which was another cause of his deep troughs of pessimism . '' 7 There is no indication of J ansenism in Kukucfn 's Christianity , during either his Lu theran or his R om an Catholic period ; in fact, the Jansenist heresy seems to have been more of a French, Irish, and English phenomenon than a Slavic one. But there is ample evidence that Kuku cfn too suffered a t times from severe depression. A s Stefan Krcmery wrote of him , The objectivity of Kuku cfn ' s art is deliberate . H e penetrated with th at sight of his into things and people so that he would not fall into th at internal sadness of his. H e lau ghed so that he would not weep .. . . There are things in life that just cannot be explained . Such are the roots of Kuku cfn ' s pessim ism . Did it com e from his feeling of sadness as a transplanted plant? Did it com e intellectually from hi s study? Philosophically , �SLOVAKIA 103 Dostoevsky and T olstoy reached most deeply into his soul. But his pessimism , even in its origins, has the stamp of the pessimism of great souls. It colors them as the dark side of their heroism . 8 Scarcely recognized by the reading public of Kukucfn 's time , this underlying pessimism and almost inadvertent sadness are more easily recognizable today . As Oskar Cepan says, Kukucfn 's ' realism ' today shows itself from a different side, and appears in a different light. It has unexpected lines . . . . More and more, we are today intrigued by his ' hidden planes,' his difficult-to-understand subtext, especially his risky balance on the ceaselessly vibrating metonymic border between epic assurance and dramatic doubt. Kukucfn's objectivity and mild humor conceal within themselves also the tinge of an indefinable and fleeting nostalgia, which is close to the most tragic chord known then to Slovak literature. 9 Thus, Kukucfn too , like Tolkien , may have personally needed the solace and consolation of the happy ending in his own creative life . '' Eu catastrophe,'' however, is not just a matter of personal need and satisfaction . Tolkien refers also to the social value of su ch consolation in the modern world of pollution , alienation , wars, depressions, and totalitarian power , in addition to the eternal evils : But there are also other and more profound "escapisms" that have always appeared in fairy-tale and legend . There are other things more grim and terrible to fly from than the noise, stench, ruthlessness, and extravagance of the internal-combustion machine . There are hunger, thirst, poverty, pain, sorrow , injustice , death . And even when men are not facing hard things such as these, there are ancient limitations from which fairy-stories offer a sort of escape. (p. 83) For Kukucfn, this social benefit in the fictional representation of ultim ate divine justice was probably even more important than it was for Tolkien , because Kukucfn ' s fiction was consciously didactic , as Tolkien's was not. In fact, almos t all of Slavic literary realism was didactic and se rved extra-literary functions not found in other literatu re because of the historical conditions of its origin . 10 In the Slovak students' club in Prague , called " D etvan," there were several arguments about the mean- �104 SLOVAKI A ing of realism and the rela tive valu e o f th e Ru ssia n a nd th e Fren ch schools. Kukucfn preferred the Ru ssia n reali sts becau se of th eir edu ca tional effect in a backwa rd society. 11 Criti cs agree th a t Kuku cfn delibera tely wrote about the Slovak v ill a ge for the Slovak vill age r in the speech o f the Slovak vill a ge r. 11 H e wrote for the purpose of raising the consciousness of the d owntrodden Slovak p easant , as he him self later explained in rejecting th e hope of El ena Mar6thy- Soltesova ( expressed in her novel Prati pnidu ) th a t the Slovak gentry wo uld fin ally resist Magyarization and begin to w a ke the Slovak comm o ne rs from '' their dream of self-forge tfuln ess.'' T o accomplish thi s awakenin g, the writer should combat the p assivity a nd d espair th a t ch aracte ri zed mu ch o f Slovak public life at thi s tim e - just afte r the M a ti ca slovenska and the three Slovak high school s were closed . 13 Th e re we re even fa mines in Orava at this time , whi ch Kuku cfn d escribed in Czech a rticles whose fund a ppeals w ere d esign ed to stin g the M agyar a uth orities into a id fo r the a rea . 14 C ertainly these we re compelling rea son s fo r Kuku cfn 's quiet but d efinite didacti c purpose eve n in his early hum o rou s ta les . In summary , then , I believe there were probably three forces pushin g Kukucfn to m a ke a ha ppy endin g for his sto ri es wh ere o ne mi ght expect a sadder outcome: 1) The living tradition o f the fair ytal e in the Slovak vill age of hi s tim e; 2) Kukucfn's own Christia n optimism and hi s "smile ove r hi s tears ' ' ; 3) His d ete rmination to chee r a nd en courage the d ow n trodden villager for whom h e wrote . P erh aps Kukucfn hon estl y could n ot bear to show sadn ess, fa ilure , a nd inju stice in hi s fi ction when these ev il s we re so comm on in the Slovak life of thi s tim e. N ow I should like to support these ideas with several example stories about Slovak village life, all of th em a mong Kuku cfn 's m os t celebra ted a nd ce rtainl y amon g his fin est stories. 15 First R ysava jalovica (The M o ttled H eife r , V ol. II ) is a n out- a nd out com ed y, a nd ver y su ccessful - no one would ask fo r a sad e ndin g to it! H ere the happy outcome is compl etely in keepin g w ith th e comi c plot a nd style; th e goodna tured drunk a rd Ada m Krt is a ch a rmin g caricature a nd th e pl o t is a n all ego ry so th a t K rt 's sudden reform a nd �SLOVAKIA 105 co nsequent wealth are e mine ntl y suitable to the sto ry. Krt is a classic und erdog hero - sm all , ridiculed , but cl ever in hi s ow n way; his trips to th e fair a nd then to find the lost heifer are a qu est from which h e re turn s victorious to everyone's a m azem ent. The subsidiary anecdotes , a bout the m ayo r 's troubles with the broken ha nd on the town cl ock , the feud betwee n Krt a nd hi s neighbor Trnka over a n a nn y goat a nd a rooster, a nd the d og with its head cau ght in a churn , are pure farce a nd their tone su pports the comic victory of Krt. No wonde r it was Kukucfn 's most popular story, a nd people asked for " m ore about Krt. " 16 The second exampl e, Neprebuden y (Vol. II ) is equally su ccessful , but in the oppos ite way . The titl e Neprebuden y m eans "The Unawakened" in th e m ascu lin e sin gul a r , a nd by writing of a youn g m a n who is m entall y retarded Kuku cfn in vokes the tradition of the " h oly idiot." Thi s sto ry is unique amo n g his work in b ein g trul y tragic , a nd each of th e characte rs is scarred by th e goose herd 's di scove ry of th e dece ption pract iced upon him b y the vill age bell e and h er fami ly, the n hi s subseque n t d eath in the fire that end s the wedd in g feast. Th e re is forebodin g irony throughout the story in the pun on the words husar as "gooseherd " a nd husar as "cavalryman," and this foreshadowin g is fulfill ed when the hu sar is killed tryin g to save a me re goose a nd her goslin gs in a burnin g barn. The story is really an anti-fairytale in which Kukucfn explicitly rejec ts the co nve ntion al roman ce. The gooseherd dream s of a princess in a cas tl e , the n awake ns to the teas ing of th e vill age b elle who am uses he rself by lettin g him think she will marry him . Thi s contrast between fa iryla nd a nd real life is d eveloped throu ghout the story . Neprebudeny is the closest of Kuku cfn 's stori es to th e French naturali sm of, fo r ex a mpl e , Em il e Zola , a nd it may have been a n ex perime nt on Kuku cfn 's pa rt , to imi tate Zola . If it was a n ex pe rim ent , it was on e Kuku cfn did not care to repeat , a nd late r (in 1925) he wrote to a fri end th a t he saw " no thin g spec ial" in Nepreb udeny. 17 An othe r trul y tragic story is Drotarove Vian oce (The Tinker ' s C hri st m as, Vol. III) , whi ch dramatizes a n incid e nt in the M agyar government 's actual campaign to assign Slovak children to M agyar far m fam ili es in southern Hun gary, chan gin g their names a nd preventin g their , return to Slovak a reas. T heo re ti call y all we re orph a ns, but not in realit y, a nd thi s story shows a fami ly 's failure to find their so n . H oweve r , Kuku cfn published this sto ry onl y in C zech in Bohemi a; thu s it was n ot one of hi s stories fo r th e ge neral Slovak read e r , in pa rt because it wou ld �106 SLOVAKIA have been dangerou s to print it in Hungary . Also, it was not included in his collected works published in the new Czechoslovakia. Several important stories have ironic, even ambivalent endings , such as K ed' bacik z Chochol'ova umrie (When M y Uncle from Chocholov Passes Away , Vol. IV) , which shows the co rruptive influence of an impoverished gentleman's great expectations of inheritance . Also , some stories have well-worked out happy endings to a spiritual conflict, such as an old woman's effort to understand and accept the fact that her neighbor ' s only son reached manhood and a happy wedding while her own only son had died as a young man , in D ve cesty (Two paths, Vol. V) . Another example is seen in the attempt of a young school-teacher to comprehend his vocation as willing servant to the com munity but not subservient to any individual , when he was expected to bake the traditional wafers for the whole village, in Vianocn e oblatky (Christmas Wafers, Vol. IV) . The story Zo stupna n a stupen (Going Down Step by Step, Vol. V) also shows a spiritual victory but it is only briefl y narrated , not dramatized , and the man 's happiness in poverty is only asserted, not presented . These effective happy endings , howeve r , are uncommon . The story that best illustrates my point that Kukucfn chose to force a happy ending where he could more naturally have had a sadder end, is Dies irae ... (The Day of Wrath , Vol. V) . It is a very successful story , which Bratislava critic Julius N oge calls one of the fin est in Slovak literature . 18 Dies irae is the account of a cholera epidemic, yet not one of the main characters dies. It is also the account of a spendthrift mayor who has abandoned his first love when she was expecti n g hi s child in order to marry someone else for m oney, yet he is punished only in his own view of himself. It is also the account of a miserly father whose selfishness drives out both his sons before he loses his fortune to thieves and cheating partners, yet he is able to win back one and perhaps both of his sons . The two characters, the mayor and the miser , reverberate with irony, and Kukuci'.n makes clear their moral imperfections , yet at the end he allows them all to live happily ever after. The abandoned woman loses her bitterness and her desire for revenge when she sees the mayor 's chagrin (it is not true humility), and the youn g lovers are not separated by cholera, nor by the miserly father . The last se ntence is " Now finally at the richtar's house there was peace, both the external kind and , above all, the peace that no one can take away" (p. 37 1). �SLOVAK IA 107 The story su cceed s, but I think it would have been even more moving if it h ad not end ed so well. A clear contrast to Kukucfn 's optimism is seen in the work ofBozena Slancfkova, p seudony m Timrava (1867-1951), whose long story T apa.kovci (The Tapak C la n , 1914) shows a family ' s stubborn, unimaginative adh eren ce to repressive old customs and its ill-tempered resista nce to the effort of a young bride to revamp the household. There is very little liberating humor a nd there is a much grimmer irony than Kukucfn 's iro n y would have been in the " h appy " ending whereby the bride gets a new house and the rest of the Tapak clan can stay contentedly crowded together in the old hom estead . 19 Several factors must have caused this difference between Kukucfn and Timrava . One would be the development o f their personalities, of course, but also there ar e philosophic contrasts. For example, the so-called " Tolstoyan " emphasis in Kukucfn' s Christianity is not present in Timrava ; in fact, Christian themes are less noticeable in Tim rava's work, and incipient fem inist themes are prese nt. But the sh ift in satiric to n e also com es from the historical development of' 'critical' ' realism out of classical realism , and, I believe , from the d ecreased popularity of fairytal es and other folk literary forms as the Slovak edu cat ional level rose and industrialization spread during the 20th ce ntury. Kukucfn was o b v iously aware of hi s tenden cy to gloss over some of the problems of real life becau se he wrote of it in a story published the year before Dies irae. In Po d eviatich rokoch (Afte r Nine Years, Vol. V), he has o ne of his roman ti c h ero ines return a nd accuse him ( as the a uthor) of a bandoning h er after the wedding b y n ot writing a nother story about the con fli cts that occu r within marriage. But Kukucfn allows himself to a n swer his heroin e with the easy excu se that read ers like romantic plots a bout young love, n ot domestic conflicts; thus, h e does not actuall y face the problem . H owever, later ( 1903) h e may have tried to work ou t this proble m in his novel D om v strani ( House on the Hillside) , which is about exactl y that same subj ect : the conflicts that would come if the wealthy landow ner 's so n Niko were to marry the simple peasant 's daughte r K at ica, since they are un suited b y their diffe rent upbringing and edu cation as well as by their different dispositions. 10 The novel is not a C inderella story, because Kukucfn is clearly on the n on-romantic side of class distin ctions and g ives no fairytal e endin g to this novel. It is worth noting , h owever, that even in this novel Kuku cfn does not ac- �SLOVAKIA tually show domestic conflicts resulting from an unsuita ble m arriage, because he prevents the marriage from occurring. With Dom v strani, howeve r , I am out of stories into novels, and Kukucfn was no longer writing in the fairytale tradition . Kukucfn wrote little of the origins of his work , saying only that he had learned to write from hearing and admiring the speech of the Slovak villagers in J asenova. 21 As he nowhere gave his theory of lite rature, it is only psychological speculation that his interior motiva tion was similar to Tolkien 's. Also, there can be no question of influence between Kukucfn and Tolkien, because of diffe rences in time and in language . Nor was Tolkien's specifically Christian theory offairytales anticipated in Slovak discussions of "fantasticke rozpravky," to my knowl edge. Y et the similarity is not really surprising with two writers whose Christian world view is impressed throughout their work. Tolkien's conce ption offairytales is a variation of the classic aesthetic theory that literature represents the underlying reality of huma n life, with or without the "realistic" detail of the surface phenom en a . Unfortunately, this same theory also covers the desire of many third-rate writers, including both the melodramatist and the socialist realist, to directly illustrate a clear moral ideal by rewarding goodness and punishing evil ; so whenever the didactic desire to teach and to reform becomes stronger than the artistic d esire to reveal and to express, a weakened literary effect b ecom es apparent. In some of Kukucfn 's stories, the result (as already stated), is a more or less sudden wrenching of a potential " dyscatastrophe " into a ''eucatastrophe.'' The ultimate cause of this wrench , b es ides whatever internal motivat ion lay in Kukucfn ' s creative personality, probably has to b e seen in the very h a rsh social and political structures of late 19th century Hungary. These unju st conditions stimulated a nd even forced Kukucfn to picture realistically (for the first tim e in Slovak prose) the life of the common villager, but they also stimulated a nd forced him to soften his realism with a hap p y e nding. In this way , he would not overwhelm the downtrodde n villagers ( or the dishearten ed Slovak intellectuals) with a full picture of the ir truly discouragin g lot but would instead encourage them and awaken them from their "drama of self-forge tfulness." Thus , we see 1) another illustration of the ge neral truth that literature results from the conjuncture of a particular writer with the intell ectual co nditions and the social audience of his time, a nd 2) a nothe r example of the fact that earlier Slovak culture mu st be a n a - �SLOVAKIA 109 lyzed a nd evaluated in relation to the severe limitation s impressed upo n it b y the hi sto rical conditions of Hungary . D espite the weak e ndings o f many of Kuku cfn 's stories, h e achieved a striking synthesis of both "seeing the evil " and expressin g his d eliberate Christian optimism; hi s synthesis remains as witness to a very difficult ye t promising p e riod in Slovak literar y history. It should also serve as a re minder that wherever fairytales a re a serious part o f a culture, they must also be take n seriou sly b y literary crit ics . In fac t , fairytales may h ave played a hidde n a nd unu su al role in Slovak lite r a ture simply b ecau se of the historical conditions r eferred to already. For example, Alexander M atuska su ggests that the m odern noveli st J ozef Ciger H ronsky was influ enced b y fairytales with " their natural and also unn atural a tmosph e re, their shifting border between the real a nd th e the unreal. " 11 Under this influence, Hronsky d evelop ed his unique blend of observation and realism with poe try and lyricism - a realism which stops beside d e tail but d oes n ot stop at detail, a realism to which n eithe r the miraculous nor the grotesque is foreign; and a poetry which magically fascinates u s b y its everyday subj ect and pull s u s toward deeper ideas, to the meaning of ex isten ce. 13 Probably the greatest noveli st in Slovak , Hron sk y is at o n ce one o f the most Slovak of writers and one of the m ost worldly and cosmopolitan in technique a nd style. It is ironic a nd revealing of the histo rical sp ecifics of Slovak literature that fairytales were apparently a mong the forces that led Hronsky to th e techniques that relate his work to European n atu ralism, expressio nism , a nd surrealism , to P rou st, J oyce, K a fka, and M usi l. 14 Su ch a force cannot be neglected in any p eriod. NOTES For exam ple. V iera Gasparfkova , "Prvky l'udovej kultury V Kuku cfnovej drobnej pr6ze , '' in Martin Kukucfn v kritike a spomien k ach: Sbornfk (Bratislava: Slovenske Vydavatel's tvo Kras nej Li teratury , 1957) , pp. 360-404. This book reprints a t least major parts of most known criti cism a nd recollections of Kuku cfn up to the time of its printing; hereafter Sbornfk. ' Alex ander M a tuska, " Doslov," in Sbornfk, p. 921. All translation s from Slovak are min e. ' O skar C epan, Kuku cfnove epick e istoty (Brati slava: Tatran , 1972), pp. 267 -68. I �110 SLOVAKIA • Stanislav Meciar, Kuku cfn i ivy, 2 vols. (B uenos Aires, 1958 and 1960); Cy ril J. Potocek, M artin Kuku cfn: A Link between Two Worlds (Passaic, N .J .: Slovak Catholic Sokol, 1943). William E. Harkins has perceptively summ ari zed Kuku cin's "expressive symbol of the truth tha t m an li ves under G od's judgment, and that he would d o well therefore to li ve justly," "Foreword," Seven Slovak Stories by Martin Kuku cfn , trans . and edited by Norma Leigh Rudi nsky (R ome: Slovak Institute, 1980) , p . ix . For a full a nd rich treatment of this idea, see G. J. Sabo, " Kuku cfn 's Village Stories and Shuksin 's 'Snowball Berry-R ed,' "Slovakia, XXX (1982-83), this issue. 5 J .R .R . T olkien , " On Fairy-stories," in T he Tolkien R eader (New York : Ballantine Books, 1966), p . 79. Further references a re give n in the tex t . • Humph rey Carpenter,J.R .R . Tolkien (London : George Allen & Unwin Ltd ., 1977), p. 3 1. 7 Carpen ter, p. 129 . ' Stefan Krcmery, Stopiit'desiat rokov slovenskej literatury (M artin 1943), II , 50, quoted here from Cepan , Epick e istoty, p. 24 and 253-54. ' Cepan, Epick e istoty, p . 19 . 0 ' Dmitrij Cizevskij , Comparative History of Slavic Literatures, trans. Richa rd Noel P orter and M artin P . Rice, ed. Serge A . Zenkovsky (Baltimore: Vanderbilt U ni versity Press, 197 1), pp. 164-75. " Milos Tomcik, " Z problem a tiky Kukucin ovej tvorby v Prazskom obdobi ," in S bornfk , pp . 167 -68; see also selections from the " D etva n " minutes in M a rtin Kuku cin , Dielo: Z avaine skusen osti (Bratislava: Tatran , 1971), XX , 512-14, 525-26, and 54 1-42. " C epa n , Epicke istoty, pp . 24-26 , and Cepan , " Literarno-hi storicke poznamky, " in Martin Kukucin, Dielo: R ozpravky (Bratislava: Slovenske Vydavatel'stvo Krasnej Literatury , 1957) , I , 326. " Kukucin , " Niekol'ko myslienok o romane Eleny M ar6th y-Soltesovej: Prati prudu ," in Dielo: Zavaine skusenosti, p . 400 . Further evidence of Kuku cfn 's belief in the village as the carrier of the na ti onal tradition is in my a rticl e " Preliminary Notes on Martin Kuku cin 's Criticism of Americanized Slovaks and His Opposition to the Slovak Gentry ," Slovak Studies, XVIII ( I 978), 153-67. 14 M a rtin Kuku cin , " O hladu v oravskej stolici," " Bra ti'im pod T a trami ," and " Hlad na Orave," in Dielo: Zavain e skusenosti , pp . 379-89. 15 The stori es a re in Volumes I-V of Dielo and are cited furth er in the tex t. Onl y eight of Kuku cin 's stories have been transla ted into Engl ish: R egruti by P aul Seiver in An Anthology of Czechoslovak Literature (London, 1929) and Obecne trampoty, Dedin sk y j armok, Z tepleho hniezda , R ysavajalovica, Neprebudeny, Na obecnom salasi, and Dies irae by Norma L. Rudin sky in Seven Slovak Stories of M artin Kuku cfn , op . cit . 16 Jozef Skultety , " M a rtin Kuku cin ( 17 /V .1860 - 17/V . 1920) ," in Sbornfk , p . 623 . 17 Letter to J an Cadra, in Dielo: Listy priatel'om a znam ym (Bratislava: Tatran , 1974), XXI , 202) . 18 Julius Noge, Martin Kuku cfn: Tradicionalista a novator , V ol. I (Bra tislava: V yd avatel'stvo Slovenskej Akadem ie Vied, 1962), p . 1982. �SLOVAKIA 111 " Bozena Slancikova , "Tapakovci , " Timrava, 2 vols. (Martin: Tatran, 1975), II, 413-50. 0 ' Dielo: Dom v strani (Bratislava: Slovenske Vydavatel'stvo Krasnej Literatury, 1961 ), Vol. IX. " "Odpoved' na anketu casopisu Stfedni skola," in Dielo: Zavazne skusenosti, pp. 457-58; see also his remarks on learning the best and richest Slovak from the dialects: "najkrajsou cestou k studiumu gramatikovi je studovat' dialekty, " in the minutes of the "Detvan" meetings, ibid., p. 548 . " Alexander Matuska,J.C. Hronsky (Bratislava, 1970) rpt. in Osobnosti (Slovensky Spisovatel', 1973), p. 458. " Matuska, p . 459. " Matuska, p. 458. Presented in Panel 128, "Slovak Literature as a Mirror of the National Awakening ," at the AAASS convention in Philadelphia on 8 November 1980. � 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 1982-83, Vol. 30 Description An account of the resource Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83. 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 1982-83 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 100 SLOVAKIA The Slovak Fairytale Tradition and J.R.R. Tolkien's ''Eucatastrophe'' in the Realistic Stories of Martin Kukucfn Norm a L. Rudinsky Although Martin Kukucfn is primarily and consciously a realistic author, there are noticeable remnants of the fairytale tradition in hi s short stories about Slovak village life. This is not surprising as fairytales were still very popular amon g the Slovak public that Kuku cfn wanted to reach in 1880-1900 ; Slovak folk literature in general and fairytales in particular remained an active part of Slovak cultural life and were universally very popular mu ch later than in most other European countries. The unu su ally long-lastin g oral tradition and the scarcity of written literature in Slovak until the 18th century made the Slovaks cling to their fairytales as vital evidence of their ancient n ational existence, since this folk literature had not been a ppropriated by the ruling M agyar or G erm an cultures, nor eve n by the Czech culture of Bohem ia and M oravia . This is the atmosphere in which Slovak literary realism began , and, of course, prose village realism essentially began with Kuku cfn. It a ppears that , co nsciously a nd probably unco nsciously, Kuku cfn kept some of the fairytale elements that were famili ar and "natural" to the co mmon readers he wanted to reach, even though he did not picture the knights , princesses, and witches of traditional tales, but instead the farme r , the hired hand , and the mayor of the real Slovak vi ll age in 1880-1894 . Num erous elem ents of folklore, superstition, and tradition al folk cu stoms have been cited in Kuku cfn's early stories.' Besides these in cidental similarities to folk literature, many of Kukucfn's central plots suggest the fairytale in one critical respect : they usually have a happy ending. This similarity is Kuku cfn 's m ost important rela tion to the fairytale tradition of hi s tim e, and the only relation that I shall SLOVAKIA 101 take up here . Kuku cfn 's usu al happy ending may come suddenly and without mu ch prepa rat ion , a nd ce rtainl y it is not typical for a realist a uthor. In fact, his forced ha ppy endings are a puzzle in Kukucfn ' s work and co nstitute a problem for the criti c to expl ain. I rej ec t the idea that he was too ca reless or un skillful to write otherwise, or that he was simply following the tradition of his time, as he was too innovative for that. I think Kukucfn chose to e nd his stories this way , so the question is why did he force a happy e nding from materi al tha t could more naturall y be sad ? Th e result so m e times see ms sentimental, but it is not the sentim e ntalism of Thom as Hardy or Charles Dicke ns, who "milk" a sad sce ne . Kuku cfn neve r milks a sad scene. In fact, he has few such scenes, or he ends them hap pily after all. M a ny critics have commented upon this fact: Kuku cfn seldom shows a characte r suffering very long; he kills off ve ry few characters; he never shows evil triumphing; he seldom shows a merely moral victory in an o therw ise defeated characte r. Although there are a few except ions and some of hi s most ironic stories are ambivalent, Kukucfn , as Alexander Matuska has said, "sees evil but doesn't point a finge r at it. " 1 For this reaso n , I think, Kukucfn was for a long tim e regarded as o nl y a comi c writer, despite the fact tha t his themes a re often ve ry serious. The hap py e ndin g in Kuku cfn's work has b een analyzed by the pe rceptive Bra tislava critic O skar Cepan partly in Freudian terms of in fa ntil e repression of co nflict ing motives: " Kukucfn 'represses' confli ct ing motives a nd 'transfers' them to the infantile-archaic environment of the 'famil y nest.' " 3 Not being a Freudian I think Cepan's expl a na tion cove rs onl y part of the ground , a nd I am instead inclin ed to ex plain Kuku cfn ' s h appy endin gs in te rm s of his conscious beliefs as well as the unconscious desire for ha rmony and peace which Cepan writes of. The cleares t and most obvious belief of Kuku cfn , of cou rse, was his C hri stian faith . Particularly the critics Stanislav M eciar and Cyril Potocek have em phasized the C hri stia n them es of Kukucfn 's work , ranging from early sto ri es su ch as Dve cesty, Vianocne oblatky, a nd Zo stupna na stupen to th e last no vels, es pecially Mat' vola. 4 So, the seco nd part of my thesis here is that Kukucfn's fairytale-like happy ending , besides reflecting the then-curre nt Slovak interest in fairytales, also refl ects Kuku cfn 's ow n Christian optimism. To expla in a nd su pport this thesis , I should like to use the co n cept 102 SLOVAKIA of "eucatastrophe " that was developed by the English author J .R.R . Tolkien, the leading 20th-century creator of medieval fairytales , in his Andrew Lang lecture and essay '' On Fairy-stories .' ' For T olkien , much of the appeal of fairytal es lies in the Escape they provide, and he defends such escapism not as the "Flight of the D eserter " but as the "Escape of the Prisoner ,'' or the consolation of escaping imaginatively from the inev itable pains and evils of life. 5 The greatest consolation in fairytales is that of the Happy Ending, for which Tolkien made up the word "eucatastrophe": "the good catastrophe , the sudden joyous 'turn' " of the plot in contrast to the " dyscatastroph e of sorrow and failure." The eucatastrophe, Tolkien says, "denies universal final defeat " and is the "evangelium" (pp. 85-86). The religiou s suggestion of this word "evangelium" is made explicit when Tolkien says the joy of the happy ending can " be explained as a sudden glimpse of the underlying reality or truth '' of human life; the Eucatastrophe of a story is like the R esurrection in Christian history, and the R esurrection of Christ is the eucatastrophe of real life (p. 88). This is , very briefly, the theory of fairytales that governed Tolkien 's creation of his famous books Th e Hobbit and The Lord of th e Rings . The ''Consolation '' of a happy ending was apparently needed personally by Tolkien , whose fervent Catholicism was strongly tinged by Jansenism with its scrupulosity and depression. His biographer Humphrey Carpenter cites Tolkien's unpublished diary as evidence that he " was capable of bouts of profound despair , " 6 and says he " took an almost tragic view of himself as a weak man - which was another cause of his deep troughs of pessimism . '' 7 There is no indication of J ansenism in Kukucfn 's Christianity , during either his Lu theran or his R om an Catholic period ; in fact, the Jansenist heresy seems to have been more of a French, Irish, and English phenomenon than a Slavic one. But there is ample evidence that Kuku cfn too suffered a t times from severe depression. A s Stefan Krcmery wrote of him , The objectivity of Kuku cfn ' s art is deliberate . H e penetrated with th at sight of his into things and people so that he would not fall into th at internal sadness of his. H e lau ghed so that he would not weep .. . . There are things in life that just cannot be explained . Such are the roots of Kuku cfn ' s pessim ism . Did it com e from his feeling of sadness as a transplanted plant? Did it com e intellectually from hi s study? Philosophically , SLOVAKIA 103 Dostoevsky and T olstoy reached most deeply into his soul. But his pessimism , even in its origins, has the stamp of the pessimism of great souls. It colors them as the dark side of their heroism . 8 Scarcely recognized by the reading public of Kukucfn 's time , this underlying pessimism and almost inadvertent sadness are more easily recognizable today . As Oskar Cepan says, Kukucfn 's ' realism ' today shows itself from a different side, and appears in a different light. It has unexpected lines . . . . More and more, we are today intrigued by his ' hidden planes,' his difficult-to-understand subtext, especially his risky balance on the ceaselessly vibrating metonymic border between epic assurance and dramatic doubt. Kukucfn's objectivity and mild humor conceal within themselves also the tinge of an indefinable and fleeting nostalgia, which is close to the most tragic chord known then to Slovak literature. 9 Thus, Kukucfn too , like Tolkien , may have personally needed the solace and consolation of the happy ending in his own creative life . '' Eu catastrophe,'' however, is not just a matter of personal need and satisfaction . Tolkien refers also to the social value of su ch consolation in the modern world of pollution , alienation , wars, depressions, and totalitarian power , in addition to the eternal evils : But there are also other and more profound "escapisms" that have always appeared in fairy-tale and legend . There are other things more grim and terrible to fly from than the noise, stench, ruthlessness, and extravagance of the internal-combustion machine . There are hunger, thirst, poverty, pain, sorrow , injustice , death . And even when men are not facing hard things such as these, there are ancient limitations from which fairy-stories offer a sort of escape. (p. 83) For Kukucfn, this social benefit in the fictional representation of ultim ate divine justice was probably even more important than it was for Tolkien , because Kukucfn ' s fiction was consciously didactic , as Tolkien's was not. In fact, almos t all of Slavic literary realism was didactic and se rved extra-literary functions not found in other literatu re because of the historical conditions of its origin . 10 In the Slovak students' club in Prague , called " D etvan," there were several arguments about the mean- 104 SLOVAKI A ing of realism and the rela tive valu e o f th e Ru ssia n a nd th e Fren ch schools. Kukucfn preferred the Ru ssia n reali sts becau se of th eir edu ca tional effect in a backwa rd society. 11 Criti cs agree th a t Kuku cfn delibera tely wrote about the Slovak v ill a ge for the Slovak vill age r in the speech o f the Slovak vill a ge r. 11 H e wrote for the purpose of raising the consciousness of the d owntrodden Slovak p easant , as he him self later explained in rejecting th e hope of El ena Mar6thy- Soltesova ( expressed in her novel Prati pnidu ) th a t the Slovak gentry wo uld fin ally resist Magyarization and begin to w a ke the Slovak comm o ne rs from '' their dream of self-forge tfuln ess.'' T o accomplish thi s awakenin g, the writer should combat the p assivity a nd d espair th a t ch aracte ri zed mu ch o f Slovak public life at thi s tim e - just afte r the M a ti ca slovenska and the three Slovak high school s were closed . 13 Th e re we re even fa mines in Orava at this time , whi ch Kuku cfn d escribed in Czech a rticles whose fund a ppeals w ere d esign ed to stin g the M agyar a uth orities into a id fo r the a rea . 14 C ertainly these we re compelling rea son s fo r Kuku cfn 's quiet but d efinite didacti c purpose eve n in his early hum o rou s ta les . In summary , then , I believe there were probably three forces pushin g Kukucfn to m a ke a ha ppy endin g for his sto ri es wh ere o ne mi ght expect a sadder outcome: 1) The living tradition o f the fair ytal e in the Slovak vill age of hi s tim e; 2) Kukucfn's own Christia n optimism and hi s "smile ove r hi s tears ' ' ; 3) His d ete rmination to chee r a nd en courage the d ow n trodden villager for whom h e wrote . P erh aps Kukucfn hon estl y could n ot bear to show sadn ess, fa ilure , a nd inju stice in hi s fi ction when these ev il s we re so comm on in the Slovak life of thi s tim e. N ow I should like to support these ideas with several example stories about Slovak village life, all of th em a mong Kuku cfn 's m os t celebra ted a nd ce rtainl y amon g his fin est stories. 15 First R ysava jalovica (The M o ttled H eife r , V ol. II ) is a n out- a nd out com ed y, a nd ver y su ccessful - no one would ask fo r a sad e ndin g to it! H ere the happy outcome is compl etely in keepin g w ith th e comi c plot a nd style; th e goodna tured drunk a rd Ada m Krt is a ch a rmin g caricature a nd th e pl o t is a n all ego ry so th a t K rt 's sudden reform a nd SLOVAKIA 105 co nsequent wealth are e mine ntl y suitable to the sto ry. Krt is a classic und erdog hero - sm all , ridiculed , but cl ever in hi s ow n way; his trips to th e fair a nd then to find the lost heifer are a qu est from which h e re turn s victorious to everyone's a m azem ent. The subsidiary anecdotes , a bout the m ayo r 's troubles with the broken ha nd on the town cl ock , the feud betwee n Krt a nd hi s neighbor Trnka over a n a nn y goat a nd a rooster, a nd the d og with its head cau ght in a churn , are pure farce a nd their tone su pports the comic victory of Krt. No wonde r it was Kukucfn 's most popular story, a nd people asked for " m ore about Krt. " 16 The second exampl e, Neprebuden y (Vol. II ) is equally su ccessful , but in the oppos ite way . The titl e Neprebuden y m eans "The Unawakened" in th e m ascu lin e sin gul a r , a nd by writing of a youn g m a n who is m entall y retarded Kuku cfn in vokes the tradition of the " h oly idiot." Thi s sto ry is unique amo n g his work in b ein g trul y tragic , a nd each of th e characte rs is scarred by th e goose herd 's di scove ry of th e dece ption pract iced upon him b y the vill age bell e and h er fami ly, the n hi s subseque n t d eath in the fire that end s the wedd in g feast. Th e re is forebodin g irony throughout the story in the pun on the words husar as "gooseherd " a nd husar as "cavalryman," and this foreshadowin g is fulfill ed when the hu sar is killed tryin g to save a me re goose a nd her goslin gs in a burnin g barn. The story is really an anti-fairytale in which Kukucfn explicitly rejec ts the co nve ntion al roman ce. The gooseherd dream s of a princess in a cas tl e , the n awake ns to the teas ing of th e vill age b elle who am uses he rself by lettin g him think she will marry him . Thi s contrast between fa iryla nd a nd real life is d eveloped throu ghout the story . Neprebudeny is the closest of Kuku cfn 's stori es to th e French naturali sm of, fo r ex a mpl e , Em il e Zola , a nd it may have been a n ex perime nt on Kuku cfn 's pa rt , to imi tate Zola . If it was a n ex pe rim ent , it was on e Kuku cfn did not care to repeat , a nd late r (in 1925) he wrote to a fri end th a t he saw " no thin g spec ial" in Nepreb udeny. 17 An othe r trul y tragic story is Drotarove Vian oce (The Tinker ' s C hri st m as, Vol. III) , whi ch dramatizes a n incid e nt in the M agyar government 's actual campaign to assign Slovak children to M agyar far m fam ili es in southern Hun gary, chan gin g their names a nd preventin g their , return to Slovak a reas. T heo re ti call y all we re orph a ns, but not in realit y, a nd thi s story shows a fami ly 's failure to find their so n . H oweve r , Kuku cfn published this sto ry onl y in C zech in Bohemi a; thu s it was n ot one of hi s stories fo r th e ge neral Slovak read e r , in pa rt because it wou ld 106 SLOVAKIA have been dangerou s to print it in Hungary . Also, it was not included in his collected works published in the new Czechoslovakia. Several important stories have ironic, even ambivalent endings , such as K ed' bacik z Chochol'ova umrie (When M y Uncle from Chocholov Passes Away , Vol. IV) , which shows the co rruptive influence of an impoverished gentleman's great expectations of inheritance . Also , some stories have well-worked out happy endings to a spiritual conflict, such as an old woman's effort to understand and accept the fact that her neighbor ' s only son reached manhood and a happy wedding while her own only son had died as a young man , in D ve cesty (Two paths, Vol. V) . Another example is seen in the attempt of a young school-teacher to comprehend his vocation as willing servant to the com munity but not subservient to any individual , when he was expected to bake the traditional wafers for the whole village, in Vianocn e oblatky (Christmas Wafers, Vol. IV) . The story Zo stupna n a stupen (Going Down Step by Step, Vol. V) also shows a spiritual victory but it is only briefl y narrated , not dramatized , and the man 's happiness in poverty is only asserted, not presented . These effective happy endings , howeve r , are uncommon . The story that best illustrates my point that Kukucfn chose to force a happy ending where he could more naturally have had a sadder end, is Dies irae ... (The Day of Wrath , Vol. V) . It is a very successful story , which Bratislava critic Julius N oge calls one of the fin est in Slovak literature . 18 Dies irae is the account of a cholera epidemic, yet not one of the main characters dies. It is also the account of a spendthrift mayor who has abandoned his first love when she was expecti n g hi s child in order to marry someone else for m oney, yet he is punished only in his own view of himself. It is also the account of a miserly father whose selfishness drives out both his sons before he loses his fortune to thieves and cheating partners, yet he is able to win back one and perhaps both of his sons . The two characters, the mayor and the miser , reverberate with irony, and Kukuci'.n makes clear their moral imperfections , yet at the end he allows them all to live happily ever after. The abandoned woman loses her bitterness and her desire for revenge when she sees the mayor 's chagrin (it is not true humility), and the youn g lovers are not separated by cholera, nor by the miserly father . The last se ntence is " Now finally at the richtar's house there was peace, both the external kind and , above all, the peace that no one can take away" (p. 37 1). SLOVAK IA 107 The story su cceed s, but I think it would have been even more moving if it h ad not end ed so well. A clear contrast to Kukucfn 's optimism is seen in the work ofBozena Slancfkova, p seudony m Timrava (1867-1951), whose long story T apa.kovci (The Tapak C la n , 1914) shows a family ' s stubborn, unimaginative adh eren ce to repressive old customs and its ill-tempered resista nce to the effort of a young bride to revamp the household. There is very little liberating humor a nd there is a much grimmer irony than Kukucfn 's iro n y would have been in the " h appy " ending whereby the bride gets a new house and the rest of the Tapak clan can stay contentedly crowded together in the old hom estead . 19 Several factors must have caused this difference between Kukucfn and Timrava . One would be the development o f their personalities, of course, but also there ar e philosophic contrasts. For example, the so-called " Tolstoyan " emphasis in Kukucfn' s Christianity is not present in Timrava ; in fact, Christian themes are less noticeable in Tim rava's work, and incipient fem inist themes are prese nt. But the sh ift in satiric to n e also com es from the historical development of' 'critical' ' realism out of classical realism , and, I believe , from the d ecreased popularity of fairytal es and other folk literary forms as the Slovak edu cat ional level rose and industrialization spread during the 20th ce ntury. Kukucfn was o b v iously aware of hi s tenden cy to gloss over some of the problems of real life becau se he wrote of it in a story published the year before Dies irae. In Po d eviatich rokoch (Afte r Nine Years, Vol. V), he has o ne of his roman ti c h ero ines return a nd accuse him ( as the a uthor) of a bandoning h er after the wedding b y n ot writing a nother story about the con fli cts that occu r within marriage. But Kukucfn allows himself to a n swer his heroin e with the easy excu se that read ers like romantic plots a bout young love, n ot domestic conflicts; thus, h e does not actuall y face the problem . H owever, later ( 1903) h e may have tried to work ou t this proble m in his novel D om v strani ( House on the Hillside) , which is about exactl y that same subj ect : the conflicts that would come if the wealthy landow ner 's so n Niko were to marry the simple peasant 's daughte r K at ica, since they are un suited b y their diffe rent upbringing and edu cation as well as by their different dispositions. 10 The novel is not a C inderella story, because Kukucfn is clearly on the n on-romantic side of class distin ctions and g ives no fairytal e endin g to this novel. It is worth noting , h owever, that even in this novel Kuku cfn does not ac- SLOVAKIA tually show domestic conflicts resulting from an unsuita ble m arriage, because he prevents the marriage from occurring. With Dom v strani, howeve r , I am out of stories into novels, and Kukucfn was no longer writing in the fairytale tradition . Kukucfn wrote little of the origins of his work , saying only that he had learned to write from hearing and admiring the speech of the Slovak villagers in J asenova. 21 As he nowhere gave his theory of lite rature, it is only psychological speculation that his interior motiva tion was similar to Tolkien 's. Also, there can be no question of influence between Kukucfn and Tolkien, because of diffe rences in time and in language . Nor was Tolkien's specifically Christian theory offairytales anticipated in Slovak discussions of "fantasticke rozpravky," to my knowl edge. Y et the similarity is not really surprising with two writers whose Christian world view is impressed throughout their work. Tolkien's conce ption offairytales is a variation of the classic aesthetic theory that literature represents the underlying reality of huma n life, with or without the "realistic" detail of the surface phenom en a . Unfortunately, this same theory also covers the desire of many third-rate writers, including both the melodramatist and the socialist realist, to directly illustrate a clear moral ideal by rewarding goodness and punishing evil ; so whenever the didactic desire to teach and to reform becomes stronger than the artistic d esire to reveal and to express, a weakened literary effect b ecom es apparent. In some of Kukucfn 's stories, the result (as already stated), is a more or less sudden wrenching of a potential " dyscatastrophe " into a ''eucatastrophe.'' The ultimate cause of this wrench , b es ides whatever internal motivat ion lay in Kukucfn ' s creative personality, probably has to b e seen in the very h a rsh social and political structures of late 19th century Hungary. These unju st conditions stimulated a nd even forced Kukucfn to picture realistically (for the first tim e in Slovak prose) the life of the common villager, but they also stimulated a nd forced him to soften his realism with a hap p y e nding. In this way , he would not overwhelm the downtrodde n villagers ( or the dishearten ed Slovak intellectuals) with a full picture of the ir truly discouragin g lot but would instead encourage them and awaken them from their "drama of self-forge tfulness." Thus , we see 1) another illustration of the ge neral truth that literature results from the conjuncture of a particular writer with the intell ectual co nditions and the social audience of his time, a nd 2) a nothe r example of the fact that earlier Slovak culture mu st be a n a - SLOVAKIA 109 lyzed a nd evaluated in relation to the severe limitation s impressed upo n it b y the hi sto rical conditions of Hungary . D espite the weak e ndings o f many of Kuku cfn 's stories, h e achieved a striking synthesis of both "seeing the evil " and expressin g his d eliberate Christian optimism; hi s synthesis remains as witness to a very difficult ye t promising p e riod in Slovak literar y history. It should also serve as a re minder that wherever fairytales a re a serious part o f a culture, they must also be take n seriou sly b y literary crit ics . In fac t , fairytales may h ave played a hidde n a nd unu su al role in Slovak lite r a ture simply b ecau se of the historical conditions r eferred to already. For example, Alexander M atuska su ggests that the m odern noveli st J ozef Ciger H ronsky was influ enced b y fairytales with " their natural and also unn atural a tmosph e re, their shifting border between the real a nd th e the unreal. " 11 Under this influence, Hronsky d evelop ed his unique blend of observation and realism with poe try and lyricism - a realism which stops beside d e tail but d oes n ot stop at detail, a realism to which n eithe r the miraculous nor the grotesque is foreign; and a poetry which magically fascinates u s b y its everyday subj ect and pull s u s toward deeper ideas, to the meaning of ex isten ce. 13 Probably the greatest noveli st in Slovak , Hron sk y is at o n ce one o f the most Slovak of writers and one of the m ost worldly and cosmopolitan in technique a nd style. It is ironic a nd revealing of the histo rical sp ecifics of Slovak literature that fairytales were apparently a mong the forces that led Hronsky to th e techniques that relate his work to European n atu ralism, expressio nism , a nd surrealism , to P rou st, J oyce, K a fka, and M usi l. 14 Su ch a force cannot be neglected in any p eriod. NOTES For exam ple. V iera Gasparfkova , "Prvky l'udovej kultury V Kuku cfnovej drobnej pr6ze , '' in Martin Kukucfn v kritike a spomien k ach: Sbornfk (Bratislava: Slovenske Vydavatel's tvo Kras nej Li teratury , 1957) , pp. 360-404. This book reprints a t least major parts of most known criti cism a nd recollections of Kuku cfn up to the time of its printing; hereafter Sbornfk. ' Alex ander M a tuska, " Doslov," in Sbornfk, p. 921. All translation s from Slovak are min e. ' O skar C epan, Kuku cfnove epick e istoty (Brati slava: Tatran , 1972), pp. 267 -68. I 110 SLOVAKIA • Stanislav Meciar, Kuku cfn i ivy, 2 vols. (B uenos Aires, 1958 and 1960); Cy ril J. Potocek, M artin Kuku cfn: A Link between Two Worlds (Passaic, N .J .: Slovak Catholic Sokol, 1943). William E. Harkins has perceptively summ ari zed Kuku cin's "expressive symbol of the truth tha t m an li ves under G od's judgment, and that he would d o well therefore to li ve justly," "Foreword," Seven Slovak Stories by Martin Kuku cfn , trans . and edited by Norma Leigh Rudi nsky (R ome: Slovak Institute, 1980) , p . ix . For a full a nd rich treatment of this idea, see G. J. Sabo, " Kuku cfn 's Village Stories and Shuksin 's 'Snowball Berry-R ed,' "Slovakia, XXX (1982-83), this issue. 5 J .R .R . T olkien , " On Fairy-stories," in T he Tolkien R eader (New York : Ballantine Books, 1966), p . 79. Further references a re give n in the tex t . • Humph rey Carpenter,J.R .R . Tolkien (London : George Allen & Unwin Ltd ., 1977), p. 3 1. 7 Carpen ter, p. 129 . ' Stefan Krcmery, Stopiit'desiat rokov slovenskej literatury (M artin 1943), II , 50, quoted here from Cepan , Epick e istoty, p. 24 and 253-54. ' Cepan, Epick e istoty, p . 19 . 0 ' Dmitrij Cizevskij , Comparative History of Slavic Literatures, trans. Richa rd Noel P orter and M artin P . Rice, ed. Serge A . Zenkovsky (Baltimore: Vanderbilt U ni versity Press, 197 1), pp. 164-75. " Milos Tomcik, " Z problem a tiky Kukucin ovej tvorby v Prazskom obdobi ," in S bornfk , pp . 167 -68; see also selections from the " D etva n " minutes in M a rtin Kuku cin , Dielo: Z avaine skusen osti (Bratislava: Tatran , 1971), XX , 512-14, 525-26, and 54 1-42. " C epa n , Epicke istoty, pp . 24-26 , and Cepan , " Literarno-hi storicke poznamky, " in Martin Kukucin, Dielo: R ozpravky (Bratislava: Slovenske Vydavatel'stvo Krasnej Literatury , 1957) , I , 326. " Kukucin , " Niekol'ko myslienok o romane Eleny M ar6th y-Soltesovej: Prati prudu ," in Dielo: Zavaine skusenosti, p . 400 . Further evidence of Kuku cfn 's belief in the village as the carrier of the na ti onal tradition is in my a rticl e " Preliminary Notes on Martin Kuku cin 's Criticism of Americanized Slovaks and His Opposition to the Slovak Gentry ," Slovak Studies, XVIII ( I 978), 153-67. 14 M a rtin Kuku cin , " O hladu v oravskej stolici," " Bra ti'im pod T a trami ," and " Hlad na Orave," in Dielo: Zavain e skusenosti , pp . 379-89. 15 The stori es a re in Volumes I-V of Dielo and are cited furth er in the tex t. Onl y eight of Kuku cin 's stories have been transla ted into Engl ish: R egruti by P aul Seiver in An Anthology of Czechoslovak Literature (London, 1929) and Obecne trampoty, Dedin sk y j armok, Z tepleho hniezda , R ysavajalovica, Neprebudeny, Na obecnom salasi, and Dies irae by Norma L. Rudin sky in Seven Slovak Stories of M artin Kuku cfn , op . cit . 16 Jozef Skultety , " M a rtin Kuku cin ( 17 /V .1860 - 17/V . 1920) ," in Sbornfk , p . 623 . 17 Letter to J an Cadra, in Dielo: Listy priatel'om a znam ym (Bratislava: Tatran , 1974), XXI , 202) . 18 Julius Noge, Martin Kuku cfn: Tradicionalista a novator , V ol. I (Bra tislava: V yd avatel'stvo Slovenskej Akadem ie Vied, 1962), p . 1982. SLOVAKIA 111 " Bozena Slancikova , "Tapakovci , " Timrava, 2 vols. (Martin: Tatran, 1975), II, 413-50. 0 ' Dielo: Dom v strani (Bratislava: Slovenske Vydavatel'stvo Krasnej Literatury, 1961 ), Vol. IX. " "Odpoved' na anketu casopisu Stfedni skola," in Dielo: Zavazne skusenosti, pp. 457-58; see also his remarks on learning the best and richest Slovak from the dialects: "najkrajsou cestou k studiumu gramatikovi je studovat' dialekty, " in the minutes of the "Detvan" meetings, ibid., p. 548 . " Alexander Matuska,J.C. Hronsky (Bratislava, 1970) rpt. in Osobnosti (Slovensky Spisovatel', 1973), p. 458. " Matuska, p . 459. " Matuska, p. 458. Presented in Panel 128, "Slovak Literature as a Mirror of the National Awakening ," at the AAASS convention in Philadelphia on 8 November 1980.  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 Fairytale Tradition and J.R.R. Tolkien's "Eucatastrophe" in the Realistic Stories of Martin Kukučín Description An account of the resource Norma L. Rudinsky Slovakia, Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83 pp. 100-111 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rudinsky, Norma Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/5f1697592b297d8afb0e81d218226c76.pdf d8bdc781fc0df688e5c586e5835f96fb PDF Text Text 92 SLOVAKIA Vajansky and Turgenev Willia m E. H a rkin s It h as bee n said th a t literature feeds on lite rature m o re tha n it d oes on life, b y which it is m eant th a t a writer finds it m o re diffi cult to work directl y from life a nd tran sla te living expe rience directly into verbal a rt. Whe n o ne's source s a re them selves wo rd s a nd verb al fo rms, no act of tra n sla tion is required. The new " intertex tu al " approach to the semiotic stud y of literature wo uld seem to co nfirm this t ruth. It is a truism of Slovak literary history tha t the writer Svetozar Hurba n V aj a nsky was stro n gly influ en ced b y Ru ssian literature, a nd in parti cul a r b y Turgen ev. 1 Hurba n V aj a n sky st ands in th at nin eteen th- century Slovak ideological traditio n which turned its back on the W est , a nd specifically on the C zechs, a nd sou ght instead to find a n ideological base in Ru ss ian cul ture a nd Ru ssia n lite rature . T hi s pa per is inte nded to explore the questio n o f the exte nt o f Hurba n V aj a n sky's d epe nde nce o n Turge nev a nd to ve ntu re a n expla n a tio n of why Turge nev's le gacy was a suita ble bas is for V aj a n sky's w ritin gs . I will analyze V ajan sky' s most famous and probably his greatest novel , Su ch a. ratolest'(T he Dry B ranch , 1884) , as well as several o f his co untry sketches from the collectio n N a Basna.rovom kopci a ine crty (On Basnarov Hill a nd Other Sketche s, 1880-1 883) . At first sight it would seem that Tu rge nev wo uld h ave had ve ry little to o ffer the Slovak writer. V aj a n sk y was a n aggressive , d etermined a nd zealou s fi ghte r in the Slovak n atio n al cau se, him self witho u t hesita tio n a nd w ithout the intellectu al rese rvatio n s so typi cal of Tu rge nev's heroes. The them e o f n at io na lism is weak in Ru ss ia n Lite ra ture , pa rtl y becau se write rs did not iden ti fy th em selves with the R ussia n tsarist regim e, pa rtly b ecau se Ru ssia n n a tion a lism and na tio nal independence co uld be taken for gr a nted . T he sam e thing is tru e, of co urse, for En gli sh , Ame rican , o r Fre nch liter a ture, in which na tio na li st a nd p atriotic the m es a re no rmally weak , a nd in which a nti-na tion alist w riters are even kn ow n (Celine , M a ile r , etc.). Bu t in Ru ssia n li terature th e them e of natio n alism is alm os t pathologicall y weaken ed ; the reaso ns fo r this pheno m eno n mu st be sou gh t in Ru ssia 's unique spiritual and id eological develop ment . The a mbivalence of Turgenev's heroes would likewise seem �SLOVAKIA 93 to offer little to Vajansky, who was in part see kin g to create p rototyp es for n a tional lead ership. Th e search for a lead e r is a Turge n evan the me , o f course, but in Turgenev would-be lead er after lead e r goes d own to d efeat: Rudin , L avreckij , ln sarov , Bazarov, Nezdanov. I will return to these points presently , but first let us look at Vajansky ' s n ovel, Sucha ratolest'. The h ero of the novel is Stani slav Rudopol'sky, the la ndless heir of a n ancient n oble family o f la ndowne rs . Stanislav's father, impoverished, h ad turned from the ancient noble ways to foll ow a middle -class ex iste n ce as a governm en t official. Through indu stry a nd sob riety he accumul ated a con siderable fo rtune, which h e left to his son Stani slav , a youn g m a n with arti st ic inclin ations and tale nts and n ow e ndowed with e n ough wealth to cultivate these. H e return s h o m e to dwell in his an cestral m ansion in the provin cial town of Rudopolie . H e re he vacillates between two women: one the wife of his b est friend a nd the model for a great spiritualized portrait h e is p ainting which m ay vaguel y symbolize the Slovak people a nd its aspirations ; the o ther, a flirt a tiou s widow. The n ovel fin ally resolves the conflict b y transmittin g his affect io n for hi s friend's wife into spiritu al love a nd a rtistic creativ ity , thus leaving him to the wi dow , w h o turns out , in spite of h e r initi al capriciousness, to b e full y worthy of him . At first Stanislav is indiffere nt to the Slovak nation al cau se, which h e regards as a historical blind alley, but h e is ultimately brou ght through his frie ndship with Slovak p atriots to a tru e sense of the value and significan ce o f that cau se. Thus h e becomes what must h ave been a historical rarity: a zeman (squire) who is pro-Slovak and anti-Magyar. But we must remember that h e is landl ess and th at h e belongs essentially to th e middle class rath er t h an to th e gentry: in this Vajansky seems to be say in g th at the future hope of Slovakia lay in the middl e-class intelli ge ntsia and in the towns. Stanislav fight s a duel with the local leader of th e Magyar nationalist party: this is purely symbolic; in the duel he is n early k illed but a lso su cceeds in wounding hi s antagonist. Finally h e is nursed back to h ealth by the widow, and the novel ends w ith an opti mi stic, up-beat conclus io n . The title phrase, "Such a ratolest', " " dry branch," is applied to Stan islav , both by other ch aracters a nd by h imself. I t impli es his roo tlessness and purposel essness , qualiti es wh ich he feels strongly; at the e nd of the novel he would see m , however , to have transcended these qualities . Still, the novel has usu a ll y been taken as an ev idence th a t the �94 SLOVAKIA zemans had nothing to contribute to the Slovak nationalist cause (just as the Russian critic Dobroljubov took the novel Oblomov as a concrete evidence that the Russian gentry could not supply national leadership). The point remains ambiguous, and we must note here that this kind of ambiguity is quite typical of Turgenev ' s heroes. Rudin talks like a leader but is incapable of acting; Lavreckij too talks nobly but never acts; Insarov is killed off before he has an opportunity to lead ; Bazarov is a born leader but has no cause to lead, and he too is killed off to make doubly certain that the revolution will not come in hi s time. Just so Stanislav, or Stano as the author usually calls him , has a personal spiritual developme nt which is said to be fruitful, but that development seems to imply only fruitlessness for the national cause: the true ~ovak patriots and leaders in the novel are Stano's friends and not Stano. The point is furth er obscured in Vajansky' s romantic treatment of Stano as a painter: his activity is entirely idealized and spiritualized as artistic creation . We can read this as symbolic, but still the novel is too realistic (it co ntains an entire chapter describing an election, for instance), to permit us really to identify Stano ' s art as a symbol of the national struggle. Indeed , there is much in Stano which we could identify as "superfluity, " in the Russian tradition of the lisnij celovek or superfluous man . Essentially good, Stano is also fruitless and without purpose. H e vacillates in his love life. He almost gets killed in a duel. Only his art enables him to transcend lisnost' or superfluity. But is Vajansky's novel really so dependent on Turgenev as the critics have thought? Some general features do seem to resemble Turgenev: the treatment of landscape ( though Vajansky' s countryside is brighter and less somber than Turgenev's); the theme of a stranger returning home to the country to live there (Lavreckij, Bazarov); the theme of superfluity and the ambigu ity in its treatment; last perhaps, the theme of art, though actually it is not so typical of Turgenev as we might have supposed. Finally Vajansky , most unfortunately , e nded his novel with a virtual paraphase of the endi ng of Turgenev's Fathers and Children: the description of the cemetery in which Bazarov rests (in Sucha ratolest' the dead woman is Anna, one of the novel's three h eroines). But in fact Vajansky was not really very d ependent on Turgenev. Before discussing the novel 's independence, however, we should attend to several aspects that recall Pushkin rather than Turgenev. First, the �SLOVAKIA 95 trait of superfluity is as typical for Pu shkin as it is for Turgen ev, though in Pushkin it is d epicted with considerably less ambiguity . The theme of art is also Pushkinian , thou gh it must be said that Pushkin does not romanticize it the way Turgenev and Vajansky do . Several motifs involving Stano and the young orphan girl Anna recall Pushkin's Eugene On egin. As in On egin , a cultivated stranger comes to dwell in the countryside and makes a strong impression on a rathe r n aive native girl. As in On egin , the girl 's naivete is brought out throu gh the fact that she lacks discrimination in her choice of reading matter; specifically , the use of a library and books to assess character recalls Pushkin , though he used these for Onegin himself, for the hero , not the hero in e . There is a scene in which Anna , unable to sleep , gazes at the moon , as Tatyana does in Pushkin 's novel in verse. Finally, the duel in Vajansky's novel is som ewhat cl oser to the duel in On egin than it is to Bazarov' s duel wi th Pavel Kirsanov. But even in these d etails V aj a nsky shows great independence. Anna is impressed by Stano , but in the end she realizes his weakness and ambivalence a nd is repell ed by him , a nd the great bulk ofVajansky's novel is indepe nde nt both of Pushkin a nd Turgenev . If we look first of all at the n ovel 's st ructure, we a re impressed almost staggered - by V aj a n sky's originality. H e shows a freed om of con struction th at is truly amazing : without transitions he m oves from scene to scene, character to character, episode to episode. Events occur for which we are totally unprepared . Compared with Turgen ev, or Pushkin , his structure seems wild , formless , a rtl ess. These writers organize their materi al into tight structural units which themselves ha ve beginnings, middles and endi n gs. They operate with a restricted group of ch aracters in th e la te stages of their works. Vaj ansky can introdu ce a n ew ch aracter anyw here or at any time he wishes , nor does h e feel an obli gation to carry all hi s characters - even the importa nt ones - right down to the novel 's end. It would not be correct to say that Vajan sky' s novel is plotless it has a pl ot which, if less in scope than that of Pushkin 's Onegin could probably be compa red with T urge n ev's Smoke , or even Rudin . But in a certain sense, nothing h a ppens in Vajansky's novel with but one except ion: symbolic events occu r. Stano transcend s his attraction to his fri e nd 's wife. H e fi ghts a duel. Th e orphan Anna goes blind a nd dies. To a ttempt a more precise definition: th e realistic side of Vajan- �96 SLOVAKIA sky's novel lacks a plot stru cture . A second kind of event can occur which is radically unTurgenevan : this is the action of social groups: tavern brawls, demonstrations , election s held under conditions of corrupt ion. There is a far deeper sense of society in Vajansky' s fiction than in either Pushkin or Turgenev, and in this he was more of a realist. Presumabl y he had undergo ne the influ en ce of positivist philosophy, which turned its a ttent ion to society and created the new scien ce of sociology. Vajansky's "formlessn ess " would hardly have appealed to cultivated nineteenth-century readers . They would have preferred the powerful sense of form of a Pushkin , or the delicate understatement of a Turgenev. But to o ur times Vajansky's impatience with the constraints of form seems origin al and refreshing. I t h as often been said that Vajansky depicted a Slovak society that never ex isted, that is idealized. Yet in Sucha ratolest' that Slovak society hardl y appears a s idealized: it is dru nken , given to brawling, easily corrupted by bribes and drink. What Vajansky seems to intend here is a kind of dialectic opposition : ideal leaders will lead the people, brutalized by the Magyar oppress io n , to liberty . It is in suffi cient to say, then, that Vaj a nsky idealized Slovak society : in fact he gives us invaluable glimpses of life in a small Slovak country town of the day . The chapter depicting the elections is a masterly portrait that recalls, in its sordidness a nd detail , an American election of the ninetee nth or even twentieth century. Drink, arbitra ry challenges to the voters , repeat votin g - the familiar techniques of election control are all vividl y described. Thus Vajansky' s novel vacillates amb iguously be tween realism and id ealism . But the ambiguity is artistically fruitful and creative. In the years 1880- 1883 Vaj a n sky published a few sketch es of peasant a nd country life. The se sketch es, republish ed la ter in coll ected form unde r the titl e o f Na Basnarovom k opci a in e crty (On Basna rov Hill a nd Oth e r Ske tches), a re a m o n g hi s strongest a nd m os t ori ginal works, and it can o nly be re gretted th at he did not produ ce mo re exampl es of th e genre . T he form o fV ajan sky's sketch d e ri ves, o f co urse, from Turgenev , whose Sportsman ·s Sketches, pu bli shed in 1852, a re perh aps th a t writer 's stron ges t work. Lik e Turge nev , V ajan sky se ts hi s sketches in th e countrys id e, a nd th ey d ispl a y a stron gly im agisti c tre nd in th e d epi cti o n bo th of la nd scape a nd th e p easant cha racter s who pop ul a te it . In the sketches o f bo th w riters a n a rrator a ppears as a pe rce iver, a nd the di stan ce be- �SLOVAKIA 97 tween his perceiving eye and the peasants he views creates a subtle irony, one that does not , however , undercut the warm lyricism of the style and m anner. T u rgenev ' s narrator is a gentleman proprietor and hunter ; Vaj an sky's is (presum a bly) a middle-class intellectual turning his attention to the life of the Slovak peasantry. The ideological point of this is never m ade specific, bu t it was pa tently implicit in the political logic of the times: the Slovak intellectu als were waitin g for the d awn of political consciou sness am ong the peasantry. In the first of these sketches, " On Basna rov Hill ," the ideological mom ent is most incisive , though its intrusiveness detracts from the sketch artisti cally. A peasant m other and her younger son lam ent the cruelty of the elder son who has cast the widowed m other out with out provision for support. In her conversation she turns to attack Slovak officials , whom as a peasan t she di stru sts . V aj an sky, overhearing her , interrupts to de fend those offi cials who are Slovak nationalists. But the distinction is los t on the old woman , who has little political or national consciousness. She simply tu rns her back on his appeal. T hi s argum en t is of course quite un-Turgenevan ; Turgenev the hun ter m ay speak to the peasants, but he d oes not harran gu e them ; indeed , Tu rge nev is a master of understa tem en t and this q u ality Vajansky was perha ps un a ble to ass imila te, as we have already seen in the case of Su cha ra tolest'. But V ajan sky is capa ble o f creating im ages as powe rful and movin g as those of T u rgenev . P erh a ps the fines t of his sketcties is the one called " Hlasnik " (The Night W atchman): a movin g im agistic portrayal of a peasan t watchm an 's round s at nigh t, in te rtwined with hi s service to a dead m an fo r whom he digs a grave and whose bod y he later visits. With vivid depict ion of both the m ovem ent of the watchma n ' s round s and hi s calls th rough the night on his horn , the piece is a m asterpiece of mood im agery th at recall s the fin est sketches of Tu rgen ev such as "The Singe rs" or " Bezin M eadow," but d oes not imi tate them except in th e m ost ge neral way . In fac t , none of Vajansky' s ind ividual sketches recalls an y specific sketch b y T urgenev. Vaj an sky's land scape is too differe nt , a nd Slovak society too d ist inct. Vajan sky has perfectly ad apted th e Turgenevan ske tch and u sed it in the cause of Slovak li terature and Slovak ideology. We are now in a better pos ition to answer the ques tion we posed at the ou tset : what qu a:ities in T urgenev appealed to Vajansky and per- �98 SLOVAKIA suaded him to use elements taken from Turgenev 's work? The question should be asked in the light of the almost total difference we have found between the two writers, in personality, artistic temperament , psychology of character creation and development, optimism and pessimism, artistic structure. Still, there was something in Turgenev 's work, whether Vajansky realized it consciously or not, which Vajansky found of creative use . I suggest that this was that very ambiguity of treatment of ideological heroes by Turgenev which attracted Vajansky to his work. This in spite ofVajansky's much greater aggressiveness, his nationalism, his greater optimism . For tl;ie fact was that the Slovak cause was going nowhere in the 1880's. Though it might well have been that eventually it would go somewhere , it seemed bogged down - and this is the view Vajansky embodies in Sucha ratolest' in his chapter on the elections. Hence it was necessary to create characters who were "superfluous," who could achieve nothing in the present, yet characters capable of success, at least in an idealized dimension projected into the future . Turgenev had done the same thing: Bazarov is a born leader capable of reforming Russia, yet he is a leader without real followers and he comes at a time that is premature . The other common feature between Turgenev's writings and those of Vajansky is that of a passive human mass, the peasantry, needing to be awakened and educated . This is perhaps the only point where Turgenev's ideology acquires a nationalist tinge: Russia's peasantry holds her back, prevents her proper development : hence , it is necessary to educate the peasantry. In Vajansky the peasantry, and to some extent the town masses, play a similar role . It is necessary to win these masses over if the Slovak cause is to succeed. Following their leader l:.udovft Stur, the Slovak patriots turned to Russia because they perceived the West, including the Czechs , as decadent. They were influenced in this by Herder's prophecy of the future greatness of the Slavs, a prophecy Herder had specially made for the Eastern Slavs on the basis of his stay in Riga. Stur also noted that the closeness of kinship and family ties, so important to the Slovaks, was duplicated among the Eastern Slavs but not among the Czechs. 1 This began a Slovak turn toward Russia and Russian culture that was beneficial for the development of the nascent Slovak literature , if it was probably harmful to the development of the Slovak national ideology. �SLOVAKIA 99 It is perhaps ironic that , motivated by considerations such as warmth of emotionality and closeness of kinship ties, V ajansky should have turned to writers like Pushkin and Turgenev, who, among Russians, were to be regarded as Westerners. Curiously, the Slovak leaders hardly knew the Russian Slavophiles, and their influence was perceptible only later. Yet, clearly the Slovak writers were seeking something they could use, and the precise source was not important. It is remarkable that when artists such as Edouard Manet or Vincent van Gogh or Mary Cassat turned to Japanese art for inspiration , they found woodblock prints of grim acin g actors and simpering courtesans , rather than the infinitely more subtle and more sophisticated art of such J a panese schools as the Rimp a or Shijo schools. Yet apparently Manet, Van Gogh , or Mary Cassat kn ew what they were looking for, and they rejected what they could not use; thus they succeeded in making that Japanese influence fruitful and not pernicious . In a similar way, Turgenev was a writer in many ways not con genial to Vajansky. But Vajansky had his own individuality and was a great enough artist to take from Turgenev what he needed . And he incorporated that something into his own distinct art. NOTES See, e. g., Jan V . Novak and Arne Novak, Pfehledn e dejin y literatury ceske (Olomouc, 1936-39), p. 82 1; Andrej Mraz , Dejiny slovensk ej literatury, Slovenska vlastiveda , Vol. 1, Literatura a jazyk (Bra tislava: Sloven ska Akademia vied a umenf, 1948), p . 214; Slovenska Akademia Vied, Ustav slovenskej li te ra tury, D ejin y slovenskej literatury, III (Bra tislava, 1965), 630-31 a nd passim . ' See Ludovft Stur , 0 narodnich pisnich a povestech plemen slovanskych (Prague , 1853). I Presented in Panel 65, "The Village in Slovak Literature ," at the AAASS convention in Asilomar, California on 21 September 1981. � 92 SLOVAKIA Vajansky and Turgenev Willia m E. H a rkin s It h as bee n said th a t literature feeds on lite rature m o re tha n it d oes on life, b y which it is m eant th a t a writer finds it m o re diffi cult to work directl y from life a nd tran sla te living expe rience directly into verbal a rt. Whe n o ne's source s a re them selves wo rd s a nd verb al fo rms, no act of tra n sla tion is required. The new " intertex tu al " approach to the semiotic stud y of literature wo uld seem to co nfirm this t ruth. It is a truism of Slovak literary history tha t the writer Svetozar Hurba n V aj a nsky was stro n gly influ en ced b y Ru ssian literature, a nd in parti cul a r b y Turgen ev. 1 Hurba n V aj a n sky st ands in th at nin eteen th- century Slovak ideological traditio n which turned its back on the W est , a nd specifically on the C zechs, a nd sou ght instead to find a n ideological base in Ru ss ian cul ture a nd Ru ssia n lite rature . T hi s pa per is inte nded to explore the questio n o f the exte nt o f Hurba n V aj a n sky's d epe nde nce o n Turge nev a nd to ve ntu re a n expla n a tio n of why Turge nev's le gacy was a suita ble bas is for V aj a n sky's w ritin gs . I will analyze V ajan sky' s most famous and probably his greatest novel , Su ch a. ratolest'(T he Dry B ranch , 1884) , as well as several o f his co untry sketches from the collectio n N a Basna.rovom kopci a ine crty (On Basnarov Hill a nd Other Sketche s, 1880-1 883) . At first sight it would seem that Tu rge nev wo uld h ave had ve ry little to o ffer the Slovak writer. V aj a n sk y was a n aggressive , d etermined a nd zealou s fi ghte r in the Slovak n atio n al cau se, him self witho u t hesita tio n a nd w ithout the intellectu al rese rvatio n s so typi cal of Tu rge nev's heroes. The them e o f n at io na lism is weak in Ru ss ia n Lite ra ture , pa rtl y becau se write rs did not iden ti fy th em selves with the R ussia n tsarist regim e, pa rtly b ecau se Ru ssia n n a tion a lism and na tio nal independence co uld be taken for gr a nted . T he sam e thing is tru e, of co urse, for En gli sh , Ame rican , o r Fre nch liter a ture, in which na tio na li st a nd p atriotic the m es a re no rmally weak , a nd in which a nti-na tion alist w riters are even kn ow n (Celine , M a ile r , etc.). Bu t in Ru ssia n li terature th e them e of natio n alism is alm os t pathologicall y weaken ed ; the reaso ns fo r this pheno m eno n mu st be sou gh t in Ru ssia 's unique spiritual and id eological develop ment . The a mbivalence of Turgenev's heroes would likewise seem �SLOVAKIA 93 to offer little to Vajansky, who was in part see kin g to create p rototyp es for n a tional lead ership. Th e search for a lead e r is a Turge n evan the me , o f course, but in Turgenev would-be lead er after lead e r goes d own to d efeat: Rudin , L avreckij , ln sarov , Bazarov, Nezdanov. I will return to these points presently , but first let us look at Vajansky ' s n ovel, Sucha ratolest'. The h ero of the novel is Stani slav Rudopol'sky, the la ndless heir of a n ancient n oble family o f la ndowne rs . Stanislav's father, impoverished, h ad turned from the ancient noble ways to foll ow a middle -class ex iste n ce as a governm en t official. Through indu stry a nd sob riety he accumul ated a con siderable fo rtune, which h e left to his son Stani slav , a youn g m a n with arti st ic inclin ations and tale nts and n ow e ndowed with e n ough wealth to cultivate these. H e return s h o m e to dwell in his an cestral m ansion in the provin cial town of Rudopolie . H e re he vacillates between two women: one the wife of his b est friend a nd the model for a great spiritualized portrait h e is p ainting which m ay vaguel y symbolize the Slovak people a nd its aspirations ; the o ther, a flirt a tiou s widow. The n ovel fin ally resolves the conflict b y transmittin g his affect io n for hi s friend's wife into spiritu al love a nd a rtistic creativ ity , thus leaving him to the wi dow , w h o turns out , in spite of h e r initi al capriciousness, to b e full y worthy of him . At first Stanislav is indiffere nt to the Slovak nation al cau se, which h e regards as a historical blind alley, but h e is ultimately brou ght through his frie ndship with Slovak p atriots to a tru e sense of the value and significan ce o f that cau se. Thus h e becomes what must h ave been a historical rarity: a zeman (squire) who is pro-Slovak and anti-Magyar. But we must remember that h e is landl ess and th at h e belongs essentially to th e middle class rath er t h an to th e gentry: in this Vajansky seems to be say in g th at the future hope of Slovakia lay in the middl e-class intelli ge ntsia and in the towns. Stanislav fight s a duel with the local leader of th e Magyar nationalist party: this is purely symbolic; in the duel he is n early k illed but a lso su cceeds in wounding hi s antagonist. Finally h e is nursed back to h ealth by the widow, and the novel ends w ith an opti mi stic, up-beat conclus io n . The title phrase, "Such a ratolest', " " dry branch," is applied to Stan islav , both by other ch aracters a nd by h imself. I t impli es his roo tlessness and purposel essness , qualiti es wh ich he feels strongly; at the e nd of the novel he would see m , however , to have transcended these qualities . Still, the novel has usu a ll y been taken as an ev idence th a t the �94 SLOVAKIA zemans had nothing to contribute to the Slovak nationalist cause (just as the Russian critic Dobroljubov took the novel Oblomov as a concrete evidence that the Russian gentry could not supply national leadership). The point remains ambiguous, and we must note here that this kind of ambiguity is quite typical of Turgenev ' s heroes. Rudin talks like a leader but is incapable of acting; Lavreckij too talks nobly but never acts; Insarov is killed off before he has an opportunity to lead ; Bazarov is a born leader but has no cause to lead, and he too is killed off to make doubly certain that the revolution will not come in hi s time. Just so Stanislav, or Stano as the author usually calls him , has a personal spiritual developme nt which is said to be fruitful, but that development seems to imply only fruitlessness for the national cause: the true ~ovak patriots and leaders in the novel are Stano's friends and not Stano. The point is furth er obscured in Vajansky' s romantic treatment of Stano as a painter: his activity is entirely idealized and spiritualized as artistic creation . We can read this as symbolic, but still the novel is too realistic (it co ntains an entire chapter describing an election, for instance), to permit us really to identify Stano ' s art as a symbol of the national struggle. Indeed , there is much in Stano which we could identify as "superfluity, " in the Russian tradition of the lisnij celovek or superfluous man . Essentially good, Stano is also fruitless and without purpose. H e vacillates in his love life. He almost gets killed in a duel. Only his art enables him to transcend lisnost' or superfluity. But is Vajansky's novel really so dependent on Turgenev as the critics have thought? Some general features do seem to resemble Turgenev: the treatment of landscape ( though Vajansky' s countryside is brighter and less somber than Turgenev's); the theme of a stranger returning home to the country to live there (Lavreckij, Bazarov); the theme of superfluity and the ambigu ity in its treatment; last perhaps, the theme of art, though actually it is not so typical of Turgenev as we might have supposed. Finally Vajansky , most unfortunately , e nded his novel with a virtual paraphase of the endi ng of Turgenev's Fathers and Children: the description of the cemetery in which Bazarov rests (in Sucha ratolest' the dead woman is Anna, one of the novel's three h eroines). But in fact Vajansky was not really very d ependent on Turgenev. Before discussing the novel 's independence, however, we should attend to several aspects that recall Pushkin rather than Turgenev. First, the �SLOVAKIA 95 trait of superfluity is as typical for Pu shkin as it is for Turgen ev, though in Pushkin it is d epicted with considerably less ambiguity . The theme of art is also Pushkinian , thou gh it must be said that Pushkin does not romanticize it the way Turgenev and Vajansky do . Several motifs involving Stano and the young orphan girl Anna recall Pushkin's Eugene On egin. As in On egin , a cultivated stranger comes to dwell in the countryside and makes a strong impression on a rathe r n aive native girl. As in On egin , the girl 's naivete is brought out throu gh the fact that she lacks discrimination in her choice of reading matter; specifically , the use of a library and books to assess character recalls Pushkin , though he used these for Onegin himself, for the hero , not the hero in e . There is a scene in which Anna , unable to sleep , gazes at the moon , as Tatyana does in Pushkin 's novel in verse. Finally, the duel in Vajansky's novel is som ewhat cl oser to the duel in On egin than it is to Bazarov' s duel wi th Pavel Kirsanov. But even in these d etails V aj a nsky shows great independence. Anna is impressed by Stano , but in the end she realizes his weakness and ambivalence a nd is repell ed by him , a nd the great bulk ofVajansky's novel is indepe nde nt both of Pushkin a nd Turgenev . If we look first of all at the n ovel 's st ructure, we a re impressed almost staggered - by V aj a n sky's originality. H e shows a freed om of con struction th at is truly amazing : without transitions he m oves from scene to scene, character to character, episode to episode. Events occur for which we are totally unprepared . Compared with Turgen ev, or Pushkin , his structure seems wild , formless , a rtl ess. These writers organize their materi al into tight structural units which themselves ha ve beginnings, middles and endi n gs. They operate with a restricted group of ch aracters in th e la te stages of their works. Vaj ansky can introdu ce a n ew ch aracter anyw here or at any time he wishes , nor does h e feel an obli gation to carry all hi s characters - even the importa nt ones - right down to the novel 's end. It would not be correct to say that Vajan sky' s novel is plotless it has a pl ot which, if less in scope than that of Pushkin 's Onegin could probably be compa red with T urge n ev's Smoke , or even Rudin . But in a certain sense, nothing h a ppens in Vajansky's novel with but one except ion: symbolic events occu r. Stano transcend s his attraction to his fri e nd 's wife. H e fi ghts a duel. Th e orphan Anna goes blind a nd dies. To a ttempt a more precise definition: th e realistic side of Vajan- �96 SLOVAKIA sky's novel lacks a plot stru cture . A second kind of event can occur which is radically unTurgenevan : this is the action of social groups: tavern brawls, demonstrations , election s held under conditions of corrupt ion. There is a far deeper sense of society in Vajansky' s fiction than in either Pushkin or Turgenev, and in this he was more of a realist. Presumabl y he had undergo ne the influ en ce of positivist philosophy, which turned its a ttent ion to society and created the new scien ce of sociology. Vajansky's "formlessn ess " would hardly have appealed to cultivated nineteenth-century readers . They would have preferred the powerful sense of form of a Pushkin , or the delicate understatement of a Turgenev. But to o ur times Vajansky's impatience with the constraints of form seems origin al and refreshing. I t h as often been said that Vajansky depicted a Slovak society that never ex isted, that is idealized. Yet in Sucha ratolest' that Slovak society hardl y appears a s idealized: it is dru nken , given to brawling, easily corrupted by bribes and drink. What Vajansky seems to intend here is a kind of dialectic opposition : ideal leaders will lead the people, brutalized by the Magyar oppress io n , to liberty . It is in suffi cient to say, then, that Vaj a nsky idealized Slovak society : in fact he gives us invaluable glimpses of life in a small Slovak country town of the day . The chapter depicting the elections is a masterly portrait that recalls, in its sordidness a nd detail , an American election of the ninetee nth or even twentieth century. Drink, arbitra ry challenges to the voters , repeat votin g - the familiar techniques of election control are all vividl y described. Thus Vajansky' s novel vacillates amb iguously be tween realism and id ealism . But the ambiguity is artistically fruitful and creative. In the years 1880- 1883 Vaj a n sky published a few sketch es of peasant a nd country life. The se sketch es, republish ed la ter in coll ected form unde r the titl e o f Na Basnarovom k opci a in e crty (On Basna rov Hill a nd Oth e r Ske tches), a re a m o n g hi s strongest a nd m os t ori ginal works, and it can o nly be re gretted th at he did not produ ce mo re exampl es of th e genre . T he form o fV ajan sky's sketch d e ri ves, o f co urse, from Turgenev , whose Sportsman ·s Sketches, pu bli shed in 1852, a re perh aps th a t writer 's stron ges t work. Lik e Turge nev , V ajan sky se ts hi s sketches in th e countrys id e, a nd th ey d ispl a y a stron gly im agisti c tre nd in th e d epi cti o n bo th of la nd scape a nd th e p easant cha racter s who pop ul a te it . In the sketches o f bo th w riters a n a rrator a ppears as a pe rce iver, a nd the di stan ce be- �SLOVAKIA 97 tween his perceiving eye and the peasants he views creates a subtle irony, one that does not , however , undercut the warm lyricism of the style and m anner. T u rgenev ' s narrator is a gentleman proprietor and hunter ; Vaj an sky's is (presum a bly) a middle-class intellectual turning his attention to the life of the Slovak peasantry. The ideological point of this is never m ade specific, bu t it was pa tently implicit in the political logic of the times: the Slovak intellectu als were waitin g for the d awn of political consciou sness am ong the peasantry. In the first of these sketches, " On Basna rov Hill ," the ideological mom ent is most incisive , though its intrusiveness detracts from the sketch artisti cally. A peasant m other and her younger son lam ent the cruelty of the elder son who has cast the widowed m other out with out provision for support. In her conversation she turns to attack Slovak officials , whom as a peasan t she di stru sts . V aj an sky, overhearing her , interrupts to de fend those offi cials who are Slovak nationalists. But the distinction is los t on the old woman , who has little political or national consciousness. She simply tu rns her back on his appeal. T hi s argum en t is of course quite un-Turgenevan ; Turgenev the hun ter m ay speak to the peasants, but he d oes not harran gu e them ; indeed , Tu rge nev is a master of understa tem en t and this q u ality Vajansky was perha ps un a ble to ass imila te, as we have already seen in the case of Su cha ra tolest'. But V ajan sky is capa ble o f creating im ages as powe rful and movin g as those of T u rgenev . P erh a ps the fines t of his sketcties is the one called " Hlasnik " (The Night W atchman): a movin g im agistic portrayal of a peasan t watchm an 's round s at nigh t, in te rtwined with hi s service to a dead m an fo r whom he digs a grave and whose bod y he later visits. With vivid depict ion of both the m ovem ent of the watchma n ' s round s and hi s calls th rough the night on his horn , the piece is a m asterpiece of mood im agery th at recall s the fin est sketches of Tu rgen ev such as "The Singe rs" or " Bezin M eadow," but d oes not imi tate them except in th e m ost ge neral way . In fac t , none of Vajansky' s ind ividual sketches recalls an y specific sketch b y T urgenev. Vaj an sky's land scape is too differe nt , a nd Slovak society too d ist inct. Vajan sky has perfectly ad apted th e Turgenevan ske tch and u sed it in the cause of Slovak li terature and Slovak ideology. We are now in a better pos ition to answer the ques tion we posed at the ou tset : what qu a:ities in T urgenev appealed to Vajansky and per- �98 SLOVAKIA suaded him to use elements taken from Turgenev 's work? The question should be asked in the light of the almost total difference we have found between the two writers, in personality, artistic temperament , psychology of character creation and development, optimism and pessimism, artistic structure. Still, there was something in Turgenev 's work, whether Vajansky realized it consciously or not, which Vajansky found of creative use . I suggest that this was that very ambiguity of treatment of ideological heroes by Turgenev which attracted Vajansky to his work. This in spite ofVajansky's much greater aggressiveness, his nationalism, his greater optimism . For tl;ie fact was that the Slovak cause was going nowhere in the 1880's. Though it might well have been that eventually it would go somewhere , it seemed bogged down - and this is the view Vajansky embodies in Sucha ratolest' in his chapter on the elections. Hence it was necessary to create characters who were "superfluous," who could achieve nothing in the present, yet characters capable of success, at least in an idealized dimension projected into the future . Turgenev had done the same thing: Bazarov is a born leader capable of reforming Russia, yet he is a leader without real followers and he comes at a time that is premature . The other common feature between Turgenev's writings and those of Vajansky is that of a passive human mass, the peasantry, needing to be awakened and educated . This is perhaps the only point where Turgenev's ideology acquires a nationalist tinge: Russia's peasantry holds her back, prevents her proper development : hence , it is necessary to educate the peasantry. In Vajansky the peasantry, and to some extent the town masses, play a similar role . It is necessary to win these masses over if the Slovak cause is to succeed. Following their leader l:.udovft Stur, the Slovak patriots turned to Russia because they perceived the West, including the Czechs , as decadent. They were influenced in this by Herder's prophecy of the future greatness of the Slavs, a prophecy Herder had specially made for the Eastern Slavs on the basis of his stay in Riga. Stur also noted that the closeness of kinship and family ties, so important to the Slovaks, was duplicated among the Eastern Slavs but not among the Czechs. 1 This began a Slovak turn toward Russia and Russian culture that was beneficial for the development of the nascent Slovak literature , if it was probably harmful to the development of the Slovak national ideology. �SLOVAKIA 99 It is perhaps ironic that , motivated by considerations such as warmth of emotionality and closeness of kinship ties, V ajansky should have turned to writers like Pushkin and Turgenev, who, among Russians, were to be regarded as Westerners. Curiously, the Slovak leaders hardly knew the Russian Slavophiles, and their influence was perceptible only later. Yet, clearly the Slovak writers were seeking something they could use, and the precise source was not important. It is remarkable that when artists such as Edouard Manet or Vincent van Gogh or Mary Cassat turned to Japanese art for inspiration , they found woodblock prints of grim acin g actors and simpering courtesans , rather than the infinitely more subtle and more sophisticated art of such J a panese schools as the Rimp a or Shijo schools. Yet apparently Manet, Van Gogh , or Mary Cassat kn ew what they were looking for, and they rejected what they could not use; thus they succeeded in making that Japanese influence fruitful and not pernicious . In a similar way, Turgenev was a writer in many ways not con genial to Vajansky. But Vajansky had his own individuality and was a great enough artist to take from Turgenev what he needed . And he incorporated that something into his own distinct art. NOTES See, e. g., Jan V . Novak and Arne Novak, Pfehledn e dejin y literatury ceske (Olomouc, 1936-39), p. 82 1; Andrej Mraz , Dejiny slovensk ej literatury, Slovenska vlastiveda , Vol. 1, Literatura a jazyk (Bra tislava: Sloven ska Akademia vied a umenf, 1948), p . 214; Slovenska Akademia Vied, Ustav slovenskej li te ra tury, D ejin y slovenskej literatury, III (Bra tislava, 1965), 630-31 a nd passim . ' See Ludovft Stur , 0 narodnich pisnich a povestech plemen slovanskych (Prague , 1853). I Presented in Panel 65, "The Village in Slovak Literature ," at the AAASS convention in Asilomar, California on 21 September 1981. � 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 1982-83, Vol. 30 Description An account of the resource Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83. 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 1982-83 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 92 SLOVAKIA Vajansky and Turgenev Willia m E. H a rkin s It h as bee n said th a t literature feeds on lite rature m o re tha n it d oes on life, b y which it is m eant th a t a writer finds it m o re diffi cult to work directl y from life a nd tran sla te living expe rience directly into verbal a rt. Whe n o ne's source s a re them selves wo rd s a nd verb al fo rms, no act of tra n sla tion is required. The new " intertex tu al " approach to the semiotic stud y of literature wo uld seem to co nfirm this t ruth. It is a truism of Slovak literary history tha t the writer Svetozar Hurba n V aj a nsky was stro n gly influ en ced b y Ru ssian literature, a nd in parti cul a r b y Turgen ev. 1 Hurba n V aj a n sky st ands in th at nin eteen th- century Slovak ideological traditio n which turned its back on the W est , a nd specifically on the C zechs, a nd sou ght instead to find a n ideological base in Ru ss ian cul ture a nd Ru ssia n lite rature . T hi s pa per is inte nded to explore the questio n o f the exte nt o f Hurba n V aj a n sky's d epe nde nce o n Turge nev a nd to ve ntu re a n expla n a tio n of why Turge nev's le gacy was a suita ble bas is for V aj a n sky's w ritin gs . I will analyze V ajan sky' s most famous and probably his greatest novel , Su ch a. ratolest'(T he Dry B ranch , 1884) , as well as several o f his co untry sketches from the collectio n N a Basna.rovom kopci a ine crty (On Basnarov Hill a nd Other Sketche s, 1880-1 883) . At first sight it would seem that Tu rge nev wo uld h ave had ve ry little to o ffer the Slovak writer. V aj a n sk y was a n aggressive , d etermined a nd zealou s fi ghte r in the Slovak n atio n al cau se, him self witho u t hesita tio n a nd w ithout the intellectu al rese rvatio n s so typi cal of Tu rge nev's heroes. The them e o f n at io na lism is weak in Ru ss ia n Lite ra ture , pa rtl y becau se write rs did not iden ti fy th em selves with the R ussia n tsarist regim e, pa rtly b ecau se Ru ssia n n a tion a lism and na tio nal independence co uld be taken for gr a nted . T he sam e thing is tru e, of co urse, for En gli sh , Ame rican , o r Fre nch liter a ture, in which na tio na li st a nd p atriotic the m es a re no rmally weak , a nd in which a nti-na tion alist w riters are even kn ow n (Celine , M a ile r , etc.). Bu t in Ru ssia n li terature th e them e of natio n alism is alm os t pathologicall y weaken ed ; the reaso ns fo r this pheno m eno n mu st be sou gh t in Ru ssia 's unique spiritual and id eological develop ment . The a mbivalence of Turgenev's heroes would likewise seem SLOVAKIA 93 to offer little to Vajansky, who was in part see kin g to create p rototyp es for n a tional lead ership. Th e search for a lead e r is a Turge n evan the me , o f course, but in Turgenev would-be lead er after lead e r goes d own to d efeat: Rudin , L avreckij , ln sarov , Bazarov, Nezdanov. I will return to these points presently , but first let us look at Vajansky ' s n ovel, Sucha ratolest'. The h ero of the novel is Stani slav Rudopol'sky, the la ndless heir of a n ancient n oble family o f la ndowne rs . Stanislav's father, impoverished, h ad turned from the ancient noble ways to foll ow a middle -class ex iste n ce as a governm en t official. Through indu stry a nd sob riety he accumul ated a con siderable fo rtune, which h e left to his son Stani slav , a youn g m a n with arti st ic inclin ations and tale nts and n ow e ndowed with e n ough wealth to cultivate these. H e return s h o m e to dwell in his an cestral m ansion in the provin cial town of Rudopolie . H e re he vacillates between two women: one the wife of his b est friend a nd the model for a great spiritualized portrait h e is p ainting which m ay vaguel y symbolize the Slovak people a nd its aspirations ; the o ther, a flirt a tiou s widow. The n ovel fin ally resolves the conflict b y transmittin g his affect io n for hi s friend's wife into spiritu al love a nd a rtistic creativ ity , thus leaving him to the wi dow , w h o turns out , in spite of h e r initi al capriciousness, to b e full y worthy of him . At first Stanislav is indiffere nt to the Slovak nation al cau se, which h e regards as a historical blind alley, but h e is ultimately brou ght through his frie ndship with Slovak p atriots to a tru e sense of the value and significan ce o f that cau se. Thus h e becomes what must h ave been a historical rarity: a zeman (squire) who is pro-Slovak and anti-Magyar. But we must remember that h e is landl ess and th at h e belongs essentially to th e middle class rath er t h an to th e gentry: in this Vajansky seems to be say in g th at the future hope of Slovakia lay in the middl e-class intelli ge ntsia and in the towns. Stanislav fight s a duel with the local leader of th e Magyar nationalist party: this is purely symbolic; in the duel he is n early k illed but a lso su cceeds in wounding hi s antagonist. Finally h e is nursed back to h ealth by the widow, and the novel ends w ith an opti mi stic, up-beat conclus io n . The title phrase, "Such a ratolest', " " dry branch," is applied to Stan islav , both by other ch aracters a nd by h imself. I t impli es his roo tlessness and purposel essness , qualiti es wh ich he feels strongly; at the e nd of the novel he would see m , however , to have transcended these qualities . Still, the novel has usu a ll y been taken as an ev idence th a t the 94 SLOVAKIA zemans had nothing to contribute to the Slovak nationalist cause (just as the Russian critic Dobroljubov took the novel Oblomov as a concrete evidence that the Russian gentry could not supply national leadership). The point remains ambiguous, and we must note here that this kind of ambiguity is quite typical of Turgenev ' s heroes. Rudin talks like a leader but is incapable of acting; Lavreckij too talks nobly but never acts; Insarov is killed off before he has an opportunity to lead ; Bazarov is a born leader but has no cause to lead, and he too is killed off to make doubly certain that the revolution will not come in hi s time. Just so Stanislav, or Stano as the author usually calls him , has a personal spiritual developme nt which is said to be fruitful, but that development seems to imply only fruitlessness for the national cause: the true ~ovak patriots and leaders in the novel are Stano's friends and not Stano. The point is furth er obscured in Vajansky' s romantic treatment of Stano as a painter: his activity is entirely idealized and spiritualized as artistic creation . We can read this as symbolic, but still the novel is too realistic (it co ntains an entire chapter describing an election, for instance), to permit us really to identify Stano ' s art as a symbol of the national struggle. Indeed , there is much in Stano which we could identify as "superfluity, " in the Russian tradition of the lisnij celovek or superfluous man . Essentially good, Stano is also fruitless and without purpose. H e vacillates in his love life. He almost gets killed in a duel. Only his art enables him to transcend lisnost' or superfluity. But is Vajansky's novel really so dependent on Turgenev as the critics have thought? Some general features do seem to resemble Turgenev: the treatment of landscape ( though Vajansky' s countryside is brighter and less somber than Turgenev's); the theme of a stranger returning home to the country to live there (Lavreckij, Bazarov); the theme of superfluity and the ambigu ity in its treatment; last perhaps, the theme of art, though actually it is not so typical of Turgenev as we might have supposed. Finally Vajansky , most unfortunately , e nded his novel with a virtual paraphase of the endi ng of Turgenev's Fathers and Children: the description of the cemetery in which Bazarov rests (in Sucha ratolest' the dead woman is Anna, one of the novel's three h eroines). But in fact Vajansky was not really very d ependent on Turgenev. Before discussing the novel 's independence, however, we should attend to several aspects that recall Pushkin rather than Turgenev. First, the SLOVAKIA 95 trait of superfluity is as typical for Pu shkin as it is for Turgen ev, though in Pushkin it is d epicted with considerably less ambiguity . The theme of art is also Pushkinian , thou gh it must be said that Pushkin does not romanticize it the way Turgenev and Vajansky do . Several motifs involving Stano and the young orphan girl Anna recall Pushkin's Eugene On egin. As in On egin , a cultivated stranger comes to dwell in the countryside and makes a strong impression on a rathe r n aive native girl. As in On egin , the girl 's naivete is brought out throu gh the fact that she lacks discrimination in her choice of reading matter; specifically , the use of a library and books to assess character recalls Pushkin , though he used these for Onegin himself, for the hero , not the hero in e . There is a scene in which Anna , unable to sleep , gazes at the moon , as Tatyana does in Pushkin 's novel in verse. Finally, the duel in Vajansky's novel is som ewhat cl oser to the duel in On egin than it is to Bazarov' s duel wi th Pavel Kirsanov. But even in these d etails V aj a nsky shows great independence. Anna is impressed by Stano , but in the end she realizes his weakness and ambivalence a nd is repell ed by him , a nd the great bulk ofVajansky's novel is indepe nde nt both of Pushkin a nd Turgenev . If we look first of all at the n ovel 's st ructure, we a re impressed almost staggered - by V aj a n sky's originality. H e shows a freed om of con struction th at is truly amazing : without transitions he m oves from scene to scene, character to character, episode to episode. Events occur for which we are totally unprepared . Compared with Turgen ev, or Pushkin , his structure seems wild , formless , a rtl ess. These writers organize their materi al into tight structural units which themselves ha ve beginnings, middles and endi n gs. They operate with a restricted group of ch aracters in th e la te stages of their works. Vaj ansky can introdu ce a n ew ch aracter anyw here or at any time he wishes , nor does h e feel an obli gation to carry all hi s characters - even the importa nt ones - right down to the novel 's end. It would not be correct to say that Vajan sky' s novel is plotless it has a pl ot which, if less in scope than that of Pushkin 's Onegin could probably be compa red with T urge n ev's Smoke , or even Rudin . But in a certain sense, nothing h a ppens in Vajansky's novel with but one except ion: symbolic events occu r. Stano transcend s his attraction to his fri e nd 's wife. H e fi ghts a duel. Th e orphan Anna goes blind a nd dies. To a ttempt a more precise definition: th e realistic side of Vajan- 96 SLOVAKIA sky's novel lacks a plot stru cture . A second kind of event can occur which is radically unTurgenevan : this is the action of social groups: tavern brawls, demonstrations , election s held under conditions of corrupt ion. There is a far deeper sense of society in Vajansky' s fiction than in either Pushkin or Turgenev, and in this he was more of a realist. Presumabl y he had undergo ne the influ en ce of positivist philosophy, which turned its a ttent ion to society and created the new scien ce of sociology. Vajansky's "formlessn ess " would hardly have appealed to cultivated nineteenth-century readers . They would have preferred the powerful sense of form of a Pushkin , or the delicate understatement of a Turgenev. But to o ur times Vajansky's impatience with the constraints of form seems origin al and refreshing. I t h as often been said that Vajansky depicted a Slovak society that never ex isted, that is idealized. Yet in Sucha ratolest' that Slovak society hardl y appears a s idealized: it is dru nken , given to brawling, easily corrupted by bribes and drink. What Vajansky seems to intend here is a kind of dialectic opposition : ideal leaders will lead the people, brutalized by the Magyar oppress io n , to liberty . It is in suffi cient to say, then, that Vaj a nsky idealized Slovak society : in fact he gives us invaluable glimpses of life in a small Slovak country town of the day . The chapter depicting the elections is a masterly portrait that recalls, in its sordidness a nd detail , an American election of the ninetee nth or even twentieth century. Drink, arbitra ry challenges to the voters , repeat votin g - the familiar techniques of election control are all vividl y described. Thus Vajansky' s novel vacillates amb iguously be tween realism and id ealism . But the ambiguity is artistically fruitful and creative. In the years 1880- 1883 Vaj a n sky published a few sketch es of peasant a nd country life. The se sketch es, republish ed la ter in coll ected form unde r the titl e o f Na Basnarovom k opci a in e crty (On Basna rov Hill a nd Oth e r Ske tches), a re a m o n g hi s strongest a nd m os t ori ginal works, and it can o nly be re gretted th at he did not produ ce mo re exampl es of th e genre . T he form o fV ajan sky's sketch d e ri ves, o f co urse, from Turgenev , whose Sportsman ·s Sketches, pu bli shed in 1852, a re perh aps th a t writer 's stron ges t work. Lik e Turge nev , V ajan sky se ts hi s sketches in th e countrys id e, a nd th ey d ispl a y a stron gly im agisti c tre nd in th e d epi cti o n bo th of la nd scape a nd th e p easant cha racter s who pop ul a te it . In the sketches o f bo th w riters a n a rrator a ppears as a pe rce iver, a nd the di stan ce be- SLOVAKIA 97 tween his perceiving eye and the peasants he views creates a subtle irony, one that does not , however , undercut the warm lyricism of the style and m anner. T u rgenev ' s narrator is a gentleman proprietor and hunter ; Vaj an sky's is (presum a bly) a middle-class intellectual turning his attention to the life of the Slovak peasantry. The ideological point of this is never m ade specific, bu t it was pa tently implicit in the political logic of the times: the Slovak intellectu als were waitin g for the d awn of political consciou sness am ong the peasantry. In the first of these sketches, " On Basna rov Hill ," the ideological mom ent is most incisive , though its intrusiveness detracts from the sketch artisti cally. A peasant m other and her younger son lam ent the cruelty of the elder son who has cast the widowed m other out with out provision for support. In her conversation she turns to attack Slovak officials , whom as a peasan t she di stru sts . V aj an sky, overhearing her , interrupts to de fend those offi cials who are Slovak nationalists. But the distinction is los t on the old woman , who has little political or national consciousness. She simply tu rns her back on his appeal. T hi s argum en t is of course quite un-Turgenevan ; Turgenev the hun ter m ay speak to the peasants, but he d oes not harran gu e them ; indeed , Tu rge nev is a master of understa tem en t and this q u ality Vajansky was perha ps un a ble to ass imila te, as we have already seen in the case of Su cha ra tolest'. But V ajan sky is capa ble o f creating im ages as powe rful and movin g as those of T u rgenev . P erh a ps the fines t of his sketcties is the one called " Hlasnik " (The Night W atchman): a movin g im agistic portrayal of a peasan t watchm an 's round s at nigh t, in te rtwined with hi s service to a dead m an fo r whom he digs a grave and whose bod y he later visits. With vivid depict ion of both the m ovem ent of the watchma n ' s round s and hi s calls th rough the night on his horn , the piece is a m asterpiece of mood im agery th at recall s the fin est sketches of Tu rgen ev such as "The Singe rs" or " Bezin M eadow," but d oes not imi tate them except in th e m ost ge neral way . In fac t , none of Vajansky' s ind ividual sketches recalls an y specific sketch b y T urgenev. Vaj an sky's land scape is too differe nt , a nd Slovak society too d ist inct. Vajan sky has perfectly ad apted th e Turgenevan ske tch and u sed it in the cause of Slovak li terature and Slovak ideology. We are now in a better pos ition to answer the ques tion we posed at the ou tset : what qu a:ities in T urgenev appealed to Vajansky and per- 98 SLOVAKIA suaded him to use elements taken from Turgenev 's work? The question should be asked in the light of the almost total difference we have found between the two writers, in personality, artistic temperament , psychology of character creation and development, optimism and pessimism, artistic structure. Still, there was something in Turgenev 's work, whether Vajansky realized it consciously or not, which Vajansky found of creative use . I suggest that this was that very ambiguity of treatment of ideological heroes by Turgenev which attracted Vajansky to his work. This in spite ofVajansky's much greater aggressiveness, his nationalism, his greater optimism . For tl;ie fact was that the Slovak cause was going nowhere in the 1880's. Though it might well have been that eventually it would go somewhere , it seemed bogged down - and this is the view Vajansky embodies in Sucha ratolest' in his chapter on the elections. Hence it was necessary to create characters who were "superfluous," who could achieve nothing in the present, yet characters capable of success, at least in an idealized dimension projected into the future . Turgenev had done the same thing: Bazarov is a born leader capable of reforming Russia, yet he is a leader without real followers and he comes at a time that is premature . The other common feature between Turgenev's writings and those of Vajansky is that of a passive human mass, the peasantry, needing to be awakened and educated . This is perhaps the only point where Turgenev's ideology acquires a nationalist tinge: Russia's peasantry holds her back, prevents her proper development : hence , it is necessary to educate the peasantry. In Vajansky the peasantry, and to some extent the town masses, play a similar role . It is necessary to win these masses over if the Slovak cause is to succeed. Following their leader l:.udovft Stur, the Slovak patriots turned to Russia because they perceived the West, including the Czechs , as decadent. They were influenced in this by Herder's prophecy of the future greatness of the Slavs, a prophecy Herder had specially made for the Eastern Slavs on the basis of his stay in Riga. Stur also noted that the closeness of kinship and family ties, so important to the Slovaks, was duplicated among the Eastern Slavs but not among the Czechs. 1 This began a Slovak turn toward Russia and Russian culture that was beneficial for the development of the nascent Slovak literature , if it was probably harmful to the development of the Slovak national ideology. SLOVAKIA 99 It is perhaps ironic that , motivated by considerations such as warmth of emotionality and closeness of kinship ties, V ajansky should have turned to writers like Pushkin and Turgenev, who, among Russians, were to be regarded as Westerners. Curiously, the Slovak leaders hardly knew the Russian Slavophiles, and their influence was perceptible only later. Yet, clearly the Slovak writers were seeking something they could use, and the precise source was not important. It is remarkable that when artists such as Edouard Manet or Vincent van Gogh or Mary Cassat turned to Japanese art for inspiration , they found woodblock prints of grim acin g actors and simpering courtesans , rather than the infinitely more subtle and more sophisticated art of such J a panese schools as the Rimp a or Shijo schools. Yet apparently Manet, Van Gogh , or Mary Cassat kn ew what they were looking for, and they rejected what they could not use; thus they succeeded in making that Japanese influence fruitful and not pernicious . In a similar way, Turgenev was a writer in many ways not con genial to Vajansky. But Vajansky had his own individuality and was a great enough artist to take from Turgenev what he needed . And he incorporated that something into his own distinct art. NOTES See, e. g., Jan V . Novak and Arne Novak, Pfehledn e dejin y literatury ceske (Olomouc, 1936-39), p. 82 1; Andrej Mraz , Dejiny slovensk ej literatury, Slovenska vlastiveda , Vol. 1, Literatura a jazyk (Bra tislava: Sloven ska Akademia vied a umenf, 1948), p . 214; Slovenska Akademia Vied, Ustav slovenskej li te ra tury, D ejin y slovenskej literatury, III (Bra tislava, 1965), 630-31 a nd passim . ' See Ludovft Stur , 0 narodnich pisnich a povestech plemen slovanskych (Prague , 1853). I Presented in Panel 65, "The Village in Slovak Literature ," at the AAASS convention in Asilomar, California on 21 September 1981.  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 Vajanský and Turgenev Description An account of the resource William E. Harkins Slovakia, Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83 pp. 92-99 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Harkins, William Edward, 1921-2014 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/aca28d01eb176a6710664a7553ed389f.pdf 1249ab6b1575119e79e968ef5117fb0a PDF Text Text 80 SLOVAKIA Hugolfn Gavlovic's Valaska Skala and Skala Krest'anska Gerald J . Sabo For most Slavists, the eighteenth century in Slovak history and culture remains pretty much unknown territory. Even among specialists in Slovak studies, that era m ay bring to mind simply Anton Bernol ak and possibly J a n Baltaza r M agin . Bernolak should certa inly stand out as the first cod ifer of the Slovak language , a nd Magin deserves more than a few brief sentences for hi s de fense of Slovak ethnic a nd cultural rights . Y et m any other writers from the e ighteenth ce ntury deserve not onl y mention but substantial comm entary , because their writings in the Slovak vernacular before Bernolak's codificat ion exem plified and promoted Slovak consciousness. Amon g these a uthors a prominent place is occupied by the Franciscan priest Hugolfn Gavlovic. Gavlovic was born in 17 12 in Czarny Dunaj ec, Poland, yet he spent virtually his entire life in Slovak-speaking areas. 2 H e di ed in 1787, th e year Bernolak publicly began his codification effort s. G avlovic considered himself ethnically Polish. Still , as far as can be ascertained, the only Slavic la n gu age in which h e wrote was the contemporary Slovak vernacul ar. In a number of hi s writings, he even explicity expres~ed his awareness of writing in Slovak. 3 Gavlovic's co n scious Slovak writing but Polish e thnicity is more th an some curiously interest ing point. I t is especially strikin g again st the b ackground of in tense nationalistic fr iction at that time . This nationalisti c frict ion was between Slovaks a nd various ethnic gro u ps, but in particula r th e Hun garians. The effects of th is fri ct ion reached even into Franciscan foundations and affected th e governan ce of Franciscan eccles iastical provin ces. 4 Gavlovic began writing in 1745 after he had finished his Franciscan course of studies and h ad become a priest. From 1745 until h is death in 1 787 , he composed nearly twenty distin ct pieces of Slovak writin g in prose o r poetry . Among his poetic writings, the most prominent are Valask a Skala (Th e Shepherd ' s School) and Skala Krest'anska (A C h ris1 �SLOVAKIA 81 tian School). Though Valaska Skala and Skala Krest'anska are di stinct pieces of writing, they should be treated together for a number of reasons. Both are written for the same audience - Franciscan T e rti aries,6 that is , lay persons who pattern their lives according to prescript s of Franciscan spirituality and traditions . Also , in both compositions is found a poetic form peculiar only to them : Gavlovic called this form koncept. 7 A koncept consists of twelve verses or six rhymed couplets ; each verse has fourteen syllables with a caesura-like pause after the eighth sylla bl e. Usual ly , some rhymed couplets of varying length are related to a koncept . At times, the various pictorial illustrations in both Gavlovic "schools" are connected with kon cepty as well as other verse units . 8 Thus , in Valaska Skala but especially in Skala Krest'anska , the format of the koncept a nd other verse units could be said to resem ble emblematic poetry: a verse-motto, a versified elaboration of the motto, and the related illustration. 9 Besides similarities in a udience and poetic units, the two "schools " are explicitly related to each oth er by Gavlovic him self. According to Gavlovic, Val ask a Skala was written to foster the reader ' s " moral ch aracter, " Skol a Krest'ansk a his "holiness." 10 Gavlovic has also described Valaska Skala as "cheese," someth in g that would n ourish th e reader. In its author 's view, Skala Krest'an sk a represents a " pleasant sce nt '' from a b ouqu et of fl owers. 11 Clearly , Gavlovic expressed a contrast between the physical a nd external against the non-physical a nd internal. Also , the epigraphs fo r the two "schools" show their contrasting emphases and areas of con centration . For Valask a Skala, it is the H oratian utile-dulci - the practically beneficial made palatably pleasant ; this epigraph aptly expresses the mundane yet religiously instructive character of Val ask a Sk ala . 11 T he epigraph for Skala Krest'anska is the last verse from th e seventh chapte r of the Biblical book Sirach: " R emember the last thin gs, a nd you will never sin ." 13 From a reading of the two ''schools,'' it is evide n t that for Gavlovic, they represented the two states in Christia n spiri tualit y: th e act ive an d contemplative ways of livin g. In the active life, as in Val ask a Skol a, the goal of a Christian is the practice of good morals and virtues a nd all this entail s. In the co n templative life , as in Skala Krest'anska , the aim is the conte mpl ation of God , sp iritu al matters , espec iall y of th e '' four last things,'' d eath, judgment, hell , and heaven. 14 I n effect, then, through th ese writings Gavlovic offered the �82 SLOVAKIA reader a sort of program for good Christian living and thinking . In appreciatin g these two "schools," the Christian reader could then set about reali zing the active a nd contemplative ways of living in his earthly existe n ce. Gavlovic completed Valaska Skala in March , 1755, and Skala Krest'an ska in August, 17 58. 15 At what dates he began to write each "sch ool " can not at present be d etermin ed. In the letter of the ecclesiastical cen sor for Skala Krest'an sk a, Gavlovic is n amed as the a uthor. 16 This identification has in turn contributed to verifying Gavlovic 's autho rship of Valaska Skala. Val ask a Skala and Skala Krest'anska are extensive pieces of poetry. Valaska Skala comprises nearly e ighteen th ousand verses, virtually all of which are fourteen syll ables in length ; there are also some twentyfour hundred verses of varyin g length for the couplet- mottoes above the kan cepty as well as numerous related mottoes beside the k ancep ty. In Valaska Skala, there are twenty-seven illu strations, but only nine in Skala Krest'an ska. 17 The mass of verses and illustrations in each ''school'' is a rranged accord in g to schemes wh ere symmetry and numerical sym bolism play d efinite roles. 18 Valask a Skala has three major divisions: first, an introductory portion with twelve parts of varying length ; second, a main body with twentytwo subdivisions known as naty (nata in the sin gul ar); a nd third, a co ncluding portion with two parts of unequal length . The introductory and concludin g portions - virtually equal in length - fram e the main body . In the m a in body, the predominant textual unit is the kancept ; in each of the twenty-two subdivions or naty , there are fifty-nin e kancepty. The major motif of Valaska Skala is J esus the Good Shepherd as portrayed in St. J ohn 's Gospel. 19 In the main body , Gavlovic presented a series of stories on Biblical shepherds. Th ese stories are part of the introdu cto ry narrative for each of the first twenty-one naty . Abel is the first shepherd prese nted, and the shepherds of Be thlehem are the subjects that introdu ce th e twenty-first nata. Th e twenty-second nata has no introdu ctory n arrat ive but begins with a kancept about the resurrected Christ; the risen J esus is comm issionin g Peter to feed his sheep, the Christian Church . otably, then, the lin e of Biblical shephe rds in the twenty-two naty forms a chronologically linear presentation of Biblical history - from the era of Adam through that of the resurrected Christ, the Second Adam. T he two concluding sections of Valask a Skala are �SLOVAKIA 83 on death and the Last judgment; they aptly complete the Christian timespectrum presented in the preceding main body. The most prominent instance of numerical symbolism in Valaska Skala involves the first twenty-one naty of the main body. Gavlovic was very explicit that Valaska Skala comprised only twenty-one naty. 10 Yet he included a twenty-second nata, and the two concluding sections on death and the Last Judgment. The explanation for this is based on the symbolic number of 1260 from the Biblical book Apocalypse. Symbolically, the number 1260 represents a time period when evil and extreme suffering are the lot of God's people ; this period is to be followed by a new era under the leadership of Christ. 21 In Valaska Skala, 1260 is the number of textual units in the first twenty-one naty . The last kancept of nata twenty-one clearly expresses a definite finality: Buch ge Alpha y Omega wsseckeho stworeni, A bez neho w clowekovi ni c d obre ho neni* On ge sprawedliweg laski wzdy horicy plamen , Nech ho dussa ma milu ge Az na weki Amen . (XXI , lix , 1-2 , 11-12) God is the Alpha and Omega of all creati on , And without him there is nothing of goodness in a person• He is always the burning flam e of just a ffec tion , M ay my soul love him Until forever Amen. Even the pagination of the first twenty-one naty contributes to understanding their extent according to the symbolic number 1260. 11 These naty are that period of suffering and patient waiting before the reign of Christ. Aptly, then, the twenty-second nata begins with the resurrected Christ and his future vicar Peter. This new era is traditionally known as the "last times," that era from Christ 's resurrection until his Second Coming at the end of the world and of time. ll The next crucial moments in a Christian 's existence during the "last times" are his death and the Last Judgment. These two moments form the them es for the concluding sections of Valaska Skala . In effect, then , Gavlovic also used a specific number of textual units to present symbolically his Christian view of time and history. In the main body of Valaska Skala, Gavlovic presented much more than Biblical material. In the introductory narratives for the naty, Gavlovic occasionally included comments on valasi, i.e. the Slovak mountain shepherds who represent a distinctive group in Slovak history and culture. 24 The valasi in Valaska Skala are contemporary figures who �84 SLOVAKIA illustrate actions that foster or d etract from proper Christian conduct. In the nearly thirteen hundred koncepty , there is a range of topics all to show what helps make a good Christian citizen of this world and the next. Whatever has to do with the total human b eing and Christian is treated - social deportment , catechetical matters, virtues, vices , and points of health . Nothing seems too trivial for discussion. Examples of the more religious kon cept as well as of the more mundane type will illustrate this, as the following two show : 25 Powinn os t P as tyru • Kryst u s poru ca swe owce Petrow i k pase ni , By wssech podl e sweg moznos ti priwad zal k Spaseni . K azdy wrchni na podda nych musy sta rost miti , Aby ned al od Spase ni fa dn emu bluditi. Otec di tkam , Pan podd a nym , gazd a sweg celedi* Z poru ceni Krystoweho nech uz itek hl edi . An o y ty twoge g Du sse pastyrem bi t musyss, Ga k gu stratiss gakokoli w , hrozny Sud okus iss . Co mu ze byt ku Spaseni ginym , nezanedbag, Al e negprw n a twu Duss u neglepssi pozo r dag . G ak twu Du ssu , a y gin ych priwedess k Spa seni , Budess Srdcy Krys towemu giste k potesse ni. (XXII, i) R esponsibility of the Shepherd Chri st entrusts his sheep to Peter for past ure, So th at he would bring them all to Salvation . Each superi or must have conce rn for th ose subj ec t to him , So tha t he would not permit any of th em to stray . A fa ther fo r his children , a master for his se rfs, a householder for his se rvants* Let him see k benefi t because of the cha rge of C hrist. Yes a nd you must be the shepherd of your Soul , If you so mehow lose it , you will taste a terribl e Jud gm ent. Don ' t neglect wh at can be to others' Salvat ion , But first give the bes t attenti on to yo ur Soul. If you bring your soul and oth ers to Salvati on , You will surely be a consola ti on to C hrist 's H ea rt . Pan owi chud obn y N ech neni • podobn y Ml ce t pred Pa nem Slu ssy gak a men T ak obcu ge bohac z chud ym , gako wlk z baranem , Gestli mu zess , nem eg nikd y spolec nost z pa nem . G ak te vola k sobe , nechot, • kd yz budess negiti, Gak se odd aliss od neho , budess pokog m iti . Kd yz b ud ess s nim , tehdy nemlu w wsselico slobodne , Newe r mn ohim reca m geho, snat m lu wi podwodn e. Bude te mn ohimi slowmi p robowa t libezne , �SLOVAKIA 85 Dokud negake tagemstw i od teba newez ne . Bude se te usmiwagic wsselico spytowa t , A twe recy w swogeg hl awe pilne pa matowa t . Gak od teba zw i to co chce , hn et twa r swu promeni , Zabyge te z twym gaz ikem krem twe ho domnen i. (XV II , xxv) May a poor ma n not be like to a lord/ master It is as fit as an Amen to be silent before a lord/ master A ri ch man associates with a poor ma n just as a wolf wit h a shee p, If you ca n , don't ever have a ny dealin gs wi th a lord/ mas ter . When he calls you to him , don ' t go , • when you wi ll n ot go, When you distance yourself from him , you 'II have peace. W hen you wi ll be with him , th en don ' t speak all kind s of thi ngs freely, Don ' t believe hi s man y speec hes/wo rds , pe rh a ps he spea ks decept ively. H e wi ll tes t/ probe you kindly with many words, Unt il he h as taken some secrets from you. H e will smilingly ask you a ll so rt s of thin gs, And wi ll recall laboriousl y/we ll your speeches in his head. As soo n as/ when he learns from you wha.t he wants, at once his face will chan ge, H e will kill you with your tongue beyond anything you can imagine. Compared to Valaska Skala , Skala Krest'anska h as a simpl er compositional arran gement. This is probably because Skala Krest'an sk a conce rns only four m atte rs: death, judgment, hell , and heave n - the traditional "four las t things ." Yet , as in Valaska Skala, the kan cepty of Skala Krest'anska are crucial to a ppreciating the symmetry a nd numerical symbolism in this composition. Skala Krest'an ska has two maj o r divisions: an introductory po rti on of four parts that vary in le n gth , a nd a main body of four equ al subdivisions th at are simila r in format. Each of the fo ur subdiv isions in the main body h as o ne of the "four last things " as its guiding theme. In Valaska Skala , J esus the Good Shepherd had his counterpart in the good contemporary valach or shepherd. In Skala Krest'anska, the reader is also presented with the hum a n counterp a rt of Christ - St. Franc is of Assisi with stigmata. The stigmata are '' marks resem blin g the wounds on the cru cified body of C hrist [o n the hand s, the fee t , a nd the right side o f C hrist's chest; these marks are ] believed to have bee n supe rnat u rall y impressed upon the bod ies of certain pe rso ns , as St. Francis of Assisi.' ' 26 Among the illustrations and texts about the '' fo ur last things' ' are also illustrations of St. Fra ncis with st igmata as he refl ects on each of the "four last things ." The escha tology presented in text and illustrations is further empha- �86 SLOVAKIA sized b y the numerical sy mbolism used in com posin g the four subdivisions o f the m ain body. Each subdivision has k on cepty on 144 pages. Indeed , in each subdivision , only the pages with koncepty are numbered; the rem a ining pages in each subdivi sion and the pages of the introductory port ion are not numbered. The number 144 is related to the sym bolic number 144 ,000 ; thi s latter number sym bolically represents the number of Christians saved at the end of time as noted in the Biblical boo k Apocalypse . 17 Thus , the apocalyptic number of Christians saved - 144 ,000 - is associated with th e 144 pages of kon cepty for each of the "four last things ." For G avlovic , the readin g of these koncepty was to help number th e reader among those saved . ·After all , that was the primary aspiration of Gavlovic not only for his reader but also for himself. Th e very last kon cept - the end - of Skala Krest'anska clearly conveys this othe r-worldly view offered by G avlovic to his reader : Prigd k nam kralows twi twe" Co nce ptus hie S. Laurentij Ju stin* D ag na m n ebe weeny Boze Nassa mdl ost k nemu nemoze Otce nass, ktery sy w Nebi, Prigd k nam kralows twi twe, Nebo k dobrem u cyn eni Srdce w nas ge mrtwe. Zustawame w ned osta tku , a y w leniwosti, Nemu ze me dostat nebe bez twogeg mil os ti . M i do nebe nepri gde me; zosta neme w bide, Gak kra lows twi twe z tweg wu le k na m bidnym neprigde . Eliasse na ohni wem woze wzals do neb e, Y nas prigmi w tweg milosti , to prosime tebe. Zaden ku Krystu negide, gak ho netahn ess ty, Tahni n as w p rowaskach laski , neb sy we wssem Swaty. Abi sme spaseni byli , prigd twe kralowstwi k n am, A ty Boze az na we ki panu g n ad nami sam . (0 Nebi , 288) Your kingdom co me to us This kon ceptlco nce pt (from] St. Law rence Ju stinia n" Give us heave n ete rnal God Our wea kn ess cannot reach/approach it Our Fa ther , who a re in H eave n , Your kin gd om com e to us, For our H eart is dead to good d eeds. W e rema in want ing , a nd in laz iness, W e cannot att ain heave n without yo ur grace. W e will not reach heave n ; we will re main in misery, If you r kin gdom does not com e to wretched u s by your will. Elias was ra ised to heave n on a fi ery ve hicl e/cha ri ot, R eceive also us in your grace, thi s we implore you . No one co mes to C hri st , if you do not draw him yourself, Draw us in the bonds of love/affection , for you are H oly in everythin g. �SLOVAKIA 87 T hat we mi ght be saved, yo ur kin gdom co m e to us , And you God yourself rul e ove r u s fo reve r . A s two pieces of Slovak writing, V alaska Skol a and Skol a Krest'anska d o di splay som e litera ry ima gina tion in their compositional a rra n gem ent and co nten t. Y et the ir purposes wer e n o t belles lettres ente rta inment bu t the fosterin g of the C h r istia n read er 's m oral ch a racter a nd holiness. Their m or ali stic a nd religiou s ch a racters sh ould n o t , a nd in truth , do no t d e trac t fro m their place in Slovak histo ry a nd culture. T h ey remain p rominen t a nd substantive exampl es of con sciously Slovak writing lo n g before Slovaks were al lowed to exe rcise the ir righ ts as a di st inct Slavic peopl e. NOTES ' An example of thi s lim ited view of Slovak writing is the first sentence of Pete r Brock 's otherwise good study The Slovak Nat ional Awakening (T oron to: Uni ve rsity of Toronto Press, I 976), p . 3 : " A Slovak ve rn acul a r was fir st used for literary purposes in the 1780s when it replaced C zec h a m ong the Slovak Cat hol ic in tell ige nts ia.'' ' For a more deta iled biography of Gavlovic and a d iscuss ion of his writin gs, see Gerald J. Sabo, "Slovak Did actic Poetry: Gav lovic 's Valask a Skala. Volum e I: Introdu ctory Study. Volume II : Edition of V alask a Skala ," Di ss. Yale 1978, l , 1-8. This is the only English source fo r thi s information. Signi fi cant Slovak sources on Gavlovic and hi s w ritin gs a re: Celes tin Le pacek , " Zivot a dic lo P . H ugolfna G avlovica, " V yrocne zpravy sukromneho gymnazia rad u sv . Franc isk a v M ala ck ach , 5- 10 ( 1932 -3 7); Lepace k, " Zlomky z d'alsfch Gavlovifovych ruko pisov ," Literarno-historick y sbornik M atice slovenskej , 2-3 , Nos. 1-2 ( 1945-46), 79-84 ; J ozef' Min ari k , " Hu golfn Gav lovic: Va lask a skola, mravuv stodola (l itera rn o-esteti cky rozbo r 16 vyb ranyc h bas nf)," Tri lirerarn o-esrerick e rozbory zo starsej slovenskej Jic era tury (Bratis lava: Slovenske pedagogic ke nakl ada tel'stvo, 1973) , pp. 61-98; G izela Slavkovsk a, "Gavlov icova Valaska Skala." eq ui valen t of a docto ra l dissert a ti on ( Bra tislava: U niv e rzita Komens keho , prob. 1972); Slavkovs ka , " Gavlov ifova Va laska Skala," S lovcnska lic era ru ra, 2 1, o. 5 ( 1974), 459-480. ' In Valaska Skala , in eight inst ances (fi ve times " na slowenski gazik . " two times " na slowenski , '· a nd once '' w slowensk em gazik u "), Gav lov ic expressed th e phrase '' in the Slovak lang uage" when he tra nslat ed a H e brew Bibli cal name in1 0 its Slovak meaning : nota I. introductory na rrati ve, line 33: V. int rodu ctory narrative, 9: VIII. in trodu ctory narrativ e. 3; X. introductory na rrative. 49; XI. in troduuory na rrativ e, 7; X III , int roductory na rrati ve. 1: X IV , introdu cto ry narrative. 6; a nd X IX, in troclu c1ory narrat ivc , 7. Linguist s agree tha t Gavlovi c wrote in Slova k , e.g. l.'..ubomfr 6urovic, "Slovak," The Slavic Lircrar_v Languages: Fonnacion and Dnwlopmenr. Alex a nder Sc hen ker and Edwa rd Stankiewicz , eds . ( New H aven: Yale Concilium o n Intern a ti onal and Arca Studies, 1980), p. 214. Of this la nguage in genera l, Eugen Paul inv wrote: �88 SLOVAKIA The Slova ki zing process went so far that by th e end of th e fir st half of the 18th ce ntury, we alread y have among Slovak Catholics a sufficiently firmly normali zed national written language whi ch on account of esse nti al deviation s from Czech ca nnot be called on ly Slovakized Czech. N or mu st it be disting uish ed from Czech only on th e lin guistic side. Import antly, that is, n ot even its users and writers con sidered it as Czech. Th ey considered it, h ere more, ch ere less explicic y, as ch e dom escic Slovak language. The term " J esuit Slovak " was at one time coined for this language. This d es ignation would perhaps m eta pho ri call y do just ice to th e fa ct that thi s language was used in Catholic writin g. H oweve r , it is necessa ry, of course, to reali ze th at thi s la nguage did no t origin a te in Slovak Catholic writing , but that Catholics took it over as esse ntiall y set, and that it was u sed as cultural W es t-Sl ovak eve n in oth er functions. Further one must reali ze that in Catholic writing, not onl y J esuits used this language, even if th ese la tt er were th e most act ive in the rc-Ca tholi cization of Slovaki a. (Dejin y spisovnej slovenciny, I [ 1966 ; rpt. Brati slava : Slove nske pedagogicke nakl ada tel'stvo, 1971], p. 78. Ita li cs a nd tra nsla ti on a re min e .) ' See Sabo, pp . 50-56 , for nati onalistic friction in gene ral, and pp. 58-62 for nati onalisti c fri ct io n in Franciscan founda ti ons. Also , Ysevlad J oze f Gajdos, 0 . F . M. , Franciskani v slovens½ej lit eracure (C levela nd : First Catholic Slova k Union, 1979), pp . 23-26. In this work, Gajdos also has a sho rt biograph y of Gavlovi c, a brief co mm ent a ry o n so m e of his writings, a li st of m ost of hi s works , and a sm all bibli ogra phy on G av lovic. Thi s book co nt a ins a wealth of m a terial on Francisca n trai nin g and activiti es in Slovak areas. 5 Both m a nu script s, actually a ut og raphs b y Gavlov ic him self, a re prese rved in th e Lite rarny archiv M a ti ce slovenskej (LAMS) in Martin unde r th e signa ture B89 for V alask a Skala and MJ3 3 1 for Skala Krest'a nska. V alask a S k ala ha had three editi o n s. In th e first editi o n do ne in two volum es in 1830-3 1, th e auto gra ph was d evasta tin gly altered allegedl y by Mi cha l R eset ka acco rdin g to th e lin gui st ic no rm s of Bernolak-S lova k , bern olaccin a . In th e seco nd edi ti o n of 197 1, Rudolf Kraj covic, th e ed itor , re prod uced the tex t in questionab le fo rm at a nd form , but most unfortunately deleted some forty-seven percent of th e aut ogra ph tex t. The third edition is a reprintin g o f th e Kraj cov ic second ed itio n , but now with som e fift y- li ve perce nt of th e autograph text deleted. Non e of the pictori al illu stra tion s of Valaska Skala was reprodu ced in a ny o f th e three ed iti ons. As rega rd s Skala Kresc'a nsk a, a few selections - some two perce nt of th e a ut ogra ph text - ca n be found in Gizela Slavkovska's edited workja miluji, nesmfm provfdaci ... : Ancol6gia zo slovenskej barokovej poezie (Bratislava: T a tra n , 1977) , pp . 275-30 1. 6 Th is is made clea r in Valaska Skala in th e dedication immed ia tely after th e titl epage a nd first illustra ti o n as we ll as in the int rodu cto ry part " D arowa ni Ku uiicku cwemu ," line 57; and in Skala Kresc'a n ska, o n th e titl e page a nd in th e introducto ry part " Darowani Trecimu R adu Seraflin skemu ," pages 13-1 6 of th e aut ogra ph (wi th titl e-page as page one). Fo r possible reasons for Gavlovic dedi ca tin g these two works to Tertiaries, see Sabo , pp . 66-7 1. ' For details on Gav lovic ' s kon cepc form, see, Sabo, pp . 86-94. A koncepc is also found �SLOVAKIA ' 9 ' 0 " " 13 14 15 16 11 " 19 ' 0 89 in Gavlovi i''s "last will a nd testament, " and an inco mplete one (one sentence short) among fragm entary autograph s of Gavlovic. In my thesis , I discuss the a rtist of the illustrations for Valaska Skala on pages 79-82. Subsequ entl y, Slavkovska studied th e same m a tt er and published her co mments in " ' Tajomstva ' prveho vydania Valaskej Skoly ," Slovenska literatura , 25, No. 6 ( 1978) , 663-669 . John L. Lievsay , "Embl em ," Princeton Encyclopedia of Poet1y and Poetics, enlarged edition , Alex Preminger et al. ed. (Princeton: Princeton Uni ve rsity Press, 1974). Bes id es variou s pl aces in V alaska Skala , wh e re Gavlovic speaks of Valaska Skala in these terms, he co mpa res the two "school s" in Skala Krest'anska on page fourtee n with titl e-page as page one in " D aro wani Tretimu Radu S eraffinskemu ," lin es 45 -46. Valaska Skala, "Darowani Ku uiitku twemu ," line 44 ; Skala Krest'ansk a, " Darowani Tretimu Radu S eraffin sk emu ," lines 33-34. On the title-page of Valaska Skala , Gavlovic cited :Omne tulit pun ctum , qui miscuit utile dulci (H e ha s won eve ry vote who has bl end ed profit a nd pleas ure . .. ), verse 343, H. Ru shton Fairclough , trans., Horace: Satires, Epistles, and Ars Poetica (London and Cambridge, Mass. : William H eine m a n , Ltd. , 1970), pp. 478-479. For other pl aces wh ere G av lovic ex pressed th e se nse of this Horati a n ve rse, see Sabo , p. 68 , note 101. On the page immediat ely preceding th e titl e-page, it is cited in La tin a nd in a Slovak translation. In th e Vulgate ve rsion th a t I u sed , Alberto Colun ga a nd La urentio Turrado, ed ., 4th ed. , se ri es Bibliateca d e autores Christianos , Madrid , 1975, the last verse is forty , but in English ve rsions of this chapter, th e verse is thirt y-six. Karl Rahn e r , " Last Things , " Sa cram entum Mundi: An Encyclopedia of Th eology (New York: H e rd e r a nd H e rd er , 1969) , 274-2 76. Th ese da tes a re found on the d edi cation page of Valaska Skala right after th e titlepage a nd fir st illu stration , and for Skala Krest'a nska on th e prese nt titl e- page. Thi s letter is found at th e ve ry beginning of the bound autograph of Skala Krest'anska. Fo r a de tai led stud y ofGavlovic's a uthorship of th ese writings, see Sabo, pp. 11-15. From my st ud y of the sy mm etri cal structure of Skala Krest'anska , it is evident that th e re were probab ly at least nin e illustration s, four of which are mi ssing, and th a t some of the text which introduces th e k on cept y on d ea th and those on judgment is also mi ss in g. Bes id es th e numerical sy mboli sm ex pl a in ed in the subsequent text of m y article , furth e r num eri cal sy mboli sm in V a/ask a Skala is discussed in Sabo, pp. 124-28. The Gospel a nd th e Bibli cal book Apocalypse a ttribut ed to St. John th e Eva n geli st had a signifi can t influ e nce on th e format a nd mat e rial co nt ent of V a/aska Skala as we ll as on those of ot he r writings by Ga vlo vic: Sabo , pp. 114- 2 1. In " D arowan i Ku uzi tku twemu, " lin es 37-38 , Gavlovii' spec ifi ed twe nt y- one noty, ye t he added a twenty-second which he called " Pridawek or Additi on. " It is m y strong belief that Gavlov ic's spec ifi c in sistence o n twe nt y-o ne noty and hi s present at ion of th e m with Biblical shepherds introdu cin g eac h infl uenced J a n Holl y's stru cturin g of hi s Selanky or Pasto rals where th ere a re twent y-o ne pastoral so ng subdivi sion s; lik e Gav lov ic, Holl y begins hi s twe nt y-first (a nd las t) pastoral with referen ce to th e �90 " " " " " ' 0 " " SLOVAKIA Bet hl ehem shepherds . In a let ter of May 6, 183 1, Holly spoke of Gavlovic and his Valaska Skala: " Lette r #32 to M a rtin Hamuljak ," Jozef Ambrus , ed ., Korespondencia jan Holleho (M a rtin : M a tica slovenska , 1967), p . 74. The Selanky began to be published in 1835 some four years after the publicati on of R ese tka's ed ition of Valaska Skala: Encyklopedia Slovenska, II (1978) , sub verbo " Holl y, Jan. " An ed ition of the Selanky with a modern verse rendition was published by Tatran in J 970 as volume 22 of its se ri es Citanie studuju cej mladeze . Sabo , p . 125, note 13 1, a nd p . 126. Also, J ean-Loui s D ' Aragon, S.J ., " The Apocalypse ,'' The J erome Biblical Com m entary (Englewood Cliffs, N .J .: PrenticeH all , In c., 1968), p. 480. Sabo, p. 126 , not e 133: " In each n ota , the introducto ry section a nd first kon cept ac tu ally cover th ese three autograph pages, yet Gavlovic pagin ated th em on the third page as a sin gle Arabic-numbered page . Thus, acco rdin g to thi s peculi a r pagination , each nota has thirty pages. And this m eans th at the twenty-on e noty spec ifi ed by Gavlovic have six hundred and thirty pages or half of the 1260 , the number of textu al units that a ppear o n th ese 630 pages." As regards th e co ncept o f the " last times ," see Karl Lowith , " The Biblical View of Hi sto~y, " Meaning in History (C hi cago and London : Un iversity of Ch icago Press, 1949 , Phoenix paperback, 1957), p . 188 . As rega rds ,,alasi, for an English ource see Sa b o, pp . 37-38; and for Slovak sources see J a n Podolak, " The P asto ral Cu ltu re of th e Ca rpathian as a Subject of an Ethnological Study," Ethnologica slavica , 1 ( 1969), especial ly 70-77, a nd Encyklopedia Sloven ska , V I ( 1982), sub vcrbo " Valasi," " Valasska l'udova piesen," and '' Valasske pravo." Old so urces a bout valasi , their culture, a nd their wa y of li vin g a re: And rej K i!v ulj ak , " Val as i na Slove n sku: Ora vs ky pod za mok ," Sbornik n a pocest' jozefa Skulte1yh o (Turciansky Svii ty M a rtin : M at ica slovenska , 1933), pp . 336 -374; Karel K ad lec, Valasi a valassk e pravo v zem ich slovansk ych a uh erskych (Pra ha: Ces ka akadcmia cisare Frantiska J osefa, 19 16) ; V aclav C halo upec ky, Valasi na S lovensku (Praha: Slovansky u stav , 1947); a ndjosef Macurek, Valasi v za padnfch K a1pa1ech v 15. - 18 scole1f (Ost rava: K rajske naklad a telstvf, 1959). Th e ca pital R oman numera l is th e no/a number; th e sm a ll Roman num eral is th e k on cep1 numb er in thar 1101 a. Beca use of space limit ;itions , th e side- m otto here has bee n placed a bove the k oncep1. In th e text of Valask a Skala . Gav lov ic also in corporated fo lk ex press ions such as prove rbs and sayings that ca n be fo un d in ex tant compil a ti ons o f suc h ex pre. siuns as we ll ·as ones or his own ('rca ti u n ; sec Sa bo , pp . 168- 171, and Vojtcch Sarluska, " Piit's to prfslovf, " Li1er,im ya rchf, - 1975 . 12 (Mart in: M a ti ca sloven ska, 1976), 135- 167. Webs 1er·.- New C ollcgiait· Diction ary , 1961, su/.J v(·rbo ' ·Sri gma. " Sabo, p. 127, note 134; J ea n-Loui s D ' Aragon , " Th e Apondy p;e," p. 47 8 . In Skala K res1'anska , a couplet-m o tto or vary in g leng rh rs found aboH: a koncepl with o ne a nd nea rl y a lwa ys two re lated mot toes on the side . Beca use o f spate limitation s, I hav e placed in o rd er th e first a nd sclond side- m ottoe for th e koncep1 above the couplet-mono found at th e head of the koncepl . �SLOVAKIA 91 ,. Th e New Ca th olic Encyclopedia ( l 967), sub verbo " Lawrence Justini an , St ." My study of Gavlovic was greatl y facilitied b y Docent J ozef Minarik of th e Filozofi cka faku lta Univerzity Kom enskeho a nd Gi zela Slavkovska of the Litera rn ovedny Ustav Slove nskej Akadem ie Vied , both of Bra tisla va, while I was on th e exchange program of th e Intern ati onal R esea rch and Exchanges Board and on a Fulbright-H ays grant in 1975 -76. This pape r is based on a docto ral disse rt ation, " Slovak Didact ic Poetry: G avlovic's Va/aska S kala " at Ya le Univers ity, 1978. Prese nted in Pa nel 128 , "Slovak Litera ture as a Mirror of the Na tional Awakenin g," a t th e AAASS convention in Philadelphi a on 8 November 1980. � 80 SLOVAKIA Hugolfn Gavlovic's Valaska Skala and Skala Krest'anska Gerald J . Sabo For most Slavists, the eighteenth century in Slovak history and culture remains pretty much unknown territory. Even among specialists in Slovak studies, that era m ay bring to mind simply Anton Bernol ak and possibly J a n Baltaza r M agin . Bernolak should certa inly stand out as the first cod ifer of the Slovak language , a nd Magin deserves more than a few brief sentences for hi s de fense of Slovak ethnic a nd cultural rights . Y et m any other writers from the e ighteenth ce ntury deserve not onl y mention but substantial comm entary , because their writings in the Slovak vernacular before Bernolak's codificat ion exem plified and promoted Slovak consciousness. Amon g these a uthors a prominent place is occupied by the Franciscan priest Hugolfn Gavlovic. Gavlovic was born in 17 12 in Czarny Dunaj ec, Poland, yet he spent virtually his entire life in Slovak-speaking areas. 2 H e di ed in 1787, th e year Bernolak publicly began his codification effort s. G avlovic considered himself ethnically Polish. Still , as far as can be ascertained, the only Slavic la n gu age in which h e wrote was the contemporary Slovak vernacul ar. In a number of hi s writings, he even explicity expres~ed his awareness of writing in Slovak. 3 Gavlovic's co n scious Slovak writing but Polish e thnicity is more th an some curiously interest ing point. I t is especially strikin g again st the b ackground of in tense nationalistic fr iction at that time . This nationalisti c frict ion was between Slovaks a nd various ethnic gro u ps, but in particula r th e Hun garians. The effects of th is fri ct ion reached even into Franciscan foundations and affected th e governan ce of Franciscan eccles iastical provin ces. 4 Gavlovic began writing in 1745 after he had finished his Franciscan course of studies and h ad become a priest. From 1745 until h is death in 1 787 , he composed nearly twenty distin ct pieces of Slovak writin g in prose o r poetry . Among his poetic writings, the most prominent are Valask a Skala (Th e Shepherd ' s School) and Skala Krest'anska (A C h ris1 �SLOVAKIA 81 tian School). Though Valaska Skala and Skala Krest'anska are di stinct pieces of writing, they should be treated together for a number of reasons. Both are written for the same audience - Franciscan T e rti aries,6 that is , lay persons who pattern their lives according to prescript s of Franciscan spirituality and traditions . Also , in both compositions is found a poetic form peculiar only to them : Gavlovic called this form koncept. 7 A koncept consists of twelve verses or six rhymed couplets ; each verse has fourteen syllables with a caesura-like pause after the eighth sylla bl e. Usual ly , some rhymed couplets of varying length are related to a koncept . At times, the various pictorial illustrations in both Gavlovic "schools" are connected with kon cepty as well as other verse units . 8 Thus , in Valaska Skala but especially in Skala Krest'anska , the format of the koncept a nd other verse units could be said to resem ble emblematic poetry: a verse-motto, a versified elaboration of the motto, and the related illustration. 9 Besides similarities in a udience and poetic units, the two "schools " are explicitly related to each oth er by Gavlovic him self. According to Gavlovic, Val ask a Skala was written to foster the reader ' s " moral ch aracter, " Skol a Krest'ansk a his "holiness." 10 Gavlovic has also described Valaska Skala as "cheese," someth in g that would n ourish th e reader. In its author 's view, Skala Krest'an sk a represents a " pleasant sce nt '' from a b ouqu et of fl owers. 11 Clearly , Gavlovic expressed a contrast between the physical a nd external against the non-physical a nd internal. Also , the epigraphs fo r the two "schools" show their contrasting emphases and areas of con centration . For Valask a Skala, it is the H oratian utile-dulci - the practically beneficial made palatably pleasant ; this epigraph aptly expresses the mundane yet religiously instructive character of Val ask a Sk ala . 11 T he epigraph for Skala Krest'anska is the last verse from th e seventh chapte r of the Biblical book Sirach: " R emember the last thin gs, a nd you will never sin ." 13 From a reading of the two ''schools,'' it is evide n t that for Gavlovic, they represented the two states in Christia n spiri tualit y: th e act ive an d contemplative ways of livin g. In the active life, as in Val ask a Skol a, the goal of a Christian is the practice of good morals and virtues a nd all this entail s. In the co n templative life , as in Skala Krest'anska , the aim is the conte mpl ation of God , sp iritu al matters , espec iall y of th e '' four last things,'' d eath, judgment, hell , and heaven. 14 I n effect, then, through th ese writings Gavlovic offered the �82 SLOVAKIA reader a sort of program for good Christian living and thinking . In appreciatin g these two "schools," the Christian reader could then set about reali zing the active a nd contemplative ways of living in his earthly existe n ce. Gavlovic completed Valaska Skala in March , 1755, and Skala Krest'an ska in August, 17 58. 15 At what dates he began to write each "sch ool " can not at present be d etermin ed. In the letter of the ecclesiastical cen sor for Skala Krest'an sk a, Gavlovic is n amed as the a uthor. 16 This identification has in turn contributed to verifying Gavlovic 's autho rship of Valaska Skala. Val ask a Skala and Skala Krest'anska are extensive pieces of poetry. Valaska Skala comprises nearly e ighteen th ousand verses, virtually all of which are fourteen syll ables in length ; there are also some twentyfour hundred verses of varyin g length for the couplet- mottoes above the kan cepty as well as numerous related mottoes beside the k ancep ty. In Valaska Skala, there are twenty-seven illu strations, but only nine in Skala Krest'an ska. 17 The mass of verses and illustrations in each ''school'' is a rranged accord in g to schemes wh ere symmetry and numerical sym bolism play d efinite roles. 18 Valask a Skala has three major divisions: first, an introductory portion with twelve parts of varying length ; second, a main body with twentytwo subdivisions known as naty (nata in the sin gul ar); a nd third, a co ncluding portion with two parts of unequal length . The introductory and concludin g portions - virtually equal in length - fram e the main body . In the m a in body, the predominant textual unit is the kancept ; in each of the twenty-two subdivions or naty , there are fifty-nin e kancepty. The major motif of Valaska Skala is J esus the Good Shepherd as portrayed in St. J ohn 's Gospel. 19 In the main body , Gavlovic presented a series of stories on Biblical shepherds. Th ese stories are part of the introdu cto ry narrative for each of the first twenty-one naty . Abel is the first shepherd prese nted, and the shepherds of Be thlehem are the subjects that introdu ce th e twenty-first nata. Th e twenty-second nata has no introdu ctory n arrat ive but begins with a kancept about the resurrected Christ; the risen J esus is comm issionin g Peter to feed his sheep, the Christian Church . otably, then, the lin e of Biblical shephe rds in the twenty-two naty forms a chronologically linear presentation of Biblical history - from the era of Adam through that of the resurrected Christ, the Second Adam. T he two concluding sections of Valask a Skala are �SLOVAKIA 83 on death and the Last judgment; they aptly complete the Christian timespectrum presented in the preceding main body. The most prominent instance of numerical symbolism in Valaska Skala involves the first twenty-one naty of the main body. Gavlovic was very explicit that Valaska Skala comprised only twenty-one naty. 10 Yet he included a twenty-second nata, and the two concluding sections on death and the Last Judgment. The explanation for this is based on the symbolic number of 1260 from the Biblical book Apocalypse. Symbolically, the number 1260 represents a time period when evil and extreme suffering are the lot of God's people ; this period is to be followed by a new era under the leadership of Christ. 21 In Valaska Skala, 1260 is the number of textual units in the first twenty-one naty . The last kancept of nata twenty-one clearly expresses a definite finality: Buch ge Alpha y Omega wsseckeho stworeni, A bez neho w clowekovi ni c d obre ho neni* On ge sprawedliweg laski wzdy horicy plamen , Nech ho dussa ma milu ge Az na weki Amen . (XXI , lix , 1-2 , 11-12) God is the Alpha and Omega of all creati on , And without him there is nothing of goodness in a person• He is always the burning flam e of just a ffec tion , M ay my soul love him Until forever Amen. Even the pagination of the first twenty-one naty contributes to understanding their extent according to the symbolic number 1260. 11 These naty are that period of suffering and patient waiting before the reign of Christ. Aptly, then, the twenty-second nata begins with the resurrected Christ and his future vicar Peter. This new era is traditionally known as the "last times," that era from Christ 's resurrection until his Second Coming at the end of the world and of time. ll The next crucial moments in a Christian 's existence during the "last times" are his death and the Last Judgment. These two moments form the them es for the concluding sections of Valaska Skala . In effect, then , Gavlovic also used a specific number of textual units to present symbolically his Christian view of time and history. In the main body of Valaska Skala, Gavlovic presented much more than Biblical material. In the introductory narratives for the naty, Gavlovic occasionally included comments on valasi, i.e. the Slovak mountain shepherds who represent a distinctive group in Slovak history and culture. 24 The valasi in Valaska Skala are contemporary figures who �84 SLOVAKIA illustrate actions that foster or d etract from proper Christian conduct. In the nearly thirteen hundred koncepty , there is a range of topics all to show what helps make a good Christian citizen of this world and the next. Whatever has to do with the total human b eing and Christian is treated - social deportment , catechetical matters, virtues, vices , and points of health . Nothing seems too trivial for discussion. Examples of the more religious kon cept as well as of the more mundane type will illustrate this, as the following two show : 25 Powinn os t P as tyru • Kryst u s poru ca swe owce Petrow i k pase ni , By wssech podl e sweg moznos ti priwad zal k Spaseni . K azdy wrchni na podda nych musy sta rost miti , Aby ned al od Spase ni fa dn emu bluditi. Otec di tkam , Pan podd a nym , gazd a sweg celedi* Z poru ceni Krystoweho nech uz itek hl edi . An o y ty twoge g Du sse pastyrem bi t musyss, Ga k gu stratiss gakokoli w , hrozny Sud okus iss . Co mu ze byt ku Spaseni ginym , nezanedbag, Al e negprw n a twu Duss u neglepssi pozo r dag . G ak twu Du ssu , a y gin ych priwedess k Spa seni , Budess Srdcy Krys towemu giste k potesse ni. (XXII, i) R esponsibility of the Shepherd Chri st entrusts his sheep to Peter for past ure, So th at he would bring them all to Salvation . Each superi or must have conce rn for th ose subj ec t to him , So tha t he would not permit any of th em to stray . A fa ther fo r his children , a master for his se rfs, a householder for his se rvants* Let him see k benefi t because of the cha rge of C hrist. Yes a nd you must be the shepherd of your Soul , If you so mehow lose it , you will taste a terribl e Jud gm ent. Don ' t neglect wh at can be to others' Salvat ion , But first give the bes t attenti on to yo ur Soul. If you bring your soul and oth ers to Salvati on , You will surely be a consola ti on to C hrist 's H ea rt . Pan owi chud obn y N ech neni • podobn y Ml ce t pred Pa nem Slu ssy gak a men T ak obcu ge bohac z chud ym , gako wlk z baranem , Gestli mu zess , nem eg nikd y spolec nost z pa nem . G ak te vola k sobe , nechot, • kd yz budess negiti, Gak se odd aliss od neho , budess pokog m iti . Kd yz b ud ess s nim , tehdy nemlu w wsselico slobodne , Newe r mn ohim reca m geho, snat m lu wi podwodn e. Bude te mn ohimi slowmi p robowa t libezne , �SLOVAKIA 85 Dokud negake tagemstw i od teba newez ne . Bude se te usmiwagic wsselico spytowa t , A twe recy w swogeg hl awe pilne pa matowa t . Gak od teba zw i to co chce , hn et twa r swu promeni , Zabyge te z twym gaz ikem krem twe ho domnen i. (XV II , xxv) May a poor ma n not be like to a lord/ master It is as fit as an Amen to be silent before a lord/ master A ri ch man associates with a poor ma n just as a wolf wit h a shee p, If you ca n , don't ever have a ny dealin gs wi th a lord/ mas ter . When he calls you to him , don ' t go , • when you wi ll n ot go, When you distance yourself from him , you 'II have peace. W hen you wi ll be with him , th en don ' t speak all kind s of thi ngs freely, Don ' t believe hi s man y speec hes/wo rds , pe rh a ps he spea ks decept ively. H e wi ll tes t/ probe you kindly with many words, Unt il he h as taken some secrets from you. H e will smilingly ask you a ll so rt s of thin gs, And wi ll recall laboriousl y/we ll your speeches in his head. As soo n as/ when he learns from you wha.t he wants, at once his face will chan ge, H e will kill you with your tongue beyond anything you can imagine. Compared to Valaska Skala , Skala Krest'anska h as a simpl er compositional arran gement. This is probably because Skala Krest'an sk a conce rns only four m atte rs: death, judgment, hell , and heave n - the traditional "four las t things ." Yet , as in Valaska Skala, the kan cepty of Skala Krest'anska are crucial to a ppreciating the symmetry a nd numerical symbolism in this composition. Skala Krest'an ska has two maj o r divisions: an introductory po rti on of four parts that vary in le n gth , a nd a main body of four equ al subdivisions th at are simila r in format. Each of the fo ur subdiv isions in the main body h as o ne of the "four last things " as its guiding theme. In Valaska Skala , J esus the Good Shepherd had his counterpart in the good contemporary valach or shepherd. In Skala Krest'anska, the reader is also presented with the hum a n counterp a rt of Christ - St. Franc is of Assisi with stigmata. The stigmata are '' marks resem blin g the wounds on the cru cified body of C hrist [o n the hand s, the fee t , a nd the right side o f C hrist's chest; these marks are ] believed to have bee n supe rnat u rall y impressed upon the bod ies of certain pe rso ns , as St. Francis of Assisi.' ' 26 Among the illustrations and texts about the '' fo ur last things' ' are also illustrations of St. Fra ncis with st igmata as he refl ects on each of the "four last things ." The escha tology presented in text and illustrations is further empha- �86 SLOVAKIA sized b y the numerical sy mbolism used in com posin g the four subdivisions o f the m ain body. Each subdivision has k on cepty on 144 pages. Indeed , in each subdivision , only the pages with koncepty are numbered; the rem a ining pages in each subdivi sion and the pages of the introductory port ion are not numbered. The number 144 is related to the sym bolic number 144 ,000 ; thi s latter number sym bolically represents the number of Christians saved at the end of time as noted in the Biblical boo k Apocalypse . 17 Thus , the apocalyptic number of Christians saved - 144 ,000 - is associated with th e 144 pages of kon cepty for each of the "four last things ." For G avlovic , the readin g of these koncepty was to help number th e reader among those saved . ·After all , that was the primary aspiration of Gavlovic not only for his reader but also for himself. Th e very last kon cept - the end - of Skala Krest'anska clearly conveys this othe r-worldly view offered by G avlovic to his reader : Prigd k nam kralows twi twe" Co nce ptus hie S. Laurentij Ju stin* D ag na m n ebe weeny Boze Nassa mdl ost k nemu nemoze Otce nass, ktery sy w Nebi, Prigd k nam kralows twi twe, Nebo k dobrem u cyn eni Srdce w nas ge mrtwe. Zustawame w ned osta tku , a y w leniwosti, Nemu ze me dostat nebe bez twogeg mil os ti . M i do nebe nepri gde me; zosta neme w bide, Gak kra lows twi twe z tweg wu le k na m bidnym neprigde . Eliasse na ohni wem woze wzals do neb e, Y nas prigmi w tweg milosti , to prosime tebe. Zaden ku Krystu negide, gak ho netahn ess ty, Tahni n as w p rowaskach laski , neb sy we wssem Swaty. Abi sme spaseni byli , prigd twe kralowstwi k n am, A ty Boze az na we ki panu g n ad nami sam . (0 Nebi , 288) Your kingdom co me to us This kon ceptlco nce pt (from] St. Law rence Ju stinia n" Give us heave n ete rnal God Our wea kn ess cannot reach/approach it Our Fa ther , who a re in H eave n , Your kin gd om com e to us, For our H eart is dead to good d eeds. W e rema in want ing , a nd in laz iness, W e cannot att ain heave n without yo ur grace. W e will not reach heave n ; we will re main in misery, If you r kin gdom does not com e to wretched u s by your will. Elias was ra ised to heave n on a fi ery ve hicl e/cha ri ot, R eceive also us in your grace, thi s we implore you . No one co mes to C hri st , if you do not draw him yourself, Draw us in the bonds of love/affection , for you are H oly in everythin g. �SLOVAKIA 87 T hat we mi ght be saved, yo ur kin gdom co m e to us , And you God yourself rul e ove r u s fo reve r . A s two pieces of Slovak writing, V alaska Skol a and Skol a Krest'anska d o di splay som e litera ry ima gina tion in their compositional a rra n gem ent and co nten t. Y et the ir purposes wer e n o t belles lettres ente rta inment bu t the fosterin g of the C h r istia n read er 's m oral ch a racter a nd holiness. Their m or ali stic a nd religiou s ch a racters sh ould n o t , a nd in truth , do no t d e trac t fro m their place in Slovak histo ry a nd culture. T h ey remain p rominen t a nd substantive exampl es of con sciously Slovak writing lo n g before Slovaks were al lowed to exe rcise the ir righ ts as a di st inct Slavic peopl e. NOTES ' An example of thi s lim ited view of Slovak writing is the first sentence of Pete r Brock 's otherwise good study The Slovak Nat ional Awakening (T oron to: Uni ve rsity of Toronto Press, I 976), p . 3 : " A Slovak ve rn acul a r was fir st used for literary purposes in the 1780s when it replaced C zec h a m ong the Slovak Cat hol ic in tell ige nts ia.'' ' For a more deta iled biography of Gavlovic and a d iscuss ion of his writin gs, see Gerald J. Sabo, "Slovak Did actic Poetry: Gav lovic 's Valask a Skala. Volum e I: Introdu ctory Study. Volume II : Edition of V alask a Skala ," Di ss. Yale 1978, l , 1-8. This is the only English source fo r thi s information. Signi fi cant Slovak sources on Gavlovic and hi s w ritin gs a re: Celes tin Le pacek , " Zivot a dic lo P . H ugolfna G avlovica, " V yrocne zpravy sukromneho gymnazia rad u sv . Franc isk a v M ala ck ach , 5- 10 ( 1932 -3 7); Lepace k, " Zlomky z d'alsfch Gavlovifovych ruko pisov ," Literarno-historick y sbornik M atice slovenskej , 2-3 , Nos. 1-2 ( 1945-46), 79-84 ; J ozef' Min ari k , " Hu golfn Gav lovic: Va lask a skola, mravuv stodola (l itera rn o-esteti cky rozbo r 16 vyb ranyc h bas nf)," Tri lirerarn o-esrerick e rozbory zo starsej slovenskej Jic era tury (Bratis lava: Slovenske pedagogic ke nakl ada tel'stvo, 1973) , pp. 61-98; G izela Slavkovsk a, "Gavlov icova Valaska Skala." eq ui valen t of a docto ra l dissert a ti on ( Bra tislava: U niv e rzita Komens keho , prob. 1972); Slavkovs ka , " Gavlov ifova Va laska Skala," S lovcnska lic era ru ra, 2 1, o. 5 ( 1974), 459-480. ' In Valaska Skala , in eight inst ances (fi ve times " na slowenski gazik . " two times " na slowenski , '· a nd once '' w slowensk em gazik u "), Gav lov ic expressed th e phrase '' in the Slovak lang uage" when he tra nslat ed a H e brew Bibli cal name in1 0 its Slovak meaning : nota I. introductory na rrati ve, line 33: V. int rodu ctory narrative, 9: VIII. in trodu ctory narrativ e. 3; X. introductory na rrative. 49; XI. in troduuory na rrativ e, 7; X III , int roductory na rrati ve. 1: X IV , introdu cto ry narrative. 6; a nd X IX, in troclu c1ory narrat ivc , 7. Linguist s agree tha t Gavlovi c wrote in Slova k , e.g. l.'..ubomfr 6urovic, "Slovak," The Slavic Lircrar_v Languages: Fonnacion and Dnwlopmenr. Alex a nder Sc hen ker and Edwa rd Stankiewicz , eds . ( New H aven: Yale Concilium o n Intern a ti onal and Arca Studies, 1980), p. 214. Of this la nguage in genera l, Eugen Paul inv wrote: �88 SLOVAKIA The Slova ki zing process went so far that by th e end of th e fir st half of the 18th ce ntury, we alread y have among Slovak Catholics a sufficiently firmly normali zed national written language whi ch on account of esse nti al deviation s from Czech ca nnot be called on ly Slovakized Czech. N or mu st it be disting uish ed from Czech only on th e lin guistic side. Import antly, that is, n ot even its users and writers con sidered it as Czech. Th ey considered it, h ere more, ch ere less explicic y, as ch e dom escic Slovak language. The term " J esuit Slovak " was at one time coined for this language. This d es ignation would perhaps m eta pho ri call y do just ice to th e fa ct that thi s language was used in Catholic writin g. H oweve r , it is necessa ry, of course, to reali ze th at thi s la nguage did no t origin a te in Slovak Catholic writing , but that Catholics took it over as esse ntiall y set, and that it was u sed as cultural W es t-Sl ovak eve n in oth er functions. Further one must reali ze that in Catholic writing, not onl y J esuits used this language, even if th ese la tt er were th e most act ive in the rc-Ca tholi cization of Slovaki a. (Dejin y spisovnej slovenciny, I [ 1966 ; rpt. Brati slava : Slove nske pedagogicke nakl ada tel'stvo, 1971], p. 78. Ita li cs a nd tra nsla ti on a re min e .) ' See Sabo, pp . 50-56 , for nati onalistic friction in gene ral, and pp. 58-62 for nati onalisti c fri ct io n in Franciscan founda ti ons. Also , Ysevlad J oze f Gajdos, 0 . F . M. , Franciskani v slovens½ej lit eracure (C levela nd : First Catholic Slova k Union, 1979), pp . 23-26. In this work, Gajdos also has a sho rt biograph y of Gavlovi c, a brief co mm ent a ry o n so m e of his writings, a li st of m ost of hi s works , and a sm all bibli ogra phy on G av lovic. Thi s book co nt a ins a wealth of m a terial on Francisca n trai nin g and activiti es in Slovak areas. 5 Both m a nu script s, actually a ut og raphs b y Gavlov ic him self, a re prese rved in th e Lite rarny archiv M a ti ce slovenskej (LAMS) in Martin unde r th e signa ture B89 for V alask a Skala and MJ3 3 1 for Skala Krest'a nska. V alask a S k ala ha had three editi o n s. In th e first editi o n do ne in two volum es in 1830-3 1, th e auto gra ph was d evasta tin gly altered allegedl y by Mi cha l R eset ka acco rdin g to th e lin gui st ic no rm s of Bernolak-S lova k , bern olaccin a . In th e seco nd edi ti o n of 197 1, Rudolf Kraj covic, th e ed itor , re prod uced the tex t in questionab le fo rm at a nd form , but most unfortunately deleted some forty-seven percent of th e aut ogra ph tex t. The third edition is a reprintin g o f th e Kraj cov ic second ed itio n , but now with som e fift y- li ve perce nt of th e autograph text deleted. Non e of the pictori al illu stra tion s of Valaska Skala was reprodu ced in a ny o f th e three ed iti ons. As rega rd s Skala Kresc'a nsk a, a few selections - some two perce nt of th e a ut ogra ph text - ca n be found in Gizela Slavkovska's edited workja miluji, nesmfm provfdaci ... : Ancol6gia zo slovenskej barokovej poezie (Bratislava: T a tra n , 1977) , pp . 275-30 1. 6 Th is is made clea r in Valaska Skala in th e dedication immed ia tely after th e titl epage a nd first illustra ti o n as we ll as in the int rodu cto ry part " D arowa ni Ku uiicku cwemu ," line 57; and in Skala Kresc'a n ska, o n th e titl e page a nd in th e introducto ry part " Darowani Trecimu R adu Seraflin skemu ," pages 13-1 6 of th e aut ogra ph (wi th titl e-page as page one). Fo r possible reasons for Gavlovic dedi ca tin g these two works to Tertiaries, see Sabo , pp . 66-7 1. ' For details on Gav lovic ' s kon cepc form, see, Sabo, pp . 86-94. A koncepc is also found �SLOVAKIA ' 9 ' 0 " " 13 14 15 16 11 " 19 ' 0 89 in Gavlovi i''s "last will a nd testament, " and an inco mplete one (one sentence short) among fragm entary autograph s of Gavlovic. In my thesis , I discuss the a rtist of the illustrations for Valaska Skala on pages 79-82. Subsequ entl y, Slavkovska studied th e same m a tt er and published her co mments in " ' Tajomstva ' prveho vydania Valaskej Skoly ," Slovenska literatura , 25, No. 6 ( 1978) , 663-669 . John L. Lievsay , "Embl em ," Princeton Encyclopedia of Poet1y and Poetics, enlarged edition , Alex Preminger et al. ed. (Princeton: Princeton Uni ve rsity Press, 1974). Bes id es variou s pl aces in V alaska Skala , wh e re Gavlovic speaks of Valaska Skala in these terms, he co mpa res the two "school s" in Skala Krest'anska on page fourtee n with titl e-page as page one in " D aro wani Tretimu Radu S eraffinskemu ," lin es 45 -46. Valaska Skala, "Darowani Ku uiitku twemu ," line 44 ; Skala Krest'ansk a, " Darowani Tretimu Radu S eraffin sk emu ," lines 33-34. On the title-page of Valaska Skala , Gavlovic cited :Omne tulit pun ctum , qui miscuit utile dulci (H e ha s won eve ry vote who has bl end ed profit a nd pleas ure . .. ), verse 343, H. Ru shton Fairclough , trans., Horace: Satires, Epistles, and Ars Poetica (London and Cambridge, Mass. : William H eine m a n , Ltd. , 1970), pp. 478-479. For other pl aces wh ere G av lovic ex pressed th e se nse of this Horati a n ve rse, see Sabo , p. 68 , note 101. On the page immediat ely preceding th e titl e-page, it is cited in La tin a nd in a Slovak translation. In th e Vulgate ve rsion th a t I u sed , Alberto Colun ga a nd La urentio Turrado, ed ., 4th ed. , se ri es Bibliateca d e autores Christianos , Madrid , 1975, the last verse is forty , but in English ve rsions of this chapter, th e verse is thirt y-six. Karl Rahn e r , " Last Things , " Sa cram entum Mundi: An Encyclopedia of Th eology (New York: H e rd e r a nd H e rd er , 1969) , 274-2 76. Th ese da tes a re found on the d edi cation page of Valaska Skala right after th e titlepage a nd fir st illu stration , and for Skala Krest'a nska on th e prese nt titl e- page. Thi s letter is found at th e ve ry beginning of the bound autograph of Skala Krest'anska. Fo r a de tai led stud y ofGavlovic's a uthorship of th ese writings, see Sabo, pp. 11-15. From my st ud y of the sy mm etri cal structure of Skala Krest'anska , it is evident that th e re were probab ly at least nin e illustration s, four of which are mi ssing, and th a t some of the text which introduces th e k on cept y on d ea th and those on judgment is also mi ss in g. Bes id es th e numerical sy mboli sm ex pl a in ed in the subsequent text of m y article , furth e r num eri cal sy mboli sm in V a/ask a Skala is discussed in Sabo, pp. 124-28. The Gospel a nd th e Bibli cal book Apocalypse a ttribut ed to St. John th e Eva n geli st had a signifi can t influ e nce on th e format a nd mat e rial co nt ent of V a/aska Skala as we ll as on those of ot he r writings by Ga vlo vic: Sabo , pp. 114- 2 1. In " D arowan i Ku uzi tku twemu, " lin es 37-38 , Gavlovii' spec ifi ed twe nt y- one noty, ye t he added a twenty-second which he called " Pridawek or Additi on. " It is m y strong belief that Gavlov ic's spec ifi c in sistence o n twe nt y-o ne noty and hi s present at ion of th e m with Biblical shepherds introdu cin g eac h infl uenced J a n Holl y's stru cturin g of hi s Selanky or Pasto rals where th ere a re twent y-o ne pastoral so ng subdivi sion s; lik e Gav lov ic, Holl y begins hi s twe nt y-first (a nd las t) pastoral with referen ce to th e �90 " " " " " ' 0 " " SLOVAKIA Bet hl ehem shepherds . In a let ter of May 6, 183 1, Holly spoke of Gavlovic and his Valaska Skala: " Lette r #32 to M a rtin Hamuljak ," Jozef Ambrus , ed ., Korespondencia jan Holleho (M a rtin : M a tica slovenska , 1967), p . 74. The Selanky began to be published in 1835 some four years after the publicati on of R ese tka's ed ition of Valaska Skala: Encyklopedia Slovenska, II (1978) , sub verbo " Holl y, Jan. " An ed ition of the Selanky with a modern verse rendition was published by Tatran in J 970 as volume 22 of its se ri es Citanie studuju cej mladeze . Sabo , p . 125, note 13 1, a nd p . 126. Also, J ean-Loui s D ' Aragon, S.J ., " The Apocalypse ,'' The J erome Biblical Com m entary (Englewood Cliffs, N .J .: PrenticeH all , In c., 1968), p. 480. Sabo, p. 126 , not e 133: " In each n ota , the introducto ry section a nd first kon cept ac tu ally cover th ese three autograph pages, yet Gavlovic pagin ated th em on the third page as a sin gle Arabic-numbered page . Thus, acco rdin g to thi s peculi a r pagination , each nota has thirty pages. And this m eans th at the twenty-on e noty spec ifi ed by Gavlovic have six hundred and thirty pages or half of the 1260 , the number of textu al units that a ppear o n th ese 630 pages." As regards th e co ncept o f the " last times ," see Karl Lowith , " The Biblical View of Hi sto~y, " Meaning in History (C hi cago and London : Un iversity of Ch icago Press, 1949 , Phoenix paperback, 1957), p . 188 . As rega rds ,,alasi, for an English ource see Sa b o, pp . 37-38; and for Slovak sources see J a n Podolak, " The P asto ral Cu ltu re of th e Ca rpathian as a Subject of an Ethnological Study," Ethnologica slavica , 1 ( 1969), especial ly 70-77, a nd Encyklopedia Sloven ska , V I ( 1982), sub vcrbo " Valasi," " Valasska l'udova piesen," and '' Valasske pravo." Old so urces a bout valasi , their culture, a nd their wa y of li vin g a re: And rej K i!v ulj ak , " Val as i na Slove n sku: Ora vs ky pod za mok ," Sbornik n a pocest' jozefa Skulte1yh o (Turciansky Svii ty M a rtin : M at ica slovenska , 1933), pp . 336 -374; Karel K ad lec, Valasi a valassk e pravo v zem ich slovansk ych a uh erskych (Pra ha: Ces ka akadcmia cisare Frantiska J osefa, 19 16) ; V aclav C halo upec ky, Valasi na S lovensku (Praha: Slovansky u stav , 1947); a ndjosef Macurek, Valasi v za padnfch K a1pa1ech v 15. - 18 scole1f (Ost rava: K rajske naklad a telstvf, 1959). Th e ca pital R oman numera l is th e no/a number; th e sm a ll Roman num eral is th e k on cep1 numb er in thar 1101 a. Beca use of space limit ;itions , th e side- m otto here has bee n placed a bove the k oncep1. In th e text of Valask a Skala . Gav lov ic also in corporated fo lk ex press ions such as prove rbs and sayings that ca n be fo un d in ex tant compil a ti ons o f suc h ex pre. siuns as we ll ·as ones or his own ('rca ti u n ; sec Sa bo , pp . 168- 171, and Vojtcch Sarluska, " Piit's to prfslovf, " Li1er,im ya rchf, - 1975 . 12 (Mart in: M a ti ca sloven ska, 1976), 135- 167. Webs 1er·.- New C ollcgiait· Diction ary , 1961, su/.J v(·rbo ' ·Sri gma. " Sabo, p. 127, note 134; J ea n-Loui s D ' Aragon , " Th e Apondy p;e," p. 47 8 . In Skala K res1'anska , a couplet-m o tto or vary in g leng rh rs found aboH: a koncepl with o ne a nd nea rl y a lwa ys two re lated mot toes on the side . Beca use o f spate limitation s, I hav e placed in o rd er th e first a nd sclond side- m ottoe for th e koncep1 above the couplet-mono found at th e head of the koncepl . �SLOVAKIA 91 ,. Th e New Ca th olic Encyclopedia ( l 967), sub verbo " Lawrence Justini an , St ." My study of Gavlovic was greatl y facilitied b y Docent J ozef Minarik of th e Filozofi cka faku lta Univerzity Kom enskeho a nd Gi zela Slavkovska of the Litera rn ovedny Ustav Slove nskej Akadem ie Vied , both of Bra tisla va, while I was on th e exchange program of th e Intern ati onal R esea rch and Exchanges Board and on a Fulbright-H ays grant in 1975 -76. This pape r is based on a docto ral disse rt ation, " Slovak Didact ic Poetry: G avlovic's Va/aska S kala " at Ya le Univers ity, 1978. Prese nted in Pa nel 128 , "Slovak Litera ture as a Mirror of the Na tional Awakenin g," a t th e AAASS convention in Philadelphi a on 8 November 1980. � 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 1982-83, Vol. 30 Description An account of the resource Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83. 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 1982-83 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 80 SLOVAKIA Hugolfn Gavlovic's Valaska Skala and Skala Krest'anska Gerald J . Sabo For most Slavists, the eighteenth century in Slovak history and culture remains pretty much unknown territory. Even among specialists in Slovak studies, that era m ay bring to mind simply Anton Bernol ak and possibly J a n Baltaza r M agin . Bernolak should certa inly stand out as the first cod ifer of the Slovak language , a nd Magin deserves more than a few brief sentences for hi s de fense of Slovak ethnic a nd cultural rights . Y et m any other writers from the e ighteenth ce ntury deserve not onl y mention but substantial comm entary , because their writings in the Slovak vernacular before Bernolak's codificat ion exem plified and promoted Slovak consciousness. Amon g these a uthors a prominent place is occupied by the Franciscan priest Hugolfn Gavlovic. Gavlovic was born in 17 12 in Czarny Dunaj ec, Poland, yet he spent virtually his entire life in Slovak-speaking areas. 2 H e di ed in 1787, th e year Bernolak publicly began his codification effort s. G avlovic considered himself ethnically Polish. Still , as far as can be ascertained, the only Slavic la n gu age in which h e wrote was the contemporary Slovak vernacul ar. In a number of hi s writings, he even explicity expres~ed his awareness of writing in Slovak. 3 Gavlovic's co n scious Slovak writing but Polish e thnicity is more th an some curiously interest ing point. I t is especially strikin g again st the b ackground of in tense nationalistic fr iction at that time . This nationalisti c frict ion was between Slovaks a nd various ethnic gro u ps, but in particula r th e Hun garians. The effects of th is fri ct ion reached even into Franciscan foundations and affected th e governan ce of Franciscan eccles iastical provin ces. 4 Gavlovic began writing in 1745 after he had finished his Franciscan course of studies and h ad become a priest. From 1745 until h is death in 1 787 , he composed nearly twenty distin ct pieces of Slovak writin g in prose o r poetry . Among his poetic writings, the most prominent are Valask a Skala (Th e Shepherd ' s School) and Skala Krest'anska (A C h ris1 SLOVAKIA 81 tian School). Though Valaska Skala and Skala Krest'anska are di stinct pieces of writing, they should be treated together for a number of reasons. Both are written for the same audience - Franciscan T e rti aries,6 that is , lay persons who pattern their lives according to prescript s of Franciscan spirituality and traditions . Also , in both compositions is found a poetic form peculiar only to them : Gavlovic called this form koncept. 7 A koncept consists of twelve verses or six rhymed couplets ; each verse has fourteen syllables with a caesura-like pause after the eighth sylla bl e. Usual ly , some rhymed couplets of varying length are related to a koncept . At times, the various pictorial illustrations in both Gavlovic "schools" are connected with kon cepty as well as other verse units . 8 Thus , in Valaska Skala but especially in Skala Krest'anska , the format of the koncept a nd other verse units could be said to resem ble emblematic poetry: a verse-motto, a versified elaboration of the motto, and the related illustration. 9 Besides similarities in a udience and poetic units, the two "schools " are explicitly related to each oth er by Gavlovic him self. According to Gavlovic, Val ask a Skala was written to foster the reader ' s " moral ch aracter, " Skol a Krest'ansk a his "holiness." 10 Gavlovic has also described Valaska Skala as "cheese," someth in g that would n ourish th e reader. In its author 's view, Skala Krest'an sk a represents a " pleasant sce nt '' from a b ouqu et of fl owers. 11 Clearly , Gavlovic expressed a contrast between the physical a nd external against the non-physical a nd internal. Also , the epigraphs fo r the two "schools" show their contrasting emphases and areas of con centration . For Valask a Skala, it is the H oratian utile-dulci - the practically beneficial made palatably pleasant ; this epigraph aptly expresses the mundane yet religiously instructive character of Val ask a Sk ala . 11 T he epigraph for Skala Krest'anska is the last verse from th e seventh chapte r of the Biblical book Sirach: " R emember the last thin gs, a nd you will never sin ." 13 From a reading of the two ''schools,'' it is evide n t that for Gavlovic, they represented the two states in Christia n spiri tualit y: th e act ive an d contemplative ways of livin g. In the active life, as in Val ask a Skol a, the goal of a Christian is the practice of good morals and virtues a nd all this entail s. In the co n templative life , as in Skala Krest'anska , the aim is the conte mpl ation of God , sp iritu al matters , espec iall y of th e '' four last things,'' d eath, judgment, hell , and heaven. 14 I n effect, then, through th ese writings Gavlovic offered the 82 SLOVAKIA reader a sort of program for good Christian living and thinking . In appreciatin g these two "schools," the Christian reader could then set about reali zing the active a nd contemplative ways of living in his earthly existe n ce. Gavlovic completed Valaska Skala in March , 1755, and Skala Krest'an ska in August, 17 58. 15 At what dates he began to write each "sch ool " can not at present be d etermin ed. In the letter of the ecclesiastical cen sor for Skala Krest'an sk a, Gavlovic is n amed as the a uthor. 16 This identification has in turn contributed to verifying Gavlovic 's autho rship of Valaska Skala. Val ask a Skala and Skala Krest'anska are extensive pieces of poetry. Valaska Skala comprises nearly e ighteen th ousand verses, virtually all of which are fourteen syll ables in length ; there are also some twentyfour hundred verses of varyin g length for the couplet- mottoes above the kan cepty as well as numerous related mottoes beside the k ancep ty. In Valaska Skala, there are twenty-seven illu strations, but only nine in Skala Krest'an ska. 17 The mass of verses and illustrations in each ''school'' is a rranged accord in g to schemes wh ere symmetry and numerical sym bolism play d efinite roles. 18 Valask a Skala has three major divisions: first, an introductory portion with twelve parts of varying length ; second, a main body with twentytwo subdivisions known as naty (nata in the sin gul ar); a nd third, a co ncluding portion with two parts of unequal length . The introductory and concludin g portions - virtually equal in length - fram e the main body . In the m a in body, the predominant textual unit is the kancept ; in each of the twenty-two subdivions or naty , there are fifty-nin e kancepty. The major motif of Valaska Skala is J esus the Good Shepherd as portrayed in St. J ohn 's Gospel. 19 In the main body , Gavlovic presented a series of stories on Biblical shepherds. Th ese stories are part of the introdu cto ry narrative for each of the first twenty-one naty . Abel is the first shepherd prese nted, and the shepherds of Be thlehem are the subjects that introdu ce th e twenty-first nata. Th e twenty-second nata has no introdu ctory n arrat ive but begins with a kancept about the resurrected Christ; the risen J esus is comm issionin g Peter to feed his sheep, the Christian Church . otably, then, the lin e of Biblical shephe rds in the twenty-two naty forms a chronologically linear presentation of Biblical history - from the era of Adam through that of the resurrected Christ, the Second Adam. T he two concluding sections of Valask a Skala are SLOVAKIA 83 on death and the Last judgment; they aptly complete the Christian timespectrum presented in the preceding main body. The most prominent instance of numerical symbolism in Valaska Skala involves the first twenty-one naty of the main body. Gavlovic was very explicit that Valaska Skala comprised only twenty-one naty. 10 Yet he included a twenty-second nata, and the two concluding sections on death and the Last Judgment. The explanation for this is based on the symbolic number of 1260 from the Biblical book Apocalypse. Symbolically, the number 1260 represents a time period when evil and extreme suffering are the lot of God's people ; this period is to be followed by a new era under the leadership of Christ. 21 In Valaska Skala, 1260 is the number of textual units in the first twenty-one naty . The last kancept of nata twenty-one clearly expresses a definite finality: Buch ge Alpha y Omega wsseckeho stworeni, A bez neho w clowekovi ni c d obre ho neni* On ge sprawedliweg laski wzdy horicy plamen , Nech ho dussa ma milu ge Az na weki Amen . (XXI , lix , 1-2 , 11-12) God is the Alpha and Omega of all creati on , And without him there is nothing of goodness in a person• He is always the burning flam e of just a ffec tion , M ay my soul love him Until forever Amen. Even the pagination of the first twenty-one naty contributes to understanding their extent according to the symbolic number 1260. 11 These naty are that period of suffering and patient waiting before the reign of Christ. Aptly, then, the twenty-second nata begins with the resurrected Christ and his future vicar Peter. This new era is traditionally known as the "last times," that era from Christ 's resurrection until his Second Coming at the end of the world and of time. ll The next crucial moments in a Christian 's existence during the "last times" are his death and the Last Judgment. These two moments form the them es for the concluding sections of Valaska Skala . In effect, then , Gavlovic also used a specific number of textual units to present symbolically his Christian view of time and history. In the main body of Valaska Skala, Gavlovic presented much more than Biblical material. In the introductory narratives for the naty, Gavlovic occasionally included comments on valasi, i.e. the Slovak mountain shepherds who represent a distinctive group in Slovak history and culture. 24 The valasi in Valaska Skala are contemporary figures who 84 SLOVAKIA illustrate actions that foster or d etract from proper Christian conduct. In the nearly thirteen hundred koncepty , there is a range of topics all to show what helps make a good Christian citizen of this world and the next. Whatever has to do with the total human b eing and Christian is treated - social deportment , catechetical matters, virtues, vices , and points of health . Nothing seems too trivial for discussion. Examples of the more religious kon cept as well as of the more mundane type will illustrate this, as the following two show : 25 Powinn os t P as tyru • Kryst u s poru ca swe owce Petrow i k pase ni , By wssech podl e sweg moznos ti priwad zal k Spaseni . K azdy wrchni na podda nych musy sta rost miti , Aby ned al od Spase ni fa dn emu bluditi. Otec di tkam , Pan podd a nym , gazd a sweg celedi* Z poru ceni Krystoweho nech uz itek hl edi . An o y ty twoge g Du sse pastyrem bi t musyss, Ga k gu stratiss gakokoli w , hrozny Sud okus iss . Co mu ze byt ku Spaseni ginym , nezanedbag, Al e negprw n a twu Duss u neglepssi pozo r dag . G ak twu Du ssu , a y gin ych priwedess k Spa seni , Budess Srdcy Krys towemu giste k potesse ni. (XXII, i) R esponsibility of the Shepherd Chri st entrusts his sheep to Peter for past ure, So th at he would bring them all to Salvation . Each superi or must have conce rn for th ose subj ec t to him , So tha t he would not permit any of th em to stray . A fa ther fo r his children , a master for his se rfs, a householder for his se rvants* Let him see k benefi t because of the cha rge of C hrist. Yes a nd you must be the shepherd of your Soul , If you so mehow lose it , you will taste a terribl e Jud gm ent. Don ' t neglect wh at can be to others' Salvat ion , But first give the bes t attenti on to yo ur Soul. If you bring your soul and oth ers to Salvati on , You will surely be a consola ti on to C hrist 's H ea rt . Pan owi chud obn y N ech neni • podobn y Ml ce t pred Pa nem Slu ssy gak a men T ak obcu ge bohac z chud ym , gako wlk z baranem , Gestli mu zess , nem eg nikd y spolec nost z pa nem . G ak te vola k sobe , nechot, • kd yz budess negiti, Gak se odd aliss od neho , budess pokog m iti . Kd yz b ud ess s nim , tehdy nemlu w wsselico slobodne , Newe r mn ohim reca m geho, snat m lu wi podwodn e. Bude te mn ohimi slowmi p robowa t libezne , SLOVAKIA 85 Dokud negake tagemstw i od teba newez ne . Bude se te usmiwagic wsselico spytowa t , A twe recy w swogeg hl awe pilne pa matowa t . Gak od teba zw i to co chce , hn et twa r swu promeni , Zabyge te z twym gaz ikem krem twe ho domnen i. (XV II , xxv) May a poor ma n not be like to a lord/ master It is as fit as an Amen to be silent before a lord/ master A ri ch man associates with a poor ma n just as a wolf wit h a shee p, If you ca n , don't ever have a ny dealin gs wi th a lord/ mas ter . When he calls you to him , don ' t go , • when you wi ll n ot go, When you distance yourself from him , you 'II have peace. W hen you wi ll be with him , th en don ' t speak all kind s of thi ngs freely, Don ' t believe hi s man y speec hes/wo rds , pe rh a ps he spea ks decept ively. H e wi ll tes t/ probe you kindly with many words, Unt il he h as taken some secrets from you. H e will smilingly ask you a ll so rt s of thin gs, And wi ll recall laboriousl y/we ll your speeches in his head. As soo n as/ when he learns from you wha.t he wants, at once his face will chan ge, H e will kill you with your tongue beyond anything you can imagine. Compared to Valaska Skala , Skala Krest'anska h as a simpl er compositional arran gement. This is probably because Skala Krest'an sk a conce rns only four m atte rs: death, judgment, hell , and heave n - the traditional "four las t things ." Yet , as in Valaska Skala, the kan cepty of Skala Krest'anska are crucial to a ppreciating the symmetry a nd numerical symbolism in this composition. Skala Krest'an ska has two maj o r divisions: an introductory po rti on of four parts that vary in le n gth , a nd a main body of four equ al subdivisions th at are simila r in format. Each of the fo ur subdiv isions in the main body h as o ne of the "four last things " as its guiding theme. In Valaska Skala , J esus the Good Shepherd had his counterpart in the good contemporary valach or shepherd. In Skala Krest'anska, the reader is also presented with the hum a n counterp a rt of Christ - St. Franc is of Assisi with stigmata. The stigmata are '' marks resem blin g the wounds on the cru cified body of C hrist [o n the hand s, the fee t , a nd the right side o f C hrist's chest; these marks are ] believed to have bee n supe rnat u rall y impressed upon the bod ies of certain pe rso ns , as St. Francis of Assisi.' ' 26 Among the illustrations and texts about the '' fo ur last things' ' are also illustrations of St. Fra ncis with st igmata as he refl ects on each of the "four last things ." The escha tology presented in text and illustrations is further empha- 86 SLOVAKIA sized b y the numerical sy mbolism used in com posin g the four subdivisions o f the m ain body. Each subdivision has k on cepty on 144 pages. Indeed , in each subdivision , only the pages with koncepty are numbered; the rem a ining pages in each subdivi sion and the pages of the introductory port ion are not numbered. The number 144 is related to the sym bolic number 144 ,000 ; thi s latter number sym bolically represents the number of Christians saved at the end of time as noted in the Biblical boo k Apocalypse . 17 Thus , the apocalyptic number of Christians saved - 144 ,000 - is associated with th e 144 pages of kon cepty for each of the "four last things ." For G avlovic , the readin g of these koncepty was to help number th e reader among those saved . ·After all , that was the primary aspiration of Gavlovic not only for his reader but also for himself. Th e very last kon cept - the end - of Skala Krest'anska clearly conveys this othe r-worldly view offered by G avlovic to his reader : Prigd k nam kralows twi twe" Co nce ptus hie S. Laurentij Ju stin* D ag na m n ebe weeny Boze Nassa mdl ost k nemu nemoze Otce nass, ktery sy w Nebi, Prigd k nam kralows twi twe, Nebo k dobrem u cyn eni Srdce w nas ge mrtwe. Zustawame w ned osta tku , a y w leniwosti, Nemu ze me dostat nebe bez twogeg mil os ti . M i do nebe nepri gde me; zosta neme w bide, Gak kra lows twi twe z tweg wu le k na m bidnym neprigde . Eliasse na ohni wem woze wzals do neb e, Y nas prigmi w tweg milosti , to prosime tebe. Zaden ku Krystu negide, gak ho netahn ess ty, Tahni n as w p rowaskach laski , neb sy we wssem Swaty. Abi sme spaseni byli , prigd twe kralowstwi k n am, A ty Boze az na we ki panu g n ad nami sam . (0 Nebi , 288) Your kingdom co me to us This kon ceptlco nce pt (from] St. Law rence Ju stinia n" Give us heave n ete rnal God Our wea kn ess cannot reach/approach it Our Fa ther , who a re in H eave n , Your kin gd om com e to us, For our H eart is dead to good d eeds. W e rema in want ing , a nd in laz iness, W e cannot att ain heave n without yo ur grace. W e will not reach heave n ; we will re main in misery, If you r kin gdom does not com e to wretched u s by your will. Elias was ra ised to heave n on a fi ery ve hicl e/cha ri ot, R eceive also us in your grace, thi s we implore you . No one co mes to C hri st , if you do not draw him yourself, Draw us in the bonds of love/affection , for you are H oly in everythin g. SLOVAKIA 87 T hat we mi ght be saved, yo ur kin gdom co m e to us , And you God yourself rul e ove r u s fo reve r . A s two pieces of Slovak writing, V alaska Skol a and Skol a Krest'anska d o di splay som e litera ry ima gina tion in their compositional a rra n gem ent and co nten t. Y et the ir purposes wer e n o t belles lettres ente rta inment bu t the fosterin g of the C h r istia n read er 's m oral ch a racter a nd holiness. Their m or ali stic a nd religiou s ch a racters sh ould n o t , a nd in truth , do no t d e trac t fro m their place in Slovak histo ry a nd culture. T h ey remain p rominen t a nd substantive exampl es of con sciously Slovak writing lo n g before Slovaks were al lowed to exe rcise the ir righ ts as a di st inct Slavic peopl e. NOTES ' An example of thi s lim ited view of Slovak writing is the first sentence of Pete r Brock 's otherwise good study The Slovak Nat ional Awakening (T oron to: Uni ve rsity of Toronto Press, I 976), p . 3 : " A Slovak ve rn acul a r was fir st used for literary purposes in the 1780s when it replaced C zec h a m ong the Slovak Cat hol ic in tell ige nts ia.'' ' For a more deta iled biography of Gavlovic and a d iscuss ion of his writin gs, see Gerald J. Sabo, "Slovak Did actic Poetry: Gav lovic 's Valask a Skala. Volum e I: Introdu ctory Study. Volume II : Edition of V alask a Skala ," Di ss. Yale 1978, l , 1-8. This is the only English source fo r thi s information. Signi fi cant Slovak sources on Gavlovic and hi s w ritin gs a re: Celes tin Le pacek , " Zivot a dic lo P . H ugolfna G avlovica, " V yrocne zpravy sukromneho gymnazia rad u sv . Franc isk a v M ala ck ach , 5- 10 ( 1932 -3 7); Lepace k, " Zlomky z d'alsfch Gavlovifovych ruko pisov ," Literarno-historick y sbornik M atice slovenskej , 2-3 , Nos. 1-2 ( 1945-46), 79-84 ; J ozef' Min ari k , " Hu golfn Gav lovic: Va lask a skola, mravuv stodola (l itera rn o-esteti cky rozbo r 16 vyb ranyc h bas nf)," Tri lirerarn o-esrerick e rozbory zo starsej slovenskej Jic era tury (Bratis lava: Slovenske pedagogic ke nakl ada tel'stvo, 1973) , pp. 61-98; G izela Slavkovsk a, "Gavlov icova Valaska Skala." eq ui valen t of a docto ra l dissert a ti on ( Bra tislava: U niv e rzita Komens keho , prob. 1972); Slavkovs ka , " Gavlov ifova Va laska Skala," S lovcnska lic era ru ra, 2 1, o. 5 ( 1974), 459-480. ' In Valaska Skala , in eight inst ances (fi ve times " na slowenski gazik . " two times " na slowenski , '· a nd once '' w slowensk em gazik u "), Gav lov ic expressed th e phrase '' in the Slovak lang uage" when he tra nslat ed a H e brew Bibli cal name in1 0 its Slovak meaning : nota I. introductory na rrati ve, line 33: V. int rodu ctory narrative, 9: VIII. in trodu ctory narrativ e. 3; X. introductory na rrative. 49; XI. in troduuory na rrativ e, 7; X III , int roductory na rrati ve. 1: X IV , introdu cto ry narrative. 6; a nd X IX, in troclu c1ory narrat ivc , 7. Linguist s agree tha t Gavlovi c wrote in Slova k , e.g. l.'..ubomfr 6urovic, "Slovak," The Slavic Lircrar_v Languages: Fonnacion and Dnwlopmenr. Alex a nder Sc hen ker and Edwa rd Stankiewicz , eds . ( New H aven: Yale Concilium o n Intern a ti onal and Arca Studies, 1980), p. 214. Of this la nguage in genera l, Eugen Paul inv wrote: 88 SLOVAKIA The Slova ki zing process went so far that by th e end of th e fir st half of the 18th ce ntury, we alread y have among Slovak Catholics a sufficiently firmly normali zed national written language whi ch on account of esse nti al deviation s from Czech ca nnot be called on ly Slovakized Czech. N or mu st it be disting uish ed from Czech only on th e lin guistic side. Import antly, that is, n ot even its users and writers con sidered it as Czech. Th ey considered it, h ere more, ch ere less explicic y, as ch e dom escic Slovak language. The term " J esuit Slovak " was at one time coined for this language. This d es ignation would perhaps m eta pho ri call y do just ice to th e fa ct that thi s language was used in Catholic writin g. H oweve r , it is necessa ry, of course, to reali ze th at thi s la nguage did no t origin a te in Slovak Catholic writing , but that Catholics took it over as esse ntiall y set, and that it was u sed as cultural W es t-Sl ovak eve n in oth er functions. Further one must reali ze that in Catholic writing, not onl y J esuits used this language, even if th ese la tt er were th e most act ive in the rc-Ca tholi cization of Slovaki a. (Dejin y spisovnej slovenciny, I [ 1966 ; rpt. Brati slava : Slove nske pedagogicke nakl ada tel'stvo, 1971], p. 78. Ita li cs a nd tra nsla ti on a re min e .) ' See Sabo, pp . 50-56 , for nati onalistic friction in gene ral, and pp. 58-62 for nati onalisti c fri ct io n in Franciscan founda ti ons. Also , Ysevlad J oze f Gajdos, 0 . F . M. , Franciskani v slovens½ej lit eracure (C levela nd : First Catholic Slova k Union, 1979), pp . 23-26. In this work, Gajdos also has a sho rt biograph y of Gavlovi c, a brief co mm ent a ry o n so m e of his writings, a li st of m ost of hi s works , and a sm all bibli ogra phy on G av lovic. Thi s book co nt a ins a wealth of m a terial on Francisca n trai nin g and activiti es in Slovak areas. 5 Both m a nu script s, actually a ut og raphs b y Gavlov ic him self, a re prese rved in th e Lite rarny archiv M a ti ce slovenskej (LAMS) in Martin unde r th e signa ture B89 for V alask a Skala and MJ3 3 1 for Skala Krest'a nska. V alask a S k ala ha had three editi o n s. In th e first editi o n do ne in two volum es in 1830-3 1, th e auto gra ph was d evasta tin gly altered allegedl y by Mi cha l R eset ka acco rdin g to th e lin gui st ic no rm s of Bernolak-S lova k , bern olaccin a . In th e seco nd edi ti o n of 197 1, Rudolf Kraj covic, th e ed itor , re prod uced the tex t in questionab le fo rm at a nd form , but most unfortunately deleted some forty-seven percent of th e aut ogra ph tex t. The third edition is a reprintin g o f th e Kraj cov ic second ed itio n , but now with som e fift y- li ve perce nt of th e autograph text deleted. Non e of the pictori al illu stra tion s of Valaska Skala was reprodu ced in a ny o f th e three ed iti ons. As rega rd s Skala Kresc'a nsk a, a few selections - some two perce nt of th e a ut ogra ph text - ca n be found in Gizela Slavkovska's edited workja miluji, nesmfm provfdaci ... : Ancol6gia zo slovenskej barokovej poezie (Bratislava: T a tra n , 1977) , pp . 275-30 1. 6 Th is is made clea r in Valaska Skala in th e dedication immed ia tely after th e titl epage a nd first illustra ti o n as we ll as in the int rodu cto ry part " D arowa ni Ku uiicku cwemu ," line 57; and in Skala Kresc'a n ska, o n th e titl e page a nd in th e introducto ry part " Darowani Trecimu R adu Seraflin skemu ," pages 13-1 6 of th e aut ogra ph (wi th titl e-page as page one). Fo r possible reasons for Gavlovic dedi ca tin g these two works to Tertiaries, see Sabo , pp . 66-7 1. ' For details on Gav lovic ' s kon cepc form, see, Sabo, pp . 86-94. A koncepc is also found SLOVAKIA ' 9 ' 0 " " 13 14 15 16 11 " 19 ' 0 89 in Gavlovi i''s "last will a nd testament, " and an inco mplete one (one sentence short) among fragm entary autograph s of Gavlovic. In my thesis , I discuss the a rtist of the illustrations for Valaska Skala on pages 79-82. Subsequ entl y, Slavkovska studied th e same m a tt er and published her co mments in " ' Tajomstva ' prveho vydania Valaskej Skoly ," Slovenska literatura , 25, No. 6 ( 1978) , 663-669 . John L. Lievsay , "Embl em ," Princeton Encyclopedia of Poet1y and Poetics, enlarged edition , Alex Preminger et al. ed. (Princeton: Princeton Uni ve rsity Press, 1974). Bes id es variou s pl aces in V alaska Skala , wh e re Gavlovic speaks of Valaska Skala in these terms, he co mpa res the two "school s" in Skala Krest'anska on page fourtee n with titl e-page as page one in " D aro wani Tretimu Radu S eraffinskemu ," lin es 45 -46. Valaska Skala, "Darowani Ku uiitku twemu ," line 44 ; Skala Krest'ansk a, " Darowani Tretimu Radu S eraffin sk emu ," lines 33-34. On the title-page of Valaska Skala , Gavlovic cited :Omne tulit pun ctum , qui miscuit utile dulci (H e ha s won eve ry vote who has bl end ed profit a nd pleas ure . .. ), verse 343, H. Ru shton Fairclough , trans., Horace: Satires, Epistles, and Ars Poetica (London and Cambridge, Mass. : William H eine m a n , Ltd. , 1970), pp. 478-479. For other pl aces wh ere G av lovic ex pressed th e se nse of this Horati a n ve rse, see Sabo , p. 68 , note 101. On the page immediat ely preceding th e titl e-page, it is cited in La tin a nd in a Slovak translation. In th e Vulgate ve rsion th a t I u sed , Alberto Colun ga a nd La urentio Turrado, ed ., 4th ed. , se ri es Bibliateca d e autores Christianos , Madrid , 1975, the last verse is forty , but in English ve rsions of this chapter, th e verse is thirt y-six. Karl Rahn e r , " Last Things , " Sa cram entum Mundi: An Encyclopedia of Th eology (New York: H e rd e r a nd H e rd er , 1969) , 274-2 76. Th ese da tes a re found on the d edi cation page of Valaska Skala right after th e titlepage a nd fir st illu stration , and for Skala Krest'a nska on th e prese nt titl e- page. Thi s letter is found at th e ve ry beginning of the bound autograph of Skala Krest'anska. Fo r a de tai led stud y ofGavlovic's a uthorship of th ese writings, see Sabo, pp. 11-15. From my st ud y of the sy mm etri cal structure of Skala Krest'anska , it is evident that th e re were probab ly at least nin e illustration s, four of which are mi ssing, and th a t some of the text which introduces th e k on cept y on d ea th and those on judgment is also mi ss in g. Bes id es th e numerical sy mboli sm ex pl a in ed in the subsequent text of m y article , furth e r num eri cal sy mboli sm in V a/ask a Skala is discussed in Sabo, pp. 124-28. The Gospel a nd th e Bibli cal book Apocalypse a ttribut ed to St. John th e Eva n geli st had a signifi can t influ e nce on th e format a nd mat e rial co nt ent of V a/aska Skala as we ll as on those of ot he r writings by Ga vlo vic: Sabo , pp. 114- 2 1. In " D arowan i Ku uzi tku twemu, " lin es 37-38 , Gavlovii' spec ifi ed twe nt y- one noty, ye t he added a twenty-second which he called " Pridawek or Additi on. " It is m y strong belief that Gavlov ic's spec ifi c in sistence o n twe nt y-o ne noty and hi s present at ion of th e m with Biblical shepherds introdu cin g eac h infl uenced J a n Holl y's stru cturin g of hi s Selanky or Pasto rals where th ere a re twent y-o ne pastoral so ng subdivi sion s; lik e Gav lov ic, Holl y begins hi s twe nt y-first (a nd las t) pastoral with referen ce to th e 90 " " " " " ' 0 " " SLOVAKIA Bet hl ehem shepherds . In a let ter of May 6, 183 1, Holly spoke of Gavlovic and his Valaska Skala: " Lette r #32 to M a rtin Hamuljak ," Jozef Ambrus , ed ., Korespondencia jan Holleho (M a rtin : M a tica slovenska , 1967), p . 74. The Selanky began to be published in 1835 some four years after the publicati on of R ese tka's ed ition of Valaska Skala: Encyklopedia Slovenska, II (1978) , sub verbo " Holl y, Jan. " An ed ition of the Selanky with a modern verse rendition was published by Tatran in J 970 as volume 22 of its se ri es Citanie studuju cej mladeze . Sabo , p . 125, note 13 1, a nd p . 126. Also, J ean-Loui s D ' Aragon, S.J ., " The Apocalypse ,'' The J erome Biblical Com m entary (Englewood Cliffs, N .J .: PrenticeH all , In c., 1968), p. 480. Sabo, p. 126 , not e 133: " In each n ota , the introducto ry section a nd first kon cept ac tu ally cover th ese three autograph pages, yet Gavlovic pagin ated th em on the third page as a sin gle Arabic-numbered page . Thus, acco rdin g to thi s peculi a r pagination , each nota has thirty pages. And this m eans th at the twenty-on e noty spec ifi ed by Gavlovic have six hundred and thirty pages or half of the 1260 , the number of textu al units that a ppear o n th ese 630 pages." As regards th e co ncept o f the " last times ," see Karl Lowith , " The Biblical View of Hi sto~y, " Meaning in History (C hi cago and London : Un iversity of Ch icago Press, 1949 , Phoenix paperback, 1957), p . 188 . As rega rds ,,alasi, for an English ource see Sa b o, pp . 37-38; and for Slovak sources see J a n Podolak, " The P asto ral Cu ltu re of th e Ca rpathian as a Subject of an Ethnological Study," Ethnologica slavica , 1 ( 1969), especial ly 70-77, a nd Encyklopedia Sloven ska , V I ( 1982), sub vcrbo " Valasi," " Valasska l'udova piesen," and '' Valasske pravo." Old so urces a bout valasi , their culture, a nd their wa y of li vin g a re: And rej K i!v ulj ak , " Val as i na Slove n sku: Ora vs ky pod za mok ," Sbornik n a pocest' jozefa Skulte1yh o (Turciansky Svii ty M a rtin : M at ica slovenska , 1933), pp . 336 -374; Karel K ad lec, Valasi a valassk e pravo v zem ich slovansk ych a uh erskych (Pra ha: Ces ka akadcmia cisare Frantiska J osefa, 19 16) ; V aclav C halo upec ky, Valasi na S lovensku (Praha: Slovansky u stav , 1947); a ndjosef Macurek, Valasi v za padnfch K a1pa1ech v 15. - 18 scole1f (Ost rava: K rajske naklad a telstvf, 1959). Th e ca pital R oman numera l is th e no/a number; th e sm a ll Roman num eral is th e k on cep1 numb er in thar 1101 a. Beca use of space limit ;itions , th e side- m otto here has bee n placed a bove the k oncep1. In th e text of Valask a Skala . Gav lov ic also in corporated fo lk ex press ions such as prove rbs and sayings that ca n be fo un d in ex tant compil a ti ons o f suc h ex pre. siuns as we ll ·as ones or his own ('rca ti u n ; sec Sa bo , pp . 168- 171, and Vojtcch Sarluska, " Piit's to prfslovf, " Li1er,im ya rchf, - 1975 . 12 (Mart in: M a ti ca sloven ska, 1976), 135- 167. Webs 1er·.- New C ollcgiait· Diction ary , 1961, su/.J v(·rbo ' ·Sri gma. " Sabo, p. 127, note 134; J ea n-Loui s D ' Aragon , " Th e Apondy p;e," p. 47 8 . In Skala K res1'anska , a couplet-m o tto or vary in g leng rh rs found aboH: a koncepl with o ne a nd nea rl y a lwa ys two re lated mot toes on the side . Beca use o f spate limitation s, I hav e placed in o rd er th e first a nd sclond side- m ottoe for th e koncep1 above the couplet-mono found at th e head of the koncepl . SLOVAKIA 91 ,. Th e New Ca th olic Encyclopedia ( l 967), sub verbo " Lawrence Justini an , St ." My study of Gavlovic was greatl y facilitied b y Docent J ozef Minarik of th e Filozofi cka faku lta Univerzity Kom enskeho a nd Gi zela Slavkovska of the Litera rn ovedny Ustav Slove nskej Akadem ie Vied , both of Bra tisla va, while I was on th e exchange program of th e Intern ati onal R esea rch and Exchanges Board and on a Fulbright-H ays grant in 1975 -76. This pape r is based on a docto ral disse rt ation, " Slovak Didact ic Poetry: G avlovic's Va/aska S kala " at Ya le Univers ity, 1978. Prese nted in Pa nel 128 , "Slovak Litera ture as a Mirror of the Na tional Awakenin g," a t th e AAASS convention in Philadelphi a on 8 November 1980.  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 Hugolín Gavlovič's Valaská Škola and Škola Kresťanská Description An account of the resource Gerald J. Sabo Slovakia, Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83 pp. 80-91 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sabo, Gerald J., 1945–2020 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/d352d02edfa2548419b221de6f069db8.pdf 8cd13b3a57a7c4417356143198918536 PDF Text Text 76 SLOVAKIA Some Observations on Devotional Literature and Culture: Response D av id P . D a niel In many resp ects the history of Slovakia during the seventeen th century is an orphan of recent Slavic studies. While there are a few noteworthy exceptions , scholars of Slova k history tend to co nce ntrate their work in the medieval era, co mm en cin g w ith the labors of Cyril a nd M eth od , or they focus their a ttentio n on the er a of the n ational revival and the political, social , a nd cultural d evelopm en ts of the ninetee nth a nd twentieth ce nturies. As a result, the hi sto ry of the Slovaks during the seventeenth century h as bee n in adequately examin ed. In light of this situ ation, the studies of Czech and Slovak d evotional lite rature by Ducreux , Vajda, and Sabo are mo st welcome. While M . E . Ducreu x's study of Catholic Czech h ymna ls of the late sixtee nth a nd seventeenth centuries indicates that over o ne-third of the hymns utilized were adapted or taken over intact from Protestant collect io ns, J. Vajda, in a sketch of the life and work of the most noted Lutheran h ymnodi st, Juraj Tranovsky, notes th at his h ymnal , the Cithara Sanctorum (Harp of the Saints) , h ad a significant impact on the d evotio nal life of Catholic as well as Lutheran Slovaks. G. Sabo, on the other hand, turns hi s attention to one of the very popular personal d evotio na l works of the seventeenth ce ntury, the H ortulus Animae Piae (Little Garden of the Pious Soul) , by the Lutheran Daniel Sina pius-Horcicka . Taken together , these essays proffer a n in structive, if primarily a nticip atory, glimpse of the oft-neglected riches of seventeenth ce ntury Slavic lite rature and, it is to be h oped, should gen erate greater interest in the study of this fascinating period of Slovak history. Certainly more ex te n sive in vest igation s of seventee nth- century Slovak hi story are warranted for it was a n era of momentous cha n ge for the peoples of Hun garia Superioris , Upper Hun gary, the territory roughly con gru ent with tha t of m odern-day Slovakia. It was durin g thi s ce ntury that a m ajority of the overwhelmingly Lutheran Slovaks were �SLOV AKIA 77 regained for the faith a nd p ract ice of post-Tridentine C a tholicism b y the Cath olic Coun ter-Refo rm a ti o n . It was durin g this century tha t num erou s, o ft en bl oody conflicts em er ged a s the Habsburgs sought to re-asse r t the ir undispu ted hegem on y ove r all o f Hun gary . But d espite the feroc ity of the rel igiou s a nd poli tical co nflicts o f the era, o r perhaps becau se of them , it w as a ce ntury o f conside ra ble lite rary activity and ri ch in cultu re. A s the intelli ge ntsia, the cl erics a nd teach ers sou ght to reach a nd influen ce the opinio n s a nd allegia n ces o f the Slavic populati o n , a po pul ar ve rn acul a r literature d eveloped . T o be sure, th e C zech Biblictin a or Kralictin a was o ften employed as sort o f a proto -Slovak literary la n gu age. But thi s u se of Czech , albe it in creasingly adapted b y the u se o f Slovaki sm s, se rved both to provide a lexicogra phic foundati on upo n which a mo re p ro per Slovak litera ry la ngu age could be codifi ed du r in g the eigh teenth a nd early ninetee nth ce nturies and to foster intellectu al co ntacts a nd exch a n ges betwee n Slovaks and C zech s. This m eant th at Slovak intellectu als would b e influ en ced b y a nd refl ect the b road er cultu ral and political movem ents of their age. This can be see n w ith pa rticul a r cl a rity in the d evotional literature of the seventee nth ce n tury. It is in works d esigned fo r the u se of the m asses th a t the esse nti al core of the ideology o f a specific group o r ind iv idu al, especially as it perta ins to the particul ar issu es being contested , is clearl y a nd forcefully enuncia ted . At the sa m e time, d evotional liter ature also tend s to codi fy the fo rmal u sage o f a la n gu a ge a nd sta bilize o r , in som e cases, retard its d evelopme n t. Bibles, h ymnbooks, prayerboo ks, catechi sm s, a n d o ther d evotio n al m aterials, therefore, ou ght to be carefull y studied fo r bo th the ir theological a nd the ir cultural or lingui sti c significance. Bu t it is p recisely the fo rm er stud ies th at are lackin g. While ther e have bee n m a n y inves ti gat io n s of the li nguistic as pects o f wo rks produ ced b y Slovaks d urin g the seve nteenth century, the a n alysis o f these works within the b road er co ntex t of Slovak , Slavic, a nd European history has bee n less t ha n a d equ ate. Y et, eve n a cursory examin a tio n of the wo rk s pen ned by Slovaks during thi s ce ntury will indicate tha t they ind eed were aware of a nd pa rticipated in the broad er m ovem en ts of seven tee nth ce ntury cul ture. Writte n durin g the age ge ne rally d eno mina ted b y hi sto ri a n s as Ba roqu e, Slovak a nd Czech d evotio n al wo rks reflect the theological stru ggles, con cern s, a nd emphases of the pe riod . Often w ritte n to edify a nd es pecially to con sole Christi a n s in a wo rld to rn b y �78 SLOVAKIA conflict in whi ch sufferin g had becom e all too fa mili a r , these works a ttempted to build up and confirm individu als in their faith , provide them with spiritual comfort in the face of excru cia ting h a rdships, a nd en coura ge ethical sta ndards of conduct. By examinin g the variou s specific emphases of these works, then , o n e can di scern th e p a rticul ar issu es and problems which were perceived as m ost significant by individual authors. H e nce, they help to identify and elucida te th e ge neral self-pe rceptio n of the age. In additio n , m ore deta iled examin atio n s of seve nteenth-ce ntury literature might also indicate that co mmo nly held histo rical interpretive traditions might have to be aba ndon ed or a t least carefull y reexamined . Tantalizing implications of the study of Du creu x a re first that the traditional view of the decisive decline of a form al, high Slavic langu age and culture in Bohemia a fte r White M ounta in mu st be ab a n doned , and second tha t the process of re-Catholicization of the predominantly P rotesta nt popula tio n mu st be m o re carefull y studied . While no one can igno re or di smiss ou t of ha nd the fac t tha t mu ch d epended on the milita ry support given to the cau se of Counte r-Reformation by the Habsburgs, there seem s to be some eviden ce that the program ofre-conver sion was made easie r b y the simil a rity of wo r ship form s a nd , m o re importantly, the d evotio n al m a terial s employed by C zech U traqui sts and C atholics and by Luthera n s and C a tholics in Slovakia . Even thou gh much more research n eed s to be done to substanti a te thi s h yp othesis, it would a ppear , o n the b as is of the evide nce availa ble, th a t a similarity in the tone, indeed , in som e of the contents, of seventeen th-century devotional m a terials, a ided the p rocess of re-Catholicizati on . It also a ided in the creation of a b roader Slavic " imperial " culture alo ngside the Germanic " imperial " culture of the H ab sburg d ynasty. On the on e ha nd , this repl aced the m edieval L a tin culture a nd community w hich h ad existed prior to the R e form a tion a nd fos tered the process of the pa rticul a riza tion of European sta tes. On the o ther ha nd , unlike that of the Hun garia n s, the Sla vic a nd G erma n cultura l fo rm s in sou th -eastern E urope we re not specifically or exclu sively identifi ed with a sin gle territory or sta te . Thu s, they were m o re acceptable to the H a bsburgs who endeavored to en ge nde r a m on g the peopl es over w hi ch they ruled a loyalty to the ir d y n asty and empire. Durin g the seve nteenth cen tury , the n , Slovak a nd Czech a uthors, often unwittingly, m ay h ave actu all y a ided in the creatio n of tha t very d y n astic system w hich , two ce ntu ries �SLOVAXIA 79 later, they would rend asunder over the question of their language rights and the attempts to actualize politically their own ethnic self-consciousness which had been fostered by seventeenth-century devotional literature. Prese nt ed as co mm entary in Panel 99, "Devotional Literature in Seventeenth Century Slovakia , " a t th e AAASS conve ntion in Washington , D.C. on 17 O ctober 1982. � 76 SLOVAKIA Some Observations on Devotional Literature and Culture: Response D av id P . D a niel In many resp ects the history of Slovakia during the seventeen th century is an orphan of recent Slavic studies. While there are a few noteworthy exceptions , scholars of Slova k history tend to co nce ntrate their work in the medieval era, co mm en cin g w ith the labors of Cyril a nd M eth od , or they focus their a ttentio n on the er a of the n ational revival and the political, social , a nd cultural d evelopm en ts of the ninetee nth a nd twentieth ce nturies. As a result, the hi sto ry of the Slovaks during the seventeenth century h as bee n in adequately examin ed. In light of this situ ation, the studies of Czech and Slovak d evotional lite rature by Ducreux , Vajda, and Sabo are mo st welcome. While M . E . Ducreu x's study of Catholic Czech h ymna ls of the late sixtee nth a nd seventeenth centuries indicates that over o ne-third of the hymns utilized were adapted or taken over intact from Protestant collect io ns, J. Vajda, in a sketch of the life and work of the most noted Lutheran h ymnodi st, Juraj Tranovsky, notes th at his h ymnal , the Cithara Sanctorum (Harp of the Saints) , h ad a significant impact on the d evotio nal life of Catholic as well as Lutheran Slovaks. G. Sabo, on the other hand, turns hi s attention to one of the very popular personal d evotio na l works of the seventeenth ce ntury, the H ortulus Animae Piae (Little Garden of the Pious Soul) , by the Lutheran Daniel Sina pius-Horcicka . Taken together , these essays proffer a n in structive, if primarily a nticip atory, glimpse of the oft-neglected riches of seventeenth ce ntury Slavic lite rature and, it is to be h oped, should gen erate greater interest in the study of this fascinating period of Slovak history. Certainly more ex te n sive in vest igation s of seventee nth- century Slovak hi story are warranted for it was a n era of momentous cha n ge for the peoples of Hun garia Superioris , Upper Hun gary, the territory roughly con gru ent with tha t of m odern-day Slovakia. It was durin g thi s ce ntury that a m ajority of the overwhelmingly Lutheran Slovaks were �SLOV AKIA 77 regained for the faith a nd p ract ice of post-Tridentine C a tholicism b y the Cath olic Coun ter-Refo rm a ti o n . It was durin g this century tha t num erou s, o ft en bl oody conflicts em er ged a s the Habsburgs sought to re-asse r t the ir undispu ted hegem on y ove r all o f Hun gary . But d espite the feroc ity of the rel igiou s a nd poli tical co nflicts o f the era, o r perhaps becau se of them , it w as a ce ntury o f conside ra ble lite rary activity and ri ch in cultu re. A s the intelli ge ntsia, the cl erics a nd teach ers sou ght to reach a nd influen ce the opinio n s a nd allegia n ces o f the Slavic populati o n , a po pul ar ve rn acul a r literature d eveloped . T o be sure, th e C zech Biblictin a or Kralictin a was o ften employed as sort o f a proto -Slovak literary la n gu age. But thi s u se of Czech , albe it in creasingly adapted b y the u se o f Slovaki sm s, se rved both to provide a lexicogra phic foundati on upo n which a mo re p ro per Slovak litera ry la ngu age could be codifi ed du r in g the eigh teenth a nd early ninetee nth ce nturies and to foster intellectu al co ntacts a nd exch a n ges betwee n Slovaks and C zech s. This m eant th at Slovak intellectu als would b e influ en ced b y a nd refl ect the b road er cultu ral and political movem ents of their age. This can be see n w ith pa rticul a r cl a rity in the d evotional literature of the seventee nth ce n tury. It is in works d esigned fo r the u se of the m asses th a t the esse nti al core of the ideology o f a specific group o r ind iv idu al, especially as it perta ins to the particul ar issu es being contested , is clearl y a nd forcefully enuncia ted . At the sa m e time, d evotional liter ature also tend s to codi fy the fo rmal u sage o f a la n gu a ge a nd sta bilize o r , in som e cases, retard its d evelopme n t. Bibles, h ymnbooks, prayerboo ks, catechi sm s, a n d o ther d evotio n al m aterials, therefore, ou ght to be carefull y studied fo r bo th the ir theological a nd the ir cultural or lingui sti c significance. Bu t it is p recisely the fo rm er stud ies th at are lackin g. While ther e have bee n m a n y inves ti gat io n s of the li nguistic as pects o f wo rks produ ced b y Slovaks d urin g the seve nteenth century, the a n alysis o f these works within the b road er co ntex t of Slovak , Slavic, a nd European history has bee n less t ha n a d equ ate. Y et, eve n a cursory examin a tio n of the wo rk s pen ned by Slovaks during thi s ce ntury will indicate tha t they ind eed were aware of a nd pa rticipated in the broad er m ovem en ts of seven tee nth ce ntury cul ture. Writte n durin g the age ge ne rally d eno mina ted b y hi sto ri a n s as Ba roqu e, Slovak a nd Czech d evotio n al wo rks reflect the theological stru ggles, con cern s, a nd emphases of the pe riod . Often w ritte n to edify a nd es pecially to con sole Christi a n s in a wo rld to rn b y �78 SLOVAKIA conflict in whi ch sufferin g had becom e all too fa mili a r , these works a ttempted to build up and confirm individu als in their faith , provide them with spiritual comfort in the face of excru cia ting h a rdships, a nd en coura ge ethical sta ndards of conduct. By examinin g the variou s specific emphases of these works, then , o n e can di scern th e p a rticul ar issu es and problems which were perceived as m ost significant by individual authors. H e nce, they help to identify and elucida te th e ge neral self-pe rceptio n of the age. In additio n , m ore deta iled examin atio n s of seve nteenth-ce ntury literature might also indicate that co mmo nly held histo rical interpretive traditions might have to be aba ndon ed or a t least carefull y reexamined . Tantalizing implications of the study of Du creu x a re first that the traditional view of the decisive decline of a form al, high Slavic langu age and culture in Bohemia a fte r White M ounta in mu st be ab a n doned , and second tha t the process of re-Catholicization of the predominantly P rotesta nt popula tio n mu st be m o re carefull y studied . While no one can igno re or di smiss ou t of ha nd the fac t tha t mu ch d epended on the milita ry support given to the cau se of Counte r-Reformation by the Habsburgs, there seem s to be some eviden ce that the program ofre-conver sion was made easie r b y the simil a rity of wo r ship form s a nd , m o re importantly, the d evotio n al m a terial s employed by C zech U traqui sts and C atholics and by Luthera n s and C a tholics in Slovakia . Even thou gh much more research n eed s to be done to substanti a te thi s h yp othesis, it would a ppear , o n the b as is of the evide nce availa ble, th a t a similarity in the tone, indeed , in som e of the contents, of seventeen th-century devotional m a terials, a ided the p rocess of re-Catholicizati on . It also a ided in the creation of a b roader Slavic " imperial " culture alo ngside the Germanic " imperial " culture of the H ab sburg d ynasty. On the on e ha nd , this repl aced the m edieval L a tin culture a nd community w hich h ad existed prior to the R e form a tion a nd fos tered the process of the pa rticul a riza tion of European sta tes. On the o ther ha nd , unlike that of the Hun garia n s, the Sla vic a nd G erma n cultura l fo rm s in sou th -eastern E urope we re not specifically or exclu sively identifi ed with a sin gle territory or sta te . Thu s, they were m o re acceptable to the H a bsburgs who endeavored to en ge nde r a m on g the peopl es over w hi ch they ruled a loyalty to the ir d y n asty and empire. Durin g the seve nteenth cen tury , the n , Slovak a nd Czech a uthors, often unwittingly, m ay h ave actu all y a ided in the creatio n of tha t very d y n astic system w hich , two ce ntu ries �SLOVAXIA 79 later, they would rend asunder over the question of their language rights and the attempts to actualize politically their own ethnic self-consciousness which had been fostered by seventeenth-century devotional literature. Prese nt ed as co mm entary in Panel 99, "Devotional Literature in Seventeenth Century Slovakia , " a t th e AAASS conve ntion in Washington , D.C. on 17 O ctober 1982. � 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 1982-83, Vol. 30 Description An account of the resource Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83. 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 1982-83 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 76 SLOVAKIA Some Observations on Devotional Literature and Culture: Response D av id P . D a niel In many resp ects the history of Slovakia during the seventeen th century is an orphan of recent Slavic studies. While there are a few noteworthy exceptions , scholars of Slova k history tend to co nce ntrate their work in the medieval era, co mm en cin g w ith the labors of Cyril a nd M eth od , or they focus their a ttentio n on the er a of the n ational revival and the political, social , a nd cultural d evelopm en ts of the ninetee nth a nd twentieth ce nturies. As a result, the hi sto ry of the Slovaks during the seventeenth century h as bee n in adequately examin ed. In light of this situ ation, the studies of Czech and Slovak d evotional lite rature by Ducreux , Vajda, and Sabo are mo st welcome. While M . E . Ducreu x's study of Catholic Czech h ymna ls of the late sixtee nth a nd seventeenth centuries indicates that over o ne-third of the hymns utilized were adapted or taken over intact from Protestant collect io ns, J. Vajda, in a sketch of the life and work of the most noted Lutheran h ymnodi st, Juraj Tranovsky, notes th at his h ymnal , the Cithara Sanctorum (Harp of the Saints) , h ad a significant impact on the d evotio nal life of Catholic as well as Lutheran Slovaks. G. Sabo, on the other hand, turns hi s attention to one of the very popular personal d evotio na l works of the seventeenth ce ntury, the H ortulus Animae Piae (Little Garden of the Pious Soul) , by the Lutheran Daniel Sina pius-Horcicka . Taken together , these essays proffer a n in structive, if primarily a nticip atory, glimpse of the oft-neglected riches of seventeenth ce ntury Slavic lite rature and, it is to be h oped, should gen erate greater interest in the study of this fascinating period of Slovak history. Certainly more ex te n sive in vest igation s of seventee nth- century Slovak hi story are warranted for it was a n era of momentous cha n ge for the peoples of Hun garia Superioris , Upper Hun gary, the territory roughly con gru ent with tha t of m odern-day Slovakia. It was durin g thi s ce ntury that a m ajority of the overwhelmingly Lutheran Slovaks were SLOV AKIA 77 regained for the faith a nd p ract ice of post-Tridentine C a tholicism b y the Cath olic Coun ter-Refo rm a ti o n . It was durin g this century tha t num erou s, o ft en bl oody conflicts em er ged a s the Habsburgs sought to re-asse r t the ir undispu ted hegem on y ove r all o f Hun gary . But d espite the feroc ity of the rel igiou s a nd poli tical co nflicts o f the era, o r perhaps becau se of them , it w as a ce ntury o f conside ra ble lite rary activity and ri ch in cultu re. A s the intelli ge ntsia, the cl erics a nd teach ers sou ght to reach a nd influen ce the opinio n s a nd allegia n ces o f the Slavic populati o n , a po pul ar ve rn acul a r literature d eveloped . T o be sure, th e C zech Biblictin a or Kralictin a was o ften employed as sort o f a proto -Slovak literary la n gu age. But thi s u se of Czech , albe it in creasingly adapted b y the u se o f Slovaki sm s, se rved both to provide a lexicogra phic foundati on upo n which a mo re p ro per Slovak litera ry la ngu age could be codifi ed du r in g the eigh teenth a nd early ninetee nth ce nturies and to foster intellectu al co ntacts a nd exch a n ges betwee n Slovaks and C zech s. This m eant th at Slovak intellectu als would b e influ en ced b y a nd refl ect the b road er cultu ral and political movem ents of their age. This can be see n w ith pa rticul a r cl a rity in the d evotional literature of the seventee nth ce n tury. It is in works d esigned fo r the u se of the m asses th a t the esse nti al core of the ideology o f a specific group o r ind iv idu al, especially as it perta ins to the particul ar issu es being contested , is clearl y a nd forcefully enuncia ted . At the sa m e time, d evotional liter ature also tend s to codi fy the fo rmal u sage o f a la n gu a ge a nd sta bilize o r , in som e cases, retard its d evelopme n t. Bibles, h ymnbooks, prayerboo ks, catechi sm s, a n d o ther d evotio n al m aterials, therefore, ou ght to be carefull y studied fo r bo th the ir theological a nd the ir cultural or lingui sti c significance. Bu t it is p recisely the fo rm er stud ies th at are lackin g. While ther e have bee n m a n y inves ti gat io n s of the li nguistic as pects o f wo rks produ ced b y Slovaks d urin g the seve nteenth century, the a n alysis o f these works within the b road er co ntex t of Slovak , Slavic, a nd European history has bee n less t ha n a d equ ate. Y et, eve n a cursory examin a tio n of the wo rk s pen ned by Slovaks during thi s ce ntury will indicate tha t they ind eed were aware of a nd pa rticipated in the broad er m ovem en ts of seven tee nth ce ntury cul ture. Writte n durin g the age ge ne rally d eno mina ted b y hi sto ri a n s as Ba roqu e, Slovak a nd Czech d evotio n al wo rks reflect the theological stru ggles, con cern s, a nd emphases of the pe riod . Often w ritte n to edify a nd es pecially to con sole Christi a n s in a wo rld to rn b y 78 SLOVAKIA conflict in whi ch sufferin g had becom e all too fa mili a r , these works a ttempted to build up and confirm individu als in their faith , provide them with spiritual comfort in the face of excru cia ting h a rdships, a nd en coura ge ethical sta ndards of conduct. By examinin g the variou s specific emphases of these works, then , o n e can di scern th e p a rticul ar issu es and problems which were perceived as m ost significant by individual authors. H e nce, they help to identify and elucida te th e ge neral self-pe rceptio n of the age. In additio n , m ore deta iled examin atio n s of seve nteenth-ce ntury literature might also indicate that co mmo nly held histo rical interpretive traditions might have to be aba ndon ed or a t least carefull y reexamined . Tantalizing implications of the study of Du creu x a re first that the traditional view of the decisive decline of a form al, high Slavic langu age and culture in Bohemia a fte r White M ounta in mu st be ab a n doned , and second tha t the process of re-Catholicization of the predominantly P rotesta nt popula tio n mu st be m o re carefull y studied . While no one can igno re or di smiss ou t of ha nd the fac t tha t mu ch d epended on the milita ry support given to the cau se of Counte r-Reformation by the Habsburgs, there seem s to be some eviden ce that the program ofre-conver sion was made easie r b y the simil a rity of wo r ship form s a nd , m o re importantly, the d evotio n al m a terial s employed by C zech U traqui sts and C atholics and by Luthera n s and C a tholics in Slovakia . Even thou gh much more research n eed s to be done to substanti a te thi s h yp othesis, it would a ppear , o n the b as is of the evide nce availa ble, th a t a similarity in the tone, indeed , in som e of the contents, of seventeen th-century devotional m a terials, a ided the p rocess of re-Catholicizati on . It also a ided in the creation of a b roader Slavic " imperial " culture alo ngside the Germanic " imperial " culture of the H ab sburg d ynasty. On the on e ha nd , this repl aced the m edieval L a tin culture a nd community w hich h ad existed prior to the R e form a tion a nd fos tered the process of the pa rticul a riza tion of European sta tes. On the o ther ha nd , unlike that of the Hun garia n s, the Sla vic a nd G erma n cultura l fo rm s in sou th -eastern E urope we re not specifically or exclu sively identifi ed with a sin gle territory or sta te . Thu s, they were m o re acceptable to the H a bsburgs who endeavored to en ge nde r a m on g the peopl es over w hi ch they ruled a loyalty to the ir d y n asty and empire. Durin g the seve nteenth cen tury , the n , Slovak a nd Czech a uthors, often unwittingly, m ay h ave actu all y a ided in the creatio n of tha t very d y n astic system w hich , two ce ntu ries SLOVAXIA 79 later, they would rend asunder over the question of their language rights and the attempts to actualize politically their own ethnic self-consciousness which had been fostered by seventeenth-century devotional literature. Prese nt ed as co mm entary in Panel 99, "Devotional Literature in Seventeenth Century Slovakia , " a t th e AAASS conve ntion in Washington , D.C. on 17 O ctober 1982.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Some Observations on Devotional Literature and Culture: Response Description An account of the resource David P. Daniel Slovakia, Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83 pp. 76-79 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Daniel, David P., 1940-2020 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/ac676f26d9bccebffe071ba5dbbb8c3e.pdf 6ed8b369e24e99e25b74347fae78df41 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 61 Daniel Sinapius-Horcicka's Hortulus Animae Piae G erald J . Sabo In Slovak areas during the seventeenth ce ntury , n ation ali st ic turmoil and religious strife were prominent features of life a nd society. Ethnic consciousness and religious commitment so pe rvaded political r elations that they pitted Hungarian s, Germans, and Slovaks against o ne another in shifting alliances. R eli gion, though, remain ed the " leadin g force" for virtually the entire ce ntury. 1 Indeed , the writings of thi s period Slovak and L a tin - clearly bear this out. 2 Hymnals, hom il etic writing, religious disputa tion s, doctrinal a nd d evo tion al lite ra ture, school plays related to religious formation, as well as accounts of imprisonment and/or ex ile for religious r eason s occupy a promin ent place among the Slovak/Latin writin gs of this e ra. Among the distinctive cultural figures of thi s century is the Lutheran family of Sinapius-Horcicka. 3 The father Mi chal a nd two of his sons , Jan a nd D ani el, stand out n ot only for their religiou s zeal but esp ec ially for their eruditio n and writin gs. 4 Indeed , a numbe r of these writings have earned them a significant place in Slovak cultural history. The father Michal (d. 1653) was a pastor in Hricov and Sucany a nd a prominent church elder in the Tre ncfn ecclesiastical (Lutheran) district. During his studies at Wittenberg as a young man , he presented two public Latin di sputatio n s: one on the definition and divisio n of m etaphysics and another on the intell ect a nd w ill of intelli ge nt be in gs. 5 Mi ch al's commi tmen t to eruditio n must ce r tainly have influ en c~d his so n s J a n a nd D aniel as evidenced by th e latter's activities and writin gs. Like their fath er , th e sons devoted the ir scholarl y training to serv in g their fellow Lutheran s as p astors a nd sc hool offi cials, in exile as well as in Slovak areas. It is their wr itin gs, however, th at have establi shed th e ir places in Slovak cultu ral history. Virtually all of J an 's extan t writings are written in Latin o r German. 6 Among them are: 1. a Latin d evo tional work for stu dents, H orologium sacrum (Sacred H o urs or C lock),7 where eve ry hour of the day is directed to religious form ation ; 2. a L a tin play 8 H enoch (E noch) ; an d Ornithica sacra (Sacred Ornithology) written in German �62 SLOVAKIA about birds with religious significance. 9 The writings of D aniel are composed in Latin or a vernacular Slovak 10 that shows the influence of and commitment to Kralice-Biblical-Czech in his reli giou s training and liturgical practice. Daniel Sinapius-Horcicka was born around 1640 in Sucany. 11 H e was rector of the Lutheran school in J elsava from 1663-65, 12 a pastor in K am enan/ 3 from 1665-67, 14 and from 1667-70 in Liptovska Tepla, and finally from 1670 in R advan. In September, 1673 , Daniel was among thirty-two Lutheran pastors summoned to trial befo re the Catholic Archbishop of E sztergom . 1~ After the trial , he went into exile first to Brieg (today Brzeg) and then in the winter of 16 74 to Breslau (Wroclaw) , and finally in November, 1677 16 to a certain Bojanowo in P oland , 17 where he was rector of a school. 18 H orcicka returned from exi le some time in 1683, fir st to his former pastorate in R ad van, then in 1684 to a pastorate and position of school official in L evoca. H e remained in Levoca un ti! his death in 1688. Some eighteen works 19 are attributed to D aniel Sinapius-Horcicka. Am ong the writings prominent in Slovak cultural history are : 1. H orcicka' s 1684 enlarged edition of the Lutheran hymnal Cithara sanctorum (Zither of the Saints), also known as Tran osciu s after its compiler Ju raj Tranovsky;2° 2. the 1682 wedding verse-composition in Latin, Coelum Bojan ovien se (Bojanowo H eaven);2 1 3. Neoforum latino-slavonicum (New L atin-Slavonic Forum) , a 1678 coll ection of popular/folk sayings in L atin and Slovak;2 2 4. Perlicka ditek Bozich (The Little Pearl of God's Children), a 1685 devotional work segm ented on the basis of the fi ve divisions in Luther's catechi sm; 23 and 5. H ortulu s animae piae (The Little Garden of the Piou s Soul), a 1676 devotional work and the subject of this article. 24 The L atin title of H orc icka 's 1676 work - H ortulu s animae piae is intri guing. H ortulu s (Hortus) animae is the title for a type of[Latin and/or German] devotional book of praye rs intended for the [Catholic] laity , that was widespread in Germany in the early sixteenth century .... The H ortuli .. . were similar in general content and arrangement to many of the L atin H orae or book of hours, or to the English primers , from which they developed; howeve r , they were more popular in character. The H ortuli contain ed the Little Office of Our L ad y, extracts from the Gospel accounts of the passion, the �SLOVAKIA 63 Penitential Psalms, and the Litany of the Saints , with a large selection of supplementary d evotional matter. This material of private prayer had the tendency to increase size and in extravagan ce. For example, promises of spurious indulgences and complete forgiveness of sins became attached to man y prayers . . . The Council of Trent legislated against the accretions , the false promises of indulgences, and the incorrect versions of the Little Office of Our Lady. A bull of Pius V (March 11, 1571) demanded rigorous censorship of all editions. 25 The article on " Hortus/ Hortulus " in Dictionnaire de Spiritualite traces the extensive number of devotional works associated with this title and type of writing. 26 The phrase " Hortulus animae" is derived not from the aesthetic but from the utilitarian aspects of a garden as is evident from three Latin distichs that usually prefixed many such writings. The first two lines are as follows: Ortulus exiguus varias ut saepe salubres Herbas producit, quas medicina probat. (A small garden often produces a variety of salutary herbs of which medicine knows the value.) 21 In his articles on the Hortulus animae , Herbert Thurston notes that in 1569, a certain Lu the ran adaptation was published and called Der Lustgarten der Seelen (The Pleasure Garden of the Soul). 28 F. Wulf, though , notes that a Georg Rhaw (Rhau) produced a Lutheran version in 154 7, in Wittenberg; it was published in 1559 and was composed on the basis of printed Hortuli forbidden by the Spanish lnquisition . 29 Among the d evotional literature written by Slovak Lutherans , the title for Horcicka 's composition - Hortulus animae piae - is unique. Nor is the title Der Lustgarten der Seelen or some Slovak rendition to be found among Slovak Lutheran writings_ Jo Thus , it remains an open question why Horcicka cho se a title more closely associated with Catholic devotional writing rather than one from his own Lutheran tradition. JI The introdu ctory portion of Horcicka ' s HortulusJ 2 has several divisions. On the title page, the full title reads: Hortulu s Animae Piae, Zahradka Dussicky pobozne, Wkterez se clowek Krestiansky Suzitkem prochazeti muze (The Little Garden of the Pi ou s Soul in Which a Christian Person Can Walk w ith Usefulness/ Profit). After the title page com es that with Horcicka 's dedication of the book to "P . Markowy Hor vv (w) ath-Stansith of Gradetz/Hradec? in the Stolica (Cou nty) of Spis and �64 SLOVAKIA to hi s w ife Zoffy, n ee M a riasse/M a ri asove? from Markussowic/Markusovce,'' whom H o rcicka calls Km otrum (God pare nt s) a nd Dobrodin cu m (Be n efactors) . 33 In the fourt ee n pages that follow, H orcicka es ta blishes in Slovak th e basis or rationale for writing his Hortulus. H e d raws on Scriptu re as well as classical literature for refe ren ce material. Two further p ages ( 15 and 16 in sequ e nce as these p ages a re unnumbered) are devoted to the " Laskawemu Ctenari (Dear R eader). " After these sixteen pages of basically Slovak prose, in the version studied by m e there foll ow twelve pages in L a tin with dist inct parts. On p age seventeen (in sequ en ce), H orcicka's brothe r J a n comm ents on the Hortulu s. Then, a close friend , P etr Sext ius, 34 addresses Daniel himself as the form e r speaks on the H ortulus (pages 17-20). J a n Milochovinsky, 35 elder in the Zilina ecclesiastical district , h as a on e- page, addressed comm ent for D a ni el (page 21 ) . In the course of his comme n ts on the H ortulus, J a n Sextius, 36 called an "amico pectore ( close fri end)" by D a niel , addresses the '' P a nn onian offspring' ' and en courages them to show gratitude to God an d the author of the Hortulu s (pages 22-23). In hi s nearly three- page co mmentary , Jan Buriu s 37 draws on a number of sources, theological a nd classical litera ry (pages 23-25). On pages 26 and 2 7 of this introdu ctory portion, Horcicka addresses a certain M a tthias Albrecht whom he d esignates as ''Pas. in Elect. Dresda ... Vallens Hung. " 38 Fin all y, o n the final page of the int roducto ry portion (28), the author of the H ortulu s addresses the b ook itself: 39 "A uthor ad Libellum (Author to th e Little Book .)" At the bottom of this page, a plaited wreath illu stration encompasses the following: '' D omini Sum us, Dum Spiro Spero, D ominus Providebit (W e Are the Lord's, While I Breathe, I Hope, The Lord Will Provide .)" With this succinct statem ent of purpose a nd ou tl ook , Horcicka concludes the in trod u ctory portion of his H ortulu s . The m ain portion of the H ortulus consists of four hundred and eight numbered pages virtually all in Slovak with some L atin wri ting and even a few Greek words . (The Lat in and Greek are also transla ted into H orcicka 's vernacul ar Slovak.) H orcicka divid es the paginated portion into twelve uneven sections. The division into twelve may have symbolic value - twelve apostl es/twelve tri bes of Israel. 40 Each of these twelve sect ions is called a " Prochadzka (Walk )." Each ''Proch adzka '' begins in the same way . After the Roman num eral indi cati ng the proper " Walk " are found the words: "wniZ �SLOVAKIA 65 premyssluge pobozna dusse (in which the pious soul reflects)." In each of the twelve ''walks ,'' the pious soul reflects on a different object: 1. the garden in general; 2. the tree of this garden; 3. the well of this garden ; 4 . the dove in this garden; 5. the mirror hangin g in this garden; 6. the winds that blow through this garden; 7. the palm (tree); 8. the vine stock/ root; 9 . the fig (tree); 10. myrrh; 11. the rose; and 12 . the lily. In his comments on these twelve objects for reflection, Horcicka engages the senses of the reader. 41 Words that help conjure up "sense pictures" of the objects for reflection enable the reader the better to assimilate the theological truth presented in association with the objects . Indeed, in the presentation order of his objects , H orcicka gradually refines the focus of his reader from a garden in general to a small object like a flower. After the object for a specific "walk " is named , Horcicka cites a relevant passage from the Biblical book Song of Songs (also known as th e Canticle of Canticles or Song of Solomon). In a comparison of H orcicka ' s citat ions from the Song of Songs with two editions of the Kralice Bible (1579-93 and 161 3), 41 it is clear that Horcicka adapts the verses somewhat, probably for the sake of better creating his verbal sense-picture of the object for reflection. 4 3 For "Walk X ," Horcicka' s verse quotation from the Song of So ngs is virtually an exact quotation of this verse according to the 161 3 edition of the Kralice Bible. For " Walk II ," however, Horcicka' s citation see ms to be drawn from the 1579-93 editio n of the Kralice Bible . At present, though, there is no way of de termining whe ther Horci cka u sed these versions of the Bible, a nd , if so , which of th e two , or som e othe r version. Horcicka ' s choi ce of th e Song of Songs as the Biblical basis for the Hortulus seems natural , perhaps even predictabl e from the tradi tion of C hristian writings about thi s Biblical book. F rom a s earl y as 200 AD , Christia n writers have commented on a nd inte rpreted the Song of Songs, usually allegorically , even eroti cally. 44 Horcicka probably wa nted a Biblical work that is co n cern ed not only wi th a garden , but contain s the various objects for refl ection tha t he cites. Onl y th e Son g of Son gs co uld give him such varie ty . In the co mm e nta ry th a t foll ows the verse(s) from the Son g of So ngs in each " walk ," H o rcicka dra ws on a va ri ety of so urces fo r m a te rial s to suppo rt hi s co mm ent s. As is to be ex pec ted , Script u re is a n a bundant so urce of ma teri al. R efe rence to ve rses from books of the O ld a nd New T es ta m e nt can be fo und in eve ry " walk " in la r ge num be rs. 4 5 I ndeed , in " W alk V ," H orcicka gives som e two hun d red and twenty-six �66 SLOVAKIA distinct references from the Bible as authoritative corroboration for whatever interpretation and religious/moral instruction he has written. Curiously, he cites verses from Sirach (some fifteen instances), from Wisdom (some four instances) , and once each from the first and second Book of Maccabees . None of these Old Testament books were considered canonical enough for inclusion in any edition of the Kralice Bible or probably any non-Catholic version through Horcicka's time. They are found in Catholic versions of the Bible since well before Horcicka's time. 46 Horcicka refers to prominent Christian writers from early Christian times into his own era. References to various works by Augustine , to the writings of Luther, Gregory Nazianzus, Chrysostom, Tertullian , Origen, Ambrose, and to the history of Eusebius of Caesarea are noted and footnoted, at times with even the folio/page numbers. References to the writings of Bernard of Clairvaux, especially with regard to the Song of Songs, are probably no surprise; Bernard wrote eighty-six sermons on the Song of Songs alone. Indeed, Horci cka notes sermon 61 where Bernard says that the Song's love pair are the Word of God and a Soul. 47 Curiously, Horcicka notes two references from Cornelius a Lapide, a Jesuit (d . 1637), a prolific Biblical exegete and interpreter. Interestingly, Horcicka also has a single reference to a 1622 Czech translation of the Bible and to a Prague printing of Th e Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis (p. 171 ) . 48 In the Hortulus, there are a number of works noted and footnoted that were probably well-known in Horcicka's time. (At the present time, copies of some of these books are con sidered rare in many US libraries.) Among these writings are: 1. Schola pietatis by Johann G erhard (1582-1637), a Lutheran theologian; 49 2. Analecta sacra by J ohann Heinrich Ursin (1608-67); 3. Arboretum biblicum, also by Ursin; and 4. "Hortus aromaticus," which is part 3 of U rsin 's Continuatio historiae plantarum biblicae. I have found references for two authors whose names resemble those footnoted by Horcicka but nothing about the works cited as theirs. According to Horcicka, a certain Johann Michal Dilherr (a poet and Lutheran theologian, 1604-69) wrote Welt, Feld, and Gartenbetrachtung, 50 and a certain Johann Hu elsemann (Lutheran theologian, 1602-61) is believed to have written Pentagonium christian um. 51 With other books noted and footnoted by Horcicka , I have been unable to find any reference for them or their authors. Among these are: 1. Nicol(s) Roper's Helleuchtend Spiegel der Liebe ; 2. Mich(al) �SLOVAKIA 67 Ba um a nn 's L exicon Allegorico Evangelicum; 3. Laur( entius) Halvard(i/ us) ' s Speculum amoris; and 4 . Hist(oria) Boh(emica) by a certain Dubrav( ius) . 51 In the Hortulus, there is also a good number of books footnot ed only a few times or less . The classical authors cited b y Horcicka are well-known figures from Greek a nd Latin literature. From the Greeks, Herodotus, Homer, X enophon , a nd Strabo, eve n Ari stotle provide supportive material for Horcicka. Of the Latin writers , there are Cicero, Horace, Pliny, Plutarch, Tacitus, Suetonius, and even the outstanding classical specialist, the Dutchman Joest Qustus) Lipsius (1547-1606) . Horcicka's use of these authors in a d evotional wo rk is not unusual for his time; classical literature continued to provide exempla tive material for writers in Slovak areas through the eighteenth century . At the conclusion of each ''walk ,'' Horcicka places Slovak ' ' Modlitby (Prayers)." U sually there are three distinct prayers, except for " Walks VII a nd XII ," with only two . These prayers are mostly in prose, though some are in verse, i.e . distichs combined in paired or enclosing rhymes. 53 The various verse compositions in the Hortulus range from six to seventysix verses . Three of the shortest follow , with a literal tra nslation . To my knowledge they h ave not elsewhere b een reprinted . 54 Ach prigd Pane gezissi prigd zen ichu neykrazssi Nawsstew wernu iwu du ssi at ljby twug hlas slissi A wmile Zahradce swe Bud' odpocinuti twe (p. 14) Com e oh Lord J esus come most handsome bridegroom Visit the tru e i va of the soul May it hear your kind voice And in your dear Garden Be your rest 2 KR ys te deg nam wwjre stalost odegmi ss kodn u wrtkawost Bychom cyle wi ry dossli Zsmni casne do Nebe ssli Na to rjka m Amen/ Amen/ Spas nas Gezu Kryste Amen. (p. 245) C hri st give us steadfastness in fa ith take away harmful fickleness That the goals of faith be attained Went in time from death to H eaven To this I say Amen/ Amen/ Save us J esus C hrist Am en . 3 Pos pess o ma dusse ho/sweho Kwytanj ze nicha ct neho Kteryz na dum tweho srdce Ruku mi los ti swe tlu ce Otewri swe brany gemu Pekne promluw/ a rcy kn emu Prigd mi ly mug/ fada m tebe Nechcy ziti gs uc bez tebe. (p. 337) H as ten o my sou l him/ of your Flowerin g the honorable bridegroom Who upon the house of your heart With th e hand of his love knocks Open your gates to him Nicely speak/ a nd say to hi m : Come my dear/ I beg you I do not wish to live being without you . �68 SLOVAKIA Whil e the literary value of the verse compositi ons in the H ortulus is limited , in the narrow sense, they can be considered examples of early Slovak ve rse writing . Each of the prayers at the end of the "walks" - verse or prose - is designated for som e definite purpose ; for instan ce: " For the dear presence of God; " "For the proper purity of heart , for sincerity, and piety;" "For the recognition of people's woes and God ' s good acts;" " For patience in crises and firmn ess in faith ;" and "For the good realization of a life short and woeful ," the last praye r and part of the Hortulus . According to Hurban, the H ortulu s had appended to it " M ensje jeho basne (his/ Horcicka's/sm aller verses). " 55 Whether Hurban might be referring to some of the verse compositions in the H ortulus or to some other ve rses not part of the H ortulus in itself is not clear . In the version of the Hortulus studied b y m e, the last two prayers (pages 404-408) are '' For the forgiveness of forgetfulness which we allow while receiving God 's gifts, " and "For the good realization of a life short and woeful. " For H orcicka, these subjects may have seem ed an apt conclusion fo r his devotion al work . There is no reason to suspect that there was more writing related to the Hortulu s which for some reason is not in the bound copy in the Lycealna knizni ca. Indeed , Rizn er notes that the H ortulu s has four hundred and eight numbered pages, as does Tablic - the number found in the Lycealna copy of the H ortulus. As a fi gure in Slovak cultural hi story, D ani el Sinapius-Horcicka occupies a definite place. In his H ortulus animae piae, as in other writings , he manifests a Slovak ethnic consciousness that stands out in the seve nteenth ce ntury. 56 Through hi s religious zeal, erudition , and talent , he also provides hi s fellow Lutherans wi th devo tion al writin g to co nsole them in their time of exile and trials . In effect, he has composed a notewo rthy example of early Slovak writing. Through not strictly literary, the Slovak prose a nd verse of H orcicka's Hortulus m erit far more attention and study th an they have rece ived - practicall y speaking, virtu ally none. It is hoped that thi s study is but the bare beginnin g of research on the H ortulu s and its author, Daniel Sinapiu s-Horcicka . NOTES ' J a n Du rov ic, Evanjelick a liceracura d o colerancie (Turcia nsky Sviity M a nin : M a ti ca slove nska, 1940), p . 5 1. ' This is shown by a peru sal of th e following : J a n Durovic, Evangelicka liceracura a nd �SLOVAKIA ' ' ' 6 1 ' ' ' 0 69 also his Prehl'ad literarnych dejin slovenskych eva njelikov (Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas: Tra noscius, 1948); " Barak ," D ejin y starsej slovenskej /iteratury (Bratislava: V ydava tel'stvo Slovensk ej akademie vied , 1958), pp . 155 -298; Literarna rukovat', 2nd ed. (Bra tisl ava: Slove nske pedagogicke nak ladatel's tvo , 1981 ) pp. 72-97. M an y Lutheran famili es adop ted Latin renditions of the family na mes as new surnames. This hyphena ted name is used for Horcicka family members in Slovak litera ry hi stories and criti cism as well as in th e a rticl es on them in Encyklopedia Slovenska , V ( 198 1). J an the younger , son of J a n th e elder - Daniel's brother - also wrote a number of works: l'.udovft Rizner, Bibliogra fia pisomnictva slovenskeho , V (Turciansky Svaty Martin: M a ri ca slova neka, 1933), 80-81. ( H ereafter , Rizn er , volume in Rom a n numeral , page(s) in Arabic num eral(s) .) Also , J an Misianik, Doplnky k Rizn erovej bib/iogra fii , 1946 , 2nd revised and enlarged edition (Martin : Matica slovenska, 1971), pp. 252 -253 . Jan and Dani el' s sister Elena married into prominent Luthera n families such as La ni a nd Lad ive r - Jan Slavik, D ejin y zvolenskeho evanjelickeh o a. v. bra1s1va a senioratu (Banska Sti avn ica: NakJad vdovy a syna AugustaJoergesa, 1921 ), p . 344. Rizn er, V , 8 1; Durovic, Evanjelicka lit eratura, p. 62 , incompl ete Latin titles. Rizn er , V , 79-80 ; Durovic, Evanje/ick a Iiteratura , pp. 142-43 , 348; Alexander Lomba rdini, "J a n Sina pi us (H orcicka), #38, " "Slovensky Plutarch ," Slovensk e pohl'ady, 7, No. 4 ( 1887), 82-83; Misia nik , D oplnky , P . 252. Durovic , Evanje/icka literatura, p. 69 Durovic, Prehl'ad , p . 40 , a nd Evanjelicka literatura , pp . 9 1-92 has " play, " but Erce (pseudonym of Celes tin R advany i) , Slovenska krv (Bratislava : Vydavatel'stvo lexikalneho di ela " Slovenska krv, " 1942), p. 160 calls it a " praye r book for intellect uals." J an di ed in ex ile in H alle on August 4, 1682: Rizn er , V , 79 ; Bohuslav Tablic, Pameti cesk o-slovenskych basnifuv an eb versovcuv , origin all y published in 1800' s, Bi og raphi ca-Pra mene, zv. 1 (M a rtin : M a rica slovenska , 1972) , p . LXV (65) , and in Pam ati cesko-slovenskych basnikov alebo versovcov, Rudo Brtai\, tr. (Bratislava : T at ran , 1974), p. 57; and En cyklopedia Sloven ska, V (1981) , sub verbo " SinapiusH orcicka, J a n , st. " The ve rn acula r Slovak used by Daniel is called " Slovakized Czech " by Jozef Minarik in Li1erarna rukova t', p. 72 , in both editions. Discussion a bout this la ngu age a nd its prope r desc ripti ve na me co ntinu es. Fo r instance , l',ubomfr Durovic writes that " throu gh th e increased use of Czech with local Slovak features in th e administration of W es t Slova k town s (Bratislava , Trnava, Trencfn , Zilina , etc .), a kind of regional administra tive koin e spo nt a neously developed in th e sixtee nth and seve ntee nth centuri es .. called ' cultural Wes tern Slova k' (kulturna zapadoslovencina)," in "Slovak," �70 SLOVAKIA The Slavic Literary Languages: Formation and Development , Alexande r Schenker a nd Edward Stankiewicz, eds. (New H ave n : Yale Concilium on International and Area Studies, 1980), p . 2 12. Durovic' s a nalysis shows features of this koine th at a re fou nd in H orcicka's H ortulu s , though how co nsisten tl y a nd exte nsively this is so is a m a tt er fo r further study by histo ri cal lin gu ists. Durovic continu es: Another language integrati on a rea in the seventeenth ce ntury was Central Slovakia [the area of H orcicka's pastoral act ivity), where the Central Slovak dialects became a basis for a new regional koine. The use of this "cultural Central Slovak " is a ttested in city administrat ion , pri vate correspondence, occasional poetry, and in some religious, non-liturgical fun ctions. This koine was in m an y respec ts ve ry similar to the spoken literary Slovak of today. (p. 2 12) " ,i " " " The related but distinctive process of Slovak ethni c consciousness fo r the period 1620- 1750 must also have been play ing a role in the process of lin guistic development and systematization . After extensive documentary resea rch and study , Josef M acu rek co nte nds that it was during thi s peri od that "the political and geographical border , M oravian-Sl ovak .. . , becam e an ethn ographic boundary ," in " Ceske ze me a Slovensko ( 1620-1750),'' Spisy university j. E . Purkyne v Brne: Filosoficka fakult a, 147 ( 1969), pp . 78-79 ; see also pp. 69-75 with related footnotes and appended documents on pp . 83-3 I 3. On the basis of his study, M acurek shows that in this border area , the co nsciousness of Slovaks and M oravians (Czechs) as di stin ct ethnic groups was es peciall y developed , Thus, H orcicka says he is writing in "slowenskem gazyku " (Cf note 56 below). For more on this point see also my article on Hu golfn G avlovic in this issue of Slovakia , note 3. 1 have used the foll owing for the biogra ph y of Daniel Sina piu s- H orcicka: Bohu slav Tablic, Pameti/ Pam aci , pp . LXI-LXXI (6 1-71)/55-62; Durovic, Evanjelicka lit eratura, pp. 120-121, note 75 ; Lombard ini , " Daniel Sinapius ( H o rci cka ), #37 ," in " Slovensky Plutarch ," Slovenske pohl'ady , 7, No . 4 (1887), 80-82 ; Erce, p . 160 ; J ozef Minarik , D ejin y starsej slovensk ej literatury, pp. 266-70 ; J ozef Hurba n , "Slovensko a jeho zivot litera rni ," Slovenskje pohladi na vedi, umenja a literaturu, Djel I , Svazok 2 ( 1847), rpt. (Bratislava : Slovenske vydavatel'stvo krasnej literatury , 1957), 6-9 (ori ginal pagination); En cyklop edia Slovenska, V ( 198 1), sub verbo "Sinapius- H orcicka, D aniel"; and Misian ik , Doplnky , pp . 25 1-252. The date of H o rcicka 's birth is given by Durovic as circa 1630 and th at of his death as 1706 b y Durovic, Erce, and Lomba rdini , an d yet Minarik and En cyklopedia Slovenska give l 640 a nd 1688 respec tively. I have accepted th e latter as evidence of more rece nt scholarship on Sinapius-Horcicka . These d ates a re in En cyklopedia Slovenska ( 198 1), sub verbo "Sin apius-Horcicka, D a ni el. '' Lomba rdini names K ameiian y by its Hun garia n appe llat ion (cf. Vlastivedny slovnik obci na Sloven sku ( 19 77) , sub verbo " K ameiiany. " ) Dates for years in K ameiiany and Liptovska T epla in Encyklopedia S/ovenska ( 198 1), sub verbo "Sinapiu s- H o rcicka, Da niel"; T ablic, Pam eti/ Pam aci , P. LXII (62)/55. Slav ik , Dejiny, p. 85 notes 33 pastors , but Jan Kvacala, D ejiny reformacie na Sloven - �SLOVAKIA " 17 " 19 '° " " " " " 16 " 71 sku (Liptovsky Sviity Mikulas : Tranoscius , 1935), p . 235 writes 32 Lutheran pastors and 1 Reformed pastor. Tablic, Pameti/Pamiiti, P. LXII (62)/55. Those authors who have written about Horcicka give variation s on the name of this Polish town. Tablic (Pameti, PP. LXII-LXIII) has Bojanow(o) , Erce, Bojanov(o) near Lesno/ Leszno , and Tablic (Pama.ti , pp . 55-56), Nov(y/e) Bojanow(-/o), and Encyklopedia Slo venska, Nov(y/e) Boja nov (-/o) . On pp . 266-67, Minarik speaks of a Nov(y/e) Bojanow(o) nea r Lesno/ Leszno . From my own resea rch, I have decided on presentday Bojanowo , southeast of Leszno. The Slownik nazv geograficznych po/ski zachodnej i polnocnej, Stanislaw Rospond, ed . (Warszawa and Wroclaw : Polskie towarzystwo geografi czne, 195 1), p . 17 sub verbo " Bojanow" desc ribes a village near R aciborz. H oweve r , two further reference works make me choose Boj anowo near Leszno . They are: Slownik geograficzny kr6lestwa polskiego , Filip Sulimi ersky and Wl adyslaw Walewsky, ed . (Warszawa: Druk " Wieku ," 1880), pp. 292-294 , sub verbo " Bojanowo" ; and Wielka encyklopedia powszechna (1963), sub verbo " Bojanowo." These two works mention that in this town's hi story there was/is a significa nt evangeli cal/protestant background and that here th ere was a protestant gymna zwm . Hurba n , p . 6 (original pagination of article); Lomba rdini , p . 80 ; T ablic, Pameti/ Pamiiti , p. LXII (62)/55 ; Minarik, p . 266: Encyklopedia Slovenska, sub verbo " Sinap ius-H orcicka , Daniel. " Rudo Brtan in " Daniel Sinapius , '' Slovensky literarny album (Bratislava: Obzor, 1968) , p . 44 notes that Sinapius-Horcicka stayed on th e estate of th e Lords Leszczynski ( 1677-83) as rector of th e Latin school in ov(y/e) Bojanow(-/o). Rizn er , V, 77-79 , li sts twelve : Lombardini li sts fourt een ; Misianik , Doplnky , pp . 25 1-5 2 , add s six more; Misia ni k has two works listed by Lombardini but not by Rizn er. They all sha re eleve n in common. For so me co mm enta r y, see: Durovic, Evanjelick a lit eratura , pp. 143-45. For so me co mm enta ry, see: Durovic , Evanjelicka literatura, p. 91. Hurban , pp . 6-9 (o ri gin al pagina tion of article); Minarik , pp. 267-69; a nd Literarna ruk ovl', pp . 90-92. Fo r so me co mm enta ry, see: Durovic, Evanjelick a literatura , pp . 12 1-22 . T he works th at I have listed in numbers 2 , 3, 5, probably l , a nd perh aps 4 we re published a nd/or co mposed durin g Horcicka's period of exi le. Th e New Ca th olic En cyclopedia ( 1967), sub verbo '' H ortulu s animae.'' Diciionnaire de Spiriru alite ( l 969), sub verbo " Hortus , Hortu lus/J a rdin spiritu el," especiall y columns 777 -783. (In column 779, it is noted that th e J esuit Peter Cani siu s publi shed in 1563 in Dillin ge n H orru/us animae. Der See/en C arten .) Herbert Thursto n , " The Print ing Press in th e Service of th e C hurch : I , The Original Garden of th e Soul, " Am erica n Ecclesias rical R eview, 26 (Februa ry, 1902), 170 , no tes it was prin ted in 1569 in N urembe rg a nd a co py is at th e Bodl eia n Libra ry, Oxford whi ch co ncludes wit h a n histori cal account of Luth er's p rotes t aga in st in d ul ge nces. In hi s Ca th olic Encyclopedia ( 19 10) a rticl e on '' H o nul us an ima e, '' T hurston notes th at thi s 1569 Luthera n re nditi on " perh a ps co r respond s bes t to the oth er fa mou s Cath ol ic prayer book the' Pa rad isus Anim ae. ' " In his A m erican Ee- �72 SLOVAKIA clesiastical Review art icle cited above, Thurston is discussing primaril y a German version entitled Der Selen Wurt zgart (first published in 1483), found in th e British Mu seum (p. 170 in article). He th en m enti ons in a footnote of thi s a rticl e that a Nuremberg edition of th e same year as th e German H orculu s he is di scussing is entitl ed Hortulus Animae, th e dude Selen wurt-ga rden gen ant , printed by F . P ypus. Finall y, on pages 174- 75 of this same art icle, Thurston qu otes th e translated introduction of his German Hortulus under di scussion: Hereafter follows a right pleasant and useful matter; and it is called the H erb-garden of th e Soul; since ju st as the body of man derives manifold pleasant savours from clove , gilliflowers, rosemary and other herbs, in like mann er th e soul receives man y d ifferent en tertainments, both pleasant and ghostly , from the goodly teachin g and examples whi ch are gathered together in thi s book. This present book is divided into four pa rt s. Each part is translated into German and derived from the writings of honou red teache rs and histories worth y of credit. 19 30 31 31 This introduction th en shows clearly the utilita ri an characte r of the H orculus. L exikon fur Th eologie und Kirch e ( 1960), sub verbo " H ortulus animae. " On George Rh aw ( 1488-1 548), responsible for this 1547 (composed) work, see: The Encyclopedia of th e Lutheran Church ( 1965), sub verbo " Rh a u , George." In this encyclo ped ia, in the articl e " D evo tion al Litera ture, " it is noted that Rhaw 's ve rsion of th e H orculu s dates from 1548, a nd that an offshoot of Rhaw 's version was Nicol aus Cramer's Wurtzgaerclein d er Seelen of 15 73 . In my research in several librar ies at universities and theological centers, I have found only one book on Lutheran devotion al literature: P aul Althaus , Forschungen z ur Evangelischen Gebetsliteracur, 1927 ed ., rpt. (Hildesheim: Georg Olm s V erl agsbuchhandlung, 1966). This book , howeve r, has no comm entary abo ut th e Lutheran ve rsion of the H ortulu s; it does spea k of th e Ca tholi c Hortuli . I have found no references anywhere else to a Lutheran H orculus or to a book entitled D er Lustgart en der Seelen , the titl ed noted by Thurston. In Evanjelicka literatura, page 111 , Durovic notes that the Lutheran clergyman Daniel Pribi s added a section entitled R osarium an imae (Rose-garden of the Soul) to hi s 1634 editi on (cf. Prehl'ad , p. 34) of the 16 12 Slovak rendition of Luther's catech ism. It mi ght be noted here th at Luther "was ... eage r to replace the ordinary Catholic prayer books, above all th e com mon popular forms of H orculu s animae ('The Soul 's Garden') , and thu s his [Luther' s] B etbu chlein (' Prayer Bookl et') of 1522 appea red.": Th e Encyclopedia of th e Lutheran Church ( 1965), sub verbo "Devotional Literature.'' In Dictionnaire de Spiricualite, column 783, it is observed th at a J esui t, Andrej Zachon (d. 1700), wrote and had published in Olomouc in 1669 a H ortulu s spiritualis vernantiae seu libellus precum floriferarium (Littl e Spiritual Ga rd en of Springtime or The Little Book of Flowerbearin g Entrea ti es). I am usi ng a mi crofilm of Horcicka 's H ortulu s made from a copy of this book fou nd in the Lycealn a kni zn ica in Bratislava with no signa ture number. Rizn er, V, 77 and Durovic, Evanjelicka lit eratura, p . 12 1 noted two ex ta nt co pies of the H orculu s one in the Kni znica Tranovskeho a nd another in th e Hun garian National Museum. �SLOVAKIA ll " " " " " 73 It would seem likely that th e copy in the Kniznica Tranovskeho is now the copy in the Lycealna knizni ca. Howeve r, as will be evident from my commentary , the copy studi ed by me has more introductory, unnumbered pages than Rizner indicates 28 instead ofRizner' s 16. In his book , TanovskehoPam eti/Pamati, pp . LXIV-LXV (64-65)/5 7) tablic notes virtuall y all of these ex tra La tin pages, although he is silent ab t the sixteen , basically Slovak (unnumbered) pages tha t preced e these Latin ones in the introductory portion of the H ortulus. Tablic (Pame1i/Pama.1i, pp . LXIX-LXX (69- 70)/6 1) notes th a t there are illu strations and verses in each of th e twelve divisions of the mai n body ; this format is th en similar to that of emblematic poetry which has a co upl et-ve rse, a n illu stration , a nd then some furth er verses/commentary: John L. Lievsay, '' Emblem , ' ' Th e Prin ceton En cyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics , enlarged editi on , Alex Premin ge r et al. , ed. (Prince ton: Prince ton University Press, 1974) . Thi s feature - th e illustration - is not found in the H ortulus version studi ed b y me. In hi s D oplnky, p . 25 1, Misianik a nd in Pameti/Pam ati , p. LXX (70)/61, Tablic not e th a t H orcicka trans lated his Slovak Hortulu s into German, and this Germa n ve rsion was published in 1680 in Lesno/Leszno. Finally , m y memory of the actual book wou ld be th at when closed , it would measure so mething like an inch b y three inches, ap tl y a "little" garde n. T a blic (Pameti/ Pam ati , p . LXIV (6 4)/57) notes the book is dedi cated to a ce rtain " Jil'fmu R advan skemu , dedicnemu pan u V R advani, V Skubfne, Malachove, slov utn eho ispanstvf aneb vidieku zvolenskeho pl'ednfmu assessorovi ajeho man zelce V. u . pa nfJ ohann e Ka tal'in e, rozene M ari a.save z M a rku sovic (G eo rge R adv ansky, heredita ry lord of R ad van, Skubin a, M alachov, the p ro min ent assesso r of the wellkn own count y of Zvolen a nd environs and to his wife , th e great?, noble? , lad y Joanna Cath erine, n ee M ariasova from M a rku sovce . '' ) Thi dedi cation va ri es from th a t in th e ve rsion of th e H ortulus studi ed by me. In the dedi cation to his N eoforum latinos/avon icum , H orcicka na mes a ce rtain J a n R adva nsky of R advai\ , heir to Skubyn and M alachau/ M a lachov, perha ps son of Jil'f/Juraj menti oned by T ablic: Edition of J. V . Novak an d V . Flajshan s in P rague, 1908, p . 3. On this same page , H orcicka menti ons a ce rt ain H orwath -Sta nsithioru m in Spfs. This H orwath-S tansithiorum (ge niti ve plural) is rend ered H orwa th-Stancicovce (nominative plural) by Jan Tibensky, Chvaly a obrany sloven skeh o naroda (Brati slava: Slovenske vyd ava tel'stvo krasnej li tera tury, 1965), p . 48 . For some comm ent a ry on Petr Sextiu s, see : Durovic, E vanjelicka lii eratura, pp . I I 9- 120. H e is m enti oned by Lomba rdini in hi s commentary on Milichov insky, #56 in " Slove nsky Plutarc h ," Slo ven ske pohl'ad y, 7, No . 6 (1887), 135. On Miloc hovinsky, see: Durovic, Evanjelick a lit eratura, pp . 62 , 177-78 , and Lombard ini, p. 135. On J an Sextius, see: Durovic, Eva njelick a lit eratura , p. 62, a nd Lomb a rdini again . On J a n Buriu s, see: Durovic, Evangelick a lii eracura, pp . 8 1-82, 145 . H orcicka call s Buriu s a G erman, th ough Du rov ic specul a tes that he m ay have bee n Slovak; he was born in Lip tov. Al so, on page 84 of hi s cited work , Durovic notes th at J an Sex ti us and J a n Burius wro te a hi story of a ce rt a in Juraj La ni in 1676. I have fo und no reference fo r thi s person . Th e phrase " Pas. in Elecc. Dresda. Va /Jens Hung. " ca n possibly be rendered " ~ in th e Electo rat e of Dresde n �74 SLOVAKIA Wall achian of Hun gary . " Such an address of auth or to book was done nearl y a ce ntury later ( 1758) by Hu golin G avlovic as he concluded the introductory portion of his Sk ala Krest'ansk a (A C hristian School): signature MJ 33 1, Litera rn y a rchiv M ati ce sloven skej in Mart in , p . 16 with title- page as page one . Interestingly, T ablic does n ot m enti on H orcicka's address to the book in hi s, T a blic's, d escrip tion of the int rodu cto ry portion of the H ortulus. 40 In composin g hi s later devoti onal wo rk , Perlicka ditek B ozich (The Little Pearl of G od 's Ch ild ren) , publi shed in 1685, H orcicka purposely structured it accordin g to the fi ve d ivisions of Luther 's catechi sm : D u rovic, Evanjelick a literatura, pp . 12 1-22. 41 It is interestin g th at in 1685 , H o rcicka published in Levoca K om en sky's/Comenius' Orbis pictu s sen sualium , on e of th e o utstandin g books of th e seventee nth century where th e se nses a re u sed th e bette r to in culca te certa in knowled ge a m o ng children and/or adults: Min arik, p . 270 ; E rce, p . 160; and En cyklopedia Sloven ska, sub verbo " Sinapius- H orci c_ka, D a ni el. " R ecall also th at accord in g to T a blic, Pam eti/Pam ati , pp . LXIX-LXX (69- 70)/6 1, th ere we re illustrati o ns wit h Latin or Slovak verse m o ttoes. " Bibli svata podle p uvodniho vydani Kra/ick eh o z let 1579-93 (Kutn a H o ra : Ceska biblicka p race , 1942), and B ibli svata p odle posledn ih o vydani Kralick eh o z roku 1613 (P raha: n .p., 1945). " C ita ti ons b y H orcicka from the Song of So ngs are: I . Song 4 : 12; 2. So ng 4: 13 (but also v. 14); 3. So ng 4: 15; 4. So n g 2 :13- 14 ; 5. So ng 1:5 -6; 6. Song 4: 16; 7. So ng 7: 8-9 (bu t actu all y vv. 7-8 in eit her vers ion of the Kralice Bible con sulted); 8. Song 7: 11 (bu t also v. 12) ; 9. Son g 2 : 11- 12 (bu t actu all y citati on sta rts in the midd le of verse 10 and includes also a pa rt of ve rse l 3); 10. So ng I : 13; 11 . So ng 2 :2; and I 2. Son g 2: 1. 44 Song of Songs, M a rv in Pope, in tro. and com. , Ancho r Bi ble Series (Ga rd en City , New York: Dou bleday and Company , 1977) , especiall y pp. 114-129. Also see : Diction naire de Spiritualite , colum n s 769-76. On page 126 of hi s com mentary, Pope notes that Lut her rej ected th e allegori cal interpretat ion of th e Song - na m ely, the allegorical fan cies of the Fathers as well as the literal erotic se nse. R at her , Luther believed that "the Bride of the Song is the ha ppy and peaceful state under Solomon's ru le and that th e Song is a h ymn in which Solomon thanks God for the d ivine gift of obedience.'' Concerning thi s, see also: Luther, ''Lectures on th e Song of Solomon ,'' J an Siggins, tr ., Luther's Works, 15 (St. Louis: Concord ia Publishin g, 1972), 191-95. I assume that H orcicka would have been aware of Luther' s views, but thi s in no way limits his int erpretati ve use of this Biblica l book. At present, it can not be said whether an y o th er Luth era n view of the So ng of So ngs such as that by Johann es Coccae us Uohann K och, 1603-69), Pope, pp . 128-29, was known b y Horcicka. " Bes ides hi s cita ti ons from th e Song of Songs at the beginning of each "walk, " H orcicka refers to verses from this book some thi rtee n tim es, only once repeating a verse from th ose introdu cin g " Walk IX." 46 On numbered page I 98 of th e H ortulus , Horcicka not es a Czec h ve rsion of the Bible published in 163 I in Wittenberg. 47 H ortulus, numbered page 103; Pope , Song of Songs , p. 123. 39 �SLOVAKIA 75 " In T h e Encyclopedia of th e Luth eran Church ( 1965), sub verbo " D evo tional Literature," it is no ted th a t ii K empis ' Imitation of Christ was popula r devotional read in g in Luthera n la nd s. " Th e En cyclopedia of th e Luth eran Church . ( 1965), sub verbo " G erh a rd , Johann ." I have, howeve r , fo und no reference fo r presuma bl y this Ge rha rd 's Postill(ae) cited by H orcicka. '° Th e Encyclopedia of th e Luthera n Church ( 1965), sub verbo " Dilherr , J ohann Michael," but no reference to his Feld-, Welt- etc. work . In two editions of an anthology of old Slova k literature, Misianik notes th a t th e Feld- work by this Dilherr was published in ure m be rg in 1648 a nd 165 1: An tol6gia starsej slovensej literatury ( Brati slava: Yydavatel'stvo Slove nskej a kademie vied , 1964), p . 6 18, a nd 1981 editi on , p . 583. Misia nik gives the title as Feld- W elt - G artenbetrachtung. " Th e En cyclopedia of th e Lutheran Church ( 1965) , sub verbo" Huelsemann , Johann ." " H orcicka a lso refers to th e Centuries of M agd eburg on numbered page 176. " T ablic, Pam eti/Pam ati , pp . LXVI -LXIX (66-69)/5 7-61 , qu otes in Czechi zed form two of th e verse units on numbered pages 122-23 a nd 402-03. The proper rendition of these ve rses can be found in th e two Misianik a nthologies, pp . 395 -96 and 399/ 373-74 respectively. Misia nik also cites two further ve rse units: H ortulus, numbered pages 82-83 and 370-75/ M isia ni k, pp. 395, 397 -399 and 370- 73 respec ti vely for th e two Misianik editi ons. Fina ll y, th ese fo ur ve rse units can also be fo und inJa miluji, nesmim providaci: antol6gia zo slovenskej barokovej poezie (Bratislava: Tatran , 1977), pp. 93-99. In a ll , th ere a re fo urtee n ve rse units. T ablic qu otes two a nd gives page numbers for eleve n oth ers; he missed the page numbers fo r one verse unit according to th e ve rsion of th e H ortulu s studi ed by me. The fo urtee n ve rse units a re as follows - numbered pages th en the number of verses in th e unit-: I. 14/6 2 . 82 -83/ 12; 3. 87-88/2 4; 4. 100/4 La tin a nd 4 Slovak; 5. 114-15/ 11; 6 . 122-23/36 ; 7. 186/8; 8. 191/4 La tin and 4 Slovak, a nd aga in 4 La tin and 4 Slovak; 9. 245/6; 10 . 33 7-38/8; 11. 340-43/76; 12. 365-66/ 12, not mention ed by T ablic; 13. 370-75/ 60; and 14. 402 -03/ 18. ,. The orth ograp hy used a t th a t time shows g instead of j (though g was also used for g), ss for s, w for v, the grave accen t fo r ad verbial endin gs, a nd (som etim es) a dot fo r a long mark ove r y. " Hu rba n , p . 6 (o riginal pagin ati on of the articl e) . " O n unn um bered page 15 , th at is, in th e int rodu cto ry portion of the H ortulus, Horc icka spea ks to the " Dea r R ead e r " in " Slowen sk em gazyku (Slovak language/to ngue), " as well as uses the adj ectival fo rms " Slowen sk ych " a nd " Slowenske " fo r "Slova k." In C h valy a obran y sloven sk eh o n arod a, pp . 48- 51, J a n Tibensky notes H orcicka's Slovak consciousness and quotes from th e introducti on to the latte r 's Neoforum latin o-slavon icum as evide nce of it . Prese n ted in Pa nel 99 , " Devo ti onal Literature in Seventeenth Ce ntury Slova ki a," a t the AAASS conve ntion in Washin gton , D .C. on 17 O ctober 1982 . Parts were prepared at the 1982 Summer Slavic Semin a r at the Unive rsity of Illinois in C ha mpa ign-Urbana . � SLOVAKIA 61 Daniel Sinapius-Horcicka's Hortulus Animae Piae G erald J . Sabo In Slovak areas during the seventeenth ce ntury , n ation ali st ic turmoil and religious strife were prominent features of life a nd society. Ethnic consciousness and religious commitment so pe rvaded political r elations that they pitted Hungarian s, Germans, and Slovaks against o ne another in shifting alliances. R eli gion, though, remain ed the " leadin g force" for virtually the entire ce ntury. 1 Indeed , the writings of thi s period Slovak and L a tin - clearly bear this out. 2 Hymnals, hom il etic writing, religious disputa tion s, doctrinal a nd d evo tion al lite ra ture, school plays related to religious formation, as well as accounts of imprisonment and/or ex ile for religious r eason s occupy a promin ent place among the Slovak/Latin writin gs of this e ra. Among the distinctive cultural figures of thi s century is the Lutheran family of Sinapius-Horcicka. 3 The father Mi chal a nd two of his sons , Jan a nd D ani el, stand out n ot only for their religiou s zeal but esp ec ially for their eruditio n and writin gs. 4 Indeed , a numbe r of these writings have earned them a significant place in Slovak cultural history. The father Michal (d. 1653) was a pastor in Hricov and Sucany a nd a prominent church elder in the Tre ncfn ecclesiastical (Lutheran) district. During his studies at Wittenberg as a young man , he presented two public Latin di sputatio n s: one on the definition and divisio n of m etaphysics and another on the intell ect a nd w ill of intelli ge nt be in gs. 5 Mi ch al's commi tmen t to eruditio n must ce r tainly have influ en c~d his so n s J a n a nd D aniel as evidenced by th e latter's activities and writin gs. Like their fath er , th e sons devoted the ir scholarl y training to serv in g their fellow Lutheran s as p astors a nd sc hool offi cials, in exile as well as in Slovak areas. It is their wr itin gs, however, th at have establi shed th e ir places in Slovak cultu ral history. Virtually all of J an 's extan t writings are written in Latin o r German. 6 Among them are: 1. a Latin d evo tional work for stu dents, H orologium sacrum (Sacred H o urs or C lock),7 where eve ry hour of the day is directed to religious form ation ; 2. a L a tin play 8 H enoch (E noch) ; an d Ornithica sacra (Sacred Ornithology) written in German �62 SLOVAKIA about birds with religious significance. 9 The writings of D aniel are composed in Latin or a vernacular Slovak 10 that shows the influence of and commitment to Kralice-Biblical-Czech in his reli giou s training and liturgical practice. Daniel Sinapius-Horcicka was born around 1640 in Sucany. 11 H e was rector of the Lutheran school in J elsava from 1663-65, 12 a pastor in K am enan/ 3 from 1665-67, 14 and from 1667-70 in Liptovska Tepla, and finally from 1670 in R advan. In September, 1673 , Daniel was among thirty-two Lutheran pastors summoned to trial befo re the Catholic Archbishop of E sztergom . 1~ After the trial , he went into exile first to Brieg (today Brzeg) and then in the winter of 16 74 to Breslau (Wroclaw) , and finally in November, 1677 16 to a certain Bojanowo in P oland , 17 where he was rector of a school. 18 H orcicka returned from exi le some time in 1683, fir st to his former pastorate in R ad van, then in 1684 to a pastorate and position of school official in L evoca. H e remained in Levoca un ti! his death in 1688. Some eighteen works 19 are attributed to D aniel Sinapius-Horcicka. Am ong the writings prominent in Slovak cultural history are : 1. H orcicka' s 1684 enlarged edition of the Lutheran hymnal Cithara sanctorum (Zither of the Saints), also known as Tran osciu s after its compiler Ju raj Tranovsky;2° 2. the 1682 wedding verse-composition in Latin, Coelum Bojan ovien se (Bojanowo H eaven);2 1 3. Neoforum latino-slavonicum (New L atin-Slavonic Forum) , a 1678 coll ection of popular/folk sayings in L atin and Slovak;2 2 4. Perlicka ditek Bozich (The Little Pearl of God's Children), a 1685 devotional work segm ented on the basis of the fi ve divisions in Luther's catechi sm; 23 and 5. H ortulu s animae piae (The Little Garden of the Piou s Soul), a 1676 devotional work and the subject of this article. 24 The L atin title of H orc icka 's 1676 work - H ortulu s animae piae is intri guing. H ortulu s (Hortus) animae is the title for a type of[Latin and/or German] devotional book of praye rs intended for the [Catholic] laity , that was widespread in Germany in the early sixteenth century .... The H ortuli .. . were similar in general content and arrangement to many of the L atin H orae or book of hours, or to the English primers , from which they developed; howeve r , they were more popular in character. The H ortuli contain ed the Little Office of Our L ad y, extracts from the Gospel accounts of the passion, the �SLOVAKIA 63 Penitential Psalms, and the Litany of the Saints , with a large selection of supplementary d evotional matter. This material of private prayer had the tendency to increase size and in extravagan ce. For example, promises of spurious indulgences and complete forgiveness of sins became attached to man y prayers . . . The Council of Trent legislated against the accretions , the false promises of indulgences, and the incorrect versions of the Little Office of Our Lady. A bull of Pius V (March 11, 1571) demanded rigorous censorship of all editions. 25 The article on " Hortus/ Hortulus " in Dictionnaire de Spiritualite traces the extensive number of devotional works associated with this title and type of writing. 26 The phrase " Hortulus animae" is derived not from the aesthetic but from the utilitarian aspects of a garden as is evident from three Latin distichs that usually prefixed many such writings. The first two lines are as follows: Ortulus exiguus varias ut saepe salubres Herbas producit, quas medicina probat. (A small garden often produces a variety of salutary herbs of which medicine knows the value.) 21 In his articles on the Hortulus animae , Herbert Thurston notes that in 1569, a certain Lu the ran adaptation was published and called Der Lustgarten der Seelen (The Pleasure Garden of the Soul). 28 F. Wulf, though , notes that a Georg Rhaw (Rhau) produced a Lutheran version in 154 7, in Wittenberg; it was published in 1559 and was composed on the basis of printed Hortuli forbidden by the Spanish lnquisition . 29 Among the d evotional literature written by Slovak Lutherans , the title for Horcicka 's composition - Hortulus animae piae - is unique. Nor is the title Der Lustgarten der Seelen or some Slovak rendition to be found among Slovak Lutheran writings_ Jo Thus , it remains an open question why Horcicka cho se a title more closely associated with Catholic devotional writing rather than one from his own Lutheran tradition. JI The introdu ctory portion of Horcicka ' s HortulusJ 2 has several divisions. On the title page, the full title reads: Hortulu s Animae Piae, Zahradka Dussicky pobozne, Wkterez se clowek Krestiansky Suzitkem prochazeti muze (The Little Garden of the Pi ou s Soul in Which a Christian Person Can Walk w ith Usefulness/ Profit). After the title page com es that with Horcicka 's dedication of the book to "P . Markowy Hor vv (w) ath-Stansith of Gradetz/Hradec? in the Stolica (Cou nty) of Spis and �64 SLOVAKIA to hi s w ife Zoffy, n ee M a riasse/M a ri asove? from Markussowic/Markusovce,'' whom H o rcicka calls Km otrum (God pare nt s) a nd Dobrodin cu m (Be n efactors) . 33 In the fourt ee n pages that follow, H orcicka es ta blishes in Slovak th e basis or rationale for writing his Hortulus. H e d raws on Scriptu re as well as classical literature for refe ren ce material. Two further p ages ( 15 and 16 in sequ e nce as these p ages a re unnumbered) are devoted to the " Laskawemu Ctenari (Dear R eader). " After these sixteen pages of basically Slovak prose, in the version studied by m e there foll ow twelve pages in L a tin with dist inct parts. On p age seventeen (in sequ en ce), H orcicka's brothe r J a n comm ents on the Hortulu s. Then, a close friend , P etr Sext ius, 34 addresses Daniel himself as the form e r speaks on the H ortulus (pages 17-20). J a n Milochovinsky, 35 elder in the Zilina ecclesiastical district , h as a on e- page, addressed comm ent for D a ni el (page 21 ) . In the course of his comme n ts on the H ortulus, J a n Sextius, 36 called an "amico pectore ( close fri end)" by D a niel , addresses the '' P a nn onian offspring' ' and en courages them to show gratitude to God an d the author of the Hortulu s (pages 22-23). In hi s nearly three- page co mmentary , Jan Buriu s 37 draws on a number of sources, theological a nd classical litera ry (pages 23-25). On pages 26 and 2 7 of this introdu ctory portion, Horcicka addresses a certain M a tthias Albrecht whom he d esignates as ''Pas. in Elect. Dresda ... Vallens Hung. " 38 Fin all y, o n the final page of the int roducto ry portion (28), the author of the H ortulu s addresses the b ook itself: 39 "A uthor ad Libellum (Author to th e Little Book .)" At the bottom of this page, a plaited wreath illu stration encompasses the following: '' D omini Sum us, Dum Spiro Spero, D ominus Providebit (W e Are the Lord's, While I Breathe, I Hope, The Lord Will Provide .)" With this succinct statem ent of purpose a nd ou tl ook , Horcicka concludes the in trod u ctory portion of his H ortulu s . The m ain portion of the H ortulus consists of four hundred and eight numbered pages virtually all in Slovak with some L atin wri ting and even a few Greek words . (The Lat in and Greek are also transla ted into H orcicka 's vernacul ar Slovak.) H orcicka divid es the paginated portion into twelve uneven sections. The division into twelve may have symbolic value - twelve apostl es/twelve tri bes of Israel. 40 Each of these twelve sect ions is called a " Prochadzka (Walk )." Each ''Proch adzka '' begins in the same way . After the Roman num eral indi cati ng the proper " Walk " are found the words: "wniZ �SLOVAKIA 65 premyssluge pobozna dusse (in which the pious soul reflects)." In each of the twelve ''walks ,'' the pious soul reflects on a different object: 1. the garden in general; 2. the tree of this garden; 3. the well of this garden ; 4 . the dove in this garden; 5. the mirror hangin g in this garden; 6. the winds that blow through this garden; 7. the palm (tree); 8. the vine stock/ root; 9 . the fig (tree); 10. myrrh; 11. the rose; and 12 . the lily. In his comments on these twelve objects for reflection, Horcicka engages the senses of the reader. 41 Words that help conjure up "sense pictures" of the objects for reflection enable the reader the better to assimilate the theological truth presented in association with the objects . Indeed, in the presentation order of his objects , H orcicka gradually refines the focus of his reader from a garden in general to a small object like a flower. After the object for a specific "walk " is named , Horcicka cites a relevant passage from the Biblical book Song of Songs (also known as th e Canticle of Canticles or Song of Solomon). In a comparison of H orcicka ' s citat ions from the Song of Songs with two editions of the Kralice Bible (1579-93 and 161 3), 41 it is clear that Horcicka adapts the verses somewhat, probably for the sake of better creating his verbal sense-picture of the object for reflection. 4 3 For "Walk X ," Horcicka' s verse quotation from the Song of So ngs is virtually an exact quotation of this verse according to the 161 3 edition of the Kralice Bible. For " Walk II ," however, Horcicka' s citation see ms to be drawn from the 1579-93 editio n of the Kralice Bible . At present, though, there is no way of de termining whe ther Horci cka u sed these versions of the Bible, a nd , if so , which of th e two , or som e othe r version. Horcicka ' s choi ce of th e Song of Songs as the Biblical basis for the Hortulus seems natural , perhaps even predictabl e from the tradi tion of C hristian writings about thi s Biblical book. F rom a s earl y as 200 AD , Christia n writers have commented on a nd inte rpreted the Song of Songs, usually allegorically , even eroti cally. 44 Horcicka probably wa nted a Biblical work that is co n cern ed not only wi th a garden , but contain s the various objects for refl ection tha t he cites. Onl y th e Son g of Son gs co uld give him such varie ty . In the co mm e nta ry th a t foll ows the verse(s) from the Son g of So ngs in each " walk ," H o rcicka dra ws on a va ri ety of so urces fo r m a te rial s to suppo rt hi s co mm ent s. As is to be ex pec ted , Script u re is a n a bundant so urce of ma teri al. R efe rence to ve rses from books of the O ld a nd New T es ta m e nt can be fo und in eve ry " walk " in la r ge num be rs. 4 5 I ndeed , in " W alk V ," H orcicka gives som e two hun d red and twenty-six �66 SLOVAKIA distinct references from the Bible as authoritative corroboration for whatever interpretation and religious/moral instruction he has written. Curiously, he cites verses from Sirach (some fifteen instances), from Wisdom (some four instances) , and once each from the first and second Book of Maccabees . None of these Old Testament books were considered canonical enough for inclusion in any edition of the Kralice Bible or probably any non-Catholic version through Horcicka's time. They are found in Catholic versions of the Bible since well before Horcicka's time. 46 Horcicka refers to prominent Christian writers from early Christian times into his own era. References to various works by Augustine , to the writings of Luther, Gregory Nazianzus, Chrysostom, Tertullian , Origen, Ambrose, and to the history of Eusebius of Caesarea are noted and footnoted, at times with even the folio/page numbers. References to the writings of Bernard of Clairvaux, especially with regard to the Song of Songs, are probably no surprise; Bernard wrote eighty-six sermons on the Song of Songs alone. Indeed, Horci cka notes sermon 61 where Bernard says that the Song's love pair are the Word of God and a Soul. 47 Curiously, Horcicka notes two references from Cornelius a Lapide, a Jesuit (d . 1637), a prolific Biblical exegete and interpreter. Interestingly, Horcicka also has a single reference to a 1622 Czech translation of the Bible and to a Prague printing of Th e Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis (p. 171 ) . 48 In the Hortulus, there are a number of works noted and footnoted that were probably well-known in Horcicka's time. (At the present time, copies of some of these books are con sidered rare in many US libraries.) Among these writings are: 1. Schola pietatis by Johann G erhard (1582-1637), a Lutheran theologian; 49 2. Analecta sacra by J ohann Heinrich Ursin (1608-67); 3. Arboretum biblicum, also by Ursin; and 4. "Hortus aromaticus," which is part 3 of U rsin 's Continuatio historiae plantarum biblicae. I have found references for two authors whose names resemble those footnoted by Horcicka but nothing about the works cited as theirs. According to Horcicka, a certain Johann Michal Dilherr (a poet and Lutheran theologian, 1604-69) wrote Welt, Feld, and Gartenbetrachtung, 50 and a certain Johann Hu elsemann (Lutheran theologian, 1602-61) is believed to have written Pentagonium christian um. 51 With other books noted and footnoted by Horcicka , I have been unable to find any reference for them or their authors. Among these are: 1. Nicol(s) Roper's Helleuchtend Spiegel der Liebe ; 2. Mich(al) �SLOVAKIA 67 Ba um a nn 's L exicon Allegorico Evangelicum; 3. Laur( entius) Halvard(i/ us) ' s Speculum amoris; and 4 . Hist(oria) Boh(emica) by a certain Dubrav( ius) . 51 In the Hortulus, there is also a good number of books footnot ed only a few times or less . The classical authors cited b y Horcicka are well-known figures from Greek a nd Latin literature. From the Greeks, Herodotus, Homer, X enophon , a nd Strabo, eve n Ari stotle provide supportive material for Horcicka. Of the Latin writers , there are Cicero, Horace, Pliny, Plutarch, Tacitus, Suetonius, and even the outstanding classical specialist, the Dutchman Joest Qustus) Lipsius (1547-1606) . Horcicka's use of these authors in a d evotional wo rk is not unusual for his time; classical literature continued to provide exempla tive material for writers in Slovak areas through the eighteenth century . At the conclusion of each ''walk ,'' Horcicka places Slovak ' ' Modlitby (Prayers)." U sually there are three distinct prayers, except for " Walks VII a nd XII ," with only two . These prayers are mostly in prose, though some are in verse, i.e . distichs combined in paired or enclosing rhymes. 53 The various verse compositions in the Hortulus range from six to seventysix verses . Three of the shortest follow , with a literal tra nslation . To my knowledge they h ave not elsewhere b een reprinted . 54 Ach prigd Pane gezissi prigd zen ichu neykrazssi Nawsstew wernu iwu du ssi at ljby twug hlas slissi A wmile Zahradce swe Bud' odpocinuti twe (p. 14) Com e oh Lord J esus come most handsome bridegroom Visit the tru e i va of the soul May it hear your kind voice And in your dear Garden Be your rest 2 KR ys te deg nam wwjre stalost odegmi ss kodn u wrtkawost Bychom cyle wi ry dossli Zsmni casne do Nebe ssli Na to rjka m Amen/ Amen/ Spas nas Gezu Kryste Amen. (p. 245) C hri st give us steadfastness in fa ith take away harmful fickleness That the goals of faith be attained Went in time from death to H eaven To this I say Amen/ Amen/ Save us J esus C hrist Am en . 3 Pos pess o ma dusse ho/sweho Kwytanj ze nicha ct neho Kteryz na dum tweho srdce Ruku mi los ti swe tlu ce Otewri swe brany gemu Pekne promluw/ a rcy kn emu Prigd mi ly mug/ fada m tebe Nechcy ziti gs uc bez tebe. (p. 337) H as ten o my sou l him/ of your Flowerin g the honorable bridegroom Who upon the house of your heart With th e hand of his love knocks Open your gates to him Nicely speak/ a nd say to hi m : Come my dear/ I beg you I do not wish to live being without you . �68 SLOVAKIA Whil e the literary value of the verse compositi ons in the H ortulus is limited , in the narrow sense, they can be considered examples of early Slovak ve rse writing . Each of the prayers at the end of the "walks" - verse or prose - is designated for som e definite purpose ; for instan ce: " For the dear presence of God; " "For the proper purity of heart , for sincerity, and piety;" "For the recognition of people's woes and God ' s good acts;" " For patience in crises and firmn ess in faith ;" and "For the good realization of a life short and woeful ," the last praye r and part of the Hortulus . According to Hurban, the H ortulu s had appended to it " M ensje jeho basne (his/ Horcicka's/sm aller verses). " 55 Whether Hurban might be referring to some of the verse compositions in the H ortulus or to some other ve rses not part of the H ortulus in itself is not clear . In the version of the Hortulus studied b y m e, the last two prayers (pages 404-408) are '' For the forgiveness of forgetfulness which we allow while receiving God 's gifts, " and "For the good realization of a life short and woeful. " For H orcicka, these subjects may have seem ed an apt conclusion fo r his devotion al work . There is no reason to suspect that there was more writing related to the Hortulu s which for some reason is not in the bound copy in the Lycealna knizni ca. Indeed , Rizn er notes that the H ortulu s has four hundred and eight numbered pages, as does Tablic - the number found in the Lycealna copy of the H ortulus. As a fi gure in Slovak cultural hi story, D ani el Sinapius-Horcicka occupies a definite place. In his H ortulus animae piae, as in other writings , he manifests a Slovak ethnic consciousness that stands out in the seve nteenth ce ntury. 56 Through hi s religious zeal, erudition , and talent , he also provides hi s fellow Lutherans wi th devo tion al writin g to co nsole them in their time of exile and trials . In effect, he has composed a notewo rthy example of early Slovak writing. Through not strictly literary, the Slovak prose a nd verse of H orcicka's Hortulus m erit far more attention and study th an they have rece ived - practicall y speaking, virtu ally none. It is hoped that thi s study is but the bare beginnin g of research on the H ortulu s and its author, Daniel Sinapiu s-Horcicka . NOTES ' J a n Du rov ic, Evanjelick a liceracura d o colerancie (Turcia nsky Sviity M a nin : M a ti ca slove nska, 1940), p . 5 1. ' This is shown by a peru sal of th e following : J a n Durovic, Evangelicka liceracura a nd �SLOVAKIA ' ' ' 6 1 ' ' ' 0 69 also his Prehl'ad literarnych dejin slovenskych eva njelikov (Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas: Tra noscius, 1948); " Barak ," D ejin y starsej slovenskej /iteratury (Bratislava: V ydava tel'stvo Slovensk ej akademie vied , 1958), pp . 155 -298; Literarna rukovat', 2nd ed. (Bra tisl ava: Slove nske pedagogicke nak ladatel's tvo , 1981 ) pp. 72-97. M an y Lutheran famili es adop ted Latin renditions of the family na mes as new surnames. This hyphena ted name is used for Horcicka family members in Slovak litera ry hi stories and criti cism as well as in th e a rticl es on them in Encyklopedia Slovenska , V ( 198 1). J an the younger , son of J a n th e elder - Daniel's brother - also wrote a number of works: l'.udovft Rizner, Bibliogra fia pisomnictva slovenskeho , V (Turciansky Svaty Martin: M a ri ca slova neka, 1933), 80-81. ( H ereafter , Rizn er , volume in Rom a n numeral , page(s) in Arabic num eral(s) .) Also , J an Misianik, Doplnky k Rizn erovej bib/iogra fii , 1946 , 2nd revised and enlarged edition (Martin : Matica slovenska, 1971), pp. 252 -253 . Jan and Dani el' s sister Elena married into prominent Luthera n families such as La ni a nd Lad ive r - Jan Slavik, D ejin y zvolenskeho evanjelickeh o a. v. bra1s1va a senioratu (Banska Sti avn ica: NakJad vdovy a syna AugustaJoergesa, 1921 ), p . 344. Rizn er, V , 8 1; Durovic, Evanjelicka lit eratura, p. 62 , incompl ete Latin titles. Rizn er , V , 79-80 ; Durovic, Evanje/ick a Iiteratura , pp. 142-43 , 348; Alexander Lomba rdini, "J a n Sina pi us (H orcicka), #38, " "Slovensky Plutarch ," Slovensk e pohl'ady, 7, No. 4 ( 1887), 82-83; Misia nik , D oplnky , P . 252. Durovic , Evanje/icka literatura, p. 69 Durovic, Prehl'ad , p . 40 , a nd Evanjelicka literatura , pp . 9 1-92 has " play, " but Erce (pseudonym of Celes tin R advany i) , Slovenska krv (Bratislava : Vydavatel'stvo lexikalneho di ela " Slovenska krv, " 1942), p. 160 calls it a " praye r book for intellect uals." J an di ed in ex ile in H alle on August 4, 1682: Rizn er , V , 79 ; Bohuslav Tablic, Pameti cesk o-slovenskych basnifuv an eb versovcuv , origin all y published in 1800' s, Bi og raphi ca-Pra mene, zv. 1 (M a rtin : M a rica slovenska , 1972) , p . LXV (65) , and in Pam ati cesko-slovenskych basnikov alebo versovcov, Rudo Brtai\, tr. (Bratislava : T at ran , 1974), p. 57; and En cyklopedia Sloven ska, V (1981) , sub verbo " SinapiusH orcicka, J a n , st. " The ve rn acula r Slovak used by Daniel is called " Slovakized Czech " by Jozef Minarik in Li1erarna rukova t', p. 72 , in both editions. Discussion a bout this la ngu age a nd its prope r desc ripti ve na me co ntinu es. Fo r instance , l',ubomfr Durovic writes that " throu gh th e increased use of Czech with local Slovak features in th e administration of W es t Slova k town s (Bratislava , Trnava, Trencfn , Zilina , etc .), a kind of regional administra tive koin e spo nt a neously developed in th e sixtee nth and seve ntee nth centuri es .. called ' cultural Wes tern Slova k' (kulturna zapadoslovencina)," in "Slovak," �70 SLOVAKIA The Slavic Literary Languages: Formation and Development , Alexande r Schenker a nd Edward Stankiewicz, eds. (New H ave n : Yale Concilium on International and Area Studies, 1980), p . 2 12. Durovic' s a nalysis shows features of this koine th at a re fou nd in H orcicka's H ortulu s , though how co nsisten tl y a nd exte nsively this is so is a m a tt er fo r further study by histo ri cal lin gu ists. Durovic continu es: Another language integrati on a rea in the seventeenth ce ntury was Central Slovakia [the area of H orcicka's pastoral act ivity), where the Central Slovak dialects became a basis for a new regional koine. The use of this "cultural Central Slovak " is a ttested in city administrat ion , pri vate correspondence, occasional poetry, and in some religious, non-liturgical fun ctions. This koine was in m an y respec ts ve ry similar to the spoken literary Slovak of today. (p. 2 12) " ,i " " " The related but distinctive process of Slovak ethni c consciousness fo r the period 1620- 1750 must also have been play ing a role in the process of lin guistic development and systematization . After extensive documentary resea rch and study , Josef M acu rek co nte nds that it was during thi s peri od that "the political and geographical border , M oravian-Sl ovak .. . , becam e an ethn ographic boundary ," in " Ceske ze me a Slovensko ( 1620-1750),'' Spisy university j. E . Purkyne v Brne: Filosoficka fakult a, 147 ( 1969), pp . 78-79 ; see also pp. 69-75 with related footnotes and appended documents on pp . 83-3 I 3. On the basis of his study, M acurek shows that in this border area , the co nsciousness of Slovaks and M oravians (Czechs) as di stin ct ethnic groups was es peciall y developed , Thus, H orcicka says he is writing in "slowenskem gazyku " (Cf note 56 below). For more on this point see also my article on Hu golfn G avlovic in this issue of Slovakia , note 3. 1 have used the foll owing for the biogra ph y of Daniel Sina piu s- H orcicka: Bohu slav Tablic, Pameti/ Pam aci , pp . LXI-LXXI (6 1-71)/55-62; Durovic, Evanjelicka lit eratura, pp. 120-121, note 75 ; Lombard ini , " Daniel Sinapius ( H o rci cka ), #37 ," in " Slovensky Plutarch ," Slovenske pohl'ady , 7, No . 4 (1887), 80-82 ; Erce, p . 160 ; J ozef Minarik , D ejin y starsej slovensk ej literatury, pp. 266-70 ; J ozef Hurba n , "Slovensko a jeho zivot litera rni ," Slovenskje pohladi na vedi, umenja a literaturu, Djel I , Svazok 2 ( 1847), rpt. (Bratislava : Slovenske vydavatel'stvo krasnej literatury , 1957), 6-9 (ori ginal pagination); En cyklop edia Slovenska, V ( 198 1), sub verbo "Sinapius- H orcicka, D aniel"; and Misian ik , Doplnky , pp . 25 1-252. The date of H o rcicka 's birth is given by Durovic as circa 1630 and th at of his death as 1706 b y Durovic, Erce, and Lomba rdini , an d yet Minarik and En cyklopedia Slovenska give l 640 a nd 1688 respec tively. I have accepted th e latter as evidence of more rece nt scholarship on Sinapius-Horcicka . These d ates a re in En cyklopedia Slovenska ( 198 1), sub verbo "Sin apius-Horcicka, D a ni el. '' Lomba rdini names K ameiian y by its Hun garia n appe llat ion (cf. Vlastivedny slovnik obci na Sloven sku ( 19 77) , sub verbo " K ameiiany. " ) Dates for years in K ameiiany and Liptovska T epla in Encyklopedia S/ovenska ( 198 1), sub verbo "Sinapiu s- H o rcicka, Da niel"; T ablic, Pam eti/ Pam aci , P. LXII (62)/55. Slav ik , Dejiny, p. 85 notes 33 pastors , but Jan Kvacala, D ejiny reformacie na Sloven - �SLOVAKIA " 17 " 19 '° " " " " " 16 " 71 sku (Liptovsky Sviity Mikulas : Tranoscius , 1935), p . 235 writes 32 Lutheran pastors and 1 Reformed pastor. Tablic, Pameti/Pamiiti, P. LXII (62)/55. Those authors who have written about Horcicka give variation s on the name of this Polish town. Tablic (Pameti, PP. LXII-LXIII) has Bojanow(o) , Erce, Bojanov(o) near Lesno/ Leszno , and Tablic (Pama.ti , pp . 55-56), Nov(y/e) Bojanow(-/o), and Encyklopedia Slo venska, Nov(y/e) Boja nov (-/o) . On pp . 266-67, Minarik speaks of a Nov(y/e) Bojanow(o) nea r Lesno/ Leszno . From my own resea rch, I have decided on presentday Bojanowo , southeast of Leszno. The Slownik nazv geograficznych po/ski zachodnej i polnocnej, Stanislaw Rospond, ed . (Warszawa and Wroclaw : Polskie towarzystwo geografi czne, 195 1), p . 17 sub verbo " Bojanow" desc ribes a village near R aciborz. H oweve r , two further reference works make me choose Boj anowo near Leszno . They are: Slownik geograficzny kr6lestwa polskiego , Filip Sulimi ersky and Wl adyslaw Walewsky, ed . (Warszawa: Druk " Wieku ," 1880), pp. 292-294 , sub verbo " Bojanowo" ; and Wielka encyklopedia powszechna (1963), sub verbo " Bojanowo." These two works mention that in this town's hi story there was/is a significa nt evangeli cal/protestant background and that here th ere was a protestant gymna zwm . Hurba n , p . 6 (original pagination of article); Lomba rdini , p . 80 ; T ablic, Pameti/ Pamiiti , p. LXII (62)/55 ; Minarik, p . 266: Encyklopedia Slovenska, sub verbo " Sinap ius-H orcicka , Daniel. " Rudo Brtan in " Daniel Sinapius , '' Slovensky literarny album (Bratislava: Obzor, 1968) , p . 44 notes that Sinapius-Horcicka stayed on th e estate of th e Lords Leszczynski ( 1677-83) as rector of th e Latin school in ov(y/e) Bojanow(-/o). Rizn er , V, 77-79 , li sts twelve : Lombardini li sts fourt een ; Misianik , Doplnky , pp . 25 1-5 2 , add s six more; Misia ni k has two works listed by Lombardini but not by Rizn er. They all sha re eleve n in common. For so me co mm enta r y, see: Durovic, Evanjelick a lit eratura , pp. 143-45. For so me co mm enta ry, see: Durovic , Evanjelicka literatura, p. 91. Hurban , pp . 6-9 (o ri gin al pagina tion of article); Minarik , pp. 267-69; a nd Literarna ruk ovl', pp . 90-92. Fo r so me co mm enta ry, see: Durovic, Evanjelick a literatura , pp . 12 1-22 . T he works th at I have listed in numbers 2 , 3, 5, probably l , a nd perh aps 4 we re published a nd/or co mposed durin g Horcicka's period of exi le. Th e New Ca th olic En cyclopedia ( 1967), sub verbo '' H ortulu s animae.'' Diciionnaire de Spiriru alite ( l 969), sub verbo " Hortus , Hortu lus/J a rdin spiritu el," especiall y columns 777 -783. (In column 779, it is noted that th e J esuit Peter Cani siu s publi shed in 1563 in Dillin ge n H orru/us animae. Der See/en C arten .) Herbert Thursto n , " The Print ing Press in th e Service of th e C hurch : I , The Original Garden of th e Soul, " Am erica n Ecclesias rical R eview, 26 (Februa ry, 1902), 170 , no tes it was prin ted in 1569 in N urembe rg a nd a co py is at th e Bodl eia n Libra ry, Oxford whi ch co ncludes wit h a n histori cal account of Luth er's p rotes t aga in st in d ul ge nces. In hi s Ca th olic Encyclopedia ( 19 10) a rticl e on '' H o nul us an ima e, '' T hurston notes th at thi s 1569 Luthera n re nditi on " perh a ps co r respond s bes t to the oth er fa mou s Cath ol ic prayer book the' Pa rad isus Anim ae. ' " In his A m erican Ee- �72 SLOVAKIA clesiastical Review art icle cited above, Thurston is discussing primaril y a German version entitled Der Selen Wurt zgart (first published in 1483), found in th e British Mu seum (p. 170 in article). He th en m enti ons in a footnote of thi s a rticl e that a Nuremberg edition of th e same year as th e German H orculu s he is di scussing is entitl ed Hortulus Animae, th e dude Selen wurt-ga rden gen ant , printed by F . P ypus. Finall y, on pages 174- 75 of this same art icle, Thurston qu otes th e translated introduction of his German Hortulus under di scussion: Hereafter follows a right pleasant and useful matter; and it is called the H erb-garden of th e Soul; since ju st as the body of man derives manifold pleasant savours from clove , gilliflowers, rosemary and other herbs, in like mann er th e soul receives man y d ifferent en tertainments, both pleasant and ghostly , from the goodly teachin g and examples whi ch are gathered together in thi s book. This present book is divided into four pa rt s. Each part is translated into German and derived from the writings of honou red teache rs and histories worth y of credit. 19 30 31 31 This introduction th en shows clearly the utilita ri an characte r of the H orculus. L exikon fur Th eologie und Kirch e ( 1960), sub verbo " H ortulus animae. " On George Rh aw ( 1488-1 548), responsible for this 1547 (composed) work, see: The Encyclopedia of th e Lutheran Church ( 1965), sub verbo " Rh a u , George." In this encyclo ped ia, in the articl e " D evo tion al Litera ture, " it is noted that Rhaw 's ve rsion of th e H orculu s dates from 1548, a nd that an offshoot of Rhaw 's version was Nicol aus Cramer's Wurtzgaerclein d er Seelen of 15 73 . In my research in several librar ies at universities and theological centers, I have found only one book on Lutheran devotion al literature: P aul Althaus , Forschungen z ur Evangelischen Gebetsliteracur, 1927 ed ., rpt. (Hildesheim: Georg Olm s V erl agsbuchhandlung, 1966). This book , howeve r, has no comm entary abo ut th e Lutheran ve rsion of the H ortulu s; it does spea k of th e Ca tholi c Hortuli . I have found no references anywhere else to a Lutheran H orculus or to a book entitled D er Lustgart en der Seelen , the titl ed noted by Thurston. In Evanjelicka literatura, page 111 , Durovic notes that the Lutheran clergyman Daniel Pribi s added a section entitled R osarium an imae (Rose-garden of the Soul) to hi s 1634 editi on (cf. Prehl'ad , p. 34) of the 16 12 Slovak rendition of Luther's catech ism. It mi ght be noted here th at Luther "was ... eage r to replace the ordinary Catholic prayer books, above all th e com mon popular forms of H orculu s animae ('The Soul 's Garden') , and thu s his [Luther' s] B etbu chlein (' Prayer Bookl et') of 1522 appea red.": Th e Encyclopedia of th e Lutheran Church ( 1965), sub verbo "Devotional Literature.'' In Dictionnaire de Spiricualite, column 783, it is observed th at a J esui t, Andrej Zachon (d. 1700), wrote and had published in Olomouc in 1669 a H ortulu s spiritualis vernantiae seu libellus precum floriferarium (Littl e Spiritual Ga rd en of Springtime or The Little Book of Flowerbearin g Entrea ti es). I am usi ng a mi crofilm of Horcicka 's H ortulu s made from a copy of this book fou nd in the Lycealn a kni zn ica in Bratislava with no signa ture number. Rizn er, V, 77 and Durovic, Evanjelicka lit eratura, p . 12 1 noted two ex ta nt co pies of the H orculu s one in the Kni znica Tranovskeho a nd another in th e Hun garian National Museum. �SLOVAKIA ll " " " " " 73 It would seem likely that th e copy in the Kniznica Tranovskeho is now the copy in the Lycealna knizni ca. Howeve r, as will be evident from my commentary , the copy studi ed by me has more introductory, unnumbered pages than Rizner indicates 28 instead ofRizner' s 16. In his book , TanovskehoPam eti/Pamati, pp . LXIV-LXV (64-65)/5 7) tablic notes virtuall y all of these ex tra La tin pages, although he is silent ab t the sixteen , basically Slovak (unnumbered) pages tha t preced e these Latin ones in the introductory portion of the H ortulus. Tablic (Pame1i/Pama.1i, pp . LXIX-LXX (69- 70)/6 1) notes th a t there are illu strations and verses in each of th e twelve divisions of the mai n body ; this format is th en similar to that of emblematic poetry which has a co upl et-ve rse, a n illu stration , a nd then some furth er verses/commentary: John L. Lievsay, '' Emblem , ' ' Th e Prin ceton En cyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics , enlarged editi on , Alex Premin ge r et al. , ed. (Prince ton: Prince ton University Press, 1974) . Thi s feature - th e illustration - is not found in the H ortulus version studi ed b y me. In hi s D oplnky, p . 25 1, Misianik a nd in Pameti/Pam ati , p. LXX (70)/61, Tablic not e th a t H orcicka trans lated his Slovak Hortulu s into German, and this Germa n ve rsion was published in 1680 in Lesno/Leszno. Finally , m y memory of the actual book wou ld be th at when closed , it would measure so mething like an inch b y three inches, ap tl y a "little" garde n. T a blic (Pameti/ Pam ati , p . LXIV (6 4)/57) notes the book is dedi cated to a ce rtain " Jil'fmu R advan skemu , dedicnemu pan u V R advani, V Skubfne, Malachove, slov utn eho ispanstvf aneb vidieku zvolenskeho pl'ednfmu assessorovi ajeho man zelce V. u . pa nfJ ohann e Ka tal'in e, rozene M ari a.save z M a rku sovic (G eo rge R adv ansky, heredita ry lord of R ad van, Skubin a, M alachov, the p ro min ent assesso r of the wellkn own count y of Zvolen a nd environs and to his wife , th e great?, noble? , lad y Joanna Cath erine, n ee M ariasova from M a rku sovce . '' ) Thi dedi cation va ri es from th a t in th e ve rsion of th e H ortulus studi ed by me. In the dedi cation to his N eoforum latinos/avon icum , H orcicka na mes a ce rtain J a n R adva nsky of R advai\ , heir to Skubyn and M alachau/ M a lachov, perha ps son of Jil'f/Juraj menti oned by T ablic: Edition of J. V . Novak an d V . Flajshan s in P rague, 1908, p . 3. On this same page , H orcicka menti ons a ce rt ain H orwath -Sta nsithioru m in Spfs. This H orwath-S tansithiorum (ge niti ve plural) is rend ered H orwa th-Stancicovce (nominative plural) by Jan Tibensky, Chvaly a obrany sloven skeh o naroda (Brati slava: Slovenske vyd ava tel'stvo krasnej li tera tury, 1965), p . 48 . For some comm ent a ry on Petr Sextiu s, see : Durovic, E vanjelicka lii eratura, pp . I I 9- 120. H e is m enti oned by Lomba rdini in hi s commentary on Milichov insky, #56 in " Slove nsky Plutarc h ," Slo ven ske pohl'ad y, 7, No . 6 (1887), 135. On Miloc hovinsky, see: Durovic, Evanjelick a lit eratura, pp . 62 , 177-78 , and Lombard ini, p. 135. On J an Sextius, see: Durovic, Eva njelick a lit eratura , p. 62, a nd Lomb a rdini again . On J a n Buriu s, see: Durovic, Evangelick a lii eracura, pp . 8 1-82, 145 . H orcicka call s Buriu s a G erman, th ough Du rov ic specul a tes that he m ay have bee n Slovak; he was born in Lip tov. Al so, on page 84 of hi s cited work , Durovic notes th at J an Sex ti us and J a n Burius wro te a hi story of a ce rt a in Juraj La ni in 1676. I have fo und no reference fo r thi s person . Th e phrase " Pas. in Elecc. Dresda. Va /Jens Hung. " ca n possibly be rendered " ~ in th e Electo rat e of Dresde n �74 SLOVAKIA Wall achian of Hun gary . " Such an address of auth or to book was done nearl y a ce ntury later ( 1758) by Hu golin G avlovic as he concluded the introductory portion of his Sk ala Krest'ansk a (A C hristian School): signature MJ 33 1, Litera rn y a rchiv M ati ce sloven skej in Mart in , p . 16 with title- page as page one . Interestingly, T ablic does n ot m enti on H orcicka's address to the book in hi s, T a blic's, d escrip tion of the int rodu cto ry portion of the H ortulus. 40 In composin g hi s later devoti onal wo rk , Perlicka ditek B ozich (The Little Pearl of G od 's Ch ild ren) , publi shed in 1685, H orcicka purposely structured it accordin g to the fi ve d ivisions of Luther 's catechi sm : D u rovic, Evanjelick a literatura, pp . 12 1-22. 41 It is interestin g th at in 1685 , H o rcicka published in Levoca K om en sky's/Comenius' Orbis pictu s sen sualium , on e of th e o utstandin g books of th e seventee nth century where th e se nses a re u sed th e bette r to in culca te certa in knowled ge a m o ng children and/or adults: Min arik, p . 270 ; E rce, p . 160; and En cyklopedia Sloven ska, sub verbo " Sinapius- H orci c_ka, D a ni el. " R ecall also th at accord in g to T a blic, Pam eti/Pam ati , pp . LXIX-LXX (69- 70)/6 1, th ere we re illustrati o ns wit h Latin or Slovak verse m o ttoes. " Bibli svata podle p uvodniho vydani Kra/ick eh o z let 1579-93 (Kutn a H o ra : Ceska biblicka p race , 1942), and B ibli svata p odle posledn ih o vydani Kralick eh o z roku 1613 (P raha: n .p., 1945). " C ita ti ons b y H orcicka from the Song of So ngs are: I . Song 4 : 12; 2. So ng 4: 13 (but also v. 14); 3. So ng 4: 15; 4. So n g 2 :13- 14 ; 5. So ng 1:5 -6; 6. Song 4: 16; 7. So ng 7: 8-9 (bu t actu all y vv. 7-8 in eit her vers ion of the Kralice Bible con sulted); 8. Song 7: 11 (bu t also v. 12) ; 9. Son g 2 : 11- 12 (bu t actu all y citati on sta rts in the midd le of verse 10 and includes also a pa rt of ve rse l 3); 10. So ng I : 13; 11 . So ng 2 :2; and I 2. Son g 2: 1. 44 Song of Songs, M a rv in Pope, in tro. and com. , Ancho r Bi ble Series (Ga rd en City , New York: Dou bleday and Company , 1977) , especiall y pp. 114-129. Also see : Diction naire de Spiritualite , colum n s 769-76. On page 126 of hi s com mentary, Pope notes that Lut her rej ected th e allegori cal interpretat ion of th e Song - na m ely, the allegorical fan cies of the Fathers as well as the literal erotic se nse. R at her , Luther believed that "the Bride of the Song is the ha ppy and peaceful state under Solomon's ru le and that th e Song is a h ymn in which Solomon thanks God for the d ivine gift of obedience.'' Concerning thi s, see also: Luther, ''Lectures on th e Song of Solomon ,'' J an Siggins, tr ., Luther's Works, 15 (St. Louis: Concord ia Publishin g, 1972), 191-95. I assume that H orcicka would have been aware of Luther' s views, but thi s in no way limits his int erpretati ve use of this Biblica l book. At present, it can not be said whether an y o th er Luth era n view of the So ng of So ngs such as that by Johann es Coccae us Uohann K och, 1603-69), Pope, pp . 128-29, was known b y Horcicka. " Bes ides hi s cita ti ons from th e Song of Songs at the beginning of each "walk, " H orcicka refers to verses from this book some thi rtee n tim es, only once repeating a verse from th ose introdu cin g " Walk IX." 46 On numbered page I 98 of th e H ortulus , Horcicka not es a Czec h ve rsion of the Bible published in 163 I in Wittenberg. 47 H ortulus, numbered page 103; Pope , Song of Songs , p. 123. 39 �SLOVAKIA 75 " In T h e Encyclopedia of th e Luth eran Church ( 1965), sub verbo " D evo tional Literature," it is no ted th a t ii K empis ' Imitation of Christ was popula r devotional read in g in Luthera n la nd s. " Th e En cyclopedia of th e Luth eran Church . ( 1965), sub verbo " G erh a rd , Johann ." I have, howeve r , fo und no reference fo r presuma bl y this Ge rha rd 's Postill(ae) cited by H orcicka. '° Th e Encyclopedia of th e Luthera n Church ( 1965), sub verbo " Dilherr , J ohann Michael," but no reference to his Feld-, Welt- etc. work . In two editions of an anthology of old Slova k literature, Misianik notes th a t th e Feld- work by this Dilherr was published in ure m be rg in 1648 a nd 165 1: An tol6gia starsej slovensej literatury ( Brati slava: Yydavatel'stvo Slove nskej a kademie vied , 1964), p . 6 18, a nd 1981 editi on , p . 583. Misia nik gives the title as Feld- W elt - G artenbetrachtung. " Th e En cyclopedia of th e Lutheran Church ( 1965) , sub verbo" Huelsemann , Johann ." " H orcicka a lso refers to th e Centuries of M agd eburg on numbered page 176. " T ablic, Pam eti/Pam ati , pp . LXVI -LXIX (66-69)/5 7-61 , qu otes in Czechi zed form two of th e verse units on numbered pages 122-23 a nd 402-03. The proper rendition of these ve rses can be found in th e two Misianik a nthologies, pp . 395 -96 and 399/ 373-74 respectively. Misia nik also cites two further ve rse units: H ortulus, numbered pages 82-83 and 370-75/ M isia ni k, pp. 395, 397 -399 and 370- 73 respec ti vely for th e two Misianik editi ons. Fina ll y, th ese fo ur ve rse units can also be fo und inJa miluji, nesmim providaci: antol6gia zo slovenskej barokovej poezie (Bratislava: Tatran , 1977), pp. 93-99. In a ll , th ere a re fo urtee n ve rse units. T ablic qu otes two a nd gives page numbers for eleve n oth ers; he missed the page numbers fo r one verse unit according to th e ve rsion of th e H ortulu s studi ed by me. The fo urtee n ve rse units a re as follows - numbered pages th en the number of verses in th e unit-: I. 14/6 2 . 82 -83/ 12; 3. 87-88/2 4; 4. 100/4 La tin a nd 4 Slovak; 5. 114-15/ 11; 6 . 122-23/36 ; 7. 186/8; 8. 191/4 La tin and 4 Slovak, a nd aga in 4 La tin and 4 Slovak; 9. 245/6; 10 . 33 7-38/8; 11. 340-43/76; 12. 365-66/ 12, not mention ed by T ablic; 13. 370-75/ 60; and 14. 402 -03/ 18. ,. The orth ograp hy used a t th a t time shows g instead of j (though g was also used for g), ss for s, w for v, the grave accen t fo r ad verbial endin gs, a nd (som etim es) a dot fo r a long mark ove r y. " Hu rba n , p . 6 (o riginal pagin ati on of the articl e) . " O n unn um bered page 15 , th at is, in th e int rodu cto ry portion of the H ortulus, Horc icka spea ks to the " Dea r R ead e r " in " Slowen sk em gazyku (Slovak language/to ngue), " as well as uses the adj ectival fo rms " Slowen sk ych " a nd " Slowenske " fo r "Slova k." In C h valy a obran y sloven sk eh o n arod a, pp . 48- 51, J a n Tibensky notes H orcicka's Slovak consciousness and quotes from th e introducti on to the latte r 's Neoforum latin o-slavon icum as evide nce of it . Prese n ted in Pa nel 99 , " Devo ti onal Literature in Seventeenth Ce ntury Slova ki a," a t the AAASS conve ntion in Washin gton , D .C. on 17 O ctober 1982 . Parts were prepared at the 1982 Summer Slavic Semin a r at the Unive rsity of Illinois in C ha mpa ign-Urbana . � 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 1982-83, Vol. 30 Description An account of the resource Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83. 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 1982-83 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 61 Daniel Sinapius-Horcicka's Hortulus Animae Piae G erald J . Sabo In Slovak areas during the seventeenth ce ntury , n ation ali st ic turmoil and religious strife were prominent features of life a nd society. Ethnic consciousness and religious commitment so pe rvaded political r elations that they pitted Hungarian s, Germans, and Slovaks against o ne another in shifting alliances. R eli gion, though, remain ed the " leadin g force" for virtually the entire ce ntury. 1 Indeed , the writings of thi s period Slovak and L a tin - clearly bear this out. 2 Hymnals, hom il etic writing, religious disputa tion s, doctrinal a nd d evo tion al lite ra ture, school plays related to religious formation, as well as accounts of imprisonment and/or ex ile for religious r eason s occupy a promin ent place among the Slovak/Latin writin gs of this e ra. Among the distinctive cultural figures of thi s century is the Lutheran family of Sinapius-Horcicka. 3 The father Mi chal a nd two of his sons , Jan a nd D ani el, stand out n ot only for their religiou s zeal but esp ec ially for their eruditio n and writin gs. 4 Indeed , a numbe r of these writings have earned them a significant place in Slovak cultural history. The father Michal (d. 1653) was a pastor in Hricov and Sucany a nd a prominent church elder in the Tre ncfn ecclesiastical (Lutheran) district. During his studies at Wittenberg as a young man , he presented two public Latin di sputatio n s: one on the definition and divisio n of m etaphysics and another on the intell ect a nd w ill of intelli ge nt be in gs. 5 Mi ch al's commi tmen t to eruditio n must ce r tainly have influ en c~d his so n s J a n a nd D aniel as evidenced by th e latter's activities and writin gs. Like their fath er , th e sons devoted the ir scholarl y training to serv in g their fellow Lutheran s as p astors a nd sc hool offi cials, in exile as well as in Slovak areas. It is their wr itin gs, however, th at have establi shed th e ir places in Slovak cultu ral history. Virtually all of J an 's extan t writings are written in Latin o r German. 6 Among them are: 1. a Latin d evo tional work for stu dents, H orologium sacrum (Sacred H o urs or C lock),7 where eve ry hour of the day is directed to religious form ation ; 2. a L a tin play 8 H enoch (E noch) ; an d Ornithica sacra (Sacred Ornithology) written in German 62 SLOVAKIA about birds with religious significance. 9 The writings of D aniel are composed in Latin or a vernacular Slovak 10 that shows the influence of and commitment to Kralice-Biblical-Czech in his reli giou s training and liturgical practice. Daniel Sinapius-Horcicka was born around 1640 in Sucany. 11 H e was rector of the Lutheran school in J elsava from 1663-65, 12 a pastor in K am enan/ 3 from 1665-67, 14 and from 1667-70 in Liptovska Tepla, and finally from 1670 in R advan. In September, 1673 , Daniel was among thirty-two Lutheran pastors summoned to trial befo re the Catholic Archbishop of E sztergom . 1~ After the trial , he went into exile first to Brieg (today Brzeg) and then in the winter of 16 74 to Breslau (Wroclaw) , and finally in November, 1677 16 to a certain Bojanowo in P oland , 17 where he was rector of a school. 18 H orcicka returned from exi le some time in 1683, fir st to his former pastorate in R ad van, then in 1684 to a pastorate and position of school official in L evoca. H e remained in Levoca un ti! his death in 1688. Some eighteen works 19 are attributed to D aniel Sinapius-Horcicka. Am ong the writings prominent in Slovak cultural history are : 1. H orcicka' s 1684 enlarged edition of the Lutheran hymnal Cithara sanctorum (Zither of the Saints), also known as Tran osciu s after its compiler Ju raj Tranovsky;2° 2. the 1682 wedding verse-composition in Latin, Coelum Bojan ovien se (Bojanowo H eaven);2 1 3. Neoforum latino-slavonicum (New L atin-Slavonic Forum) , a 1678 coll ection of popular/folk sayings in L atin and Slovak;2 2 4. Perlicka ditek Bozich (The Little Pearl of God's Children), a 1685 devotional work segm ented on the basis of the fi ve divisions in Luther's catechi sm; 23 and 5. H ortulu s animae piae (The Little Garden of the Piou s Soul), a 1676 devotional work and the subject of this article. 24 The L atin title of H orc icka 's 1676 work - H ortulu s animae piae is intri guing. H ortulu s (Hortus) animae is the title for a type of[Latin and/or German] devotional book of praye rs intended for the [Catholic] laity , that was widespread in Germany in the early sixteenth century .... The H ortuli .. . were similar in general content and arrangement to many of the L atin H orae or book of hours, or to the English primers , from which they developed; howeve r , they were more popular in character. The H ortuli contain ed the Little Office of Our L ad y, extracts from the Gospel accounts of the passion, the SLOVAKIA 63 Penitential Psalms, and the Litany of the Saints , with a large selection of supplementary d evotional matter. This material of private prayer had the tendency to increase size and in extravagan ce. For example, promises of spurious indulgences and complete forgiveness of sins became attached to man y prayers . . . The Council of Trent legislated against the accretions , the false promises of indulgences, and the incorrect versions of the Little Office of Our Lady. A bull of Pius V (March 11, 1571) demanded rigorous censorship of all editions. 25 The article on " Hortus/ Hortulus " in Dictionnaire de Spiritualite traces the extensive number of devotional works associated with this title and type of writing. 26 The phrase " Hortulus animae" is derived not from the aesthetic but from the utilitarian aspects of a garden as is evident from three Latin distichs that usually prefixed many such writings. The first two lines are as follows: Ortulus exiguus varias ut saepe salubres Herbas producit, quas medicina probat. (A small garden often produces a variety of salutary herbs of which medicine knows the value.) 21 In his articles on the Hortulus animae , Herbert Thurston notes that in 1569, a certain Lu the ran adaptation was published and called Der Lustgarten der Seelen (The Pleasure Garden of the Soul). 28 F. Wulf, though , notes that a Georg Rhaw (Rhau) produced a Lutheran version in 154 7, in Wittenberg; it was published in 1559 and was composed on the basis of printed Hortuli forbidden by the Spanish lnquisition . 29 Among the d evotional literature written by Slovak Lutherans , the title for Horcicka 's composition - Hortulus animae piae - is unique. Nor is the title Der Lustgarten der Seelen or some Slovak rendition to be found among Slovak Lutheran writings_ Jo Thus , it remains an open question why Horcicka cho se a title more closely associated with Catholic devotional writing rather than one from his own Lutheran tradition. JI The introdu ctory portion of Horcicka ' s HortulusJ 2 has several divisions. On the title page, the full title reads: Hortulu s Animae Piae, Zahradka Dussicky pobozne, Wkterez se clowek Krestiansky Suzitkem prochazeti muze (The Little Garden of the Pi ou s Soul in Which a Christian Person Can Walk w ith Usefulness/ Profit). After the title page com es that with Horcicka 's dedication of the book to "P . Markowy Hor vv (w) ath-Stansith of Gradetz/Hradec? in the Stolica (Cou nty) of Spis and 64 SLOVAKIA to hi s w ife Zoffy, n ee M a riasse/M a ri asove? from Markussowic/Markusovce,'' whom H o rcicka calls Km otrum (God pare nt s) a nd Dobrodin cu m (Be n efactors) . 33 In the fourt ee n pages that follow, H orcicka es ta blishes in Slovak th e basis or rationale for writing his Hortulus. H e d raws on Scriptu re as well as classical literature for refe ren ce material. Two further p ages ( 15 and 16 in sequ e nce as these p ages a re unnumbered) are devoted to the " Laskawemu Ctenari (Dear R eader). " After these sixteen pages of basically Slovak prose, in the version studied by m e there foll ow twelve pages in L a tin with dist inct parts. On p age seventeen (in sequ en ce), H orcicka's brothe r J a n comm ents on the Hortulu s. Then, a close friend , P etr Sext ius, 34 addresses Daniel himself as the form e r speaks on the H ortulus (pages 17-20). J a n Milochovinsky, 35 elder in the Zilina ecclesiastical district , h as a on e- page, addressed comm ent for D a ni el (page 21 ) . In the course of his comme n ts on the H ortulus, J a n Sextius, 36 called an "amico pectore ( close fri end)" by D a niel , addresses the '' P a nn onian offspring' ' and en courages them to show gratitude to God an d the author of the Hortulu s (pages 22-23). In hi s nearly three- page co mmentary , Jan Buriu s 37 draws on a number of sources, theological a nd classical litera ry (pages 23-25). On pages 26 and 2 7 of this introdu ctory portion, Horcicka addresses a certain M a tthias Albrecht whom he d esignates as ''Pas. in Elect. Dresda ... Vallens Hung. " 38 Fin all y, o n the final page of the int roducto ry portion (28), the author of the H ortulu s addresses the b ook itself: 39 "A uthor ad Libellum (Author to th e Little Book .)" At the bottom of this page, a plaited wreath illu stration encompasses the following: '' D omini Sum us, Dum Spiro Spero, D ominus Providebit (W e Are the Lord's, While I Breathe, I Hope, The Lord Will Provide .)" With this succinct statem ent of purpose a nd ou tl ook , Horcicka concludes the in trod u ctory portion of his H ortulu s . The m ain portion of the H ortulus consists of four hundred and eight numbered pages virtually all in Slovak with some L atin wri ting and even a few Greek words . (The Lat in and Greek are also transla ted into H orcicka 's vernacul ar Slovak.) H orcicka divid es the paginated portion into twelve uneven sections. The division into twelve may have symbolic value - twelve apostl es/twelve tri bes of Israel. 40 Each of these twelve sect ions is called a " Prochadzka (Walk )." Each ''Proch adzka '' begins in the same way . After the Roman num eral indi cati ng the proper " Walk " are found the words: "wniZ SLOVAKIA 65 premyssluge pobozna dusse (in which the pious soul reflects)." In each of the twelve ''walks ,'' the pious soul reflects on a different object: 1. the garden in general; 2. the tree of this garden; 3. the well of this garden ; 4 . the dove in this garden; 5. the mirror hangin g in this garden; 6. the winds that blow through this garden; 7. the palm (tree); 8. the vine stock/ root; 9 . the fig (tree); 10. myrrh; 11. the rose; and 12 . the lily. In his comments on these twelve objects for reflection, Horcicka engages the senses of the reader. 41 Words that help conjure up "sense pictures" of the objects for reflection enable the reader the better to assimilate the theological truth presented in association with the objects . Indeed, in the presentation order of his objects , H orcicka gradually refines the focus of his reader from a garden in general to a small object like a flower. After the object for a specific "walk " is named , Horcicka cites a relevant passage from the Biblical book Song of Songs (also known as th e Canticle of Canticles or Song of Solomon). In a comparison of H orcicka ' s citat ions from the Song of Songs with two editions of the Kralice Bible (1579-93 and 161 3), 41 it is clear that Horcicka adapts the verses somewhat, probably for the sake of better creating his verbal sense-picture of the object for reflection. 4 3 For "Walk X ," Horcicka' s verse quotation from the Song of So ngs is virtually an exact quotation of this verse according to the 161 3 edition of the Kralice Bible. For " Walk II ," however, Horcicka' s citation see ms to be drawn from the 1579-93 editio n of the Kralice Bible . At present, though, there is no way of de termining whe ther Horci cka u sed these versions of the Bible, a nd , if so , which of th e two , or som e othe r version. Horcicka ' s choi ce of th e Song of Songs as the Biblical basis for the Hortulus seems natural , perhaps even predictabl e from the tradi tion of C hristian writings about thi s Biblical book. F rom a s earl y as 200 AD , Christia n writers have commented on a nd inte rpreted the Song of Songs, usually allegorically , even eroti cally. 44 Horcicka probably wa nted a Biblical work that is co n cern ed not only wi th a garden , but contain s the various objects for refl ection tha t he cites. Onl y th e Son g of Son gs co uld give him such varie ty . In the co mm e nta ry th a t foll ows the verse(s) from the Son g of So ngs in each " walk ," H o rcicka dra ws on a va ri ety of so urces fo r m a te rial s to suppo rt hi s co mm ent s. As is to be ex pec ted , Script u re is a n a bundant so urce of ma teri al. R efe rence to ve rses from books of the O ld a nd New T es ta m e nt can be fo und in eve ry " walk " in la r ge num be rs. 4 5 I ndeed , in " W alk V ," H orcicka gives som e two hun d red and twenty-six 66 SLOVAKIA distinct references from the Bible as authoritative corroboration for whatever interpretation and religious/moral instruction he has written. Curiously, he cites verses from Sirach (some fifteen instances), from Wisdom (some four instances) , and once each from the first and second Book of Maccabees . None of these Old Testament books were considered canonical enough for inclusion in any edition of the Kralice Bible or probably any non-Catholic version through Horcicka's time. They are found in Catholic versions of the Bible since well before Horcicka's time. 46 Horcicka refers to prominent Christian writers from early Christian times into his own era. References to various works by Augustine , to the writings of Luther, Gregory Nazianzus, Chrysostom, Tertullian , Origen, Ambrose, and to the history of Eusebius of Caesarea are noted and footnoted, at times with even the folio/page numbers. References to the writings of Bernard of Clairvaux, especially with regard to the Song of Songs, are probably no surprise; Bernard wrote eighty-six sermons on the Song of Songs alone. Indeed, Horci cka notes sermon 61 where Bernard says that the Song's love pair are the Word of God and a Soul. 47 Curiously, Horcicka notes two references from Cornelius a Lapide, a Jesuit (d . 1637), a prolific Biblical exegete and interpreter. Interestingly, Horcicka also has a single reference to a 1622 Czech translation of the Bible and to a Prague printing of Th e Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis (p. 171 ) . 48 In the Hortulus, there are a number of works noted and footnoted that were probably well-known in Horcicka's time. (At the present time, copies of some of these books are con sidered rare in many US libraries.) Among these writings are: 1. Schola pietatis by Johann G erhard (1582-1637), a Lutheran theologian; 49 2. Analecta sacra by J ohann Heinrich Ursin (1608-67); 3. Arboretum biblicum, also by Ursin; and 4. "Hortus aromaticus," which is part 3 of U rsin 's Continuatio historiae plantarum biblicae. I have found references for two authors whose names resemble those footnoted by Horcicka but nothing about the works cited as theirs. According to Horcicka, a certain Johann Michal Dilherr (a poet and Lutheran theologian, 1604-69) wrote Welt, Feld, and Gartenbetrachtung, 50 and a certain Johann Hu elsemann (Lutheran theologian, 1602-61) is believed to have written Pentagonium christian um. 51 With other books noted and footnoted by Horcicka , I have been unable to find any reference for them or their authors. Among these are: 1. Nicol(s) Roper's Helleuchtend Spiegel der Liebe ; 2. Mich(al) SLOVAKIA 67 Ba um a nn 's L exicon Allegorico Evangelicum; 3. Laur( entius) Halvard(i/ us) ' s Speculum amoris; and 4 . Hist(oria) Boh(emica) by a certain Dubrav( ius) . 51 In the Hortulus, there is also a good number of books footnot ed only a few times or less . The classical authors cited b y Horcicka are well-known figures from Greek a nd Latin literature. From the Greeks, Herodotus, Homer, X enophon , a nd Strabo, eve n Ari stotle provide supportive material for Horcicka. Of the Latin writers , there are Cicero, Horace, Pliny, Plutarch, Tacitus, Suetonius, and even the outstanding classical specialist, the Dutchman Joest Qustus) Lipsius (1547-1606) . Horcicka's use of these authors in a d evotional wo rk is not unusual for his time; classical literature continued to provide exempla tive material for writers in Slovak areas through the eighteenth century . At the conclusion of each ''walk ,'' Horcicka places Slovak ' ' Modlitby (Prayers)." U sually there are three distinct prayers, except for " Walks VII a nd XII ," with only two . These prayers are mostly in prose, though some are in verse, i.e . distichs combined in paired or enclosing rhymes. 53 The various verse compositions in the Hortulus range from six to seventysix verses . Three of the shortest follow , with a literal tra nslation . To my knowledge they h ave not elsewhere b een reprinted . 54 Ach prigd Pane gezissi prigd zen ichu neykrazssi Nawsstew wernu iwu du ssi at ljby twug hlas slissi A wmile Zahradce swe Bud' odpocinuti twe (p. 14) Com e oh Lord J esus come most handsome bridegroom Visit the tru e i va of the soul May it hear your kind voice And in your dear Garden Be your rest 2 KR ys te deg nam wwjre stalost odegmi ss kodn u wrtkawost Bychom cyle wi ry dossli Zsmni casne do Nebe ssli Na to rjka m Amen/ Amen/ Spas nas Gezu Kryste Amen. (p. 245) C hri st give us steadfastness in fa ith take away harmful fickleness That the goals of faith be attained Went in time from death to H eaven To this I say Amen/ Amen/ Save us J esus C hrist Am en . 3 Pos pess o ma dusse ho/sweho Kwytanj ze nicha ct neho Kteryz na dum tweho srdce Ruku mi los ti swe tlu ce Otewri swe brany gemu Pekne promluw/ a rcy kn emu Prigd mi ly mug/ fada m tebe Nechcy ziti gs uc bez tebe. (p. 337) H as ten o my sou l him/ of your Flowerin g the honorable bridegroom Who upon the house of your heart With th e hand of his love knocks Open your gates to him Nicely speak/ a nd say to hi m : Come my dear/ I beg you I do not wish to live being without you . 68 SLOVAKIA Whil e the literary value of the verse compositi ons in the H ortulus is limited , in the narrow sense, they can be considered examples of early Slovak ve rse writing . Each of the prayers at the end of the "walks" - verse or prose - is designated for som e definite purpose ; for instan ce: " For the dear presence of God; " "For the proper purity of heart , for sincerity, and piety;" "For the recognition of people's woes and God ' s good acts;" " For patience in crises and firmn ess in faith ;" and "For the good realization of a life short and woeful ," the last praye r and part of the Hortulus . According to Hurban, the H ortulu s had appended to it " M ensje jeho basne (his/ Horcicka's/sm aller verses). " 55 Whether Hurban might be referring to some of the verse compositions in the H ortulus or to some other ve rses not part of the H ortulus in itself is not clear . In the version of the Hortulus studied b y m e, the last two prayers (pages 404-408) are '' For the forgiveness of forgetfulness which we allow while receiving God 's gifts, " and "For the good realization of a life short and woeful. " For H orcicka, these subjects may have seem ed an apt conclusion fo r his devotion al work . There is no reason to suspect that there was more writing related to the Hortulu s which for some reason is not in the bound copy in the Lycealna knizni ca. Indeed , Rizn er notes that the H ortulu s has four hundred and eight numbered pages, as does Tablic - the number found in the Lycealna copy of the H ortulus. As a fi gure in Slovak cultural hi story, D ani el Sinapius-Horcicka occupies a definite place. In his H ortulus animae piae, as in other writings , he manifests a Slovak ethnic consciousness that stands out in the seve nteenth ce ntury. 56 Through hi s religious zeal, erudition , and talent , he also provides hi s fellow Lutherans wi th devo tion al writin g to co nsole them in their time of exile and trials . In effect, he has composed a notewo rthy example of early Slovak writing. Through not strictly literary, the Slovak prose a nd verse of H orcicka's Hortulus m erit far more attention and study th an they have rece ived - practicall y speaking, virtu ally none. It is hoped that thi s study is but the bare beginnin g of research on the H ortulu s and its author, Daniel Sinapiu s-Horcicka . NOTES ' J a n Du rov ic, Evanjelick a liceracura d o colerancie (Turcia nsky Sviity M a nin : M a ti ca slove nska, 1940), p . 5 1. ' This is shown by a peru sal of th e following : J a n Durovic, Evangelicka liceracura a nd SLOVAKIA ' ' ' 6 1 ' ' ' 0 69 also his Prehl'ad literarnych dejin slovenskych eva njelikov (Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas: Tra noscius, 1948); " Barak ," D ejin y starsej slovenskej /iteratury (Bratislava: V ydava tel'stvo Slovensk ej akademie vied , 1958), pp . 155 -298; Literarna rukovat', 2nd ed. (Bra tisl ava: Slove nske pedagogicke nak ladatel's tvo , 1981 ) pp. 72-97. M an y Lutheran famili es adop ted Latin renditions of the family na mes as new surnames. This hyphena ted name is used for Horcicka family members in Slovak litera ry hi stories and criti cism as well as in th e a rticl es on them in Encyklopedia Slovenska , V ( 198 1). J an the younger , son of J a n th e elder - Daniel's brother - also wrote a number of works: l'.udovft Rizner, Bibliogra fia pisomnictva slovenskeho , V (Turciansky Svaty Martin: M a ri ca slova neka, 1933), 80-81. ( H ereafter , Rizn er , volume in Rom a n numeral , page(s) in Arabic num eral(s) .) Also , J an Misianik, Doplnky k Rizn erovej bib/iogra fii , 1946 , 2nd revised and enlarged edition (Martin : Matica slovenska, 1971), pp. 252 -253 . Jan and Dani el' s sister Elena married into prominent Luthera n families such as La ni a nd Lad ive r - Jan Slavik, D ejin y zvolenskeho evanjelickeh o a. v. bra1s1va a senioratu (Banska Sti avn ica: NakJad vdovy a syna AugustaJoergesa, 1921 ), p . 344. Rizn er, V , 8 1; Durovic, Evanjelicka lit eratura, p. 62 , incompl ete Latin titles. Rizn er , V , 79-80 ; Durovic, Evanje/ick a Iiteratura , pp. 142-43 , 348; Alexander Lomba rdini, "J a n Sina pi us (H orcicka), #38, " "Slovensky Plutarch ," Slovensk e pohl'ady, 7, No. 4 ( 1887), 82-83; Misia nik , D oplnky , P . 252. Durovic , Evanje/icka literatura, p. 69 Durovic, Prehl'ad , p . 40 , a nd Evanjelicka literatura , pp . 9 1-92 has " play, " but Erce (pseudonym of Celes tin R advany i) , Slovenska krv (Bratislava : Vydavatel'stvo lexikalneho di ela " Slovenska krv, " 1942), p. 160 calls it a " praye r book for intellect uals." J an di ed in ex ile in H alle on August 4, 1682: Rizn er , V , 79 ; Bohuslav Tablic, Pameti cesk o-slovenskych basnifuv an eb versovcuv , origin all y published in 1800' s, Bi og raphi ca-Pra mene, zv. 1 (M a rtin : M a rica slovenska , 1972) , p . LXV (65) , and in Pam ati cesko-slovenskych basnikov alebo versovcov, Rudo Brtai\, tr. (Bratislava : T at ran , 1974), p. 57; and En cyklopedia Sloven ska, V (1981) , sub verbo " SinapiusH orcicka, J a n , st. " The ve rn acula r Slovak used by Daniel is called " Slovakized Czech " by Jozef Minarik in Li1erarna rukova t', p. 72 , in both editions. Discussion a bout this la ngu age a nd its prope r desc ripti ve na me co ntinu es. Fo r instance , l',ubomfr Durovic writes that " throu gh th e increased use of Czech with local Slovak features in th e administration of W es t Slova k town s (Bratislava , Trnava, Trencfn , Zilina , etc .), a kind of regional administra tive koin e spo nt a neously developed in th e sixtee nth and seve ntee nth centuri es .. called ' cultural Wes tern Slova k' (kulturna zapadoslovencina)," in "Slovak," 70 SLOVAKIA The Slavic Literary Languages: Formation and Development , Alexande r Schenker a nd Edward Stankiewicz, eds. (New H ave n : Yale Concilium on International and Area Studies, 1980), p . 2 12. Durovic' s a nalysis shows features of this koine th at a re fou nd in H orcicka's H ortulu s , though how co nsisten tl y a nd exte nsively this is so is a m a tt er fo r further study by histo ri cal lin gu ists. Durovic continu es: Another language integrati on a rea in the seventeenth ce ntury was Central Slovakia [the area of H orcicka's pastoral act ivity), where the Central Slovak dialects became a basis for a new regional koine. The use of this "cultural Central Slovak " is a ttested in city administrat ion , pri vate correspondence, occasional poetry, and in some religious, non-liturgical fun ctions. This koine was in m an y respec ts ve ry similar to the spoken literary Slovak of today. (p. 2 12) " ,i " " " The related but distinctive process of Slovak ethni c consciousness fo r the period 1620- 1750 must also have been play ing a role in the process of lin guistic development and systematization . After extensive documentary resea rch and study , Josef M acu rek co nte nds that it was during thi s peri od that "the political and geographical border , M oravian-Sl ovak .. . , becam e an ethn ographic boundary ," in " Ceske ze me a Slovensko ( 1620-1750),'' Spisy university j. E . Purkyne v Brne: Filosoficka fakult a, 147 ( 1969), pp . 78-79 ; see also pp. 69-75 with related footnotes and appended documents on pp . 83-3 I 3. On the basis of his study, M acurek shows that in this border area , the co nsciousness of Slovaks and M oravians (Czechs) as di stin ct ethnic groups was es peciall y developed , Thus, H orcicka says he is writing in "slowenskem gazyku " (Cf note 56 below). For more on this point see also my article on Hu golfn G avlovic in this issue of Slovakia , note 3. 1 have used the foll owing for the biogra ph y of Daniel Sina piu s- H orcicka: Bohu slav Tablic, Pameti/ Pam aci , pp . LXI-LXXI (6 1-71)/55-62; Durovic, Evanjelicka lit eratura, pp. 120-121, note 75 ; Lombard ini , " Daniel Sinapius ( H o rci cka ), #37 ," in " Slovensky Plutarch ," Slovenske pohl'ady , 7, No . 4 (1887), 80-82 ; Erce, p . 160 ; J ozef Minarik , D ejin y starsej slovensk ej literatury, pp. 266-70 ; J ozef Hurba n , "Slovensko a jeho zivot litera rni ," Slovenskje pohladi na vedi, umenja a literaturu, Djel I , Svazok 2 ( 1847), rpt. (Bratislava : Slovenske vydavatel'stvo krasnej literatury , 1957), 6-9 (ori ginal pagination); En cyklop edia Slovenska, V ( 198 1), sub verbo "Sinapius- H orcicka, D aniel"; and Misian ik , Doplnky , pp . 25 1-252. The date of H o rcicka 's birth is given by Durovic as circa 1630 and th at of his death as 1706 b y Durovic, Erce, and Lomba rdini , an d yet Minarik and En cyklopedia Slovenska give l 640 a nd 1688 respec tively. I have accepted th e latter as evidence of more rece nt scholarship on Sinapius-Horcicka . These d ates a re in En cyklopedia Slovenska ( 198 1), sub verbo "Sin apius-Horcicka, D a ni el. '' Lomba rdini names K ameiian y by its Hun garia n appe llat ion (cf. Vlastivedny slovnik obci na Sloven sku ( 19 77) , sub verbo " K ameiiany. " ) Dates for years in K ameiiany and Liptovska T epla in Encyklopedia S/ovenska ( 198 1), sub verbo "Sinapiu s- H o rcicka, Da niel"; T ablic, Pam eti/ Pam aci , P. LXII (62)/55. Slav ik , Dejiny, p. 85 notes 33 pastors , but Jan Kvacala, D ejiny reformacie na Sloven - SLOVAKIA " 17 " 19 '° " " " " " 16 " 71 sku (Liptovsky Sviity Mikulas : Tranoscius , 1935), p . 235 writes 32 Lutheran pastors and 1 Reformed pastor. Tablic, Pameti/Pamiiti, P. LXII (62)/55. Those authors who have written about Horcicka give variation s on the name of this Polish town. Tablic (Pameti, PP. LXII-LXIII) has Bojanow(o) , Erce, Bojanov(o) near Lesno/ Leszno , and Tablic (Pama.ti , pp . 55-56), Nov(y/e) Bojanow(-/o), and Encyklopedia Slo venska, Nov(y/e) Boja nov (-/o) . On pp . 266-67, Minarik speaks of a Nov(y/e) Bojanow(o) nea r Lesno/ Leszno . From my own resea rch, I have decided on presentday Bojanowo , southeast of Leszno. The Slownik nazv geograficznych po/ski zachodnej i polnocnej, Stanislaw Rospond, ed . (Warszawa and Wroclaw : Polskie towarzystwo geografi czne, 195 1), p . 17 sub verbo " Bojanow" desc ribes a village near R aciborz. H oweve r , two further reference works make me choose Boj anowo near Leszno . They are: Slownik geograficzny kr6lestwa polskiego , Filip Sulimi ersky and Wl adyslaw Walewsky, ed . (Warszawa: Druk " Wieku ," 1880), pp. 292-294 , sub verbo " Bojanowo" ; and Wielka encyklopedia powszechna (1963), sub verbo " Bojanowo." These two works mention that in this town's hi story there was/is a significa nt evangeli cal/protestant background and that here th ere was a protestant gymna zwm . Hurba n , p . 6 (original pagination of article); Lomba rdini , p . 80 ; T ablic, Pameti/ Pamiiti , p. LXII (62)/55 ; Minarik, p . 266: Encyklopedia Slovenska, sub verbo " Sinap ius-H orcicka , Daniel. " Rudo Brtan in " Daniel Sinapius , '' Slovensky literarny album (Bratislava: Obzor, 1968) , p . 44 notes that Sinapius-Horcicka stayed on th e estate of th e Lords Leszczynski ( 1677-83) as rector of th e Latin school in ov(y/e) Bojanow(-/o). Rizn er , V, 77-79 , li sts twelve : Lombardini li sts fourt een ; Misianik , Doplnky , pp . 25 1-5 2 , add s six more; Misia ni k has two works listed by Lombardini but not by Rizn er. They all sha re eleve n in common. For so me co mm enta r y, see: Durovic, Evanjelick a lit eratura , pp. 143-45. For so me co mm enta ry, see: Durovic , Evanjelicka literatura, p. 91. Hurban , pp . 6-9 (o ri gin al pagina tion of article); Minarik , pp. 267-69; a nd Literarna ruk ovl', pp . 90-92. Fo r so me co mm enta ry, see: Durovic, Evanjelick a literatura , pp . 12 1-22 . T he works th at I have listed in numbers 2 , 3, 5, probably l , a nd perh aps 4 we re published a nd/or co mposed durin g Horcicka's period of exi le. Th e New Ca th olic En cyclopedia ( 1967), sub verbo '' H ortulu s animae.'' Diciionnaire de Spiriru alite ( l 969), sub verbo " Hortus , Hortu lus/J a rdin spiritu el," especiall y columns 777 -783. (In column 779, it is noted that th e J esuit Peter Cani siu s publi shed in 1563 in Dillin ge n H orru/us animae. Der See/en C arten .) Herbert Thursto n , " The Print ing Press in th e Service of th e C hurch : I , The Original Garden of th e Soul, " Am erica n Ecclesias rical R eview, 26 (Februa ry, 1902), 170 , no tes it was prin ted in 1569 in N urembe rg a nd a co py is at th e Bodl eia n Libra ry, Oxford whi ch co ncludes wit h a n histori cal account of Luth er's p rotes t aga in st in d ul ge nces. In hi s Ca th olic Encyclopedia ( 19 10) a rticl e on '' H o nul us an ima e, '' T hurston notes th at thi s 1569 Luthera n re nditi on " perh a ps co r respond s bes t to the oth er fa mou s Cath ol ic prayer book the' Pa rad isus Anim ae. ' " In his A m erican Ee- 72 SLOVAKIA clesiastical Review art icle cited above, Thurston is discussing primaril y a German version entitled Der Selen Wurt zgart (first published in 1483), found in th e British Mu seum (p. 170 in article). He th en m enti ons in a footnote of thi s a rticl e that a Nuremberg edition of th e same year as th e German H orculu s he is di scussing is entitl ed Hortulus Animae, th e dude Selen wurt-ga rden gen ant , printed by F . P ypus. Finall y, on pages 174- 75 of this same art icle, Thurston qu otes th e translated introduction of his German Hortulus under di scussion: Hereafter follows a right pleasant and useful matter; and it is called the H erb-garden of th e Soul; since ju st as the body of man derives manifold pleasant savours from clove , gilliflowers, rosemary and other herbs, in like mann er th e soul receives man y d ifferent en tertainments, both pleasant and ghostly , from the goodly teachin g and examples whi ch are gathered together in thi s book. This present book is divided into four pa rt s. Each part is translated into German and derived from the writings of honou red teache rs and histories worth y of credit. 19 30 31 31 This introduction th en shows clearly the utilita ri an characte r of the H orculus. L exikon fur Th eologie und Kirch e ( 1960), sub verbo " H ortulus animae. " On George Rh aw ( 1488-1 548), responsible for this 1547 (composed) work, see: The Encyclopedia of th e Lutheran Church ( 1965), sub verbo " Rh a u , George." In this encyclo ped ia, in the articl e " D evo tion al Litera ture, " it is noted that Rhaw 's ve rsion of th e H orculu s dates from 1548, a nd that an offshoot of Rhaw 's version was Nicol aus Cramer's Wurtzgaerclein d er Seelen of 15 73 . In my research in several librar ies at universities and theological centers, I have found only one book on Lutheran devotion al literature: P aul Althaus , Forschungen z ur Evangelischen Gebetsliteracur, 1927 ed ., rpt. (Hildesheim: Georg Olm s V erl agsbuchhandlung, 1966). This book , howeve r, has no comm entary abo ut th e Lutheran ve rsion of the H ortulu s; it does spea k of th e Ca tholi c Hortuli . I have found no references anywhere else to a Lutheran H orculus or to a book entitled D er Lustgart en der Seelen , the titl ed noted by Thurston. In Evanjelicka literatura, page 111 , Durovic notes that the Lutheran clergyman Daniel Pribi s added a section entitled R osarium an imae (Rose-garden of the Soul) to hi s 1634 editi on (cf. Prehl'ad , p. 34) of the 16 12 Slovak rendition of Luther's catech ism. It mi ght be noted here th at Luther "was ... eage r to replace the ordinary Catholic prayer books, above all th e com mon popular forms of H orculu s animae ('The Soul 's Garden') , and thu s his [Luther' s] B etbu chlein (' Prayer Bookl et') of 1522 appea red.": Th e Encyclopedia of th e Lutheran Church ( 1965), sub verbo "Devotional Literature.'' In Dictionnaire de Spiricualite, column 783, it is observed th at a J esui t, Andrej Zachon (d. 1700), wrote and had published in Olomouc in 1669 a H ortulu s spiritualis vernantiae seu libellus precum floriferarium (Littl e Spiritual Ga rd en of Springtime or The Little Book of Flowerbearin g Entrea ti es). I am usi ng a mi crofilm of Horcicka 's H ortulu s made from a copy of this book fou nd in the Lycealn a kni zn ica in Bratislava with no signa ture number. Rizn er, V, 77 and Durovic, Evanjelicka lit eratura, p . 12 1 noted two ex ta nt co pies of the H orculu s one in the Kni znica Tranovskeho a nd another in th e Hun garian National Museum. SLOVAKIA ll " " " " " 73 It would seem likely that th e copy in the Kniznica Tranovskeho is now the copy in the Lycealna knizni ca. Howeve r, as will be evident from my commentary , the copy studi ed by me has more introductory, unnumbered pages than Rizner indicates 28 instead ofRizner' s 16. In his book , TanovskehoPam eti/Pamati, pp . LXIV-LXV (64-65)/5 7) tablic notes virtuall y all of these ex tra La tin pages, although he is silent ab t the sixteen , basically Slovak (unnumbered) pages tha t preced e these Latin ones in the introductory portion of the H ortulus. Tablic (Pame1i/Pama.1i, pp . LXIX-LXX (69- 70)/6 1) notes th a t there are illu strations and verses in each of th e twelve divisions of the mai n body ; this format is th en similar to that of emblematic poetry which has a co upl et-ve rse, a n illu stration , a nd then some furth er verses/commentary: John L. Lievsay, '' Emblem , ' ' Th e Prin ceton En cyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics , enlarged editi on , Alex Premin ge r et al. , ed. (Prince ton: Prince ton University Press, 1974) . Thi s feature - th e illustration - is not found in the H ortulus version studi ed b y me. In hi s D oplnky, p . 25 1, Misianik a nd in Pameti/Pam ati , p. LXX (70)/61, Tablic not e th a t H orcicka trans lated his Slovak Hortulu s into German, and this Germa n ve rsion was published in 1680 in Lesno/Leszno. Finally , m y memory of the actual book wou ld be th at when closed , it would measure so mething like an inch b y three inches, ap tl y a "little" garde n. T a blic (Pameti/ Pam ati , p . LXIV (6 4)/57) notes the book is dedi cated to a ce rtain " Jil'fmu R advan skemu , dedicnemu pan u V R advani, V Skubfne, Malachove, slov utn eho ispanstvf aneb vidieku zvolenskeho pl'ednfmu assessorovi ajeho man zelce V. u . pa nfJ ohann e Ka tal'in e, rozene M ari a.save z M a rku sovic (G eo rge R adv ansky, heredita ry lord of R ad van, Skubin a, M alachov, the p ro min ent assesso r of the wellkn own count y of Zvolen a nd environs and to his wife , th e great?, noble? , lad y Joanna Cath erine, n ee M ariasova from M a rku sovce . '' ) Thi dedi cation va ri es from th a t in th e ve rsion of th e H ortulus studi ed by me. In the dedi cation to his N eoforum latinos/avon icum , H orcicka na mes a ce rtain J a n R adva nsky of R advai\ , heir to Skubyn and M alachau/ M a lachov, perha ps son of Jil'f/Juraj menti oned by T ablic: Edition of J. V . Novak an d V . Flajshan s in P rague, 1908, p . 3. On this same page , H orcicka menti ons a ce rt ain H orwath -Sta nsithioru m in Spfs. This H orwath-S tansithiorum (ge niti ve plural) is rend ered H orwa th-Stancicovce (nominative plural) by Jan Tibensky, Chvaly a obrany sloven skeh o naroda (Brati slava: Slovenske vyd ava tel'stvo krasnej li tera tury, 1965), p . 48 . For some comm ent a ry on Petr Sextiu s, see : Durovic, E vanjelicka lii eratura, pp . I I 9- 120. H e is m enti oned by Lomba rdini in hi s commentary on Milichov insky, #56 in " Slove nsky Plutarc h ," Slo ven ske pohl'ad y, 7, No . 6 (1887), 135. On Miloc hovinsky, see: Durovic, Evanjelick a lit eratura, pp . 62 , 177-78 , and Lombard ini, p. 135. On J an Sextius, see: Durovic, Eva njelick a lit eratura , p. 62, a nd Lomb a rdini again . On J a n Buriu s, see: Durovic, Evangelick a lii eracura, pp . 8 1-82, 145 . H orcicka call s Buriu s a G erman, th ough Du rov ic specul a tes that he m ay have bee n Slovak; he was born in Lip tov. Al so, on page 84 of hi s cited work , Durovic notes th at J an Sex ti us and J a n Burius wro te a hi story of a ce rt a in Juraj La ni in 1676. I have fo und no reference fo r thi s person . Th e phrase " Pas. in Elecc. Dresda. Va /Jens Hung. " ca n possibly be rendered " ~ in th e Electo rat e of Dresde n 74 SLOVAKIA Wall achian of Hun gary . " Such an address of auth or to book was done nearl y a ce ntury later ( 1758) by Hu golin G avlovic as he concluded the introductory portion of his Sk ala Krest'ansk a (A C hristian School): signature MJ 33 1, Litera rn y a rchiv M ati ce sloven skej in Mart in , p . 16 with title- page as page one . Interestingly, T ablic does n ot m enti on H orcicka's address to the book in hi s, T a blic's, d escrip tion of the int rodu cto ry portion of the H ortulus. 40 In composin g hi s later devoti onal wo rk , Perlicka ditek B ozich (The Little Pearl of G od 's Ch ild ren) , publi shed in 1685, H orcicka purposely structured it accordin g to the fi ve d ivisions of Luther 's catechi sm : D u rovic, Evanjelick a literatura, pp . 12 1-22. 41 It is interestin g th at in 1685 , H o rcicka published in Levoca K om en sky's/Comenius' Orbis pictu s sen sualium , on e of th e o utstandin g books of th e seventee nth century where th e se nses a re u sed th e bette r to in culca te certa in knowled ge a m o ng children and/or adults: Min arik, p . 270 ; E rce, p . 160; and En cyklopedia Sloven ska, sub verbo " Sinapius- H orci c_ka, D a ni el. " R ecall also th at accord in g to T a blic, Pam eti/Pam ati , pp . LXIX-LXX (69- 70)/6 1, th ere we re illustrati o ns wit h Latin or Slovak verse m o ttoes. " Bibli svata podle p uvodniho vydani Kra/ick eh o z let 1579-93 (Kutn a H o ra : Ceska biblicka p race , 1942), and B ibli svata p odle posledn ih o vydani Kralick eh o z roku 1613 (P raha: n .p., 1945). " C ita ti ons b y H orcicka from the Song of So ngs are: I . Song 4 : 12; 2. So ng 4: 13 (but also v. 14); 3. So ng 4: 15; 4. So n g 2 :13- 14 ; 5. So ng 1:5 -6; 6. Song 4: 16; 7. So ng 7: 8-9 (bu t actu all y vv. 7-8 in eit her vers ion of the Kralice Bible con sulted); 8. Song 7: 11 (bu t also v. 12) ; 9. Son g 2 : 11- 12 (bu t actu all y citati on sta rts in the midd le of verse 10 and includes also a pa rt of ve rse l 3); 10. So ng I : 13; 11 . So ng 2 :2; and I 2. Son g 2: 1. 44 Song of Songs, M a rv in Pope, in tro. and com. , Ancho r Bi ble Series (Ga rd en City , New York: Dou bleday and Company , 1977) , especiall y pp. 114-129. Also see : Diction naire de Spiritualite , colum n s 769-76. On page 126 of hi s com mentary, Pope notes that Lut her rej ected th e allegori cal interpretat ion of th e Song - na m ely, the allegorical fan cies of the Fathers as well as the literal erotic se nse. R at her , Luther believed that "the Bride of the Song is the ha ppy and peaceful state under Solomon's ru le and that th e Song is a h ymn in which Solomon thanks God for the d ivine gift of obedience.'' Concerning thi s, see also: Luther, ''Lectures on th e Song of Solomon ,'' J an Siggins, tr ., Luther's Works, 15 (St. Louis: Concord ia Publishin g, 1972), 191-95. I assume that H orcicka would have been aware of Luther' s views, but thi s in no way limits his int erpretati ve use of this Biblica l book. At present, it can not be said whether an y o th er Luth era n view of the So ng of So ngs such as that by Johann es Coccae us Uohann K och, 1603-69), Pope, pp . 128-29, was known b y Horcicka. " Bes ides hi s cita ti ons from th e Song of Songs at the beginning of each "walk, " H orcicka refers to verses from this book some thi rtee n tim es, only once repeating a verse from th ose introdu cin g " Walk IX." 46 On numbered page I 98 of th e H ortulus , Horcicka not es a Czec h ve rsion of the Bible published in 163 I in Wittenberg. 47 H ortulus, numbered page 103; Pope , Song of Songs , p. 123. 39 SLOVAKIA 75 " In T h e Encyclopedia of th e Luth eran Church ( 1965), sub verbo " D evo tional Literature," it is no ted th a t ii K empis ' Imitation of Christ was popula r devotional read in g in Luthera n la nd s. " Th e En cyclopedia of th e Luth eran Church . ( 1965), sub verbo " G erh a rd , Johann ." I have, howeve r , fo und no reference fo r presuma bl y this Ge rha rd 's Postill(ae) cited by H orcicka. '° Th e Encyclopedia of th e Luthera n Church ( 1965), sub verbo " Dilherr , J ohann Michael," but no reference to his Feld-, Welt- etc. work . In two editions of an anthology of old Slova k literature, Misianik notes th a t th e Feld- work by this Dilherr was published in ure m be rg in 1648 a nd 165 1: An tol6gia starsej slovensej literatury ( Brati slava: Yydavatel'stvo Slove nskej a kademie vied , 1964), p . 6 18, a nd 1981 editi on , p . 583. Misia nik gives the title as Feld- W elt - G artenbetrachtung. " Th e En cyclopedia of th e Lutheran Church ( 1965) , sub verbo" Huelsemann , Johann ." " H orcicka a lso refers to th e Centuries of M agd eburg on numbered page 176. " T ablic, Pam eti/Pam ati , pp . LXVI -LXIX (66-69)/5 7-61 , qu otes in Czechi zed form two of th e verse units on numbered pages 122-23 a nd 402-03. The proper rendition of these ve rses can be found in th e two Misianik a nthologies, pp . 395 -96 and 399/ 373-74 respectively. Misia nik also cites two further ve rse units: H ortulus, numbered pages 82-83 and 370-75/ M isia ni k, pp. 395, 397 -399 and 370- 73 respec ti vely for th e two Misianik editi ons. Fina ll y, th ese fo ur ve rse units can also be fo und inJa miluji, nesmim providaci: antol6gia zo slovenskej barokovej poezie (Bratislava: Tatran , 1977), pp. 93-99. In a ll , th ere a re fo urtee n ve rse units. T ablic qu otes two a nd gives page numbers for eleve n oth ers; he missed the page numbers fo r one verse unit according to th e ve rsion of th e H ortulu s studi ed by me. The fo urtee n ve rse units a re as follows - numbered pages th en the number of verses in th e unit-: I. 14/6 2 . 82 -83/ 12; 3. 87-88/2 4; 4. 100/4 La tin a nd 4 Slovak; 5. 114-15/ 11; 6 . 122-23/36 ; 7. 186/8; 8. 191/4 La tin and 4 Slovak, a nd aga in 4 La tin and 4 Slovak; 9. 245/6; 10 . 33 7-38/8; 11. 340-43/76; 12. 365-66/ 12, not mention ed by T ablic; 13. 370-75/ 60; and 14. 402 -03/ 18. ,. The orth ograp hy used a t th a t time shows g instead of j (though g was also used for g), ss for s, w for v, the grave accen t fo r ad verbial endin gs, a nd (som etim es) a dot fo r a long mark ove r y. " Hu rba n , p . 6 (o riginal pagin ati on of the articl e) . " O n unn um bered page 15 , th at is, in th e int rodu cto ry portion of the H ortulus, Horc icka spea ks to the " Dea r R ead e r " in " Slowen sk em gazyku (Slovak language/to ngue), " as well as uses the adj ectival fo rms " Slowen sk ych " a nd " Slowenske " fo r "Slova k." In C h valy a obran y sloven sk eh o n arod a, pp . 48- 51, J a n Tibensky notes H orcicka's Slovak consciousness and quotes from th e introducti on to the latte r 's Neoforum latin o-slavon icum as evide nce of it . Prese n ted in Pa nel 99 , " Devo ti onal Literature in Seventeenth Ce ntury Slova ki a," a t the AAASS conve ntion in Washin gton , D .C. on 17 O ctober 1982 . Parts were prepared at the 1982 Summer Slavic Semin a r at the Unive rsity of Illinois in C ha mpa ign-Urbana .  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 Daniel Sinapius-Horčička's Hortulus Animae Piae Description An account of the resource Gerald J. Sabo Slovakia, Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83 pp. 61-75 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sabo, Gerald J., 1945–2020 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/9d27e4c968c910c638982af71ec340fe.pdf a82a5dc86909659fac1e351a8a65c7e2 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 51 The Influence of Juraj Tranovsky's Cithara Sanctorum in Slovakia Jaroslav J. Vajda If not a landmark, Juraj Tranovsky's hymnal and prayerbook, Cithara Sanctorum, Pfsne duchovnf stare i nave (The Lyre of the Saints, Spiritual Songs Old and New, 1636), is at least a high point in Slovakia's devotional literature, especially when one includes with it Tranovsky's collection of formal liturgical prayers, Phiala Odoramentorum , Modlitby kfest'anske (A Vial of Fragrances, Christian Prayers , 1635) . Having been reprinted in more than 150 editions at home and abroad since its publication in Levoca in 1636 , the Cithara Sanctorum ranks high in popularity, usage and influence, being probably the most reprinted literary work produced in Slovakia. Our interest is in the place and impact of this book, affectionately known by Tranovsky's Latin name as the Tranoscius, in Slovak devotional literature. The Cithara, like other influential books, is the result of events and forces operating in the 16th and 17th centuries in Central Europe. Juraj Tranovsky was born on March 27, 1592 in the city of Tesfn in Silesia, of Polish parents of the Lutheran faith. 1 His earliest schooling was in a Latin grammar school in Tesfn , from which at the age of 12 he was sent to the German school in Hubin in Lower Lusatia, and from there to a humanist academy in Kolberg, Pomerania, two years later. At the age of 16 he matriculated at the University of Wittenberg, made famous by Luther and his successors. For two years young Tranovsky tutored a family at Trebon castle in southern Bohemia; he taught one year in Prague , and then accepted a position as rector of a school in Holesov, in eastern Moravia. The first traces of his poetic talents appeared in a Latin poem he wrote on the Nativity for St. Nicholas' Church in Prague , at the age of 20. In 1615 he married Anna Polan , with whom he had nine children, five sons and four daughters. Upon his ordina- �52 SLOVAKIA tio n into th e Lutheran mini stry he wa s called to be rector of the school in V alasske M ez irici, n ear H olesov in Moravia. When the local p as tor died , Tra n ovsky was called to take his place, and thu s began hi s 10-year p astor a te in M ezirici . Imm edia tely upo n his assumption of pa ri sh duties , T ran ovsk y embarked on a produ ctive p astoral a nd lite rary career. H e rebuilt the local lite rary socie ty, whi ch also included a choir , wrote a commentary and se ries of se rm o n s o n the Book of R evela tion , and wo rked on a Czech tran sla tion of the Au gsburg Confession of 1530 , a m aj or production which was pu blished in 162 0 . 2 The publication o f T ra n ovsky's tra n sla tion of thi s fo und a ti on al Lutheran symbol coincided with the defeat of the Protesta nts at the Ba ttle of White M ounta in , which effectively ended the free course of P rotestantism in Au stri a. Thou sand s of Luther a n s a nd Bohemi an Brethren fl ed before the wave of victo riou s Catholi c forces ea stward , in to Moravia, then into Slovakia a nd Hun gary, findin g re fu ge for a numbe r of years in central and eastern Slovakia . Amon g those caught in this refugee tide we re Tra novsky , hi s famil y, a nd hi s congregation in M eziri ci. The Lutheran cluster fl ed fro m pl ace to pl ace, u sually seekin g a nd findin g refuge a m o n g Hun ga ri a n Luthe ran n obility and gentry fi ghtin g a rearguard action . In the three years from 162 1 to 1624, Tran ovsky lost three children and was bri efl y imprisoned . F orced to leave M o ravia o n orders of Fe rdin a nd II , T ranovsky fl ed to Bielsko near T esfn , where he found employm ent as court preach er with hi s future p a tro n , Baron J an Szunyogh. T his reprieve la sted two years . In 1627 , with but ten year s of hi s life before him , h e took refu ge fro m furth e r per secutio n in the castles of Buda tfn a nd O rava, wh ere h e also se rved as court preache r for G abriel Illeshazy. Ju st as Luther ' s W artburg refu ge permitted him to transla te the Bible, T ranovsky's castle exil e resulted in th e produ ctio n of a L a tin h ymn collectio n e ntitl ed Odarum sacrarum sive H ym norum . .. libri tres (Three Books of Sac red Odes o r H ymn s, 1629) . By 1632 Tra n ovsky h ad assum ed the pastorate of the church in Liptovsky Sv . Mikul as , whi ch h e se rved until his death five year s la ter. A s if co n sciou s of a n early d emise, Tra novsky wo rked assi du ou sly to fini sh hi s collectio n of fo rm al liturgical p raye rs, the Phiala Odoram entorum , w hi ch a ppeared a year befo re the publi cation of hi s monumental work , the h ymnal Cithara Sanctorum in 1636 , both printed in L evoca. �SLOVAKIA 53 Tranovsky's brief but productive life cam e to an end on M ay 29 , 163 7 at the age of 45, but the results of his work continue to exe rt their influence to this day. Jozef Min arik has pointed out that the Cithara Sanctorum served in the past as a textbook of versification and prosody, and also as a " well spring of na tional consciou sn ess," besides being the '' first step in the creation of national mu sic.'' 3 Its primary impact , however , was and has rem a ined upo n the spiritual life of Slovak Christians. I emphasize Slovak Christians without regard to d enomin ation, for Tranovsky's work was ecumenical in nature and left its mark on Roman Catholic worship life as well. The Cithara was published in Levoca by V avrinec Brewer in 1636 as the answer to a growing need since the battle a t White M ounta in had stopped the production and shipment of C zech hymnals into Slovakia. It and its co mpa nion, the Phiala, were born of necessity . Slovak Lutherans, who comprised some 80 % of the Slovak popula tion a hund red years after the R eform ation ,4 did not have to p rodu ce their own devotional mate rials , since they understood the Czech language and could u se the hymn als of the Bohemian Brethren and C zech Lutheran s, eve n thou gh their theology was not totally in agreem ent with the Hu ssites and Calvinists. In the early R eformati on years , befo re th e edu cation of the laity becam e widespread , the local pastors were in co ntrol of the worship m aterials and u sed loose sheets of pa per to rep roduce the hymns which they considered appropriate for their congregational worship , the hymns being lined out for the congregation by the cantor or choir director. In thi s way a sizable repertory of hymns was developed in local co ngregations, resultin g in m an y ha ndwritten hymn accompanim en t edi tion s, or partitury, as each large Lutheran center p roduced or ad a pted its own . Al so b y this rote system of learnin g, the faithful (prima rily illiterate) acquired a growing devotional treasure, for the hymns were form s of praye r serving the C hri stian s as inspiration , com fo rt , and chall en ge, as did -the P salms of D avid. Those who we re •still illitera te could a m ass a litera ry and d evotional treasu re in a lan gu age they could unders tand , and thus their faith need s were supplied until the Slovak Lutherans could fo rm all y print p rayer books and hymn als of their ow n. T he hym ns we re not u sed alo ne, of cou rse, and we mu st pa use to mention the impo rtance of Luther ' s Sm all Ca techism in the spiritual and devotional life of the Lutheran laity. All children we re required to m emorize this brief exposition of the chief ar ticles of the C hristian faith , �54 SLOVAKIA and it became for many a daily review and anchoring of their faith as they repeated its simple explanations in their morning and evening devotions. In fact, the first printed collections of domestically composed Slovak hymns were appended to translations or reprintings of Luther 's Small Catechism. Thus , the only extant sizeable collection of hymns prior to Tranovsky' s hymnal is that of Daniel Pribis, a contemporary of Tranovsky, who collected and published 116 hymns in 1635, a year before the Cithara appeared. 5 Pribis's hymns did not come out as a separate book, as did Tranovsky's , but as an appendage to a revised translation of Luther's Catechism. This trilogy of books has been the foundation of Lutheran piety since the early years of the Reformation: the Bible , the Catechism, and the hymnal with its prayers. There would have been no such hymnal as the Tranoscius, or later the Catholic hymnal, had it not been for the Reformation and its universal impact on education, worship, and literature; or at least if the Reformation we know had not occurred, there would have had to develop a similar movement toward use of vernacular tongues . But even the Lutheran Reformation did not originate the basic conditions for use of the vernacular in the church and eventually in educational and professional areas. The first step in the eventual production of devotional literature in Slovakia was the introduction of the vernacular among the Slavs in the 9th century. For that major historical contribution, credit must be given to the patron saints of all the Slavs, the Macedonian missionary brothers, Cyril and Methodius, whose invention of the Slavonic alphabet and their translation of the scriptures into a language understandable to the Slavs, as well as their use of the vernacular in the liturgy, were all basic essentials in the ultimate production of vernacular devotional literature . 6 The n ext decisive development was the Hussite reform movement in Bohemia, challenging the dominance of Latin in the Western Church, and capturing the support of the populace by not only appealing to their nationalistic loyalties over against the Roman curia, but by proclaiming the Gospel in the language of the people and giving the faithful hymns to sing in their own tongue . The Reform movement would have died without the subsequent successful Reformation of Martin Luther, who like his Slavic forerunners, insisted on the vernacular in his Deutsche Messe, translated the Scrip- �SLOVAKIA 55 tures into German to make them accessible to the people, and then sang the Reformation into the hearts of the people with his hymns, many of which were set to popular tunes. A century later, Juraj Tranovsky found himself heir of Cyril and Method, Hus, and Luther. He provided the church with devotional literature that answered the needs of the people so well that when the Counter-Reformation set about reclaiming its huge losses, it resorted to the same means . It also used the vernacular and produced a counterpart to the Cithara Sanctorum in the Cantus Catholici, Pisne katholicke latinske a slovenske (Catholic Songs, Latin and Slovak Catholic Songs, 1655) . 7 We can say that the Cantus validated the ecumenical nature of the Cithara and of Pribis's collection by including one-fourth of the hymns in the Cithara and one-third of those in the Pribis collection. The favor was then returned by adding to the Cithara some songs from the Cantus, especially in the edition of 1674, which also carried more native songs of Slovak origin. Finally , the two hymnals had more than a hundred hymns in common. 8 What was the Cithara Sanctorum that made it influential for so many generations of Slovaks, Lutheran and Catholic? It was a product of extraordinary skill and devotion . Tranovsky came well-prepared to the task by both education, native ability, and experience. The quality of his original hymns and translations marks him as a trend-setter and standard-maker for other hymnwriters and compilers of hymnals . His revisions and selections of extant hymns demonstrate his critical ability, and his scholarly approach provides us with the first hymnal that attempts to document the sources of the hymns - except his own , which modesty caused him to offer anonymously in many instances. 9 The very size and quality of the h ymnal advances it decades beyond the normal d evelopment of hymnody. Tranovsky's approach being ecumenical and objective, he included representatives of the earliest church hymnody from the Latin a nd Greek, the contributions of Gregory the Great, the classic h ymns of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and the prayers of a similar common heritage from David through Augustine to Gregory. The 414-hymn Cithara was organized systematically according to the church year and the elements of the " Mass. " Tranovsky suppl ied the church with introits , antiphons, Kyries, Credos , Glorias , and doxologies, as well as hymns for the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist, �56 SLOVAKIA for co nfession and a bsolution , fo r fest ival s and regular Sunday s of the church year , and fo r variou s spiritu al and temporal need s - in short , an all-purpose, free-s tandin g h ymnal that provided a core of essential worship m aterial s for congregational u se, as contrasted with Pribis's collection of 116 h ymn s designated for u se in schools. In the Cithara Tranovsky drew upon fo ur sources. C omprising onehalf of th e content s, 206 h ymn s are fro m tran sm oravian hymn od y, derived m ostl y from old Czech Lutheran h ymnals by Kunvald sky (1576) and Zavo rka ( 1602). Two-thirds of th ese Tra novsky left almost intact; the rem a ining third he edi ted m ore or less thorou ghly, in som e cases leavin g onl y the openin g line untouched . F rom these sources he also included m elodies. A rich heritage of hi storic Czech K yries and C redos is preserved in th e C ith ara . The second source of h ymns fo r the Cithara was German hymnody . A la rge repertory of class ic R eform ation h ymn s has been saved fo r posteri ty in the C ith ara since they no lon ger a ppear in G erm an hym nals , nor a re they still sun g. The first edition of the Cithara offered 74 tran slati ons of G erm an hymn s, 58 of them by Tranovsky. The third source, dom esti c h ymn od y by Slovak authors in strongly Slovaki zed C zech , was weakl y represented in the C ithara, numberin g only 33. Earlier , Pribis h ad gathered 68 , most of which found their way into later editi on s of the Cith ara . Tranovsky's own contribution to the hymnal was substantial . Some 161 of the 4 14 hymn s have been traced to him , numberin g 93 original composition s, 10 tran slati on s from the L atin , and 58 from the G erm an . This porti on of th e h ymn al alone is large r than m an y h ymn als of th at d ay. Tranovsky regarded hymn s as a fo rm of p rayer . In hi s int rodu ction ot th e Cithara , he said , " H e who sin gs prays twice." T he prima ry purpose of h ymn ody was to glorify G od . ext it had a d idacti c pu r: pose , to establish and nurtu re fa ith . For this reason T ranovsky u sed simple and direct la ngu age and thu s his hymn als were adopted by the people as ex pressions of their fa ith in fa miliar term s, thou gh he employed polished poeti c skill s and a wide variety of forms. T he Phial a Odoramen toru m , the prayer po rtion of Tranovsky's work , provided th e church wi th litu rgical p raye rs as well as prayers th at co uld d oubl e as hom e devotional praye rs, for u se at mornin g and evenin g services and devotions , prayers for u se with the C atechism , fo r regular di vin e services, a nd for festivals of the church years. There were �SLOVAKIA 57 prayers for all so rts and condition s of m en , penitential p salm s, a nd collects. It was a liturgicall y constru cted instrument , refl ectin g the tradition al skeleton of the m ass, as Luther 's M esse did . Th e Phiala served its readers for several editio ns of the Cithara . It was reprinted in 1685 , th en again in the cen ten a ry editio n of 1736 . It was twi ce reprinted in the late 1890's, and in 1898 was tran slated into P olish , but it was replaced in m ost edition s of th e Cith ara by the prayers of K aspa r Neum a nn transla ted fro m the G erm an . In the end , the Phiala p rov ided a m odel for subsequ ent liturgical p rayer books a nd agendas, su ch as H rabovsky's, Krm a n 's, J a kobei's, d own to B raxatori s's. L ater editors of th e Tran osciu s exp a nded the conten ts of th e h ymn al with tra n sla ti o n s of later G erma n h ym nwrite rs, su ch as P a ul G er ha rd , Benj amin Schmolck , and with original hymn s. D efiniti ve edition s were those produ ced by D a ni el Sin a piu s-H o rcicka ( 1684) a nd Sa muel Hru skovic ( 1745), kn own as th e "second Tra n ovsky." H owever , T ran ovsky's influ en ce o n th e church of hi s d ay a nd of subsequ ent generatio ns mu st n ot be rest ri cted to the liturgical and devot ion al resources he provided for the church in the Cithara. His tran sla tion of the Au gsburg C o nfess io n a nd his in sisten ce on doctrin al con fo rmi ty to th e Scriptures a nd the Lutheran Co nfessio n s did as mu ch as a n y oth e r effort to preserve orth od oxy in Slovakia. In thi s respect h e deserved to b e called the " Lu ther of Slovakia." 10 Especiall y hi s C ithara stood as a bulwark of o rthodoxy fo r som e two centuri es again st th e influ en ces of Piet ism and R atio n ali sm whi ch res ul ted in th e p u b lication of the Zpevnfk of 1842 and nu m erou s oth er attempts to d ilu te the doctrin al integrity of Lu theran hymn od y in Slovaki a. C hi efl y two edito rs of the C ith ara, Sa mu el Hru skovic ( 1745) and J an Mocko ( 1895), re-established th e doctrin al norms whi ch had suffered at the h ands of revisio nists of in terve nin g editi o n s.11 As m ent ioned earli er, Tranovsky' s Cith ara was welcomed en thu sias ticall y by Slovak Lu th eran s, a nd its a utho r was adopted as th eir coun trym a n , even th ou gh h e was a P ole by birth a nd li ved m os t of hi s life in Silesia a nd Morav ia. Tranovsky has been faulted for writing in Czech , rather tha n in Slovak . Bu t th at was th e result of th e h istorical co nd itio n s of hi s tim e, a nd h e was sim ply followin g th e practice prevale n t in th e L u theran chu rch , where th e K ralice Bible was the a u thorized ve rsio n of the Luthera n s fo r m a n y years. H oweve r , both P r ibi s's coll ect ion and the Can tus Ca th olici of 1655 were closer to the langu age �58 SLOVAKIA of the people than Tranovsky's Cithara, chiefly because they both adopted many hymns from the folk tradition and were written in a strongly Slovakized Czech. Later editions o f the Cithara incorporated hymns from the Cantus, and subsequ ent editors of the Cithara more and more Slovakized the Czech-language h ymns . Eventually, in this century, Slovak-lan guage suppleme nts were added to the Lutheran h ymnals in Slovakia, and now the entire collection of hymns selected for the newest edition , slated for publication in 1984 , is totally translated into Slovak. In the process of doing so, some of the qualities of the original hymns and tran slations will be lost , just as they are when American and English hymnodists update the King James language of classic English h y mns . Like the Bible, the Tranoscius has continued to exert an influence on Slovak devotional life , congregational a nd private, Lutheran and Catholic. This is shown, for example, in the poet Ivan Krasko 's d escription of his aged mother and h e r piety in his famous poem Vesper dominicae ( 1909) . 12 The Cithara continues to b e a living spiritual force for Slovaks and their descendants. 13 NOTES ' Older biographical sources give April 9, 159 1 as Tranovsky's birthdate , following th e Juli an calendar. According to the Gregorian calendar, the date is March 27, 1592. J an Durovic explains the discrepancy in his Zivotopisjuraja Tranovsk eho (Liptovsky Sv. Mikulas: Tranoscius , 1942), p. 8; see also Jozef Minarik , ed. , Slovenska renesan cna lutn a: Antol6gia zo slovenskej renesancnej poezie (Bratislava: Tatran, 1982), p . 344. ' The Prologus in apocalipsin Divijohannis Apostoli, t.j. Wyklad na zgeweni Swateho J ana Aposstola .. . , thou gh written in 1617 , was not published at the tim e . The manusc ript was tran scribed by M a tej Spratek in 1701 and again by K . Bujok in 1821 ; see Durovic, pp. 89-93 . The Augustana Confessio rursus in Sla vicum versa et m eliorata (The Augsburg C onfession) was published under the C zech title Konfessy Augsspursk a, bud'to W yznanj Wjry swa re ewangelistske .. . in Olomouc, 1620. This is th e di stin cti ve confession of Lutherans since 1530 , to which all churches and pastors mu st subsc ribe as th e tru e and fai thful exposition of doctrin e . 3 M inarik , " Hl'ad ani e pram ei\a zivej vod y ," op . cit ., p . 15 . P eter Brock also emph asizes th at th e Z p evnfk of 1842 helped the Slovaks of the 19th ce ntury keep their na ti on al iden ti ty , in Th e Slovak N ation al Awak ening (Uni vers it y of To ronto Press , 1976) , pp . 76-77 , note 20. 4 David P . D a n iel has an excellent summ ary in En glish of thi s pe riod : " The P rates- �SLOVAKIA 5 ' ' ' ' ' 0 '' " " 59 ta nt R eformati on in Slovak Ethnic Consciousness, " Slovakia, XXVIII ( 1978-79) , 49-65. See also Daniel, The Historiograph y of th e R eformation in Slovakia (No. 10 , Sixtee nth Century Bibliography Seri es, St. Louis: Center for Reform at ion R esearch , 1977 ), 50 pp . D an iel Pribi s, Pisne du ch ovnf, in K atechismus D . H . Luth era z nemeckeho jazyku na slovensk y preloien y od trech superattendencu v roku 16 12 (Levoca, 1634) . For a description , see Minarik, pp. 44-47 and 33 1, who says it is written in " mimoriadne silne slovakizovanymjazykom " (p. 47), i.e. in strongly Slovakized Czech. The word slovensky did not always mean th e Slovak language in the modern sense, though it plainly identified th e people a nd the location. Lutherans have valued the legacy of Cyril and M ethod as much as the R oman Catholics, who regard them as saints . Pavel Safarik, in his definiti ve history of th e Slavs in German in 1823, gives the M acedonian brothers their due, as did J an Kollar , a not her Slovak gia nt , in his schola rl y and poetic works, as well as in all 11 -s tanza h ymns dedica ted to th e memory of Cyril and Method , Pam atajm ei, kfest'ane, No . 32 4 in the Zpevnfk and No . 128 in the Supplement (Pridavok) of the Tran oscius ( 197 1 editions). Ackn owledgm ent of the Saints ' use of the vernacul ar in worship is also mad e in the Latin prolog to th e Catholic hym nal published in 1655. See below and note 7 fo r this Catholic hym nal. Cantus ca th olici was collec ted by the J esu it Benedikt Szolozi ( 1609- 1656) a nd publi shed in Levoca, then reprinted in 1700 in Trnava; see also Mina rik , p. 5 1. H ere too slovenske does not mean the pure Slovak language, thou gh th e Czech is here ve ry strongly Slovakized . Mina rik , p. 51. Therefore schola rs' interpretations and attributions of authorship , whether original or as a translation , do not entirely agree ; e.g. Minarik' s numbers (p. 47) are slightly different from mine given below. D a niel , "Protestant R eformation ," op. cit. , pp. 52-54, has a summ a ry of some of the doctrinal differen ces amo ng Lutherans conce rnin g the Kniha svorn osti (Book of Concord) . The Zpevnfk of 1842, though undertaken with the in tenti on of culling the best hymns from the C ith ara and add ing more hymns from contemporary hymn writers , as well as fillin g in gaps with conce rn s of the 19th ce ntury, aroused the suspi cions a nd resentment of those who found a deliberate toning down of the supernatural, th e miraculous, and otherworldly elements of the C ithara. In many cases·of abbreviated hymns , th e typical 17th ce ntury look heave n wa rd is deleted , the human nat ure of C hrist is stressed above the divin e, and the termino logy of th e J ena University gradua tes replaced that of the ea rli er co nservati ve (and orthodox) Wittenberg schola rs. Some of the Zpevnfk 's positive elements, such as hymns of social conce rn , have been retained in the for m of a suppl ement in the 1971 edition , with some previously om itted classic hymns from the C ith ara . Ivan Krasko, Nox et solitudo (M artin, 1909; rpt. Basn e , M a rtin 1948), pp . 40-41. M y translation into English is give n in An Anthology of Slovak Literature , compiled by Andrew C incura (Ri verside, 19 76), pp . 2 1-22 . Both of my grandmothers were R oman Catholi c, and my mother 's mother , though �60 SLOVAKIA she remained a Catholic all her life, daily used the Cithara for her private devotions and knew ma ny of the hym ns b y heart. In my own pastoral experience, I have tended m a n y a n elderl y Slovak parishioner with little more than a grammar sc hool edu cati on , but whose daily companion , the Tranoscius, had become threadbare from constant use. Also, it was a m oving ex perience on m y last visit to Slova ki a to attend church in Liptovsky Mikulas, where Tranovsky served and died , and to worship with the congregation wh ich dates back to Tra novsky' s tim e. The faithful gathered 15 minutes to a half hour befo re the service began, a nd the members cond ucted an impromptu hymn sing, one beginning a hymn and the others pickin g it up from memory . Th roughout the worship se rvi ces, ma ny did not need to open their hym nals. The nex t evenin g I sat at the table with a pastor and his wife in Bratislava and two laym en in their mid-thirties , beginning the meal with the trad itional mealtime h ymn , and closing the evenin g with a classic h ym n from the first edition of the C ithara . Similar scenes occur among contemporary Slovak Catholics whose hymns remain a livin g part of th eir heritage. Presented in Panel 99, " Devotional Literature in Seventee nth Century Slova ki a ," at the AAASS conve nti on in Washington, D .C. on 17 October 1982. � SLOVAKIA 51 The Influence of Juraj Tranovsky's Cithara Sanctorum in Slovakia Jaroslav J. Vajda If not a landmark, Juraj Tranovsky's hymnal and prayerbook, Cithara Sanctorum, Pfsne duchovnf stare i nave (The Lyre of the Saints, Spiritual Songs Old and New, 1636), is at least a high point in Slovakia's devotional literature, especially when one includes with it Tranovsky's collection of formal liturgical prayers, Phiala Odoramentorum , Modlitby kfest'anske (A Vial of Fragrances, Christian Prayers , 1635) . Having been reprinted in more than 150 editions at home and abroad since its publication in Levoca in 1636 , the Cithara Sanctorum ranks high in popularity, usage and influence, being probably the most reprinted literary work produced in Slovakia. Our interest is in the place and impact of this book, affectionately known by Tranovsky's Latin name as the Tranoscius, in Slovak devotional literature. The Cithara, like other influential books, is the result of events and forces operating in the 16th and 17th centuries in Central Europe. Juraj Tranovsky was born on March 27, 1592 in the city of Tesfn in Silesia, of Polish parents of the Lutheran faith. 1 His earliest schooling was in a Latin grammar school in Tesfn , from which at the age of 12 he was sent to the German school in Hubin in Lower Lusatia, and from there to a humanist academy in Kolberg, Pomerania, two years later. At the age of 16 he matriculated at the University of Wittenberg, made famous by Luther and his successors. For two years young Tranovsky tutored a family at Trebon castle in southern Bohemia; he taught one year in Prague , and then accepted a position as rector of a school in Holesov, in eastern Moravia. The first traces of his poetic talents appeared in a Latin poem he wrote on the Nativity for St. Nicholas' Church in Prague , at the age of 20. In 1615 he married Anna Polan , with whom he had nine children, five sons and four daughters. Upon his ordina- �52 SLOVAKIA tio n into th e Lutheran mini stry he wa s called to be rector of the school in V alasske M ez irici, n ear H olesov in Moravia. When the local p as tor died , Tra n ovsky was called to take his place, and thu s began hi s 10-year p astor a te in M ezirici . Imm edia tely upo n his assumption of pa ri sh duties , T ran ovsk y embarked on a produ ctive p astoral a nd lite rary career. H e rebuilt the local lite rary socie ty, whi ch also included a choir , wrote a commentary and se ries of se rm o n s o n the Book of R evela tion , and wo rked on a Czech tran sla tion of the Au gsburg Confession of 1530 , a m aj or production which was pu blished in 162 0 . 2 The publication o f T ra n ovsky's tra n sla tion of thi s fo und a ti on al Lutheran symbol coincided with the defeat of the Protesta nts at the Ba ttle of White M ounta in , which effectively ended the free course of P rotestantism in Au stri a. Thou sand s of Luther a n s a nd Bohemi an Brethren fl ed before the wave of victo riou s Catholi c forces ea stward , in to Moravia, then into Slovakia a nd Hun gary, findin g re fu ge for a numbe r of years in central and eastern Slovakia . Amon g those caught in this refugee tide we re Tra novsky , hi s famil y, a nd hi s congregation in M eziri ci. The Lutheran cluster fl ed fro m pl ace to pl ace, u sually seekin g a nd findin g refuge a m o n g Hun ga ri a n Luthe ran n obility and gentry fi ghtin g a rearguard action . In the three years from 162 1 to 1624, Tran ovsky lost three children and was bri efl y imprisoned . F orced to leave M o ravia o n orders of Fe rdin a nd II , T ranovsky fl ed to Bielsko near T esfn , where he found employm ent as court preach er with hi s future p a tro n , Baron J an Szunyogh. T his reprieve la sted two years . In 1627 , with but ten year s of hi s life before him , h e took refu ge fro m furth e r per secutio n in the castles of Buda tfn a nd O rava, wh ere h e also se rved as court preache r for G abriel Illeshazy. Ju st as Luther ' s W artburg refu ge permitted him to transla te the Bible, T ranovsky's castle exil e resulted in th e produ ctio n of a L a tin h ymn collectio n e ntitl ed Odarum sacrarum sive H ym norum . .. libri tres (Three Books of Sac red Odes o r H ymn s, 1629) . By 1632 Tra n ovsky h ad assum ed the pastorate of the church in Liptovsky Sv . Mikul as , whi ch h e se rved until his death five year s la ter. A s if co n sciou s of a n early d emise, Tra novsky wo rked assi du ou sly to fini sh hi s collectio n of fo rm al liturgical p raye rs, the Phiala Odoram entorum , w hi ch a ppeared a year befo re the publi cation of hi s monumental work , the h ymnal Cithara Sanctorum in 1636 , both printed in L evoca. �SLOVAKIA 53 Tranovsky's brief but productive life cam e to an end on M ay 29 , 163 7 at the age of 45, but the results of his work continue to exe rt their influence to this day. Jozef Min arik has pointed out that the Cithara Sanctorum served in the past as a textbook of versification and prosody, and also as a " well spring of na tional consciou sn ess," besides being the '' first step in the creation of national mu sic.'' 3 Its primary impact , however , was and has rem a ined upo n the spiritual life of Slovak Christians. I emphasize Slovak Christians without regard to d enomin ation, for Tranovsky's work was ecumenical in nature and left its mark on Roman Catholic worship life as well. The Cithara was published in Levoca by V avrinec Brewer in 1636 as the answer to a growing need since the battle a t White M ounta in had stopped the production and shipment of C zech hymnals into Slovakia. It and its co mpa nion, the Phiala, were born of necessity . Slovak Lutherans, who comprised some 80 % of the Slovak popula tion a hund red years after the R eform ation ,4 did not have to p rodu ce their own devotional mate rials , since they understood the Czech language and could u se the hymn als of the Bohemian Brethren and C zech Lutheran s, eve n thou gh their theology was not totally in agreem ent with the Hu ssites and Calvinists. In the early R eformati on years , befo re th e edu cation of the laity becam e widespread , the local pastors were in co ntrol of the worship m aterials and u sed loose sheets of pa per to rep roduce the hymns which they considered appropriate for their congregational worship , the hymns being lined out for the congregation by the cantor or choir director. In thi s way a sizable repertory of hymns was developed in local co ngregations, resultin g in m an y ha ndwritten hymn accompanim en t edi tion s, or partitury, as each large Lutheran center p roduced or ad a pted its own . Al so b y this rote system of learnin g, the faithful (prima rily illiterate) acquired a growing devotional treasure, for the hymns were form s of praye r serving the C hri stian s as inspiration , com fo rt , and chall en ge, as did -the P salms of D avid. Those who we re •still illitera te could a m ass a litera ry and d evotional treasu re in a lan gu age they could unders tand , and thus their faith need s were supplied until the Slovak Lutherans could fo rm all y print p rayer books and hymn als of their ow n. T he hym ns we re not u sed alo ne, of cou rse, and we mu st pa use to mention the impo rtance of Luther ' s Sm all Ca techism in the spiritual and devotional life of the Lutheran laity. All children we re required to m emorize this brief exposition of the chief ar ticles of the C hristian faith , �54 SLOVAKIA and it became for many a daily review and anchoring of their faith as they repeated its simple explanations in their morning and evening devotions. In fact, the first printed collections of domestically composed Slovak hymns were appended to translations or reprintings of Luther 's Small Catechism. Thus , the only extant sizeable collection of hymns prior to Tranovsky' s hymnal is that of Daniel Pribis, a contemporary of Tranovsky, who collected and published 116 hymns in 1635, a year before the Cithara appeared. 5 Pribis's hymns did not come out as a separate book, as did Tranovsky's , but as an appendage to a revised translation of Luther's Catechism. This trilogy of books has been the foundation of Lutheran piety since the early years of the Reformation: the Bible , the Catechism, and the hymnal with its prayers. There would have been no such hymnal as the Tranoscius, or later the Catholic hymnal, had it not been for the Reformation and its universal impact on education, worship, and literature; or at least if the Reformation we know had not occurred, there would have had to develop a similar movement toward use of vernacular tongues . But even the Lutheran Reformation did not originate the basic conditions for use of the vernacular in the church and eventually in educational and professional areas. The first step in the eventual production of devotional literature in Slovakia was the introduction of the vernacular among the Slavs in the 9th century. For that major historical contribution, credit must be given to the patron saints of all the Slavs, the Macedonian missionary brothers, Cyril and Methodius, whose invention of the Slavonic alphabet and their translation of the scriptures into a language understandable to the Slavs, as well as their use of the vernacular in the liturgy, were all basic essentials in the ultimate production of vernacular devotional literature . 6 The n ext decisive development was the Hussite reform movement in Bohemia, challenging the dominance of Latin in the Western Church, and capturing the support of the populace by not only appealing to their nationalistic loyalties over against the Roman curia, but by proclaiming the Gospel in the language of the people and giving the faithful hymns to sing in their own tongue . The Reform movement would have died without the subsequent successful Reformation of Martin Luther, who like his Slavic forerunners, insisted on the vernacular in his Deutsche Messe, translated the Scrip- �SLOVAKIA 55 tures into German to make them accessible to the people, and then sang the Reformation into the hearts of the people with his hymns, many of which were set to popular tunes. A century later, Juraj Tranovsky found himself heir of Cyril and Method, Hus, and Luther. He provided the church with devotional literature that answered the needs of the people so well that when the Counter-Reformation set about reclaiming its huge losses, it resorted to the same means . It also used the vernacular and produced a counterpart to the Cithara Sanctorum in the Cantus Catholici, Pisne katholicke latinske a slovenske (Catholic Songs, Latin and Slovak Catholic Songs, 1655) . 7 We can say that the Cantus validated the ecumenical nature of the Cithara and of Pribis's collection by including one-fourth of the hymns in the Cithara and one-third of those in the Pribis collection. The favor was then returned by adding to the Cithara some songs from the Cantus, especially in the edition of 1674, which also carried more native songs of Slovak origin. Finally , the two hymnals had more than a hundred hymns in common. 8 What was the Cithara Sanctorum that made it influential for so many generations of Slovaks, Lutheran and Catholic? It was a product of extraordinary skill and devotion . Tranovsky came well-prepared to the task by both education, native ability, and experience. The quality of his original hymns and translations marks him as a trend-setter and standard-maker for other hymnwriters and compilers of hymnals . His revisions and selections of extant hymns demonstrate his critical ability, and his scholarly approach provides us with the first hymnal that attempts to document the sources of the hymns - except his own , which modesty caused him to offer anonymously in many instances. 9 The very size and quality of the h ymnal advances it decades beyond the normal d evelopment of hymnody. Tranovsky's approach being ecumenical and objective, he included representatives of the earliest church hymnody from the Latin a nd Greek, the contributions of Gregory the Great, the classic h ymns of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and the prayers of a similar common heritage from David through Augustine to Gregory. The 414-hymn Cithara was organized systematically according to the church year and the elements of the " Mass. " Tranovsky suppl ied the church with introits , antiphons, Kyries, Credos , Glorias , and doxologies, as well as hymns for the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist, �56 SLOVAKIA for co nfession and a bsolution , fo r fest ival s and regular Sunday s of the church year , and fo r variou s spiritu al and temporal need s - in short , an all-purpose, free-s tandin g h ymnal that provided a core of essential worship m aterial s for congregational u se, as contrasted with Pribis's collection of 116 h ymn s designated for u se in schools. In the Cithara Tranovsky drew upon fo ur sources. C omprising onehalf of th e content s, 206 h ymn s are fro m tran sm oravian hymn od y, derived m ostl y from old Czech Lutheran h ymnals by Kunvald sky (1576) and Zavo rka ( 1602). Two-thirds of th ese Tra novsky left almost intact; the rem a ining third he edi ted m ore or less thorou ghly, in som e cases leavin g onl y the openin g line untouched . F rom these sources he also included m elodies. A rich heritage of hi storic Czech K yries and C redos is preserved in th e C ith ara . The second source of h ymns fo r the Cithara was German hymnody . A la rge repertory of class ic R eform ation h ymn s has been saved fo r posteri ty in the C ith ara since they no lon ger a ppear in G erm an hym nals , nor a re they still sun g. The first edition of the Cithara offered 74 tran slati ons of G erm an hymn s, 58 of them by Tranovsky. The third source, dom esti c h ymn od y by Slovak authors in strongly Slovaki zed C zech , was weakl y represented in the C ithara, numberin g only 33. Earlier , Pribis h ad gathered 68 , most of which found their way into later editi on s of the Cith ara . Tranovsky's own contribution to the hymnal was substantial . Some 161 of the 4 14 hymn s have been traced to him , numberin g 93 original composition s, 10 tran slati on s from the L atin , and 58 from the G erm an . This porti on of th e h ymn al alone is large r than m an y h ymn als of th at d ay. Tranovsky regarded hymn s as a fo rm of p rayer . In hi s int rodu ction ot th e Cithara , he said , " H e who sin gs prays twice." T he prima ry purpose of h ymn ody was to glorify G od . ext it had a d idacti c pu r: pose , to establish and nurtu re fa ith . For this reason T ranovsky u sed simple and direct la ngu age and thu s his hymn als were adopted by the people as ex pressions of their fa ith in fa miliar term s, thou gh he employed polished poeti c skill s and a wide variety of forms. T he Phial a Odoramen toru m , the prayer po rtion of Tranovsky's work , provided th e church wi th litu rgical p raye rs as well as prayers th at co uld d oubl e as hom e devotional praye rs, for u se at mornin g and evenin g services and devotions , prayers for u se with the C atechism , fo r regular di vin e services, a nd for festivals of the church years. There were �SLOVAKIA 57 prayers for all so rts and condition s of m en , penitential p salm s, a nd collects. It was a liturgicall y constru cted instrument , refl ectin g the tradition al skeleton of the m ass, as Luther 's M esse did . Th e Phiala served its readers for several editio ns of the Cithara . It was reprinted in 1685 , th en again in the cen ten a ry editio n of 1736 . It was twi ce reprinted in the late 1890's, and in 1898 was tran slated into P olish , but it was replaced in m ost edition s of th e Cith ara by the prayers of K aspa r Neum a nn transla ted fro m the G erm an . In the end , the Phiala p rov ided a m odel for subsequ ent liturgical p rayer books a nd agendas, su ch as H rabovsky's, Krm a n 's, J a kobei's, d own to B raxatori s's. L ater editors of th e Tran osciu s exp a nded the conten ts of th e h ymn al with tra n sla ti o n s of later G erma n h ym nwrite rs, su ch as P a ul G er ha rd , Benj amin Schmolck , and with original hymn s. D efiniti ve edition s were those produ ced by D a ni el Sin a piu s-H o rcicka ( 1684) a nd Sa muel Hru skovic ( 1745), kn own as th e "second Tra n ovsky." H owever , T ran ovsky's influ en ce o n th e church of hi s d ay a nd of subsequ ent generatio ns mu st n ot be rest ri cted to the liturgical and devot ion al resources he provided for the church in the Cithara. His tran sla tion of the Au gsburg C o nfess io n a nd his in sisten ce on doctrin al con fo rmi ty to th e Scriptures a nd the Lutheran Co nfessio n s did as mu ch as a n y oth e r effort to preserve orth od oxy in Slovakia. In thi s respect h e deserved to b e called the " Lu ther of Slovakia." 10 Especiall y hi s C ithara stood as a bulwark of o rthodoxy fo r som e two centuri es again st th e influ en ces of Piet ism and R atio n ali sm whi ch res ul ted in th e p u b lication of the Zpevnfk of 1842 and nu m erou s oth er attempts to d ilu te the doctrin al integrity of Lu theran hymn od y in Slovaki a. C hi efl y two edito rs of the C ith ara, Sa mu el Hru skovic ( 1745) and J an Mocko ( 1895), re-established th e doctrin al norms whi ch had suffered at the h ands of revisio nists of in terve nin g editi o n s.11 As m ent ioned earli er, Tranovsky' s Cith ara was welcomed en thu sias ticall y by Slovak Lu th eran s, a nd its a utho r was adopted as th eir coun trym a n , even th ou gh h e was a P ole by birth a nd li ved m os t of hi s life in Silesia a nd Morav ia. Tranovsky has been faulted for writing in Czech , rather tha n in Slovak . Bu t th at was th e result of th e h istorical co nd itio n s of hi s tim e, a nd h e was sim ply followin g th e practice prevale n t in th e L u theran chu rch , where th e K ralice Bible was the a u thorized ve rsio n of the Luthera n s fo r m a n y years. H oweve r , both P r ibi s's coll ect ion and the Can tus Ca th olici of 1655 were closer to the langu age �58 SLOVAKIA of the people than Tranovsky's Cithara, chiefly because they both adopted many hymns from the folk tradition and were written in a strongly Slovakized Czech. Later editions o f the Cithara incorporated hymns from the Cantus, and subsequ ent editors of the Cithara more and more Slovakized the Czech-language h ymns . Eventually, in this century, Slovak-lan guage suppleme nts were added to the Lutheran h ymnals in Slovakia, and now the entire collection of hymns selected for the newest edition , slated for publication in 1984 , is totally translated into Slovak. In the process of doing so, some of the qualities of the original hymns and tran slations will be lost , just as they are when American and English hymnodists update the King James language of classic English h y mns . Like the Bible, the Tranoscius has continued to exert an influence on Slovak devotional life , congregational a nd private, Lutheran and Catholic. This is shown, for example, in the poet Ivan Krasko 's d escription of his aged mother and h e r piety in his famous poem Vesper dominicae ( 1909) . 12 The Cithara continues to b e a living spiritual force for Slovaks and their descendants. 13 NOTES ' Older biographical sources give April 9, 159 1 as Tranovsky's birthdate , following th e Juli an calendar. According to the Gregorian calendar, the date is March 27, 1592. J an Durovic explains the discrepancy in his Zivotopisjuraja Tranovsk eho (Liptovsky Sv. Mikulas: Tranoscius , 1942), p. 8; see also Jozef Minarik , ed. , Slovenska renesan cna lutn a: Antol6gia zo slovenskej renesancnej poezie (Bratislava: Tatran, 1982), p . 344. ' The Prologus in apocalipsin Divijohannis Apostoli, t.j. Wyklad na zgeweni Swateho J ana Aposstola .. . , thou gh written in 1617 , was not published at the tim e . The manusc ript was tran scribed by M a tej Spratek in 1701 and again by K . Bujok in 1821 ; see Durovic, pp. 89-93 . The Augustana Confessio rursus in Sla vicum versa et m eliorata (The Augsburg C onfession) was published under the C zech title Konfessy Augsspursk a, bud'to W yznanj Wjry swa re ewangelistske .. . in Olomouc, 1620. This is th e di stin cti ve confession of Lutherans since 1530 , to which all churches and pastors mu st subsc ribe as th e tru e and fai thful exposition of doctrin e . 3 M inarik , " Hl'ad ani e pram ei\a zivej vod y ," op . cit ., p . 15 . P eter Brock also emph asizes th at th e Z p evnfk of 1842 helped the Slovaks of the 19th ce ntury keep their na ti on al iden ti ty , in Th e Slovak N ation al Awak ening (Uni vers it y of To ronto Press , 1976) , pp . 76-77 , note 20. 4 David P . D a n iel has an excellent summ ary in En glish of thi s pe riod : " The P rates- �SLOVAKIA 5 ' ' ' ' ' 0 '' " " 59 ta nt R eformati on in Slovak Ethnic Consciousness, " Slovakia, XXVIII ( 1978-79) , 49-65. See also Daniel, The Historiograph y of th e R eformation in Slovakia (No. 10 , Sixtee nth Century Bibliography Seri es, St. Louis: Center for Reform at ion R esearch , 1977 ), 50 pp . D an iel Pribi s, Pisne du ch ovnf, in K atechismus D . H . Luth era z nemeckeho jazyku na slovensk y preloien y od trech superattendencu v roku 16 12 (Levoca, 1634) . For a description , see Minarik, pp. 44-47 and 33 1, who says it is written in " mimoriadne silne slovakizovanymjazykom " (p. 47), i.e. in strongly Slovakized Czech. The word slovensky did not always mean th e Slovak language in the modern sense, though it plainly identified th e people a nd the location. Lutherans have valued the legacy of Cyril and M ethod as much as the R oman Catholics, who regard them as saints . Pavel Safarik, in his definiti ve history of th e Slavs in German in 1823, gives the M acedonian brothers their due, as did J an Kollar , a not her Slovak gia nt , in his schola rl y and poetic works, as well as in all 11 -s tanza h ymns dedica ted to th e memory of Cyril and Method , Pam atajm ei, kfest'ane, No . 32 4 in the Zpevnfk and No . 128 in the Supplement (Pridavok) of the Tran oscius ( 197 1 editions). Ackn owledgm ent of the Saints ' use of the vernacul ar in worship is also mad e in the Latin prolog to th e Catholic hym nal published in 1655. See below and note 7 fo r this Catholic hym nal. Cantus ca th olici was collec ted by the J esu it Benedikt Szolozi ( 1609- 1656) a nd publi shed in Levoca, then reprinted in 1700 in Trnava; see also Mina rik , p. 5 1. H ere too slovenske does not mean the pure Slovak language, thou gh th e Czech is here ve ry strongly Slovakized . Mina rik , p. 51. Therefore schola rs' interpretations and attributions of authorship , whether original or as a translation , do not entirely agree ; e.g. Minarik' s numbers (p. 47) are slightly different from mine given below. D a niel , "Protestant R eformation ," op. cit. , pp. 52-54, has a summ a ry of some of the doctrinal differen ces amo ng Lutherans conce rnin g the Kniha svorn osti (Book of Concord) . The Zpevnfk of 1842, though undertaken with the in tenti on of culling the best hymns from the C ith ara and add ing more hymns from contemporary hymn writers , as well as fillin g in gaps with conce rn s of the 19th ce ntury, aroused the suspi cions a nd resentment of those who found a deliberate toning down of the supernatural, th e miraculous, and otherworldly elements of the C ithara. In many cases·of abbreviated hymns , th e typical 17th ce ntury look heave n wa rd is deleted , the human nat ure of C hrist is stressed above the divin e, and the termino logy of th e J ena University gradua tes replaced that of the ea rli er co nservati ve (and orthodox) Wittenberg schola rs. Some of the Zpevnfk 's positive elements, such as hymns of social conce rn , have been retained in the for m of a suppl ement in the 1971 edition , with some previously om itted classic hymns from the C ith ara . Ivan Krasko, Nox et solitudo (M artin, 1909; rpt. Basn e , M a rtin 1948), pp . 40-41. M y translation into English is give n in An Anthology of Slovak Literature , compiled by Andrew C incura (Ri verside, 19 76), pp . 2 1-22 . Both of my grandmothers were R oman Catholi c, and my mother 's mother , though �60 SLOVAKIA she remained a Catholic all her life, daily used the Cithara for her private devotions and knew ma ny of the hym ns b y heart. In my own pastoral experience, I have tended m a n y a n elderl y Slovak parishioner with little more than a grammar sc hool edu cati on , but whose daily companion , the Tranoscius, had become threadbare from constant use. Also, it was a m oving ex perience on m y last visit to Slova ki a to attend church in Liptovsky Mikulas, where Tranovsky served and died , and to worship with the congregation wh ich dates back to Tra novsky' s tim e. The faithful gathered 15 minutes to a half hour befo re the service began, a nd the members cond ucted an impromptu hymn sing, one beginning a hymn and the others pickin g it up from memory . Th roughout the worship se rvi ces, ma ny did not need to open their hym nals. The nex t evenin g I sat at the table with a pastor and his wife in Bratislava and two laym en in their mid-thirties , beginning the meal with the trad itional mealtime h ymn , and closing the evenin g with a classic h ym n from the first edition of the C ithara . Similar scenes occur among contemporary Slovak Catholics whose hymns remain a livin g part of th eir heritage. Presented in Panel 99, " Devotional Literature in Seventee nth Century Slova ki a ," at the AAASS conve nti on in Washington, D .C. on 17 October 1982. � 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 1982-83, Vol. 30 Description An account of the resource Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83. 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 1982-83 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 51 The Influence of Juraj Tranovsky's Cithara Sanctorum in Slovakia Jaroslav J. Vajda If not a landmark, Juraj Tranovsky's hymnal and prayerbook, Cithara Sanctorum, Pfsne duchovnf stare i nave (The Lyre of the Saints, Spiritual Songs Old and New, 1636), is at least a high point in Slovakia's devotional literature, especially when one includes with it Tranovsky's collection of formal liturgical prayers, Phiala Odoramentorum , Modlitby kfest'anske (A Vial of Fragrances, Christian Prayers , 1635) . Having been reprinted in more than 150 editions at home and abroad since its publication in Levoca in 1636 , the Cithara Sanctorum ranks high in popularity, usage and influence, being probably the most reprinted literary work produced in Slovakia. Our interest is in the place and impact of this book, affectionately known by Tranovsky's Latin name as the Tranoscius, in Slovak devotional literature. The Cithara, like other influential books, is the result of events and forces operating in the 16th and 17th centuries in Central Europe. Juraj Tranovsky was born on March 27, 1592 in the city of Tesfn in Silesia, of Polish parents of the Lutheran faith. 1 His earliest schooling was in a Latin grammar school in Tesfn , from which at the age of 12 he was sent to the German school in Hubin in Lower Lusatia, and from there to a humanist academy in Kolberg, Pomerania, two years later. At the age of 16 he matriculated at the University of Wittenberg, made famous by Luther and his successors. For two years young Tranovsky tutored a family at Trebon castle in southern Bohemia; he taught one year in Prague , and then accepted a position as rector of a school in Holesov, in eastern Moravia. The first traces of his poetic talents appeared in a Latin poem he wrote on the Nativity for St. Nicholas' Church in Prague , at the age of 20. In 1615 he married Anna Polan , with whom he had nine children, five sons and four daughters. Upon his ordina- 52 SLOVAKIA tio n into th e Lutheran mini stry he wa s called to be rector of the school in V alasske M ez irici, n ear H olesov in Moravia. When the local p as tor died , Tra n ovsky was called to take his place, and thu s began hi s 10-year p astor a te in M ezirici . Imm edia tely upo n his assumption of pa ri sh duties , T ran ovsk y embarked on a produ ctive p astoral a nd lite rary career. H e rebuilt the local lite rary socie ty, whi ch also included a choir , wrote a commentary and se ries of se rm o n s o n the Book of R evela tion , and wo rked on a Czech tran sla tion of the Au gsburg Confession of 1530 , a m aj or production which was pu blished in 162 0 . 2 The publication o f T ra n ovsky's tra n sla tion of thi s fo und a ti on al Lutheran symbol coincided with the defeat of the Protesta nts at the Ba ttle of White M ounta in , which effectively ended the free course of P rotestantism in Au stri a. Thou sand s of Luther a n s a nd Bohemi an Brethren fl ed before the wave of victo riou s Catholi c forces ea stward , in to Moravia, then into Slovakia a nd Hun gary, findin g re fu ge for a numbe r of years in central and eastern Slovakia . Amon g those caught in this refugee tide we re Tra novsky , hi s famil y, a nd hi s congregation in M eziri ci. The Lutheran cluster fl ed fro m pl ace to pl ace, u sually seekin g a nd findin g refuge a m o n g Hun ga ri a n Luthe ran n obility and gentry fi ghtin g a rearguard action . In the three years from 162 1 to 1624, Tran ovsky lost three children and was bri efl y imprisoned . F orced to leave M o ravia o n orders of Fe rdin a nd II , T ranovsky fl ed to Bielsko near T esfn , where he found employm ent as court preach er with hi s future p a tro n , Baron J an Szunyogh. T his reprieve la sted two years . In 1627 , with but ten year s of hi s life before him , h e took refu ge fro m furth e r per secutio n in the castles of Buda tfn a nd O rava, wh ere h e also se rved as court preache r for G abriel Illeshazy. Ju st as Luther ' s W artburg refu ge permitted him to transla te the Bible, T ranovsky's castle exil e resulted in th e produ ctio n of a L a tin h ymn collectio n e ntitl ed Odarum sacrarum sive H ym norum . .. libri tres (Three Books of Sac red Odes o r H ymn s, 1629) . By 1632 Tra n ovsky h ad assum ed the pastorate of the church in Liptovsky Sv . Mikul as , whi ch h e se rved until his death five year s la ter. A s if co n sciou s of a n early d emise, Tra novsky wo rked assi du ou sly to fini sh hi s collectio n of fo rm al liturgical p raye rs, the Phiala Odoram entorum , w hi ch a ppeared a year befo re the publi cation of hi s monumental work , the h ymnal Cithara Sanctorum in 1636 , both printed in L evoca. SLOVAKIA 53 Tranovsky's brief but productive life cam e to an end on M ay 29 , 163 7 at the age of 45, but the results of his work continue to exe rt their influence to this day. Jozef Min arik has pointed out that the Cithara Sanctorum served in the past as a textbook of versification and prosody, and also as a " well spring of na tional consciou sn ess," besides being the '' first step in the creation of national mu sic.'' 3 Its primary impact , however , was and has rem a ined upo n the spiritual life of Slovak Christians. I emphasize Slovak Christians without regard to d enomin ation, for Tranovsky's work was ecumenical in nature and left its mark on Roman Catholic worship life as well. The Cithara was published in Levoca by V avrinec Brewer in 1636 as the answer to a growing need since the battle a t White M ounta in had stopped the production and shipment of C zech hymnals into Slovakia. It and its co mpa nion, the Phiala, were born of necessity . Slovak Lutherans, who comprised some 80 % of the Slovak popula tion a hund red years after the R eform ation ,4 did not have to p rodu ce their own devotional mate rials , since they understood the Czech language and could u se the hymn als of the Bohemian Brethren and C zech Lutheran s, eve n thou gh their theology was not totally in agreem ent with the Hu ssites and Calvinists. In the early R eformati on years , befo re th e edu cation of the laity becam e widespread , the local pastors were in co ntrol of the worship m aterials and u sed loose sheets of pa per to rep roduce the hymns which they considered appropriate for their congregational worship , the hymns being lined out for the congregation by the cantor or choir director. In thi s way a sizable repertory of hymns was developed in local co ngregations, resultin g in m an y ha ndwritten hymn accompanim en t edi tion s, or partitury, as each large Lutheran center p roduced or ad a pted its own . Al so b y this rote system of learnin g, the faithful (prima rily illiterate) acquired a growing devotional treasure, for the hymns were form s of praye r serving the C hri stian s as inspiration , com fo rt , and chall en ge, as did -the P salms of D avid. Those who we re •still illitera te could a m ass a litera ry and d evotional treasu re in a lan gu age they could unders tand , and thus their faith need s were supplied until the Slovak Lutherans could fo rm all y print p rayer books and hymn als of their ow n. T he hym ns we re not u sed alo ne, of cou rse, and we mu st pa use to mention the impo rtance of Luther ' s Sm all Ca techism in the spiritual and devotional life of the Lutheran laity. All children we re required to m emorize this brief exposition of the chief ar ticles of the C hristian faith , 54 SLOVAKIA and it became for many a daily review and anchoring of their faith as they repeated its simple explanations in their morning and evening devotions. In fact, the first printed collections of domestically composed Slovak hymns were appended to translations or reprintings of Luther 's Small Catechism. Thus , the only extant sizeable collection of hymns prior to Tranovsky' s hymnal is that of Daniel Pribis, a contemporary of Tranovsky, who collected and published 116 hymns in 1635, a year before the Cithara appeared. 5 Pribis's hymns did not come out as a separate book, as did Tranovsky's , but as an appendage to a revised translation of Luther's Catechism. This trilogy of books has been the foundation of Lutheran piety since the early years of the Reformation: the Bible , the Catechism, and the hymnal with its prayers. There would have been no such hymnal as the Tranoscius, or later the Catholic hymnal, had it not been for the Reformation and its universal impact on education, worship, and literature; or at least if the Reformation we know had not occurred, there would have had to develop a similar movement toward use of vernacular tongues . But even the Lutheran Reformation did not originate the basic conditions for use of the vernacular in the church and eventually in educational and professional areas. The first step in the eventual production of devotional literature in Slovakia was the introduction of the vernacular among the Slavs in the 9th century. For that major historical contribution, credit must be given to the patron saints of all the Slavs, the Macedonian missionary brothers, Cyril and Methodius, whose invention of the Slavonic alphabet and their translation of the scriptures into a language understandable to the Slavs, as well as their use of the vernacular in the liturgy, were all basic essentials in the ultimate production of vernacular devotional literature . 6 The n ext decisive development was the Hussite reform movement in Bohemia, challenging the dominance of Latin in the Western Church, and capturing the support of the populace by not only appealing to their nationalistic loyalties over against the Roman curia, but by proclaiming the Gospel in the language of the people and giving the faithful hymns to sing in their own tongue . The Reform movement would have died without the subsequent successful Reformation of Martin Luther, who like his Slavic forerunners, insisted on the vernacular in his Deutsche Messe, translated the Scrip- SLOVAKIA 55 tures into German to make them accessible to the people, and then sang the Reformation into the hearts of the people with his hymns, many of which were set to popular tunes. A century later, Juraj Tranovsky found himself heir of Cyril and Method, Hus, and Luther. He provided the church with devotional literature that answered the needs of the people so well that when the Counter-Reformation set about reclaiming its huge losses, it resorted to the same means . It also used the vernacular and produced a counterpart to the Cithara Sanctorum in the Cantus Catholici, Pisne katholicke latinske a slovenske (Catholic Songs, Latin and Slovak Catholic Songs, 1655) . 7 We can say that the Cantus validated the ecumenical nature of the Cithara and of Pribis's collection by including one-fourth of the hymns in the Cithara and one-third of those in the Pribis collection. The favor was then returned by adding to the Cithara some songs from the Cantus, especially in the edition of 1674, which also carried more native songs of Slovak origin. Finally , the two hymnals had more than a hundred hymns in common. 8 What was the Cithara Sanctorum that made it influential for so many generations of Slovaks, Lutheran and Catholic? It was a product of extraordinary skill and devotion . Tranovsky came well-prepared to the task by both education, native ability, and experience. The quality of his original hymns and translations marks him as a trend-setter and standard-maker for other hymnwriters and compilers of hymnals . His revisions and selections of extant hymns demonstrate his critical ability, and his scholarly approach provides us with the first hymnal that attempts to document the sources of the hymns - except his own , which modesty caused him to offer anonymously in many instances. 9 The very size and quality of the h ymnal advances it decades beyond the normal d evelopment of hymnody. Tranovsky's approach being ecumenical and objective, he included representatives of the earliest church hymnody from the Latin a nd Greek, the contributions of Gregory the Great, the classic h ymns of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and the prayers of a similar common heritage from David through Augustine to Gregory. The 414-hymn Cithara was organized systematically according to the church year and the elements of the " Mass. " Tranovsky suppl ied the church with introits , antiphons, Kyries, Credos , Glorias , and doxologies, as well as hymns for the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist, 56 SLOVAKIA for co nfession and a bsolution , fo r fest ival s and regular Sunday s of the church year , and fo r variou s spiritu al and temporal need s - in short , an all-purpose, free-s tandin g h ymnal that provided a core of essential worship m aterial s for congregational u se, as contrasted with Pribis's collection of 116 h ymn s designated for u se in schools. In the Cithara Tranovsky drew upon fo ur sources. C omprising onehalf of th e content s, 206 h ymn s are fro m tran sm oravian hymn od y, derived m ostl y from old Czech Lutheran h ymnals by Kunvald sky (1576) and Zavo rka ( 1602). Two-thirds of th ese Tra novsky left almost intact; the rem a ining third he edi ted m ore or less thorou ghly, in som e cases leavin g onl y the openin g line untouched . F rom these sources he also included m elodies. A rich heritage of hi storic Czech K yries and C redos is preserved in th e C ith ara . The second source of h ymns fo r the Cithara was German hymnody . A la rge repertory of class ic R eform ation h ymn s has been saved fo r posteri ty in the C ith ara since they no lon ger a ppear in G erm an hym nals , nor a re they still sun g. The first edition of the Cithara offered 74 tran slati ons of G erm an hymn s, 58 of them by Tranovsky. The third source, dom esti c h ymn od y by Slovak authors in strongly Slovaki zed C zech , was weakl y represented in the C ithara, numberin g only 33. Earlier , Pribis h ad gathered 68 , most of which found their way into later editi on s of the Cith ara . Tranovsky's own contribution to the hymnal was substantial . Some 161 of the 4 14 hymn s have been traced to him , numberin g 93 original composition s, 10 tran slati on s from the L atin , and 58 from the G erm an . This porti on of th e h ymn al alone is large r than m an y h ymn als of th at d ay. Tranovsky regarded hymn s as a fo rm of p rayer . In hi s int rodu ction ot th e Cithara , he said , " H e who sin gs prays twice." T he prima ry purpose of h ymn ody was to glorify G od . ext it had a d idacti c pu r: pose , to establish and nurtu re fa ith . For this reason T ranovsky u sed simple and direct la ngu age and thu s his hymn als were adopted by the people as ex pressions of their fa ith in fa miliar term s, thou gh he employed polished poeti c skill s and a wide variety of forms. T he Phial a Odoramen toru m , the prayer po rtion of Tranovsky's work , provided th e church wi th litu rgical p raye rs as well as prayers th at co uld d oubl e as hom e devotional praye rs, for u se at mornin g and evenin g services and devotions , prayers for u se with the C atechism , fo r regular di vin e services, a nd for festivals of the church years. There were SLOVAKIA 57 prayers for all so rts and condition s of m en , penitential p salm s, a nd collects. It was a liturgicall y constru cted instrument , refl ectin g the tradition al skeleton of the m ass, as Luther 's M esse did . Th e Phiala served its readers for several editio ns of the Cithara . It was reprinted in 1685 , th en again in the cen ten a ry editio n of 1736 . It was twi ce reprinted in the late 1890's, and in 1898 was tran slated into P olish , but it was replaced in m ost edition s of th e Cith ara by the prayers of K aspa r Neum a nn transla ted fro m the G erm an . In the end , the Phiala p rov ided a m odel for subsequ ent liturgical p rayer books a nd agendas, su ch as H rabovsky's, Krm a n 's, J a kobei's, d own to B raxatori s's. L ater editors of th e Tran osciu s exp a nded the conten ts of th e h ymn al with tra n sla ti o n s of later G erma n h ym nwrite rs, su ch as P a ul G er ha rd , Benj amin Schmolck , and with original hymn s. D efiniti ve edition s were those produ ced by D a ni el Sin a piu s-H o rcicka ( 1684) a nd Sa muel Hru skovic ( 1745), kn own as th e "second Tra n ovsky." H owever , T ran ovsky's influ en ce o n th e church of hi s d ay a nd of subsequ ent generatio ns mu st n ot be rest ri cted to the liturgical and devot ion al resources he provided for the church in the Cithara. His tran sla tion of the Au gsburg C o nfess io n a nd his in sisten ce on doctrin al con fo rmi ty to th e Scriptures a nd the Lutheran Co nfessio n s did as mu ch as a n y oth e r effort to preserve orth od oxy in Slovakia. In thi s respect h e deserved to b e called the " Lu ther of Slovakia." 10 Especiall y hi s C ithara stood as a bulwark of o rthodoxy fo r som e two centuri es again st th e influ en ces of Piet ism and R atio n ali sm whi ch res ul ted in th e p u b lication of the Zpevnfk of 1842 and nu m erou s oth er attempts to d ilu te the doctrin al integrity of Lu theran hymn od y in Slovaki a. C hi efl y two edito rs of the C ith ara, Sa mu el Hru skovic ( 1745) and J an Mocko ( 1895), re-established th e doctrin al norms whi ch had suffered at the h ands of revisio nists of in terve nin g editi o n s.11 As m ent ioned earli er, Tranovsky' s Cith ara was welcomed en thu sias ticall y by Slovak Lu th eran s, a nd its a utho r was adopted as th eir coun trym a n , even th ou gh h e was a P ole by birth a nd li ved m os t of hi s life in Silesia a nd Morav ia. Tranovsky has been faulted for writing in Czech , rather tha n in Slovak . Bu t th at was th e result of th e h istorical co nd itio n s of hi s tim e, a nd h e was sim ply followin g th e practice prevale n t in th e L u theran chu rch , where th e K ralice Bible was the a u thorized ve rsio n of the Luthera n s fo r m a n y years. H oweve r , both P r ibi s's coll ect ion and the Can tus Ca th olici of 1655 were closer to the langu age 58 SLOVAKIA of the people than Tranovsky's Cithara, chiefly because they both adopted many hymns from the folk tradition and were written in a strongly Slovakized Czech. Later editions o f the Cithara incorporated hymns from the Cantus, and subsequ ent editors of the Cithara more and more Slovakized the Czech-language h ymns . Eventually, in this century, Slovak-lan guage suppleme nts were added to the Lutheran h ymnals in Slovakia, and now the entire collection of hymns selected for the newest edition , slated for publication in 1984 , is totally translated into Slovak. In the process of doing so, some of the qualities of the original hymns and tran slations will be lost , just as they are when American and English hymnodists update the King James language of classic English h y mns . Like the Bible, the Tranoscius has continued to exert an influence on Slovak devotional life , congregational a nd private, Lutheran and Catholic. This is shown, for example, in the poet Ivan Krasko 's d escription of his aged mother and h e r piety in his famous poem Vesper dominicae ( 1909) . 12 The Cithara continues to b e a living spiritual force for Slovaks and their descendants. 13 NOTES ' Older biographical sources give April 9, 159 1 as Tranovsky's birthdate , following th e Juli an calendar. According to the Gregorian calendar, the date is March 27, 1592. J an Durovic explains the discrepancy in his Zivotopisjuraja Tranovsk eho (Liptovsky Sv. Mikulas: Tranoscius , 1942), p. 8; see also Jozef Minarik , ed. , Slovenska renesan cna lutn a: Antol6gia zo slovenskej renesancnej poezie (Bratislava: Tatran, 1982), p . 344. ' The Prologus in apocalipsin Divijohannis Apostoli, t.j. Wyklad na zgeweni Swateho J ana Aposstola .. . , thou gh written in 1617 , was not published at the tim e . The manusc ript was tran scribed by M a tej Spratek in 1701 and again by K . Bujok in 1821 ; see Durovic, pp. 89-93 . The Augustana Confessio rursus in Sla vicum versa et m eliorata (The Augsburg C onfession) was published under the C zech title Konfessy Augsspursk a, bud'to W yznanj Wjry swa re ewangelistske .. . in Olomouc, 1620. This is th e di stin cti ve confession of Lutherans since 1530 , to which all churches and pastors mu st subsc ribe as th e tru e and fai thful exposition of doctrin e . 3 M inarik , " Hl'ad ani e pram ei\a zivej vod y ," op . cit ., p . 15 . P eter Brock also emph asizes th at th e Z p evnfk of 1842 helped the Slovaks of the 19th ce ntury keep their na ti on al iden ti ty , in Th e Slovak N ation al Awak ening (Uni vers it y of To ronto Press , 1976) , pp . 76-77 , note 20. 4 David P . D a n iel has an excellent summ ary in En glish of thi s pe riod : " The P rates- SLOVAKIA 5 ' ' ' ' ' 0 '' " " 59 ta nt R eformati on in Slovak Ethnic Consciousness, " Slovakia, XXVIII ( 1978-79) , 49-65. See also Daniel, The Historiograph y of th e R eformation in Slovakia (No. 10 , Sixtee nth Century Bibliography Seri es, St. Louis: Center for Reform at ion R esearch , 1977 ), 50 pp . D an iel Pribi s, Pisne du ch ovnf, in K atechismus D . H . Luth era z nemeckeho jazyku na slovensk y preloien y od trech superattendencu v roku 16 12 (Levoca, 1634) . For a description , see Minarik, pp. 44-47 and 33 1, who says it is written in " mimoriadne silne slovakizovanymjazykom " (p. 47), i.e. in strongly Slovakized Czech. The word slovensky did not always mean th e Slovak language in the modern sense, though it plainly identified th e people a nd the location. Lutherans have valued the legacy of Cyril and M ethod as much as the R oman Catholics, who regard them as saints . Pavel Safarik, in his definiti ve history of th e Slavs in German in 1823, gives the M acedonian brothers their due, as did J an Kollar , a not her Slovak gia nt , in his schola rl y and poetic works, as well as in all 11 -s tanza h ymns dedica ted to th e memory of Cyril and Method , Pam atajm ei, kfest'ane, No . 32 4 in the Zpevnfk and No . 128 in the Supplement (Pridavok) of the Tran oscius ( 197 1 editions). Ackn owledgm ent of the Saints ' use of the vernacul ar in worship is also mad e in the Latin prolog to th e Catholic hym nal published in 1655. See below and note 7 fo r this Catholic hym nal. Cantus ca th olici was collec ted by the J esu it Benedikt Szolozi ( 1609- 1656) a nd publi shed in Levoca, then reprinted in 1700 in Trnava; see also Mina rik , p. 5 1. H ere too slovenske does not mean the pure Slovak language, thou gh th e Czech is here ve ry strongly Slovakized . Mina rik , p. 51. Therefore schola rs' interpretations and attributions of authorship , whether original or as a translation , do not entirely agree ; e.g. Minarik' s numbers (p. 47) are slightly different from mine given below. D a niel , "Protestant R eformation ," op. cit. , pp. 52-54, has a summ a ry of some of the doctrinal differen ces amo ng Lutherans conce rnin g the Kniha svorn osti (Book of Concord) . The Zpevnfk of 1842, though undertaken with the in tenti on of culling the best hymns from the C ith ara and add ing more hymns from contemporary hymn writers , as well as fillin g in gaps with conce rn s of the 19th ce ntury, aroused the suspi cions a nd resentment of those who found a deliberate toning down of the supernatural, th e miraculous, and otherworldly elements of the C ithara. In many cases·of abbreviated hymns , th e typical 17th ce ntury look heave n wa rd is deleted , the human nat ure of C hrist is stressed above the divin e, and the termino logy of th e J ena University gradua tes replaced that of the ea rli er co nservati ve (and orthodox) Wittenberg schola rs. Some of the Zpevnfk 's positive elements, such as hymns of social conce rn , have been retained in the for m of a suppl ement in the 1971 edition , with some previously om itted classic hymns from the C ith ara . Ivan Krasko, Nox et solitudo (M artin, 1909; rpt. Basn e , M a rtin 1948), pp . 40-41. M y translation into English is give n in An Anthology of Slovak Literature , compiled by Andrew C incura (Ri verside, 19 76), pp . 2 1-22 . Both of my grandmothers were R oman Catholi c, and my mother 's mother , though 60 SLOVAKIA she remained a Catholic all her life, daily used the Cithara for her private devotions and knew ma ny of the hym ns b y heart. In my own pastoral experience, I have tended m a n y a n elderl y Slovak parishioner with little more than a grammar sc hool edu cati on , but whose daily companion , the Tranoscius, had become threadbare from constant use. Also, it was a m oving ex perience on m y last visit to Slova ki a to attend church in Liptovsky Mikulas, where Tranovsky served and died , and to worship with the congregation wh ich dates back to Tra novsky' s tim e. The faithful gathered 15 minutes to a half hour befo re the service began, a nd the members cond ucted an impromptu hymn sing, one beginning a hymn and the others pickin g it up from memory . Th roughout the worship se rvi ces, ma ny did not need to open their hym nals. The nex t evenin g I sat at the table with a pastor and his wife in Bratislava and two laym en in their mid-thirties , beginning the meal with the trad itional mealtime h ymn , and closing the evenin g with a classic h ym n from the first edition of the C ithara . Similar scenes occur among contemporary Slovak Catholics whose hymns remain a livin g part of th eir heritage. Presented in Panel 99, " Devotional Literature in Seventee nth Century Slova ki a ," at the AAASS conve nti on in Washington, D .C. on 17 October 1982.  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 Influence of Juraj Tranovský's Cithara Sanctorum in Slovakia Description An account of the resource Jaroslav J. Vajda Slovakia, Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83 pp. 51-60 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Vajda, Jaroslav J., 1919-2008 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/84fc1576fce2ebe7a0f282dd1398c614.pdf 627d8e71ad728989ee286f3133c5db4b PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 36 Counter-Reformation and Early Czech Catholic Kancionaly in the Kingdom of Bohemia (1588-1683) Marie- Elizabeth Ducreux I) THE BACKGROUND It is surely unnecessary here to go deeply into the hi story of th e Counter Reformation in the Czech Kingdom , so intima tely linked in m y mind to its integration into the H apsburg Monarchy . In any case, exploring this history in detail is obviously beyond the scope of this paper , but to situate the context of my subj ect, I shall begin by sketching its general outline and suggesting a periodization. Four phases can be di stin gui shed in th e elaboration and application of the policy of co nversion . Th e first period, extending from th e arrival ofthejesuits in Prague (1556) to the d efeat at White M ountain (Nov. 8 , 1620), set the stage for what followed. The second period , from 1621 to the reign of Leopold I , witnessed active attempts to implement the poli cy of con ve rsion . This includes the Thirty Years' War, which seve rely h ampered effort s to convert the rural areas, a nd the milesto ne of 1650 , whi ch marked the energetic resurgence of the civil powers and th e archbishopric in supervi sing the population . Then , under L eopold I , followed a period of relative respite. Bohemia was then supposedl y Catholic, although proof ex ists of the persistence of m a ny non-C atholi cs, eve n in the ranks of the nobility. For inst ance, h ym nologist Vaclav Kleych (who was not an aristocrat) , born at Lazany near Litom ysl in 1682 , who emigrated with all his family to Zittau at the beginning of the 18th century . Finally the fourth period, from 1705 to 1780 , witnessed the tightening of rep ression and a search for heretics all over Bohem ia. 1 The judicial regulation of Joseph I ( 1705-1 711) made punishable by death the peddlin g of heretical books, preaching, and suspicious assembli es. �SLOVAKIA 37 The death penalty was confirmed by Charles VI ( 1711-1740) several times, with at least five patents from March 15, 1721 to February 4, 1 724. 2 He reinforced existing antiheretical legislation with a publication on Jan. 29, 1726, which was confirmed at least twenty-two times until 1770, i.e. a lso during the reign of Maria Theresa. 3 In this system of laws, heresy was punished by forced labor and, in case of relapse, the galleys, exile and death . This was, of course, also the time of the well-known bookburning - and, more often, book confiscation and rectification . 4 The patent of October 13, 1781 put an end to the repression by accepting - with reservations - the Lutheran, Calvinist and Greek Catholic confessions . But only 45,000 persons 5 publically proclaimed their adherence to these two Protestant denominations, and the adherents of popular sects (for example that of the "Lambs,'' Berankove) continued long after to be persecuted by being press-ganged into the army . 6 We shall be concerned here with only the first two periods of the Counter Reformation . They co nstitute the background for the emergency of a Catholic hymnology in Czech. II) POLITICS AND RELIGION FROM THE END OF THE 16TH CENTURY TO 1620 From the end of the 16th century to White Mountain, the Czech Counter-Reformation lacked the means to carry out its program, even though the Hapsburgs had made Catholicism one of the principal tools of their politics in Bohemia . The Diet was torn apart by the religious conflict. After 1575 and the elaboration of the Confessio Bohemica, 1 the Sub Utraque party acquired increasing importance . 8 The events leading up to the de finitive d estruction of religious coexistence in 1618, after it had finally been won in 1609 , are too well known to be gone into here. Despite this profound upheaval , part of the intellectual elite of Prague remained open to the ideas of religious tolerance. 9 In general, the towns and cities of Bohemia were mainly Neo-Utraquist (ci:-ypto-Lutheran), with the exception of Catholic Plzeii and some others. In the countrysid e, the great majority of the clergy seems also to have been NeoUtraquist; but it must be admitted that very little is known about the realities of rural religious life in 16th century Bohemia. Despite proceedings against them, 10 the Czech Brethren were well established in ce rtain areas, especially in Moravia. �38 SLOVAKIA Throughout Bohemia, where the archbishopric ' s seat remained vacant from 14 71 to 1561 ( the year of the enthronization of Brus of Mohelnice), the structures of the Catholic Church were in deep disarray. The lack of priests was so severe that it made itself felt until at least the last third of the 17th century. 11 Therefore, religious and missionary orders, especially the Jesuits , had a lot to do to fill the vacuum. Catholicism in Moravia seems to have been more resistant , for at least the episcopal seat in Olomouc never went empty. But the towns were mostly Lutheran, even as their patrician elite was perhaps more Germanized than elsewhere . Sects abounded: in the 16th century, as is well known, Moravia had become the refuge for all the heretics of Europe. 12 The bastions of the Czech Brethren were there, especially in the lands of the Zerotfns , where they printed many of their books in the second half of the century, including the famous Kralice Bible (1579-1593) . Since the beginning of the 16th century the Moravian Diet had counted freedom of religion among its acquired privileges. In the last third of the 16th century, as a party of Catholic activists and Hapsburg faithfuls was reconstituted among the great lords in the Diet of Bohemia (Zdenek and Ladislav of Lobkovic , Vilem Slavata, J aroslav Martinie, Vilem of Rozmberk and so on), Jesuits frequently had ~issions on the estates of the nobility which had been won over by the new style of the Counter-Reformation. But this still remained a sporadic phenomenon, affecting only individuals. In the last analysis, although the figures are not entirely trustworthy, the population of the Czech Kingdom around 1620 was at least 75 % non-Catholic; the figure of 90% has also been advanced and seems to be reliable for Bohemia (without Moravia) . 13 It was a hybrid " Protestantism," deeply affected by the popular sects. Unfortunately, space does not permit me to dwell upon the extremely particular case of Czech Protestantism as it developed after the period of Hussitism . 14 III) CZECH CATHOLIC HYMNOLOGY Tfanovskfs Cithara Sanctorum (Lyre of the Saints, 1636, Levoca) represented an entirely successful attempt to renew and unify the evangelical repertoire of both the Slovak and the Czech Protestants expelled from the kingdom of Bohemia after White Mountain. Nevertheless, Tfanovsky had also delved into the rich traditions of the Utraquists, the Brethren and even the Czech Lutherans , whose �SLOVAKIA 39 first printed songbooks went back to 1501 , Pfsnicky (Little Songs , Praha 1501 , editor Jan Severyn z Kapi'. Hory, a Czech Brethren songbook). 206 canticles in the 1636 edition, or 50 % , came from the abundant repertoire of his Czech predecessors . Thus even though Tfanovsky's efforts were innovative and in many respects uniqu e in contemporary Czech and Slovak Protestant hymnology, they were rooted in a rich past and inserted within a hymnological continuum. Could the same have been true for Czech Catholic hymnology? Did it possess Catholic models anterior to the Counter-Reformation? If not, what was its relationship to the repertoires of the Utraquists , the Brethren, and even Tfanovsky? Finally, why did the Counter- Reformation so consistently resort to songbooks in the vernacular throughout the 17th and 18th centuries? All these questions will guide the following investigation. 1) Quantification of Catholic canticles and anthologies from 1580 to the end of the 18th century First, to give an idea of the imposing dimensions of Czech Catholic hymnology , I would like to provide a few figures. The Utraquists, Czech Brethren and Czech Lutherans published at least 106 different collections of canticles in Czech between 1501 and 1620. 15 Between 1580 and 1800, 85 editions of Catholic anthologies appeared. This latter figure is minimal and partial, for with a few but significant exceptions, it includes only titles beginning with Pfsne, Pfsnicky, Kancional, Kancionalnfk and Kancionalek (Songs, Little Songs, Songbook , Little Songbook). 16 The sheer quantity of canticles involved is overwhelming: 24 of these anthologies are over 500 pages long, 21 of them are over 400 pages long, and some of their number contain almost 1,000 canticles (e .g. Steyer's songbooks). A few more data before we proceed: I myself have gone through and analyzed 29 of the most important collections . Taken together, they contain around 10 ,000 can tides . There is considerable overlap , and as it emerges from these 29 anthologies, some 2,330 canticles actually circulated in 17th and 18th ce ntury Bohemia and Morav ia. Included in this figure are 1,950 canticl es which first appeared between 1580 and the end of the 18th century. Ifl stick to the temporal limits ofmy paper, that is from 1588 to 1683, the fourteen pertin ent coll ections together �40 SLOVAKIA contain 1,941 canticles including 1,128 novelties, or 58 % of the 1,950 new canticles catalogued up to 1798. 2) Catholic coJlections of hymns from the beginning of the Counter-Reformation to 1683 and their relationship to Protestant Czech hymnol- ogy Before the beginning of the Counter-Reformation in Bohemia (circa 1555-1560), only one Catholic songbook existed in the face of the numerous anthologies of the Brethren, Utraquists and Lutherans. Published anonymously in Pizer\ in 1529, both its title, Pfsnicky velmi pekne a pffkladne na nedelnf ctenf do roka (Very pretty and exemplary songs on the Sunday Gospels of the year)' 7 and its contents are reminiscent of the contemporaneous publications of the Utraquist Mfrinsky (in 1522, 1531 , then 1567, 1577 and 1590). In 1550 and 1595, the poet - or rather versifier - Simon Lomnicky z Budce published his Pfsne na Evangelia (Songs on the Gospels of the year, Praha 1580) containing 115 new canticles, and his Pfsne historicke (H istorical Songs, Praha 1595) containing 51 new canticles versifying the lives of 51 Saints, for which he had delved into diverse legendary sources, including the Legenda Aurea . But Lomnicky's songbooks are not products of the Counter-Reformation. Their tone is different, and their author did not belong to the circles of those seeking the conversion of Bohemia. He was rather a provincial writer who took pleasure in converting everything coming into his hands into songs, and who belonged to the "learned middle classes," ifl am allowed to speak in such a way . He was a school master, and in publishing two songbooks he was following late sixteenth-century fashion in urban milieux which were essentially Utraquist. Furthermore, nothing indicates that Lomnicky's collections were destined for the Church , for liturgical or paraiiturgical use; on the contrary, their author himself conceived the possibility of simple reading as well as singing. 18 These three songbooks, of which two were anterior to the first hymnological efforts of the Counter-Reformation , could well have served as models for the editors of Catholic songbooks . But in fact neither the 1529 anthology nor the Pfsne na Evangelia of 1580 (with the exception of two canticles) left any traces , while Lomnicky ' s Pfsne historicke were widely used as canticles on the Saints in 1631, 1642, 1659 and then in 1712 and 1719 . 19 �SLOVAKIA 41 The first real songbook of the Counter-Reformation emerged only in 1588 in Prague, under the aegis of the Jesuits of St. Clement College . 20 Containing 91 canticles, it was entitled Pfsne nave, kratke naucenf kfestanskeho v sobe obsahujfcf, sjinymi nekterymi na vajrocnf slavnosti i k vsidnf potfebe pfidanymi, pro Mladez a sprostnejsf lid, v nave vydane .. . (New songs containing a brief instruction in the Christian religion , with others for the feast d ays of the year and daily requirements, newly published for the young and ignorant. .. , Praha 1588) . 21 The first twenty canticles adapted P eter Canisius's Parvus Catechismus and preserved its original order. The rest were divided into canticles for the feast s of the liturgical year, including the Virgin Mary and the Saints; occasion al canticles; and canticles for public and personal devotion, i.e. for mass , before and after the sermon, for the Parish patron Sa int's day (po svfcenf) , before and after meals , for morning and evening, Rogation d ays and pilgrimages; so-called "general " or "common" canticles or perhaps canticles " for the laity " (obecnf); and canticles about death (sometimes - but not always - funeral canticles) . The two big categories, the Liturgical Year and public and private needs , are the classic categories for all Catholic collections of hymns . Among the 71 canticles remaining after the catechism in the 1588 songbook, there are 34 Protestant canticles ( one of Hussite origin, 21 27 of Utraquist origin, 23 and 6 from the Czech Brethren 14 ), four earlier canticl es from the 12th to the 15th centuries, 25 and 33 novelties, almost all of which concern public and private devotional needs. 26 P aradoxically , at least in appearance, a little more than 65 % of the canticles co ncernin g the liturgical year a re of Protestant origin (25 out of 38), with special em phasis on Christmas, Easter , Lent , Ascension D ay, P entecost and Adven t. The recycling of songs used by contemporary Protestants is considerable and very interesting indeed , for four out of eight canticles for the m ass are from the Utraquists (Gloria , Cred o, Sanctus), or from the Czech Brethren (Kyrie M agn e Deus). Coincidences of thi s kind are frequ ent in the Catholic hymnology of the Counter- R efo rmation . All the collection s of hymns retain a high proportion of canticles of Utraquist or Czech Brethren origin until the end of the 18th century . 11 These Protestant canticles belon g to the unchan ged repertory of the Liturgical Year , especially Ascension D ay and Pentecost, both very rigid categories with nearl y unchan gin g repertory , but also to the more or less movin g contents of categories like Christ- �42 SLOVAKIA mas , Lent, Easter and Advent. 28 As for canticles for occasions of public and private devotional needs , the proportion varies from songbook to songbook, but recourse to Protestant canticles anterior to 1620 is a constant . Sometimes, it seems even to be incredible: for instance, the J esuit Steyer went so far as to incorporate 45 psalms of the Czech Brother Jirfk StrejcintohisKancional cesky( 1683 , then 1687 , 1697 , 171 2, 1727 and 1764), without changing a single word from the 1587 edition . Among the essential prayers - those we call '' doctrinal ,'' that is the Pater, Ave, Credo, Ten Commandments and so on - all the son gbooks include canticles of Protestant origin. A songbook of 1652, Pfsne rocnf (Songs for the Year, published by Ludmila Sipafova, printer Jirik Sipar's widow) and the 6 editions of Steyer ' s songbook even contain a Czech version of Luther's Credo, M y vsickni veffme v jednoho Boh a (Wir glauben all' an einen Gott), 29 reprinting it perhaps from the Cithara Sanctorum of 1636. 30 By the same token , up to 1683 , i.e. the first edition ofSteyer's songbook 31 but later also, whenever an anthology presents the heading "for the holy mass " it contains texts of Protestant origin (that is 6 out of 8 anthologies from 1588 until 1683) . 32 This remained the rule until the end of the 18th century, except in Kania.s 's songbooks.ll I have chosen to spend a rather long time writing about these Pfsne na ve (New Songs) of 1588, because they exemplify the orientations of early Catholic hymnology. Indeed, putting aside the three songbooks of the poet-musician Adam Michna z Otradovic (1600-1676 ?), i.e. Ceska marianska muzika (Czech Marian Music, Praha 1647), Loutna ceska (Czech Lute, Praha 1653) and Svatorocnf muzika (M u sic for the Feasts of the Year, Praha 1661), whose 197 canticles included 195 (or perhaps only 194) written by the poet himself in a very baroque and mystical lyricism, and also excludin g j eslicky (Little Cribs, Praha 1658) of the J esuit Bedrich Bride!, all the subsequent Catholic hymnbooks from 1601 to 1683 proceed accordin g to the sam e plan, with similar contents. So let us see now what exactly were these hymnbooks. In 160 1 appeared the K an cional of R ozenplut (355 canticles in Czech), and in 1622 the Pisne katolicke (Catholi c Songs) of Hlohovsky (234 canticles in Czech). Both were published at Olomouc , and both were official hymnbooks of the diocese of Moravia, with the approval of Cardinal Dietrichstein. I n Bohemia there appeared in 163 1 the Kancional (Songbook) of the Prague printer Pavel Sessius (formerly the Protestant printer of Prague University, who converted) with 325 canticles; in 1639 a little, �43 SLOVAKIA anonymou s songbook, K an cionalnfk , due to the J esu its ofKlatovy College and perhaps to Father Albrecht Chanovsky, 34 with 121 canticles ; in 1642 the Cesky D ekakord (Czech Decacorde) of the printer Jirfk Sipar (400 can ticles); then in 1652 the Pfsne rocnf (Songs of the Year) by his widow Ludmila Sipafova ( 171 canticles) . 35 In 1659 the Cesky Dekakord of 1642 was reprinted by Urban Golias, still in Prague. The first edition of Steyer' s K ancional cesky (Czech Songbook) , also known as "sva tovacla ysk y" (St. W enceslas's songbook) , dates from 1683, as we already saw, with 828 canticles. 36 For the sake of completeness, a 1618 Postilla by the J esuit Vojtech Scipio Berlicka should be mentioned as containing canticles on the yearly gospels which appeared also in the collections of 163 1, 1642 and Steyer. All in all, without Berlicka , that brings us to nine anthologies, counting one reedition (in 1659), from 1588 to 1683 . Now, to finish with the relations between Czech Catholic and Protestant hymnologies, here are some percentages of Protestant and new canticles in these nine Catholic collections: Songbooks Canticles (in all) 1588 1601 1622 1631 1639 1642 (1659)* 1652 1683 91 355 234 325 121 400 (400) 171 828 Protestant Canticles 34 46 54 103 61 145 (145 131 280 37 % 13 % 23% 32 % 50 % 36% 36 %) 77 % 34% New Canticles 53 261 81 46 4 4 (0 8 328 58 % 73,5 % 34 % 14 % 3% 1% 0) 5% 40 % • R eediti on of 1642 Cesk y dekacord b y Urban Golias. Some of the Czech Catholic collections also had canticles from the Cithara Sanctorum: collection of 1639 1642 1653 1683 " 2 7 6 34 canticles from 1636 Cithara canticles " canticles '' canticles from 1636 and 1653 Cithara �44 SLOVAKIA The 1631 Czech songbook already had 3 canticles which were later put into the Cithara of 1636, and Steyer's book of 1683 includes also one canticle from the Amsterdam songbook by Jan Amos Komensky (Kancional, Amsterdam 1659). As a comparison, here are identical data concerning now the first Slovak Catholic songbook Cantus Catholici, which appeared in Levoca m 1655 : 37 Total number of canticles in Slovak (not Latin) Czech Protestant canticles (all in Slovak) Canticles from 1636 Cithara Sanctorum " 1653 " New Canticles 227 88 (38%) 20 (10%) 3 56 (25%) Thus the percentage of Protestant canticles in the Catholic songbooks of the first Counter-Reformation from 1588 to 1683 ( not including this latter collection) was approximately 38 % . If Rozenplut 's K ancional (1601), the only one which explicitly sought to exclude the Utraquist and Czech Brethren repertory , is left aside, the percentage increases to 42 % . Later, the average percentage declines (from 1683 to 1764, for twelve collections) but remains nonetheless at 30%. Inversely, from 1588 to 1683 (not including this one), the average percentage of novelties is only 24 %, and from 1683 to 1764, it attains 36 %. 38 The hymnbook of 1601 by Rozenplut , which is very co mbative , and to a lesser extent that of 1622 by Hlohovsky , tried to create hymnology and had less recourse than their successors to Protestant texts. But subsequently, and until 1660 , Catholic hymnbooks are characterized by a progressive return to Protestant sources. After 1683, as Steyer so amply demonstrates, Jesuit editors of hymnbooks ev in ce an astounding capacity to absorb texts from multifarious origins. Even the most " heretical" texts, as we have seen, could be admitted as long as they did not attack the Church or the Catholic doctrines themselves . Moreove r , in the 17th and 18th centuries, little hymnbooks without musical notation and destined to a more popular public, retained a much more conservative, static repertoire than the great official songbooks (like Steyer, Holan , Bozan and Konias 's songbooks). Such is the case of the Pfsne rocnf (Songs of the Year), a series of little books having roots in the second halfofthe 16th century (and therefore Utraquist) and continuing until the 19th century (in the 1652 ed ition , as we saw, there were �SLOVAKIA 45 13 1 P rotes tan t canticles out of 171 !). For there were two parallel tracks in the produ ction of C atholic hy mnbooks : first , there was that of big volumes m eant fo r the Pa rish K antor and most directly controlled by the C hurch . Second , outside the official k an cionaly , was the production of little volumes or anonym ous booklets in which particular hymnologic tradition s of the 15th and 16th century Czech R eform survived . This very important point proves that can ticles actually sung in Bohemia du rin g the 17th and 18th centuries went way beyond the choice, albeit large, p roposed b y the anth ologies of the Counter-Reform a tion : vernacul ar religiou s so ngs continued to fl ourish , sha ping sensibility in a way relatively independent of the context of re-Catholicization. Obviously the production of these booklets did not escape the ecclesiastical and civil censorship . But in Bohemia, in the context of a triumphal but indeed still ve ry ill-rooted and badl y organized Catholicism , the canticle underwent the sa.{Tle fate as other in gred ients of wha t is called the " popular Baroqu e": its purity of origin was of little importance, provided that it m obili zed lay piety. 3) Places and uses of th e canticle But how and where was the Catholic canticl e supposed to mobilize thi s lay piety? Like its P rotes tant counterpart, the Catholic h ymnbook was fi rst and fo rem ost a coll ection of Church songs intended for the u se of P arish K an to ff (Cantors) and brotherhoods (mostly , for instance, socalled literack a bratrstva). Of course, in the C a tholic Church , the canticl e was no longe r at the heart of the H oly Service. Its role was to double the liturgy to stimul ate popula r participation and ardor, and in so doin g it d oubtless, in cidentall y, played also a significant role in m aintenance of the Czech lan gu age du rin g the 17th and 18th centuries . It was also employed in catechization , in mi ssionary contexts, and in diverse situat ions of d omestic or comm uni ty devotion s and praye rs. Th at will be m y fi rst conclu sion . T he second one I should like to point out is tha t from the thematic point of view, beginnin g with Steyer in 1683, there is a verita ble eruption of personal piety in can ticles. 39 Thus, alongside the traditional themes and the son gs for the litu rgical year, there appear canti cles " to combat a nxiety," " to bear one's cross," on " m an 's love for God " and som eti mes "even if H ell does not ex ist ," on "submi ssion to Divin e will ," " pat ience in cri ses," and so on , all evokin g contemporary Germ an �46 SLOVAKIA Pietism and manifesting great similarity with the collection of Evangelical emigres. Of course, it cannot be proved that all the canticles proposed by the songbooks were actually sung in community or in church . In particular, these last ones I just referred to seem rather to have been m eant for personal meditation . But I do hope to have provided a sense of the deep richness of Catholic Czech hymnology as well as of its fundamental ambivalence. The very success of the Catholic canticle was based upon this ambivalence, and upon its roots in a tradition of popular liturgy of Protestant origin (i.e . Utraquist or Brethren) origin. It thus became a privileged means of mass indoctrination for the Counter-Reformation , contributing to the reconversion of Bohemia to Catholicism. NOTES ' From 1670 ca to the end of the 17th century records kept in the Prague Archiepiscopal archives indicate only a very small number of heretics by pari sh . For instance, curates' answers (Relationes, R esponsae) to a 1677 questionnaire often do not know notoriou s or public heretics (heretici aperti) (see Statnf usti'ednf archiv, APA I , B 11/7 - B 13/4). I would like to suggest that the same conception of heresy was changing during the process of conversion . Ca 1700 , Viscars' visitations often suspect hidden heretics, especiall y in East and North Bohemia (Ci rcles of Caslav and Chrudim). Then around 17 25, some of the archbishopric Missionarii Ordinarii began to seek out both heretics a nd books all over the country. The Archiepiscopal archives also include various kinds of inquisition documents. ' However, these patents forbade the missionaries to personally imprison the accused and transferred the judgement of heretics from ecclesiastical courts to civil courts . In the same way , as of 1735 the functions of the "extra-ordinary" missionaries had to be handed ove r to 14 secular priests ( rather th an the previous 12 J esuits) . See Tomas Vaclav Bflek, R eform ace katolicka neboli obn ovenf naboienstvf k atolick eho v Kralovstvf ceskem po bitve belohorske (Praha 1892), p. 269-271 , 293. l Id., ibid. 4 See note 1 • 5 See T. V. Bflek, op. cit., p. 296. • See T. V . Bflek, op. cit., p . 296, and Antonin Rezek, Dejiny prostonarodnfho hnutf naboien sk eho v Cech ach , I (Praha 1887). ' Maximilian II only accepted this verball y in 1575 , and Rud olph II only ratified it, with the famous Letter of Majesty , as of 1609. ' The composition of the nobility present in the Diet of 1575 was as fo llows : Old Utraquists, 2 Lords (pani), including the Grand Chamberlain Jan ofValdstejn, 3 Kni ghts (rytffi); Neo-Utraquists , 4/ 5 of the attending nobility; Catholics, 1/8; Czech Brethren, 1/4. Figures are given by Jaroslav Panek, "Zapis o charakter ceske stavovske opozice a snem roku 1575 ," Ceskoslovensky casopis historicky, XXVIII ( 1980), 6, 878-880 . �SLOVAKIA 9 ' 0 " " 13 " " " 17 " " ' 0 " ll 47 See m y paper "The T welve Sons of Carnival," to be published in Fifteenth Century Studies (D etroit) . The first expulsion orders issued against the Czech Brethren d a te from the rei gn of Jiri of Podebrady, at the end of the 15th Centu ry . The last before White M ountain was issued in 1602, seven yea rs before the Letter of M ajesty. See the record s of the Archiepiscopal archives in Prague (APA I , B 11 /7 -B 13/4, for instance); see also Frantisek Kras!, Arno.st hra be H arrach , kardinal sv. cirkve i'fmske a kn fze arcibiskup prazsk y. Historick o- kritick e vypsan f nabozen sk ych pomeru v Cechach od roku 1623- 1667 (Praha 1886), p . 134. See J osef Polise nsky, T fi cetileta valk a a evropsk e krize 17. stoletf (Praha 1970), p . 59-60 . In fac t , there a re no m ode rn es tim ates of the number of P ro tes tants in Bohemia. H owever, see Zikm unt Win ter, Zivot cirkevn f v Cechach . Kulturn f historicky obraz XV. a XVI . stoletf, I-II (Praha 1895-1 896) ; see also J osef J anacek , Gesk e dejin y . D oba pfedbelohorska 1526-1 547 , l/ 1 (Praha, 2nd edition 197 1). It must be rem embered that , aft er 1436, both Catholicism and Utraquism were state religions in Bohemia whereas Lutheranism was not offi cially tolerated until 1609. The tables conta ining the confessional breakdown of these 106 son gbooks are in my D octoral disse rt ation : H ymnologia Bohemica. Cantinnaires tch equ es d e la ContreR eform e, 1588- 1764 , vol. I , p . 107, U nive rsite de Pa ri s - Ill , 1982. These figures are based on Zdenek Tobolka andJiri H orak , Knihopis ceskych a slovensk ych tisk u od doby n ejstarsi at do k once 18. stoletf. .. II. T isk y z let 1501 -1800 (Praha 1939) etc, and Vaclav Pumprla , Soupis starych tisku ve fondech Statnf vedeck e knihovn y v Olom ouci. I . T isk y vydan e na uzem f Cech a Moravy v letech 1501-1 800 , 12 vols. (Olomouc 1974- 1979) . Pfsni cky velm i pekn e a pi'fkladne na nedeln f C ten f do roka . T ez O Sva tych ze Ctenf take z postn fch Epistol i ze C ten f pfsn e a na p osledy vseck y tuto p ofadn e V n ove zpravney najdes. A znova tistene a opravene. V Plzni ujana Pekka. Leta M DCXXIX dn e X III! Unora m esfce. 8°, 122p. See the Pfedmluva k ctenafi (Preface to the reader) in the Pfsne Historick e (Historical Songs) of 1595. Lomnicky's songs can be found in the following songbooks: Sessius (K an cional, Prague 163 1), Sipai' (Cesk y D ekakord , Prague 1642) and its reprint by Golias (P ragu e 1659) , R osenmuller (Kancionalek historicky, Prague 1712), Steyer (K ancional cesk y , Prague, 1683 , 1687 , 1697, 1712, 172 7, 1764) , and Bozan (Slavfcek rajsky , H rad ec Kralove 1719). Antonfn Skarka attributes this work to th e J esuit Alexander Vojt, at that time Su perior a t St. C lem ent Coll ege . I n a ny case, d ue to his offi cia l positi on, V ojt would have had to approve a nd supervise its publication , as well as th at of th e transl ati on of Canisiu s's Parvus Ca cscchimus pu blished in 1584 by the sa me printer , Bu ryiin Valda . Printed by Buryiin V a lda. Otce Boze Vse m ohoud, j en z jsi nam dal clo vecenstvf, Syna sveho jedin eho . .. , acco rd ing to Jirecek, H ymnolog ia Bohemica (P ra ha 1878): 15th ce ntury, Tabor so ngbook, on Corpu s Christi. �48 SLOVAKIA " Canticles for Advent: I K e cti, k ch vale Krista krale Christm as: 6 Andelove, andelo ve Jsou zpfvali; Na.radii se Kristus Pan ; Na Bozf Narozenf radujf se AnJele; Nasca] nam den vesely,z rodu kralo vsk eh o; ZnameneJ, kfest'an vern y, Kristovo Vtelenf; ZvestuJem vam radost Lent: 4 - Nebesky Pan , at'by dokazal k nam dobrocu svou velikou; 0 velika milost Syna Boi fh o; Umucenf naseho Pana milostneho; PosloucheJte ialoby nebeskeho Otce Easter: 6 Vstalt'Jest teto ch v11e ctn y Vykupitel nas; Uteseny nam den nastal; Vzkffsenf Spasitele sveh o ch val k aidy clovek ; L eto chvfle teto vesele vydava; AJ ten siln y lev udatny; V eselyt' nam den nastal Ascension Day: 1 Boie Otce z velike milosti ucinils nam vice neili dosti Pentecost: 2 VftaJ sladk y tesiteli, temnosti osvetiteli; Seslanf Du cha S vateh o Holy Virgin: I Zdravas neJsveteJsf kralovno, milost i TroJice Svare osvfcena Holy Ma ss: 3 Ana zemi budii /idem pokoJ (Gloria); Vefmez v B oha Orce Stvofitele vseho (Credo); Vsemohoucf Stvofiteli, Orce Svaty (Sa nctus) Before th e sermon : 2 Boie Otce, seslii nam nynf Du cha Svateho; Otce nas, mily Pan e, deJi nam Du cha S vateh o "Common ": 1 Pam atiIJ, clo vece, proc re Pan Buh stvofil (For d eta ils and refe rences see m y Doctoral di ssertat ion, op. cit. , pp. 390-437). " Canticles for : Advent: 2 Pas/an Jest ArchanJel k M arii Panne; Vesele zpfveJm e, Boha Orce chvalme Parish Patron Saint D ay: I Chvalmei nynf Boha sveho z posvecenf mfsta Jeho Saints and Angels: I V moci moudrosti dobreh o chvalm ez Boha v Svatych Jeho H oly Mass: I Boie Orce nas, Jeni Jsi na nebesfch "Common ": I Pane Boie bud' pfi nas, kdyi budem e m ffti (For deta ils and references, see ibid., Joe. cit .). " Buh Vsemohoucf; Svaty Va.clave; Dnesn fh o dne vstal Stvofitel; VftaJ, m ily j ezu Kriste, vftaJ, Synu z Pann y ciste " Canticles for Advent: 5 Zaff pfeJasnou navstfvil Gabriel; Zdrava Bohem pozdravena, rodicku blah oslavena; Zdrava bud p feslavna matko J ezfsova; Zdravas Pann o cista, tys pfimluva Jista; Vyk vetla hill Aronova Christmas : I Tff krali znam enali hvezdu H oly Virgin: I O Maria, vsech ctn ostf zrcadlo neJkrassf Saints and Angels: 3j ezu Kriste Vsem ohoucf(St. Andrew); Pochvalm ez Boha vecneho (St. Nicholas); Vsickni Bohu ke cit, ch vale (S t . M a ry M agdalene) H oly M ass: 3 A na zemi budii lidem pokoJ, dobra ville vsechnem (Gloria); VftaJ vdecna, vftaJ vzactna, milosti z milosti dana (Eucharisi); Zdrav bud', mily jezu Kriste, Jeni narozen z Panny ciste ( Eucharist) After the serm on: 1 Poprosmez Svateho Du cha D eath : 2 Boie Orce nas, k cobe se m odlfm e; Boie Orce nebesky, prosfmJa rve milosci R ogacions, Pilgrimages: 3 H ospodin e uslys nas, spomeii na nas; - Orce Boie smiliIJ se, o Boie; - Ve Jmeno Bozfm kraceJme M orning: 7 D aru svetlych milosti; L askavy H ospodine, ch valfme Te v 1e10 hodine; M ocny Boie, sveta spravce; Nocnf temnost se zm eiiuJe; Nut vsicknipovstavse z Jute; Orce Svaty, tesiteli, vsech vernych osveticeli; VeJmenu Svaie TroJice k nebi zdvfham hffsne ru ce �SLOVAKIA 11 " " ' 0 " " " " " 36 " 49 Before and after dinn er: 2 Dfky Panu lask avemu vzd ejm ei (aft e r dinn er); Stedry darce vsech milostf (before dinn er) "Common " : 1 B oie, kteryi z sve velike milosti (For details a nd references see m y Doctoral di sse rta ti on , op . cit., pp . 390-43 7). Canticl es of Lutheran ori gin da tin g prior to 1620 a re mu ch less frequ ent . This is becau se th e rare anthologies con sidered to be " Lutheran " ran ge from 1576 to 1606, and a re little diffe rent from the U traqui st son gbooks. Although th e repertoire of C hri stm as canticles reta ins a perm an ent co re of I 5th and 16th century son gs , it is ren ewed in the 17th and 18th centuri es. The new repertory a ppears with R oze nplu t's anth ology ( 1601 ) and is henceforth reinforced from one collecti on to the nex t. The "Christmas canticle" catego ry is therefo re one of the most mobile of all. The same is tru e, to a mu ch lesser degree, of Advent son gs. On th e other ha nd , Easter ca nticl es a re mu ch more co nse rvati ve, despite the new elements which appear in the 17th and 18th centuri es. The Ascen sion and Pentecos t ca tego ri es a re ve ry traditi on al. In so far as Lent is co nce rned , thin gs are so mewh at different: canticles of Utraqui st origin and so ngs from th e C zech Brethren predomin a te until 1650 . Mi chn a's son gbooks ( 1647 a nd 1661 ) m ark the beginn ing of a renovation in th e theme of th e C ru cified Christ, whi ch is henceforth based upon a personal link with th e sinner . This th eme is continu all y enl arged upon unti l th e beginnin g of th e 18th ce ntury. If one can believe th e ca nticles, in the later thi rd of th e 17th ce ntury th e Czech Coun te r-R eform ation is "C hristological. " This te nden cy is also found in pa mphl ets featurin g a n ave rage of 1 to 4 canti cles. The numbe r of doc trin al canticl es re-used by Cath olic son gbooks now totals 14 (2 T en Co mm and m ents , 6 Pater , 2 canticles on th e Trin ity, 4 C red o). But th e Czech tex t is older than 163 6 . M atej V aclav Steye r , K an cion al cesk y, Praha 1683, 1687, 1697, 1712, 17 27 , 1764. 3 K y rie, 2 Gloria, 1 fo r th e Epi stle, 1 for th e G os pel, 2 C redo, 3 S an ctu s , in oth er word s a total of 12 canticl es. Antonin Konias, C itara Noveh o Zakona (The C ithara of the N ew T estament), Hradec Kralove 1727 , 1738 , 1746, 1750, Pra ha 1752, no date / mi d 18th century/, Hradec Kralove 1762, 1799 . So K oni as ' s m ain so n gbook was publi shed eight tim es between 1727 an d 1799. For fu rth er in for ma ti ons on Father C hanovsky see my D octoral di ssertat ion (op . cit. , pp . 2 16-222 an d pp . 225-227). J an Rozenplut z Svarcenbachu , K an cional , 4°, Olomouc 1601 ; Ji rik Hlohovsky, Pfs ne k atolick e, 8°, O lomouc 1622; Pavel Sessius, K ancional , 4°, Praha 163 1; Anonymous, K an cionalnfk , 8 ° , Praha 1639 ; Ji rik Sipai', Cesk y D ek ak ord , 4° , P raha 1642 ; Ludm ila Sipai'ova, P fs n e rocnf, 12° , Prah a 1652; Urb a n Goli as , Cesk y D ekak ord, 4° , P raha 1659. O th er ed itions of Steye r' s son gboo k contained th e fo llowing number of canticles: 1687: 883 (P ro testant: 32%) 1727: 927 (P rotest a nt: 32 % ) 1697: 896 (P rotestant: 32 % ) 1764: 927 (Protesta nt: 32 %) 1712: 947 (Protestant: 31,5 % ) Figures calcu lated on th e bas is of J an Vi li kovsky's "Cantus Catholici, " Trn avsky sbornik (Bratislava 1935) , pp 57-94. On the Levoca printi n g, see Jan Caplov ic, �50 38 39 SLOVAKIA Bibliogralia tla ci vyd an ych na Slovensku do roku 1700, Diel 1. (Martin: Matica slo· venska , 1972), p. 364. The· Catholic songbook can therefore be co mpared to contemporary Czech collec· tions, the only difference being th e much high er proportion of songs borrowed from the C ithara Sanctorum, which can be explained by their geogra phic proxi mit y. The Steyer a nd Konias songbooks co nta in 35 (for 1687- 1764 editions) and 24 (for 1752 a nd furth er editions) canticles from the 1636 Cithara Sanctorum. All of them are included in the so-called "common " or "general " canticles in Steyer's songbook. In Bozan 's and K onias's songbooks, th ey have their own categories be· sides "common " or "general" can ticles. Most of them insist on man ' s love for God . Presented in Panel 99, " Devotional Literature in Seventeenth C entury Slovakia ," at th e AAASS co nvention in W ashin gton , D.C. on 17 O ctober 1982 . � SLOVAKIA 36 Counter-Reformation and Early Czech Catholic Kancionaly in the Kingdom of Bohemia (1588-1683) Marie- Elizabeth Ducreux I) THE BACKGROUND It is surely unnecessary here to go deeply into the hi story of th e Counter Reformation in the Czech Kingdom , so intima tely linked in m y mind to its integration into the H apsburg Monarchy . In any case, exploring this history in detail is obviously beyond the scope of this paper , but to situate the context of my subj ect, I shall begin by sketching its general outline and suggesting a periodization. Four phases can be di stin gui shed in th e elaboration and application of the policy of co nversion . Th e first period, extending from th e arrival ofthejesuits in Prague (1556) to the d efeat at White M ountain (Nov. 8 , 1620), set the stage for what followed. The second period , from 1621 to the reign of Leopold I , witnessed active attempts to implement the poli cy of con ve rsion . This includes the Thirty Years' War, which seve rely h ampered effort s to convert the rural areas, a nd the milesto ne of 1650 , whi ch marked the energetic resurgence of the civil powers and th e archbishopric in supervi sing the population . Then , under L eopold I , followed a period of relative respite. Bohemia was then supposedl y Catholic, although proof ex ists of the persistence of m a ny non-C atholi cs, eve n in the ranks of the nobility. For inst ance, h ym nologist Vaclav Kleych (who was not an aristocrat) , born at Lazany near Litom ysl in 1682 , who emigrated with all his family to Zittau at the beginning of the 18th century . Finally the fourth period, from 1705 to 1780 , witnessed the tightening of rep ression and a search for heretics all over Bohem ia. 1 The judicial regulation of Joseph I ( 1705-1 711) made punishable by death the peddlin g of heretical books, preaching, and suspicious assembli es. �SLOVAKIA 37 The death penalty was confirmed by Charles VI ( 1711-1740) several times, with at least five patents from March 15, 1721 to February 4, 1 724. 2 He reinforced existing antiheretical legislation with a publication on Jan. 29, 1726, which was confirmed at least twenty-two times until 1770, i.e. a lso during the reign of Maria Theresa. 3 In this system of laws, heresy was punished by forced labor and, in case of relapse, the galleys, exile and death . This was, of course, also the time of the well-known bookburning - and, more often, book confiscation and rectification . 4 The patent of October 13, 1781 put an end to the repression by accepting - with reservations - the Lutheran, Calvinist and Greek Catholic confessions . But only 45,000 persons 5 publically proclaimed their adherence to these two Protestant denominations, and the adherents of popular sects (for example that of the "Lambs,'' Berankove) continued long after to be persecuted by being press-ganged into the army . 6 We shall be concerned here with only the first two periods of the Counter Reformation . They co nstitute the background for the emergency of a Catholic hymnology in Czech. II) POLITICS AND RELIGION FROM THE END OF THE 16TH CENTURY TO 1620 From the end of the 16th century to White Mountain, the Czech Counter-Reformation lacked the means to carry out its program, even though the Hapsburgs had made Catholicism one of the principal tools of their politics in Bohemia . The Diet was torn apart by the religious conflict. After 1575 and the elaboration of the Confessio Bohemica, 1 the Sub Utraque party acquired increasing importance . 8 The events leading up to the de finitive d estruction of religious coexistence in 1618, after it had finally been won in 1609 , are too well known to be gone into here. Despite this profound upheaval , part of the intellectual elite of Prague remained open to the ideas of religious tolerance. 9 In general, the towns and cities of Bohemia were mainly Neo-Utraquist (ci:-ypto-Lutheran), with the exception of Catholic Plzeii and some others. In the countrysid e, the great majority of the clergy seems also to have been NeoUtraquist; but it must be admitted that very little is known about the realities of rural religious life in 16th century Bohemia. Despite proceedings against them, 10 the Czech Brethren were well established in ce rtain areas, especially in Moravia. �38 SLOVAKIA Throughout Bohemia, where the archbishopric ' s seat remained vacant from 14 71 to 1561 ( the year of the enthronization of Brus of Mohelnice), the structures of the Catholic Church were in deep disarray. The lack of priests was so severe that it made itself felt until at least the last third of the 17th century. 11 Therefore, religious and missionary orders, especially the Jesuits , had a lot to do to fill the vacuum. Catholicism in Moravia seems to have been more resistant , for at least the episcopal seat in Olomouc never went empty. But the towns were mostly Lutheran, even as their patrician elite was perhaps more Germanized than elsewhere . Sects abounded: in the 16th century, as is well known, Moravia had become the refuge for all the heretics of Europe. 12 The bastions of the Czech Brethren were there, especially in the lands of the Zerotfns , where they printed many of their books in the second half of the century, including the famous Kralice Bible (1579-1593) . Since the beginning of the 16th century the Moravian Diet had counted freedom of religion among its acquired privileges. In the last third of the 16th century, as a party of Catholic activists and Hapsburg faithfuls was reconstituted among the great lords in the Diet of Bohemia (Zdenek and Ladislav of Lobkovic , Vilem Slavata, J aroslav Martinie, Vilem of Rozmberk and so on), Jesuits frequently had ~issions on the estates of the nobility which had been won over by the new style of the Counter-Reformation. But this still remained a sporadic phenomenon, affecting only individuals. In the last analysis, although the figures are not entirely trustworthy, the population of the Czech Kingdom around 1620 was at least 75 % non-Catholic; the figure of 90% has also been advanced and seems to be reliable for Bohemia (without Moravia) . 13 It was a hybrid " Protestantism," deeply affected by the popular sects. Unfortunately, space does not permit me to dwell upon the extremely particular case of Czech Protestantism as it developed after the period of Hussitism . 14 III) CZECH CATHOLIC HYMNOLOGY Tfanovskfs Cithara Sanctorum (Lyre of the Saints, 1636, Levoca) represented an entirely successful attempt to renew and unify the evangelical repertoire of both the Slovak and the Czech Protestants expelled from the kingdom of Bohemia after White Mountain. Nevertheless, Tfanovsky had also delved into the rich traditions of the Utraquists, the Brethren and even the Czech Lutherans , whose �SLOVAKIA 39 first printed songbooks went back to 1501 , Pfsnicky (Little Songs , Praha 1501 , editor Jan Severyn z Kapi'. Hory, a Czech Brethren songbook). 206 canticles in the 1636 edition, or 50 % , came from the abundant repertoire of his Czech predecessors . Thus even though Tfanovsky's efforts were innovative and in many respects uniqu e in contemporary Czech and Slovak Protestant hymnology, they were rooted in a rich past and inserted within a hymnological continuum. Could the same have been true for Czech Catholic hymnology? Did it possess Catholic models anterior to the Counter-Reformation? If not, what was its relationship to the repertoires of the Utraquists , the Brethren, and even Tfanovsky? Finally, why did the Counter- Reformation so consistently resort to songbooks in the vernacular throughout the 17th and 18th centuries? All these questions will guide the following investigation. 1) Quantification of Catholic canticles and anthologies from 1580 to the end of the 18th century First, to give an idea of the imposing dimensions of Czech Catholic hymnology , I would like to provide a few figures. The Utraquists, Czech Brethren and Czech Lutherans published at least 106 different collections of canticles in Czech between 1501 and 1620. 15 Between 1580 and 1800, 85 editions of Catholic anthologies appeared. This latter figure is minimal and partial, for with a few but significant exceptions, it includes only titles beginning with Pfsne, Pfsnicky, Kancional, Kancionalnfk and Kancionalek (Songs, Little Songs, Songbook , Little Songbook). 16 The sheer quantity of canticles involved is overwhelming: 24 of these anthologies are over 500 pages long, 21 of them are over 400 pages long, and some of their number contain almost 1,000 canticles (e .g. Steyer's songbooks). A few more data before we proceed: I myself have gone through and analyzed 29 of the most important collections . Taken together, they contain around 10 ,000 can tides . There is considerable overlap , and as it emerges from these 29 anthologies, some 2,330 canticles actually circulated in 17th and 18th ce ntury Bohemia and Morav ia. Included in this figure are 1,950 canticl es which first appeared between 1580 and the end of the 18th century. Ifl stick to the temporal limits ofmy paper, that is from 1588 to 1683, the fourteen pertin ent coll ections together �40 SLOVAKIA contain 1,941 canticles including 1,128 novelties, or 58 % of the 1,950 new canticles catalogued up to 1798. 2) Catholic coJlections of hymns from the beginning of the Counter-Reformation to 1683 and their relationship to Protestant Czech hymnol- ogy Before the beginning of the Counter-Reformation in Bohemia (circa 1555-1560), only one Catholic songbook existed in the face of the numerous anthologies of the Brethren, Utraquists and Lutherans. Published anonymously in Pizer\ in 1529, both its title, Pfsnicky velmi pekne a pffkladne na nedelnf ctenf do roka (Very pretty and exemplary songs on the Sunday Gospels of the year)' 7 and its contents are reminiscent of the contemporaneous publications of the Utraquist Mfrinsky (in 1522, 1531 , then 1567, 1577 and 1590). In 1550 and 1595, the poet - or rather versifier - Simon Lomnicky z Budce published his Pfsne na Evangelia (Songs on the Gospels of the year, Praha 1580) containing 115 new canticles, and his Pfsne historicke (H istorical Songs, Praha 1595) containing 51 new canticles versifying the lives of 51 Saints, for which he had delved into diverse legendary sources, including the Legenda Aurea . But Lomnicky's songbooks are not products of the Counter-Reformation. Their tone is different, and their author did not belong to the circles of those seeking the conversion of Bohemia. He was rather a provincial writer who took pleasure in converting everything coming into his hands into songs, and who belonged to the "learned middle classes," ifl am allowed to speak in such a way . He was a school master, and in publishing two songbooks he was following late sixteenth-century fashion in urban milieux which were essentially Utraquist. Furthermore, nothing indicates that Lomnicky's collections were destined for the Church , for liturgical or paraiiturgical use; on the contrary, their author himself conceived the possibility of simple reading as well as singing. 18 These three songbooks, of which two were anterior to the first hymnological efforts of the Counter-Reformation , could well have served as models for the editors of Catholic songbooks . But in fact neither the 1529 anthology nor the Pfsne na Evangelia of 1580 (with the exception of two canticles) left any traces , while Lomnicky ' s Pfsne historicke were widely used as canticles on the Saints in 1631, 1642, 1659 and then in 1712 and 1719 . 19 �SLOVAKIA 41 The first real songbook of the Counter-Reformation emerged only in 1588 in Prague, under the aegis of the Jesuits of St. Clement College . 20 Containing 91 canticles, it was entitled Pfsne nave, kratke naucenf kfestanskeho v sobe obsahujfcf, sjinymi nekterymi na vajrocnf slavnosti i k vsidnf potfebe pfidanymi, pro Mladez a sprostnejsf lid, v nave vydane .. . (New songs containing a brief instruction in the Christian religion , with others for the feast d ays of the year and daily requirements, newly published for the young and ignorant. .. , Praha 1588) . 21 The first twenty canticles adapted P eter Canisius's Parvus Catechismus and preserved its original order. The rest were divided into canticles for the feast s of the liturgical year, including the Virgin Mary and the Saints; occasion al canticles; and canticles for public and personal devotion, i.e. for mass , before and after the sermon, for the Parish patron Sa int's day (po svfcenf) , before and after meals , for morning and evening, Rogation d ays and pilgrimages; so-called "general " or "common" canticles or perhaps canticles " for the laity " (obecnf); and canticles about death (sometimes - but not always - funeral canticles) . The two big categories, the Liturgical Year and public and private needs , are the classic categories for all Catholic collections of hymns . Among the 71 canticles remaining after the catechism in the 1588 songbook, there are 34 Protestant canticles ( one of Hussite origin, 21 27 of Utraquist origin, 23 and 6 from the Czech Brethren 14 ), four earlier canticl es from the 12th to the 15th centuries, 25 and 33 novelties, almost all of which concern public and private devotional needs. 26 P aradoxically , at least in appearance, a little more than 65 % of the canticles co ncernin g the liturgical year a re of Protestant origin (25 out of 38), with special em phasis on Christmas, Easter , Lent , Ascension D ay, P entecost and Adven t. The recycling of songs used by contemporary Protestants is considerable and very interesting indeed , for four out of eight canticles for the m ass are from the Utraquists (Gloria , Cred o, Sanctus), or from the Czech Brethren (Kyrie M agn e Deus). Coincidences of thi s kind are frequ ent in the Catholic hymnology of the Counter- R efo rmation . All the collection s of hymns retain a high proportion of canticles of Utraquist or Czech Brethren origin until the end of the 18th century . 11 These Protestant canticles belon g to the unchan ged repertory of the Liturgical Year , especially Ascension D ay and Pentecost, both very rigid categories with nearl y unchan gin g repertory , but also to the more or less movin g contents of categories like Christ- �42 SLOVAKIA mas , Lent, Easter and Advent. 28 As for canticles for occasions of public and private devotional needs , the proportion varies from songbook to songbook, but recourse to Protestant canticles anterior to 1620 is a constant . Sometimes, it seems even to be incredible: for instance, the J esuit Steyer went so far as to incorporate 45 psalms of the Czech Brother Jirfk StrejcintohisKancional cesky( 1683 , then 1687 , 1697 , 171 2, 1727 and 1764), without changing a single word from the 1587 edition . Among the essential prayers - those we call '' doctrinal ,'' that is the Pater, Ave, Credo, Ten Commandments and so on - all the son gbooks include canticles of Protestant origin. A songbook of 1652, Pfsne rocnf (Songs for the Year, published by Ludmila Sipafova, printer Jirik Sipar's widow) and the 6 editions of Steyer ' s songbook even contain a Czech version of Luther's Credo, M y vsickni veffme v jednoho Boh a (Wir glauben all' an einen Gott), 29 reprinting it perhaps from the Cithara Sanctorum of 1636. 30 By the same token , up to 1683 , i.e. the first edition ofSteyer's songbook 31 but later also, whenever an anthology presents the heading "for the holy mass " it contains texts of Protestant origin (that is 6 out of 8 anthologies from 1588 until 1683) . 32 This remained the rule until the end of the 18th century, except in Kania.s 's songbooks.ll I have chosen to spend a rather long time writing about these Pfsne na ve (New Songs) of 1588, because they exemplify the orientations of early Catholic hymnology. Indeed, putting aside the three songbooks of the poet-musician Adam Michna z Otradovic (1600-1676 ?), i.e. Ceska marianska muzika (Czech Marian Music, Praha 1647), Loutna ceska (Czech Lute, Praha 1653) and Svatorocnf muzika (M u sic for the Feasts of the Year, Praha 1661), whose 197 canticles included 195 (or perhaps only 194) written by the poet himself in a very baroque and mystical lyricism, and also excludin g j eslicky (Little Cribs, Praha 1658) of the J esuit Bedrich Bride!, all the subsequent Catholic hymnbooks from 1601 to 1683 proceed accordin g to the sam e plan, with similar contents. So let us see now what exactly were these hymnbooks. In 160 1 appeared the K an cional of R ozenplut (355 canticles in Czech), and in 1622 the Pisne katolicke (Catholi c Songs) of Hlohovsky (234 canticles in Czech). Both were published at Olomouc , and both were official hymnbooks of the diocese of Moravia, with the approval of Cardinal Dietrichstein. I n Bohemia there appeared in 163 1 the Kancional (Songbook) of the Prague printer Pavel Sessius (formerly the Protestant printer of Prague University, who converted) with 325 canticles; in 1639 a little, �43 SLOVAKIA anonymou s songbook, K an cionalnfk , due to the J esu its ofKlatovy College and perhaps to Father Albrecht Chanovsky, 34 with 121 canticles ; in 1642 the Cesky D ekakord (Czech Decacorde) of the printer Jirfk Sipar (400 can ticles); then in 1652 the Pfsne rocnf (Songs of the Year) by his widow Ludmila Sipafova ( 171 canticles) . 35 In 1659 the Cesky Dekakord of 1642 was reprinted by Urban Golias, still in Prague. The first edition of Steyer' s K ancional cesky (Czech Songbook) , also known as "sva tovacla ysk y" (St. W enceslas's songbook) , dates from 1683, as we already saw, with 828 canticles. 36 For the sake of completeness, a 1618 Postilla by the J esuit Vojtech Scipio Berlicka should be mentioned as containing canticles on the yearly gospels which appeared also in the collections of 163 1, 1642 and Steyer. All in all, without Berlicka , that brings us to nine anthologies, counting one reedition (in 1659), from 1588 to 1683 . Now, to finish with the relations between Czech Catholic and Protestant hymnologies, here are some percentages of Protestant and new canticles in these nine Catholic collections: Songbooks Canticles (in all) 1588 1601 1622 1631 1639 1642 (1659)* 1652 1683 91 355 234 325 121 400 (400) 171 828 Protestant Canticles 34 46 54 103 61 145 (145 131 280 37 % 13 % 23% 32 % 50 % 36% 36 %) 77 % 34% New Canticles 53 261 81 46 4 4 (0 8 328 58 % 73,5 % 34 % 14 % 3% 1% 0) 5% 40 % • R eediti on of 1642 Cesk y dekacord b y Urban Golias. Some of the Czech Catholic collections also had canticles from the Cithara Sanctorum: collection of 1639 1642 1653 1683 " 2 7 6 34 canticles from 1636 Cithara canticles " canticles '' canticles from 1636 and 1653 Cithara �44 SLOVAKIA The 1631 Czech songbook already had 3 canticles which were later put into the Cithara of 1636, and Steyer's book of 1683 includes also one canticle from the Amsterdam songbook by Jan Amos Komensky (Kancional, Amsterdam 1659). As a comparison, here are identical data concerning now the first Slovak Catholic songbook Cantus Catholici, which appeared in Levoca m 1655 : 37 Total number of canticles in Slovak (not Latin) Czech Protestant canticles (all in Slovak) Canticles from 1636 Cithara Sanctorum " 1653 " New Canticles 227 88 (38%) 20 (10%) 3 56 (25%) Thus the percentage of Protestant canticles in the Catholic songbooks of the first Counter-Reformation from 1588 to 1683 ( not including this latter collection) was approximately 38 % . If Rozenplut 's K ancional (1601), the only one which explicitly sought to exclude the Utraquist and Czech Brethren repertory , is left aside, the percentage increases to 42 % . Later, the average percentage declines (from 1683 to 1764, for twelve collections) but remains nonetheless at 30%. Inversely, from 1588 to 1683 (not including this one), the average percentage of novelties is only 24 %, and from 1683 to 1764, it attains 36 %. 38 The hymnbook of 1601 by Rozenplut , which is very co mbative , and to a lesser extent that of 1622 by Hlohovsky , tried to create hymnology and had less recourse than their successors to Protestant texts. But subsequently, and until 1660 , Catholic hymnbooks are characterized by a progressive return to Protestant sources. After 1683, as Steyer so amply demonstrates, Jesuit editors of hymnbooks ev in ce an astounding capacity to absorb texts from multifarious origins. Even the most " heretical" texts, as we have seen, could be admitted as long as they did not attack the Church or the Catholic doctrines themselves . Moreove r , in the 17th and 18th centuries, little hymnbooks without musical notation and destined to a more popular public, retained a much more conservative, static repertoire than the great official songbooks (like Steyer, Holan , Bozan and Konias 's songbooks). Such is the case of the Pfsne rocnf (Songs of the Year), a series of little books having roots in the second halfofthe 16th century (and therefore Utraquist) and continuing until the 19th century (in the 1652 ed ition , as we saw, there were �SLOVAKIA 45 13 1 P rotes tan t canticles out of 171 !). For there were two parallel tracks in the produ ction of C atholic hy mnbooks : first , there was that of big volumes m eant fo r the Pa rish K antor and most directly controlled by the C hurch . Second , outside the official k an cionaly , was the production of little volumes or anonym ous booklets in which particular hymnologic tradition s of the 15th and 16th century Czech R eform survived . This very important point proves that can ticles actually sung in Bohemia du rin g the 17th and 18th centuries went way beyond the choice, albeit large, p roposed b y the anth ologies of the Counter-Reform a tion : vernacul ar religiou s so ngs continued to fl ourish , sha ping sensibility in a way relatively independent of the context of re-Catholicization. Obviously the production of these booklets did not escape the ecclesiastical and civil censorship . But in Bohemia, in the context of a triumphal but indeed still ve ry ill-rooted and badl y organized Catholicism , the canticle underwent the sa.{Tle fate as other in gred ients of wha t is called the " popular Baroqu e": its purity of origin was of little importance, provided that it m obili zed lay piety. 3) Places and uses of th e canticle But how and where was the Catholic canticl e supposed to mobilize thi s lay piety? Like its P rotes tant counterpart, the Catholic h ymnbook was fi rst and fo rem ost a coll ection of Church songs intended for the u se of P arish K an to ff (Cantors) and brotherhoods (mostly , for instance, socalled literack a bratrstva). Of course, in the C a tholic Church , the canticl e was no longe r at the heart of the H oly Service. Its role was to double the liturgy to stimul ate popula r participation and ardor, and in so doin g it d oubtless, in cidentall y, played also a significant role in m aintenance of the Czech lan gu age du rin g the 17th and 18th centuries . It was also employed in catechization , in mi ssionary contexts, and in diverse situat ions of d omestic or comm uni ty devotion s and praye rs. Th at will be m y fi rst conclu sion . T he second one I should like to point out is tha t from the thematic point of view, beginnin g with Steyer in 1683, there is a verita ble eruption of personal piety in can ticles. 39 Thus, alongside the traditional themes and the son gs for the litu rgical year, there appear canti cles " to combat a nxiety," " to bear one's cross," on " m an 's love for God " and som eti mes "even if H ell does not ex ist ," on "submi ssion to Divin e will ," " pat ience in cri ses," and so on , all evokin g contemporary Germ an �46 SLOVAKIA Pietism and manifesting great similarity with the collection of Evangelical emigres. Of course, it cannot be proved that all the canticles proposed by the songbooks were actually sung in community or in church . In particular, these last ones I just referred to seem rather to have been m eant for personal meditation . But I do hope to have provided a sense of the deep richness of Catholic Czech hymnology as well as of its fundamental ambivalence. The very success of the Catholic canticle was based upon this ambivalence, and upon its roots in a tradition of popular liturgy of Protestant origin (i.e . Utraquist or Brethren) origin. It thus became a privileged means of mass indoctrination for the Counter-Reformation , contributing to the reconversion of Bohemia to Catholicism. NOTES ' From 1670 ca to the end of the 17th century records kept in the Prague Archiepiscopal archives indicate only a very small number of heretics by pari sh . For instance, curates' answers (Relationes, R esponsae) to a 1677 questionnaire often do not know notoriou s or public heretics (heretici aperti) (see Statnf usti'ednf archiv, APA I , B 11/7 - B 13/4). I would like to suggest that the same conception of heresy was changing during the process of conversion . Ca 1700 , Viscars' visitations often suspect hidden heretics, especiall y in East and North Bohemia (Ci rcles of Caslav and Chrudim). Then around 17 25, some of the archbishopric Missionarii Ordinarii began to seek out both heretics a nd books all over the country. The Archiepiscopal archives also include various kinds of inquisition documents. ' However, these patents forbade the missionaries to personally imprison the accused and transferred the judgement of heretics from ecclesiastical courts to civil courts . In the same way , as of 1735 the functions of the "extra-ordinary" missionaries had to be handed ove r to 14 secular priests ( rather th an the previous 12 J esuits) . See Tomas Vaclav Bflek, R eform ace katolicka neboli obn ovenf naboienstvf k atolick eho v Kralovstvf ceskem po bitve belohorske (Praha 1892), p. 269-271 , 293. l Id., ibid. 4 See note 1 • 5 See T. V. Bflek, op. cit., p. 296. • See T. V . Bflek, op. cit., p . 296, and Antonin Rezek, Dejiny prostonarodnfho hnutf naboien sk eho v Cech ach , I (Praha 1887). ' Maximilian II only accepted this verball y in 1575 , and Rud olph II only ratified it, with the famous Letter of Majesty , as of 1609. ' The composition of the nobility present in the Diet of 1575 was as fo llows : Old Utraquists, 2 Lords (pani), including the Grand Chamberlain Jan ofValdstejn, 3 Kni ghts (rytffi); Neo-Utraquists , 4/ 5 of the attending nobility; Catholics, 1/8; Czech Brethren, 1/4. Figures are given by Jaroslav Panek, "Zapis o charakter ceske stavovske opozice a snem roku 1575 ," Ceskoslovensky casopis historicky, XXVIII ( 1980), 6, 878-880 . �SLOVAKIA 9 ' 0 " " 13 " " " 17 " " ' 0 " ll 47 See m y paper "The T welve Sons of Carnival," to be published in Fifteenth Century Studies (D etroit) . The first expulsion orders issued against the Czech Brethren d a te from the rei gn of Jiri of Podebrady, at the end of the 15th Centu ry . The last before White M ountain was issued in 1602, seven yea rs before the Letter of M ajesty. See the record s of the Archiepiscopal archives in Prague (APA I , B 11 /7 -B 13/4, for instance); see also Frantisek Kras!, Arno.st hra be H arrach , kardinal sv. cirkve i'fmske a kn fze arcibiskup prazsk y. Historick o- kritick e vypsan f nabozen sk ych pomeru v Cechach od roku 1623- 1667 (Praha 1886), p . 134. See J osef Polise nsky, T fi cetileta valk a a evropsk e krize 17. stoletf (Praha 1970), p . 59-60 . In fac t , there a re no m ode rn es tim ates of the number of P ro tes tants in Bohemia. H owever, see Zikm unt Win ter, Zivot cirkevn f v Cechach . Kulturn f historicky obraz XV. a XVI . stoletf, I-II (Praha 1895-1 896) ; see also J osef J anacek , Gesk e dejin y . D oba pfedbelohorska 1526-1 547 , l/ 1 (Praha, 2nd edition 197 1). It must be rem embered that , aft er 1436, both Catholicism and Utraquism were state religions in Bohemia whereas Lutheranism was not offi cially tolerated until 1609. The tables conta ining the confessional breakdown of these 106 son gbooks are in my D octoral disse rt ation : H ymnologia Bohemica. Cantinnaires tch equ es d e la ContreR eform e, 1588- 1764 , vol. I , p . 107, U nive rsite de Pa ri s - Ill , 1982. These figures are based on Zdenek Tobolka andJiri H orak , Knihopis ceskych a slovensk ych tisk u od doby n ejstarsi at do k once 18. stoletf. .. II. T isk y z let 1501 -1800 (Praha 1939) etc, and Vaclav Pumprla , Soupis starych tisku ve fondech Statnf vedeck e knihovn y v Olom ouci. I . T isk y vydan e na uzem f Cech a Moravy v letech 1501-1 800 , 12 vols. (Olomouc 1974- 1979) . Pfsni cky velm i pekn e a pi'fkladne na nedeln f C ten f do roka . T ez O Sva tych ze Ctenf take z postn fch Epistol i ze C ten f pfsn e a na p osledy vseck y tuto p ofadn e V n ove zpravney najdes. A znova tistene a opravene. V Plzni ujana Pekka. Leta M DCXXIX dn e X III! Unora m esfce. 8°, 122p. See the Pfedmluva k ctenafi (Preface to the reader) in the Pfsne Historick e (Historical Songs) of 1595. Lomnicky's songs can be found in the following songbooks: Sessius (K an cional, Prague 163 1), Sipai' (Cesk y D ekakord , Prague 1642) and its reprint by Golias (P ragu e 1659) , R osenmuller (Kancionalek historicky, Prague 1712), Steyer (K ancional cesk y , Prague, 1683 , 1687 , 1697, 1712, 172 7, 1764) , and Bozan (Slavfcek rajsky , H rad ec Kralove 1719). Antonfn Skarka attributes this work to th e J esuit Alexander Vojt, at that time Su perior a t St. C lem ent Coll ege . I n a ny case, d ue to his offi cia l positi on, V ojt would have had to approve a nd supervise its publication , as well as th at of th e transl ati on of Canisiu s's Parvus Ca cscchimus pu blished in 1584 by the sa me printer , Bu ryiin Valda . Printed by Buryiin V a lda. Otce Boze Vse m ohoud, j en z jsi nam dal clo vecenstvf, Syna sveho jedin eho . .. , acco rd ing to Jirecek, H ymnolog ia Bohemica (P ra ha 1878): 15th ce ntury, Tabor so ngbook, on Corpu s Christi. �48 SLOVAKIA " Canticles for Advent: I K e cti, k ch vale Krista krale Christm as: 6 Andelove, andelo ve Jsou zpfvali; Na.radii se Kristus Pan ; Na Bozf Narozenf radujf se AnJele; Nasca] nam den vesely,z rodu kralo vsk eh o; ZnameneJ, kfest'an vern y, Kristovo Vtelenf; ZvestuJem vam radost Lent: 4 - Nebesky Pan , at'by dokazal k nam dobrocu svou velikou; 0 velika milost Syna Boi fh o; Umucenf naseho Pana milostneho; PosloucheJte ialoby nebeskeho Otce Easter: 6 Vstalt'Jest teto ch v11e ctn y Vykupitel nas; Uteseny nam den nastal; Vzkffsenf Spasitele sveh o ch val k aidy clovek ; L eto chvfle teto vesele vydava; AJ ten siln y lev udatny; V eselyt' nam den nastal Ascension Day: 1 Boie Otce z velike milosti ucinils nam vice neili dosti Pentecost: 2 VftaJ sladk y tesiteli, temnosti osvetiteli; Seslanf Du cha S vateh o Holy Virgin: I Zdravas neJsveteJsf kralovno, milost i TroJice Svare osvfcena Holy Ma ss: 3 Ana zemi budii /idem pokoJ (Gloria); Vefmez v B oha Orce Stvofitele vseho (Credo); Vsemohoucf Stvofiteli, Orce Svaty (Sa nctus) Before th e sermon : 2 Boie Otce, seslii nam nynf Du cha Svateho; Otce nas, mily Pan e, deJi nam Du cha S vateh o "Common ": 1 Pam atiIJ, clo vece, proc re Pan Buh stvofil (For d eta ils and refe rences see m y Doctoral di ssertat ion, op. cit. , pp. 390-437). " Canticles for : Advent: 2 Pas/an Jest ArchanJel k M arii Panne; Vesele zpfveJm e, Boha Orce chvalme Parish Patron Saint D ay: I Chvalmei nynf Boha sveho z posvecenf mfsta Jeho Saints and Angels: I V moci moudrosti dobreh o chvalm ez Boha v Svatych Jeho H oly Mass: I Boie Orce nas, Jeni Jsi na nebesfch "Common ": I Pane Boie bud' pfi nas, kdyi budem e m ffti (For deta ils and references, see ibid., Joe. cit .). " Buh Vsemohoucf; Svaty Va.clave; Dnesn fh o dne vstal Stvofitel; VftaJ, m ily j ezu Kriste, vftaJ, Synu z Pann y ciste " Canticles for Advent: 5 Zaff pfeJasnou navstfvil Gabriel; Zdrava Bohem pozdravena, rodicku blah oslavena; Zdrava bud p feslavna matko J ezfsova; Zdravas Pann o cista, tys pfimluva Jista; Vyk vetla hill Aronova Christmas : I Tff krali znam enali hvezdu H oly Virgin: I O Maria, vsech ctn ostf zrcadlo neJkrassf Saints and Angels: 3j ezu Kriste Vsem ohoucf(St. Andrew); Pochvalm ez Boha vecneho (St. Nicholas); Vsickni Bohu ke cit, ch vale (S t . M a ry M agdalene) H oly M ass: 3 A na zemi budii lidem pokoJ, dobra ville vsechnem (Gloria); VftaJ vdecna, vftaJ vzactna, milosti z milosti dana (Eucharisi); Zdrav bud', mily jezu Kriste, Jeni narozen z Panny ciste ( Eucharist) After the serm on: 1 Poprosmez Svateho Du cha D eath : 2 Boie Orce nas, k cobe se m odlfm e; Boie Orce nebesky, prosfmJa rve milosci R ogacions, Pilgrimages: 3 H ospodin e uslys nas, spomeii na nas; - Orce Boie smiliIJ se, o Boie; - Ve Jmeno Bozfm kraceJme M orning: 7 D aru svetlych milosti; L askavy H ospodine, ch valfme Te v 1e10 hodine; M ocny Boie, sveta spravce; Nocnf temnost se zm eiiuJe; Nut vsicknipovstavse z Jute; Orce Svaty, tesiteli, vsech vernych osveticeli; VeJmenu Svaie TroJice k nebi zdvfham hffsne ru ce �SLOVAKIA 11 " " ' 0 " " " " " 36 " 49 Before and after dinn er: 2 Dfky Panu lask avemu vzd ejm ei (aft e r dinn er); Stedry darce vsech milostf (before dinn er) "Common " : 1 B oie, kteryi z sve velike milosti (For details a nd references see m y Doctoral di sse rta ti on , op . cit., pp . 390-43 7). Canticl es of Lutheran ori gin da tin g prior to 1620 a re mu ch less frequ ent . This is becau se th e rare anthologies con sidered to be " Lutheran " ran ge from 1576 to 1606, and a re little diffe rent from the U traqui st son gbooks. Although th e repertoire of C hri stm as canticles reta ins a perm an ent co re of I 5th and 16th century son gs , it is ren ewed in the 17th and 18th centuri es. The new repertory a ppears with R oze nplu t's anth ology ( 1601 ) and is henceforth reinforced from one collecti on to the nex t. The "Christmas canticle" catego ry is therefo re one of the most mobile of all. The same is tru e, to a mu ch lesser degree, of Advent son gs. On th e other ha nd , Easter ca nticl es a re mu ch more co nse rvati ve, despite the new elements which appear in the 17th and 18th centuri es. The Ascen sion and Pentecos t ca tego ri es a re ve ry traditi on al. In so far as Lent is co nce rned , thin gs are so mewh at different: canticles of Utraqui st origin and so ngs from th e C zech Brethren predomin a te until 1650 . Mi chn a's son gbooks ( 1647 a nd 1661 ) m ark the beginn ing of a renovation in th e theme of th e C ru cified Christ, whi ch is henceforth based upon a personal link with th e sinner . This th eme is continu all y enl arged upon unti l th e beginnin g of th e 18th ce ntury. If one can believe th e ca nticles, in the later thi rd of th e 17th ce ntury th e Czech Coun te r-R eform ation is "C hristological. " This te nden cy is also found in pa mphl ets featurin g a n ave rage of 1 to 4 canti cles. The numbe r of doc trin al canticl es re-used by Cath olic son gbooks now totals 14 (2 T en Co mm and m ents , 6 Pater , 2 canticles on th e Trin ity, 4 C red o). But th e Czech tex t is older than 163 6 . M atej V aclav Steye r , K an cion al cesk y, Praha 1683, 1687, 1697, 1712, 17 27 , 1764. 3 K y rie, 2 Gloria, 1 fo r th e Epi stle, 1 for th e G os pel, 2 C redo, 3 S an ctu s , in oth er word s a total of 12 canticl es. Antonin Konias, C itara Noveh o Zakona (The C ithara of the N ew T estament), Hradec Kralove 1727 , 1738 , 1746, 1750, Pra ha 1752, no date / mi d 18th century/, Hradec Kralove 1762, 1799 . So K oni as ' s m ain so n gbook was publi shed eight tim es between 1727 an d 1799. For fu rth er in for ma ti ons on Father C hanovsky see my D octoral di ssertat ion (op . cit. , pp . 2 16-222 an d pp . 225-227). J an Rozenplut z Svarcenbachu , K an cional , 4°, Olomouc 1601 ; Ji rik Hlohovsky, Pfs ne k atolick e, 8°, O lomouc 1622; Pavel Sessius, K ancional , 4°, Praha 163 1; Anonymous, K an cionalnfk , 8 ° , Praha 1639 ; Ji rik Sipai', Cesk y D ek ak ord , 4° , P raha 1642 ; Ludm ila Sipai'ova, P fs n e rocnf, 12° , Prah a 1652; Urb a n Goli as , Cesk y D ekak ord, 4° , P raha 1659. O th er ed itions of Steye r' s son gboo k contained th e fo llowing number of canticles: 1687: 883 (P ro testant: 32%) 1727: 927 (P rotest a nt: 32 % ) 1697: 896 (P rotestant: 32 % ) 1764: 927 (Protesta nt: 32 %) 1712: 947 (Protestant: 31,5 % ) Figures calcu lated on th e bas is of J an Vi li kovsky's "Cantus Catholici, " Trn avsky sbornik (Bratislava 1935) , pp 57-94. On the Levoca printi n g, see Jan Caplov ic, �50 38 39 SLOVAKIA Bibliogralia tla ci vyd an ych na Slovensku do roku 1700, Diel 1. (Martin: Matica slo· venska , 1972), p. 364. The· Catholic songbook can therefore be co mpared to contemporary Czech collec· tions, the only difference being th e much high er proportion of songs borrowed from the C ithara Sanctorum, which can be explained by their geogra phic proxi mit y. The Steyer a nd Konias songbooks co nta in 35 (for 1687- 1764 editions) and 24 (for 1752 a nd furth er editions) canticles from the 1636 Cithara Sanctorum. All of them are included in the so-called "common " or "general " canticles in Steyer's songbook. In Bozan 's and K onias's songbooks, th ey have their own categories be· sides "common " or "general" can ticles. Most of them insist on man ' s love for God . Presented in Panel 99, " Devotional Literature in Seventeenth C entury Slovakia ," at th e AAASS co nvention in W ashin gton , D.C. on 17 O ctober 1982 . � 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 1982-83, Vol. 30 Description An account of the resource Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83. 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 1982-83 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 36 Counter-Reformation and Early Czech Catholic Kancionaly in the Kingdom of Bohemia (1588-1683) Marie- Elizabeth Ducreux I) THE BACKGROUND It is surely unnecessary here to go deeply into the hi story of th e Counter Reformation in the Czech Kingdom , so intima tely linked in m y mind to its integration into the H apsburg Monarchy . In any case, exploring this history in detail is obviously beyond the scope of this paper , but to situate the context of my subj ect, I shall begin by sketching its general outline and suggesting a periodization. Four phases can be di stin gui shed in th e elaboration and application of the policy of co nversion . Th e first period, extending from th e arrival ofthejesuits in Prague (1556) to the d efeat at White M ountain (Nov. 8 , 1620), set the stage for what followed. The second period , from 1621 to the reign of Leopold I , witnessed active attempts to implement the poli cy of con ve rsion . This includes the Thirty Years' War, which seve rely h ampered effort s to convert the rural areas, a nd the milesto ne of 1650 , whi ch marked the energetic resurgence of the civil powers and th e archbishopric in supervi sing the population . Then , under L eopold I , followed a period of relative respite. Bohemia was then supposedl y Catholic, although proof ex ists of the persistence of m a ny non-C atholi cs, eve n in the ranks of the nobility. For inst ance, h ym nologist Vaclav Kleych (who was not an aristocrat) , born at Lazany near Litom ysl in 1682 , who emigrated with all his family to Zittau at the beginning of the 18th century . Finally the fourth period, from 1705 to 1780 , witnessed the tightening of rep ression and a search for heretics all over Bohem ia. 1 The judicial regulation of Joseph I ( 1705-1 711) made punishable by death the peddlin g of heretical books, preaching, and suspicious assembli es. SLOVAKIA 37 The death penalty was confirmed by Charles VI ( 1711-1740) several times, with at least five patents from March 15, 1721 to February 4, 1 724. 2 He reinforced existing antiheretical legislation with a publication on Jan. 29, 1726, which was confirmed at least twenty-two times until 1770, i.e. a lso during the reign of Maria Theresa. 3 In this system of laws, heresy was punished by forced labor and, in case of relapse, the galleys, exile and death . This was, of course, also the time of the well-known bookburning - and, more often, book confiscation and rectification . 4 The patent of October 13, 1781 put an end to the repression by accepting - with reservations - the Lutheran, Calvinist and Greek Catholic confessions . But only 45,000 persons 5 publically proclaimed their adherence to these two Protestant denominations, and the adherents of popular sects (for example that of the "Lambs,'' Berankove) continued long after to be persecuted by being press-ganged into the army . 6 We shall be concerned here with only the first two periods of the Counter Reformation . They co nstitute the background for the emergency of a Catholic hymnology in Czech. II) POLITICS AND RELIGION FROM THE END OF THE 16TH CENTURY TO 1620 From the end of the 16th century to White Mountain, the Czech Counter-Reformation lacked the means to carry out its program, even though the Hapsburgs had made Catholicism one of the principal tools of their politics in Bohemia . The Diet was torn apart by the religious conflict. After 1575 and the elaboration of the Confessio Bohemica, 1 the Sub Utraque party acquired increasing importance . 8 The events leading up to the de finitive d estruction of religious coexistence in 1618, after it had finally been won in 1609 , are too well known to be gone into here. Despite this profound upheaval , part of the intellectual elite of Prague remained open to the ideas of religious tolerance. 9 In general, the towns and cities of Bohemia were mainly Neo-Utraquist (ci:-ypto-Lutheran), with the exception of Catholic Plzeii and some others. In the countrysid e, the great majority of the clergy seems also to have been NeoUtraquist; but it must be admitted that very little is known about the realities of rural religious life in 16th century Bohemia. Despite proceedings against them, 10 the Czech Brethren were well established in ce rtain areas, especially in Moravia. 38 SLOVAKIA Throughout Bohemia, where the archbishopric ' s seat remained vacant from 14 71 to 1561 ( the year of the enthronization of Brus of Mohelnice), the structures of the Catholic Church were in deep disarray. The lack of priests was so severe that it made itself felt until at least the last third of the 17th century. 11 Therefore, religious and missionary orders, especially the Jesuits , had a lot to do to fill the vacuum. Catholicism in Moravia seems to have been more resistant , for at least the episcopal seat in Olomouc never went empty. But the towns were mostly Lutheran, even as their patrician elite was perhaps more Germanized than elsewhere . Sects abounded: in the 16th century, as is well known, Moravia had become the refuge for all the heretics of Europe. 12 The bastions of the Czech Brethren were there, especially in the lands of the Zerotfns , where they printed many of their books in the second half of the century, including the famous Kralice Bible (1579-1593) . Since the beginning of the 16th century the Moravian Diet had counted freedom of religion among its acquired privileges. In the last third of the 16th century, as a party of Catholic activists and Hapsburg faithfuls was reconstituted among the great lords in the Diet of Bohemia (Zdenek and Ladislav of Lobkovic , Vilem Slavata, J aroslav Martinie, Vilem of Rozmberk and so on), Jesuits frequently had ~issions on the estates of the nobility which had been won over by the new style of the Counter-Reformation. But this still remained a sporadic phenomenon, affecting only individuals. In the last analysis, although the figures are not entirely trustworthy, the population of the Czech Kingdom around 1620 was at least 75 % non-Catholic; the figure of 90% has also been advanced and seems to be reliable for Bohemia (without Moravia) . 13 It was a hybrid " Protestantism," deeply affected by the popular sects. Unfortunately, space does not permit me to dwell upon the extremely particular case of Czech Protestantism as it developed after the period of Hussitism . 14 III) CZECH CATHOLIC HYMNOLOGY Tfanovskfs Cithara Sanctorum (Lyre of the Saints, 1636, Levoca) represented an entirely successful attempt to renew and unify the evangelical repertoire of both the Slovak and the Czech Protestants expelled from the kingdom of Bohemia after White Mountain. Nevertheless, Tfanovsky had also delved into the rich traditions of the Utraquists, the Brethren and even the Czech Lutherans , whose SLOVAKIA 39 first printed songbooks went back to 1501 , Pfsnicky (Little Songs , Praha 1501 , editor Jan Severyn z Kapi'. Hory, a Czech Brethren songbook). 206 canticles in the 1636 edition, or 50 % , came from the abundant repertoire of his Czech predecessors . Thus even though Tfanovsky's efforts were innovative and in many respects uniqu e in contemporary Czech and Slovak Protestant hymnology, they were rooted in a rich past and inserted within a hymnological continuum. Could the same have been true for Czech Catholic hymnology? Did it possess Catholic models anterior to the Counter-Reformation? If not, what was its relationship to the repertoires of the Utraquists , the Brethren, and even Tfanovsky? Finally, why did the Counter- Reformation so consistently resort to songbooks in the vernacular throughout the 17th and 18th centuries? All these questions will guide the following investigation. 1) Quantification of Catholic canticles and anthologies from 1580 to the end of the 18th century First, to give an idea of the imposing dimensions of Czech Catholic hymnology , I would like to provide a few figures. The Utraquists, Czech Brethren and Czech Lutherans published at least 106 different collections of canticles in Czech between 1501 and 1620. 15 Between 1580 and 1800, 85 editions of Catholic anthologies appeared. This latter figure is minimal and partial, for with a few but significant exceptions, it includes only titles beginning with Pfsne, Pfsnicky, Kancional, Kancionalnfk and Kancionalek (Songs, Little Songs, Songbook , Little Songbook). 16 The sheer quantity of canticles involved is overwhelming: 24 of these anthologies are over 500 pages long, 21 of them are over 400 pages long, and some of their number contain almost 1,000 canticles (e .g. Steyer's songbooks). A few more data before we proceed: I myself have gone through and analyzed 29 of the most important collections . Taken together, they contain around 10 ,000 can tides . There is considerable overlap , and as it emerges from these 29 anthologies, some 2,330 canticles actually circulated in 17th and 18th ce ntury Bohemia and Morav ia. Included in this figure are 1,950 canticl es which first appeared between 1580 and the end of the 18th century. Ifl stick to the temporal limits ofmy paper, that is from 1588 to 1683, the fourteen pertin ent coll ections together 40 SLOVAKIA contain 1,941 canticles including 1,128 novelties, or 58 % of the 1,950 new canticles catalogued up to 1798. 2) Catholic coJlections of hymns from the beginning of the Counter-Reformation to 1683 and their relationship to Protestant Czech hymnol- ogy Before the beginning of the Counter-Reformation in Bohemia (circa 1555-1560), only one Catholic songbook existed in the face of the numerous anthologies of the Brethren, Utraquists and Lutherans. Published anonymously in Pizer\ in 1529, both its title, Pfsnicky velmi pekne a pffkladne na nedelnf ctenf do roka (Very pretty and exemplary songs on the Sunday Gospels of the year)' 7 and its contents are reminiscent of the contemporaneous publications of the Utraquist Mfrinsky (in 1522, 1531 , then 1567, 1577 and 1590). In 1550 and 1595, the poet - or rather versifier - Simon Lomnicky z Budce published his Pfsne na Evangelia (Songs on the Gospels of the year, Praha 1580) containing 115 new canticles, and his Pfsne historicke (H istorical Songs, Praha 1595) containing 51 new canticles versifying the lives of 51 Saints, for which he had delved into diverse legendary sources, including the Legenda Aurea . But Lomnicky's songbooks are not products of the Counter-Reformation. Their tone is different, and their author did not belong to the circles of those seeking the conversion of Bohemia. He was rather a provincial writer who took pleasure in converting everything coming into his hands into songs, and who belonged to the "learned middle classes," ifl am allowed to speak in such a way . He was a school master, and in publishing two songbooks he was following late sixteenth-century fashion in urban milieux which were essentially Utraquist. Furthermore, nothing indicates that Lomnicky's collections were destined for the Church , for liturgical or paraiiturgical use; on the contrary, their author himself conceived the possibility of simple reading as well as singing. 18 These three songbooks, of which two were anterior to the first hymnological efforts of the Counter-Reformation , could well have served as models for the editors of Catholic songbooks . But in fact neither the 1529 anthology nor the Pfsne na Evangelia of 1580 (with the exception of two canticles) left any traces , while Lomnicky ' s Pfsne historicke were widely used as canticles on the Saints in 1631, 1642, 1659 and then in 1712 and 1719 . 19 SLOVAKIA 41 The first real songbook of the Counter-Reformation emerged only in 1588 in Prague, under the aegis of the Jesuits of St. Clement College . 20 Containing 91 canticles, it was entitled Pfsne nave, kratke naucenf kfestanskeho v sobe obsahujfcf, sjinymi nekterymi na vajrocnf slavnosti i k vsidnf potfebe pfidanymi, pro Mladez a sprostnejsf lid, v nave vydane .. . (New songs containing a brief instruction in the Christian religion , with others for the feast d ays of the year and daily requirements, newly published for the young and ignorant. .. , Praha 1588) . 21 The first twenty canticles adapted P eter Canisius's Parvus Catechismus and preserved its original order. The rest were divided into canticles for the feast s of the liturgical year, including the Virgin Mary and the Saints; occasion al canticles; and canticles for public and personal devotion, i.e. for mass , before and after the sermon, for the Parish patron Sa int's day (po svfcenf) , before and after meals , for morning and evening, Rogation d ays and pilgrimages; so-called "general " or "common" canticles or perhaps canticles " for the laity " (obecnf); and canticles about death (sometimes - but not always - funeral canticles) . The two big categories, the Liturgical Year and public and private needs , are the classic categories for all Catholic collections of hymns . Among the 71 canticles remaining after the catechism in the 1588 songbook, there are 34 Protestant canticles ( one of Hussite origin, 21 27 of Utraquist origin, 23 and 6 from the Czech Brethren 14 ), four earlier canticl es from the 12th to the 15th centuries, 25 and 33 novelties, almost all of which concern public and private devotional needs. 26 P aradoxically , at least in appearance, a little more than 65 % of the canticles co ncernin g the liturgical year a re of Protestant origin (25 out of 38), with special em phasis on Christmas, Easter , Lent , Ascension D ay, P entecost and Adven t. The recycling of songs used by contemporary Protestants is considerable and very interesting indeed , for four out of eight canticles for the m ass are from the Utraquists (Gloria , Cred o, Sanctus), or from the Czech Brethren (Kyrie M agn e Deus). Coincidences of thi s kind are frequ ent in the Catholic hymnology of the Counter- R efo rmation . All the collection s of hymns retain a high proportion of canticles of Utraquist or Czech Brethren origin until the end of the 18th century . 11 These Protestant canticles belon g to the unchan ged repertory of the Liturgical Year , especially Ascension D ay and Pentecost, both very rigid categories with nearl y unchan gin g repertory , but also to the more or less movin g contents of categories like Christ- 42 SLOVAKIA mas , Lent, Easter and Advent. 28 As for canticles for occasions of public and private devotional needs , the proportion varies from songbook to songbook, but recourse to Protestant canticles anterior to 1620 is a constant . Sometimes, it seems even to be incredible: for instance, the J esuit Steyer went so far as to incorporate 45 psalms of the Czech Brother Jirfk StrejcintohisKancional cesky( 1683 , then 1687 , 1697 , 171 2, 1727 and 1764), without changing a single word from the 1587 edition . Among the essential prayers - those we call '' doctrinal ,'' that is the Pater, Ave, Credo, Ten Commandments and so on - all the son gbooks include canticles of Protestant origin. A songbook of 1652, Pfsne rocnf (Songs for the Year, published by Ludmila Sipafova, printer Jirik Sipar's widow) and the 6 editions of Steyer ' s songbook even contain a Czech version of Luther's Credo, M y vsickni veffme v jednoho Boh a (Wir glauben all' an einen Gott), 29 reprinting it perhaps from the Cithara Sanctorum of 1636. 30 By the same token , up to 1683 , i.e. the first edition ofSteyer's songbook 31 but later also, whenever an anthology presents the heading "for the holy mass " it contains texts of Protestant origin (that is 6 out of 8 anthologies from 1588 until 1683) . 32 This remained the rule until the end of the 18th century, except in Kania.s 's songbooks.ll I have chosen to spend a rather long time writing about these Pfsne na ve (New Songs) of 1588, because they exemplify the orientations of early Catholic hymnology. Indeed, putting aside the three songbooks of the poet-musician Adam Michna z Otradovic (1600-1676 ?), i.e. Ceska marianska muzika (Czech Marian Music, Praha 1647), Loutna ceska (Czech Lute, Praha 1653) and Svatorocnf muzika (M u sic for the Feasts of the Year, Praha 1661), whose 197 canticles included 195 (or perhaps only 194) written by the poet himself in a very baroque and mystical lyricism, and also excludin g j eslicky (Little Cribs, Praha 1658) of the J esuit Bedrich Bride!, all the subsequent Catholic hymnbooks from 1601 to 1683 proceed accordin g to the sam e plan, with similar contents. So let us see now what exactly were these hymnbooks. In 160 1 appeared the K an cional of R ozenplut (355 canticles in Czech), and in 1622 the Pisne katolicke (Catholi c Songs) of Hlohovsky (234 canticles in Czech). Both were published at Olomouc , and both were official hymnbooks of the diocese of Moravia, with the approval of Cardinal Dietrichstein. I n Bohemia there appeared in 163 1 the Kancional (Songbook) of the Prague printer Pavel Sessius (formerly the Protestant printer of Prague University, who converted) with 325 canticles; in 1639 a little, 43 SLOVAKIA anonymou s songbook, K an cionalnfk , due to the J esu its ofKlatovy College and perhaps to Father Albrecht Chanovsky, 34 with 121 canticles ; in 1642 the Cesky D ekakord (Czech Decacorde) of the printer Jirfk Sipar (400 can ticles); then in 1652 the Pfsne rocnf (Songs of the Year) by his widow Ludmila Sipafova ( 171 canticles) . 35 In 1659 the Cesky Dekakord of 1642 was reprinted by Urban Golias, still in Prague. The first edition of Steyer' s K ancional cesky (Czech Songbook) , also known as "sva tovacla ysk y" (St. W enceslas's songbook) , dates from 1683, as we already saw, with 828 canticles. 36 For the sake of completeness, a 1618 Postilla by the J esuit Vojtech Scipio Berlicka should be mentioned as containing canticles on the yearly gospels which appeared also in the collections of 163 1, 1642 and Steyer. All in all, without Berlicka , that brings us to nine anthologies, counting one reedition (in 1659), from 1588 to 1683 . Now, to finish with the relations between Czech Catholic and Protestant hymnologies, here are some percentages of Protestant and new canticles in these nine Catholic collections: Songbooks Canticles (in all) 1588 1601 1622 1631 1639 1642 (1659)* 1652 1683 91 355 234 325 121 400 (400) 171 828 Protestant Canticles 34 46 54 103 61 145 (145 131 280 37 % 13 % 23% 32 % 50 % 36% 36 %) 77 % 34% New Canticles 53 261 81 46 4 4 (0 8 328 58 % 73,5 % 34 % 14 % 3% 1% 0) 5% 40 % • R eediti on of 1642 Cesk y dekacord b y Urban Golias. Some of the Czech Catholic collections also had canticles from the Cithara Sanctorum: collection of 1639 1642 1653 1683 " 2 7 6 34 canticles from 1636 Cithara canticles " canticles '' canticles from 1636 and 1653 Cithara 44 SLOVAKIA The 1631 Czech songbook already had 3 canticles which were later put into the Cithara of 1636, and Steyer's book of 1683 includes also one canticle from the Amsterdam songbook by Jan Amos Komensky (Kancional, Amsterdam 1659). As a comparison, here are identical data concerning now the first Slovak Catholic songbook Cantus Catholici, which appeared in Levoca m 1655 : 37 Total number of canticles in Slovak (not Latin) Czech Protestant canticles (all in Slovak) Canticles from 1636 Cithara Sanctorum " 1653 " New Canticles 227 88 (38%) 20 (10%) 3 56 (25%) Thus the percentage of Protestant canticles in the Catholic songbooks of the first Counter-Reformation from 1588 to 1683 ( not including this latter collection) was approximately 38 % . If Rozenplut 's K ancional (1601), the only one which explicitly sought to exclude the Utraquist and Czech Brethren repertory , is left aside, the percentage increases to 42 % . Later, the average percentage declines (from 1683 to 1764, for twelve collections) but remains nonetheless at 30%. Inversely, from 1588 to 1683 (not including this one), the average percentage of novelties is only 24 %, and from 1683 to 1764, it attains 36 %. 38 The hymnbook of 1601 by Rozenplut , which is very co mbative , and to a lesser extent that of 1622 by Hlohovsky , tried to create hymnology and had less recourse than their successors to Protestant texts. But subsequently, and until 1660 , Catholic hymnbooks are characterized by a progressive return to Protestant sources. After 1683, as Steyer so amply demonstrates, Jesuit editors of hymnbooks ev in ce an astounding capacity to absorb texts from multifarious origins. Even the most " heretical" texts, as we have seen, could be admitted as long as they did not attack the Church or the Catholic doctrines themselves . Moreove r , in the 17th and 18th centuries, little hymnbooks without musical notation and destined to a more popular public, retained a much more conservative, static repertoire than the great official songbooks (like Steyer, Holan , Bozan and Konias 's songbooks). Such is the case of the Pfsne rocnf (Songs of the Year), a series of little books having roots in the second halfofthe 16th century (and therefore Utraquist) and continuing until the 19th century (in the 1652 ed ition , as we saw, there were SLOVAKIA 45 13 1 P rotes tan t canticles out of 171 !). For there were two parallel tracks in the produ ction of C atholic hy mnbooks : first , there was that of big volumes m eant fo r the Pa rish K antor and most directly controlled by the C hurch . Second , outside the official k an cionaly , was the production of little volumes or anonym ous booklets in which particular hymnologic tradition s of the 15th and 16th century Czech R eform survived . This very important point proves that can ticles actually sung in Bohemia du rin g the 17th and 18th centuries went way beyond the choice, albeit large, p roposed b y the anth ologies of the Counter-Reform a tion : vernacul ar religiou s so ngs continued to fl ourish , sha ping sensibility in a way relatively independent of the context of re-Catholicization. Obviously the production of these booklets did not escape the ecclesiastical and civil censorship . But in Bohemia, in the context of a triumphal but indeed still ve ry ill-rooted and badl y organized Catholicism , the canticle underwent the sa.{Tle fate as other in gred ients of wha t is called the " popular Baroqu e": its purity of origin was of little importance, provided that it m obili zed lay piety. 3) Places and uses of th e canticle But how and where was the Catholic canticl e supposed to mobilize thi s lay piety? Like its P rotes tant counterpart, the Catholic h ymnbook was fi rst and fo rem ost a coll ection of Church songs intended for the u se of P arish K an to ff (Cantors) and brotherhoods (mostly , for instance, socalled literack a bratrstva). Of course, in the C a tholic Church , the canticl e was no longe r at the heart of the H oly Service. Its role was to double the liturgy to stimul ate popula r participation and ardor, and in so doin g it d oubtless, in cidentall y, played also a significant role in m aintenance of the Czech lan gu age du rin g the 17th and 18th centuries . It was also employed in catechization , in mi ssionary contexts, and in diverse situat ions of d omestic or comm uni ty devotion s and praye rs. Th at will be m y fi rst conclu sion . T he second one I should like to point out is tha t from the thematic point of view, beginnin g with Steyer in 1683, there is a verita ble eruption of personal piety in can ticles. 39 Thus, alongside the traditional themes and the son gs for the litu rgical year, there appear canti cles " to combat a nxiety," " to bear one's cross," on " m an 's love for God " and som eti mes "even if H ell does not ex ist ," on "submi ssion to Divin e will ," " pat ience in cri ses," and so on , all evokin g contemporary Germ an 46 SLOVAKIA Pietism and manifesting great similarity with the collection of Evangelical emigres. Of course, it cannot be proved that all the canticles proposed by the songbooks were actually sung in community or in church . In particular, these last ones I just referred to seem rather to have been m eant for personal meditation . But I do hope to have provided a sense of the deep richness of Catholic Czech hymnology as well as of its fundamental ambivalence. The very success of the Catholic canticle was based upon this ambivalence, and upon its roots in a tradition of popular liturgy of Protestant origin (i.e . Utraquist or Brethren) origin. It thus became a privileged means of mass indoctrination for the Counter-Reformation , contributing to the reconversion of Bohemia to Catholicism. NOTES ' From 1670 ca to the end of the 17th century records kept in the Prague Archiepiscopal archives indicate only a very small number of heretics by pari sh . For instance, curates' answers (Relationes, R esponsae) to a 1677 questionnaire often do not know notoriou s or public heretics (heretici aperti) (see Statnf usti'ednf archiv, APA I , B 11/7 - B 13/4). I would like to suggest that the same conception of heresy was changing during the process of conversion . Ca 1700 , Viscars' visitations often suspect hidden heretics, especiall y in East and North Bohemia (Ci rcles of Caslav and Chrudim). Then around 17 25, some of the archbishopric Missionarii Ordinarii began to seek out both heretics a nd books all over the country. The Archiepiscopal archives also include various kinds of inquisition documents. ' However, these patents forbade the missionaries to personally imprison the accused and transferred the judgement of heretics from ecclesiastical courts to civil courts . In the same way , as of 1735 the functions of the "extra-ordinary" missionaries had to be handed ove r to 14 secular priests ( rather th an the previous 12 J esuits) . See Tomas Vaclav Bflek, R eform ace katolicka neboli obn ovenf naboienstvf k atolick eho v Kralovstvf ceskem po bitve belohorske (Praha 1892), p. 269-271 , 293. l Id., ibid. 4 See note 1 • 5 See T. V. Bflek, op. cit., p. 296. • See T. V . Bflek, op. cit., p . 296, and Antonin Rezek, Dejiny prostonarodnfho hnutf naboien sk eho v Cech ach , I (Praha 1887). ' Maximilian II only accepted this verball y in 1575 , and Rud olph II only ratified it, with the famous Letter of Majesty , as of 1609. ' The composition of the nobility present in the Diet of 1575 was as fo llows : Old Utraquists, 2 Lords (pani), including the Grand Chamberlain Jan ofValdstejn, 3 Kni ghts (rytffi); Neo-Utraquists , 4/ 5 of the attending nobility; Catholics, 1/8; Czech Brethren, 1/4. Figures are given by Jaroslav Panek, "Zapis o charakter ceske stavovske opozice a snem roku 1575 ," Ceskoslovensky casopis historicky, XXVIII ( 1980), 6, 878-880 . SLOVAKIA 9 ' 0 " " 13 " " " 17 " " ' 0 " ll 47 See m y paper "The T welve Sons of Carnival," to be published in Fifteenth Century Studies (D etroit) . The first expulsion orders issued against the Czech Brethren d a te from the rei gn of Jiri of Podebrady, at the end of the 15th Centu ry . The last before White M ountain was issued in 1602, seven yea rs before the Letter of M ajesty. See the record s of the Archiepiscopal archives in Prague (APA I , B 11 /7 -B 13/4, for instance); see also Frantisek Kras!, Arno.st hra be H arrach , kardinal sv. cirkve i'fmske a kn fze arcibiskup prazsk y. Historick o- kritick e vypsan f nabozen sk ych pomeru v Cechach od roku 1623- 1667 (Praha 1886), p . 134. See J osef Polise nsky, T fi cetileta valk a a evropsk e krize 17. stoletf (Praha 1970), p . 59-60 . In fac t , there a re no m ode rn es tim ates of the number of P ro tes tants in Bohemia. H owever, see Zikm unt Win ter, Zivot cirkevn f v Cechach . Kulturn f historicky obraz XV. a XVI . stoletf, I-II (Praha 1895-1 896) ; see also J osef J anacek , Gesk e dejin y . D oba pfedbelohorska 1526-1 547 , l/ 1 (Praha, 2nd edition 197 1). It must be rem embered that , aft er 1436, both Catholicism and Utraquism were state religions in Bohemia whereas Lutheranism was not offi cially tolerated until 1609. The tables conta ining the confessional breakdown of these 106 son gbooks are in my D octoral disse rt ation : H ymnologia Bohemica. Cantinnaires tch equ es d e la ContreR eform e, 1588- 1764 , vol. I , p . 107, U nive rsite de Pa ri s - Ill , 1982. These figures are based on Zdenek Tobolka andJiri H orak , Knihopis ceskych a slovensk ych tisk u od doby n ejstarsi at do k once 18. stoletf. .. II. T isk y z let 1501 -1800 (Praha 1939) etc, and Vaclav Pumprla , Soupis starych tisku ve fondech Statnf vedeck e knihovn y v Olom ouci. I . T isk y vydan e na uzem f Cech a Moravy v letech 1501-1 800 , 12 vols. (Olomouc 1974- 1979) . Pfsni cky velm i pekn e a pi'fkladne na nedeln f C ten f do roka . T ez O Sva tych ze Ctenf take z postn fch Epistol i ze C ten f pfsn e a na p osledy vseck y tuto p ofadn e V n ove zpravney najdes. A znova tistene a opravene. V Plzni ujana Pekka. Leta M DCXXIX dn e X III! Unora m esfce. 8°, 122p. See the Pfedmluva k ctenafi (Preface to the reader) in the Pfsne Historick e (Historical Songs) of 1595. Lomnicky's songs can be found in the following songbooks: Sessius (K an cional, Prague 163 1), Sipai' (Cesk y D ekakord , Prague 1642) and its reprint by Golias (P ragu e 1659) , R osenmuller (Kancionalek historicky, Prague 1712), Steyer (K ancional cesk y , Prague, 1683 , 1687 , 1697, 1712, 172 7, 1764) , and Bozan (Slavfcek rajsky , H rad ec Kralove 1719). Antonfn Skarka attributes this work to th e J esuit Alexander Vojt, at that time Su perior a t St. C lem ent Coll ege . I n a ny case, d ue to his offi cia l positi on, V ojt would have had to approve a nd supervise its publication , as well as th at of th e transl ati on of Canisiu s's Parvus Ca cscchimus pu blished in 1584 by the sa me printer , Bu ryiin Valda . Printed by Buryiin V a lda. Otce Boze Vse m ohoud, j en z jsi nam dal clo vecenstvf, Syna sveho jedin eho . .. , acco rd ing to Jirecek, H ymnolog ia Bohemica (P ra ha 1878): 15th ce ntury, Tabor so ngbook, on Corpu s Christi. 48 SLOVAKIA " Canticles for Advent: I K e cti, k ch vale Krista krale Christm as: 6 Andelove, andelo ve Jsou zpfvali; Na.radii se Kristus Pan ; Na Bozf Narozenf radujf se AnJele; Nasca] nam den vesely,z rodu kralo vsk eh o; ZnameneJ, kfest'an vern y, Kristovo Vtelenf; ZvestuJem vam radost Lent: 4 - Nebesky Pan , at'by dokazal k nam dobrocu svou velikou; 0 velika milost Syna Boi fh o; Umucenf naseho Pana milostneho; PosloucheJte ialoby nebeskeho Otce Easter: 6 Vstalt'Jest teto ch v11e ctn y Vykupitel nas; Uteseny nam den nastal; Vzkffsenf Spasitele sveh o ch val k aidy clovek ; L eto chvfle teto vesele vydava; AJ ten siln y lev udatny; V eselyt' nam den nastal Ascension Day: 1 Boie Otce z velike milosti ucinils nam vice neili dosti Pentecost: 2 VftaJ sladk y tesiteli, temnosti osvetiteli; Seslanf Du cha S vateh o Holy Virgin: I Zdravas neJsveteJsf kralovno, milost i TroJice Svare osvfcena Holy Ma ss: 3 Ana zemi budii /idem pokoJ (Gloria); Vefmez v B oha Orce Stvofitele vseho (Credo); Vsemohoucf Stvofiteli, Orce Svaty (Sa nctus) Before th e sermon : 2 Boie Otce, seslii nam nynf Du cha Svateho; Otce nas, mily Pan e, deJi nam Du cha S vateh o "Common ": 1 Pam atiIJ, clo vece, proc re Pan Buh stvofil (For d eta ils and refe rences see m y Doctoral di ssertat ion, op. cit. , pp. 390-437). " Canticles for : Advent: 2 Pas/an Jest ArchanJel k M arii Panne; Vesele zpfveJm e, Boha Orce chvalme Parish Patron Saint D ay: I Chvalmei nynf Boha sveho z posvecenf mfsta Jeho Saints and Angels: I V moci moudrosti dobreh o chvalm ez Boha v Svatych Jeho H oly Mass: I Boie Orce nas, Jeni Jsi na nebesfch "Common ": I Pane Boie bud' pfi nas, kdyi budem e m ffti (For deta ils and references, see ibid., Joe. cit .). " Buh Vsemohoucf; Svaty Va.clave; Dnesn fh o dne vstal Stvofitel; VftaJ, m ily j ezu Kriste, vftaJ, Synu z Pann y ciste " Canticles for Advent: 5 Zaff pfeJasnou navstfvil Gabriel; Zdrava Bohem pozdravena, rodicku blah oslavena; Zdrava bud p feslavna matko J ezfsova; Zdravas Pann o cista, tys pfimluva Jista; Vyk vetla hill Aronova Christmas : I Tff krali znam enali hvezdu H oly Virgin: I O Maria, vsech ctn ostf zrcadlo neJkrassf Saints and Angels: 3j ezu Kriste Vsem ohoucf(St. Andrew); Pochvalm ez Boha vecneho (St. Nicholas); Vsickni Bohu ke cit, ch vale (S t . M a ry M agdalene) H oly M ass: 3 A na zemi budii lidem pokoJ, dobra ville vsechnem (Gloria); VftaJ vdecna, vftaJ vzactna, milosti z milosti dana (Eucharisi); Zdrav bud', mily jezu Kriste, Jeni narozen z Panny ciste ( Eucharist) After the serm on: 1 Poprosmez Svateho Du cha D eath : 2 Boie Orce nas, k cobe se m odlfm e; Boie Orce nebesky, prosfmJa rve milosci R ogacions, Pilgrimages: 3 H ospodin e uslys nas, spomeii na nas; - Orce Boie smiliIJ se, o Boie; - Ve Jmeno Bozfm kraceJme M orning: 7 D aru svetlych milosti; L askavy H ospodine, ch valfme Te v 1e10 hodine; M ocny Boie, sveta spravce; Nocnf temnost se zm eiiuJe; Nut vsicknipovstavse z Jute; Orce Svaty, tesiteli, vsech vernych osveticeli; VeJmenu Svaie TroJice k nebi zdvfham hffsne ru ce SLOVAKIA 11 " " ' 0 " " " " " 36 " 49 Before and after dinn er: 2 Dfky Panu lask avemu vzd ejm ei (aft e r dinn er); Stedry darce vsech milostf (before dinn er) "Common " : 1 B oie, kteryi z sve velike milosti (For details a nd references see m y Doctoral di sse rta ti on , op . cit., pp . 390-43 7). Canticl es of Lutheran ori gin da tin g prior to 1620 a re mu ch less frequ ent . This is becau se th e rare anthologies con sidered to be " Lutheran " ran ge from 1576 to 1606, and a re little diffe rent from the U traqui st son gbooks. Although th e repertoire of C hri stm as canticles reta ins a perm an ent co re of I 5th and 16th century son gs , it is ren ewed in the 17th and 18th centuri es. The new repertory a ppears with R oze nplu t's anth ology ( 1601 ) and is henceforth reinforced from one collecti on to the nex t. The "Christmas canticle" catego ry is therefo re one of the most mobile of all. The same is tru e, to a mu ch lesser degree, of Advent son gs. On th e other ha nd , Easter ca nticl es a re mu ch more co nse rvati ve, despite the new elements which appear in the 17th and 18th centuri es. The Ascen sion and Pentecos t ca tego ri es a re ve ry traditi on al. In so far as Lent is co nce rned , thin gs are so mewh at different: canticles of Utraqui st origin and so ngs from th e C zech Brethren predomin a te until 1650 . Mi chn a's son gbooks ( 1647 a nd 1661 ) m ark the beginn ing of a renovation in th e theme of th e C ru cified Christ, whi ch is henceforth based upon a personal link with th e sinner . This th eme is continu all y enl arged upon unti l th e beginnin g of th e 18th ce ntury. If one can believe th e ca nticles, in the later thi rd of th e 17th ce ntury th e Czech Coun te r-R eform ation is "C hristological. " This te nden cy is also found in pa mphl ets featurin g a n ave rage of 1 to 4 canti cles. The numbe r of doc trin al canticl es re-used by Cath olic son gbooks now totals 14 (2 T en Co mm and m ents , 6 Pater , 2 canticles on th e Trin ity, 4 C red o). But th e Czech tex t is older than 163 6 . M atej V aclav Steye r , K an cion al cesk y, Praha 1683, 1687, 1697, 1712, 17 27 , 1764. 3 K y rie, 2 Gloria, 1 fo r th e Epi stle, 1 for th e G os pel, 2 C redo, 3 S an ctu s , in oth er word s a total of 12 canticl es. Antonin Konias, C itara Noveh o Zakona (The C ithara of the N ew T estament), Hradec Kralove 1727 , 1738 , 1746, 1750, Pra ha 1752, no date / mi d 18th century/, Hradec Kralove 1762, 1799 . So K oni as ' s m ain so n gbook was publi shed eight tim es between 1727 an d 1799. For fu rth er in for ma ti ons on Father C hanovsky see my D octoral di ssertat ion (op . cit. , pp . 2 16-222 an d pp . 225-227). J an Rozenplut z Svarcenbachu , K an cional , 4°, Olomouc 1601 ; Ji rik Hlohovsky, Pfs ne k atolick e, 8°, O lomouc 1622; Pavel Sessius, K ancional , 4°, Praha 163 1; Anonymous, K an cionalnfk , 8 ° , Praha 1639 ; Ji rik Sipai', Cesk y D ek ak ord , 4° , P raha 1642 ; Ludm ila Sipai'ova, P fs n e rocnf, 12° , Prah a 1652; Urb a n Goli as , Cesk y D ekak ord, 4° , P raha 1659. O th er ed itions of Steye r' s son gboo k contained th e fo llowing number of canticles: 1687: 883 (P ro testant: 32%) 1727: 927 (P rotest a nt: 32 % ) 1697: 896 (P rotestant: 32 % ) 1764: 927 (Protesta nt: 32 %) 1712: 947 (Protestant: 31,5 % ) Figures calcu lated on th e bas is of J an Vi li kovsky's "Cantus Catholici, " Trn avsky sbornik (Bratislava 1935) , pp 57-94. On the Levoca printi n g, see Jan Caplov ic, 50 38 39 SLOVAKIA Bibliogralia tla ci vyd an ych na Slovensku do roku 1700, Diel 1. (Martin: Matica slo· venska , 1972), p. 364. The· Catholic songbook can therefore be co mpared to contemporary Czech collec· tions, the only difference being th e much high er proportion of songs borrowed from the C ithara Sanctorum, which can be explained by their geogra phic proxi mit y. The Steyer a nd Konias songbooks co nta in 35 (for 1687- 1764 editions) and 24 (for 1752 a nd furth er editions) canticles from the 1636 Cithara Sanctorum. All of them are included in the so-called "common " or "general " canticles in Steyer's songbook. In Bozan 's and K onias's songbooks, th ey have their own categories be· sides "common " or "general" can ticles. Most of them insist on man ' s love for God . Presented in Panel 99, " Devotional Literature in Seventeenth C entury Slovakia ," at th e AAASS co nvention in W ashin gton , D.C. on 17 O ctober 1982 .  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 Counter-Reformation and Early Czech Catholic Kancionály in the Kingdom of Bohemia (1588-1683) Description An account of the resource Marie-Elizabeth Ducreux Slovakia, Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83 pp. 36-50 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ducreux, Marie-Elizabeth Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/26765bd5010a2a7822479dc74800ceae.pdf 11edbc7e2cceb27a544c1ea73479a25c PDF Text Text 12 SLOVAKIA Three Kinds of Slovak Folk Literature Eva Susan Kucekova The following categories of Slovak folklore represent some of its oldest forms. Lyrical genres, such as m agical formul ae or incantations , ceremonial calendar poetry , and ceremonial fa mily poetry, a re of ritual and ceremonial character. The sample selections introduced in this pa per were taken from a comprehensive modern collection of Slovak folkl ore entitled Slovensky folk16r: Chrestomatia, and edited b y the foremost authority on the subj ect, the late Andrej Melichercfk . 1 Melichercfk based hi s anthology on Pavo! Dobsinsky' s publications , as well a s on other collections of Slovak folklore, for example those edited by Jozef I:. . Holuby, Jan Kollar and Jirf Polfvka . 2 The folklori c material collected by Dobsinsky and others is rendered in the dialect of the region from which it originated. MAGICAL FORMULAE Magical fo rmulae a re incantations associated with ritu als. These non-narrative forms are very ancient and are closely related to ce rem onial calendar poetry. M agical formulae were u sually connec ted with special rites and performed on spec ific occasions and/or holidays . They were often perform ed by semiprofessional m en and women (" wi se m en " and " wise wom en ") who were well versed in m agic. There are two types of incantations: tho se which were supposed to bring a desired effect( " sympathethic magic" ), and those which were supposed to preve nt undes irable and ha rmful effects (" preve ntive magic" ). Incantations we re u sed to brin g a hu sba nd , m ake one fall in love, prevent and cure illness , increase the yield of the fi elds, and also bring illness or bad lu ck upon a n enem y . Some incan tations were chanted primarily by girls or young women. " Puddle, Puddle," " Will ow, Willow," and " And You , Elm ," are typical examples of love incantations. Once m arried , a bride would chant an incanta tion " I Sow the Seed " and wish for good lu ck and prosperity . �SLOVAKIA 13 Magical formulae are rhythmical and based on syntactic parallelisms ; they rely extensively on various euphonic and semantic devices. Due to the fact that magical formulae are so closely associated with magic, their ritual form remains unchanged throughout the centuries . Magical incantations contain many pre-Christian elements, upon which a new layer of C hri st ian symbols has been added . Love Incantations This love incantation shows water as a powerful source of magic. T aken from fords at midnight , water was believed to attract lovers and help a girl get married . While bathing, girls chanted the following incantation: Puddle , puddle,' get me a husband! Above the bridge, below the bridge, let him go nowhere but to our house! Above th e footbrid ge, below th e footbr idge, don 't let him rest but in ou r house 1 I 'm not pouring away, I 'm pouring in: bachelors , wid owers, merchants, fiddlers, even those small boys I call after me, after my body , aft er my clothes , after my heels, a ft er this hou se of ours. Not by my power do I say this, but I say it by the divine power, from J es us Christ till m idn ight. And help me in this God th e Father, the Son , a nd the H oly Ghost!' H oly Trini ty , help me reach hap piness and get married. 1 Kaluza, kalu za, daj muza 1 Vyse mosta, ni ze mosta, aby nemal nikde miesta len u nas! Vyse lavky, ni ze lavky, aby nem al nikd e stavky len u nas 1 Neod lievam, ale prilievam: mladencov, vdovcov, kupcov , aj hudcov , aj tych malickych chlapcov za sebou volam, za mym telom , za m ymi satami, za mym i patami, za tym nasfm domom . J a to nehovorfm ze svej moc1, lez to hovorfm z bozskej m oci, od pana J ezisa Kri sta do pol noci. A k tomu mi dopomahaj Boh otec , Boh sy n , Boh du ch svaty! Svata troj ica , bud mi dobra pomocnica k vse tkemu dobremu, k stavu manzelskemu! p. 54 �14 SLOVAKIA On the eve of St. George ' s Day (April 24) , young girls made wreaths from different kinds of flowers and boughs. Later, wreaths were tossed into the air. It was believed that the girl whose wreath was caught on a tree branch would get married within a year. To attract a beloved, girls would make wreaths from nine different boughs and chant the following incantation: 2 A ty vaz - ty ho vaz, a ty hrab - se m ho hrab , a ty kJen - se m ho zen , a ty svfb - se m ho sib, a ty sip - ty ho stfp , a ty tfn - sem ho hrn , a ty dub - ty ho l'ub , a ty bez - za nim bez, a ty lieska - za nim vri es kaj ! And you, elm - you bind him , and you, hornbeam - rake him here, and you , maple - drive him here, and you , red dogwood - whip him here, and you , wild rose - you prick him, and you , thorn bush - push him here , and you , oak - you love him , and you , lilac - run aft er him , a nd you , hazel, - yell aft er him p . 57 Bridal Incantation A woman married into her husband's family . As soon as the bride entered her husband's house after the wedding, she would scatter flaxs6ed, millet and poppy seed in the yard for good luck , while chanting the following: 2 I sow the seed , to succeed with all my breed ; I sow millet, for others to beg m y fav or; I sow poppy seed , for this to last foreve r. Sejem se m eno, ab y sa mi viedl o vsetko ple meno; sej em proso, aby sa mi vse tci prosili ; sej em m ak, aby bolo vzdycky tak . p . 61 Incantation by the Willow To make sure that they would grow beautiful long hair, young girls would comb their hair under a willow on Good Friday at dawn. While combing their hair, they wished for a good husband . Willow, willow , ge t m e a m an , red as a rose , white as a fl ower, a nd good as honey. ' Vfba, vfb a , d aj mi mu za, ce rve neho a ko ru za a bieleho a ko kve t, a dobreho ako med . p . 62 �SLOVAKIA 15 CEREMONIAL CALENDAR POETRY Ceremonial calendar poetry celebrates different festivals of the year. The original calendar festivals coincided with the solstices and equinoxes. Calendar poetry contains many pre-Christian mythological elements which have been intertwined with and sometimes replaced by Christia n elements. In the calendar poetry of Slovakia a nd other Slavic countries which have been under Catholic influence, Christian features pred ominate. The traditions connected with calendar poetry are still being practi ced in some Slovak villages , particularly around holidays such as Christmas, New Year ' s and Easter. The classification of calendar poetry corresponds to the agricultural cycles, and all four seasons of the year are represented. In the poetry , three seasons are associated with the cultivation of the soil, while the last one is concerned with the harvest itself. The poetry is full of incantations and magical formulae meant to secure a good harvest and placate nature , which was often thought of as hostile. In the pre-Christian era the peasants turned for h elp to their gods and during Christian times to the numerous Christian saints. They would ask for good and prosperous years , abundant harvest, a nd good health and happy family life. Along with incantations and magical formulae, calendar poetry also contains chants , recitations , songs, riddles, and prognostications . In this poetry each season has its own characteristic customs . The winte r solstice cycle , beginning in November , is best represented. Its poetry is of a prophetic nature, and touche s on both family life and the prosperity of the homestead. The most important days of the season were the last 12 before Christmas since they represented the 12 months of the year; these days were used to judge what the weather would be like for the w hole next year. Children went caroling from hou se to house, a nd it was important that they b e healthy for if they were, they would bring good health to the fa rm ers ' fa milies as well . Moreover, the living room h a d to be cleaned a nd whitewashed in eve ry house to preve nt any kind of illn ess from ente rin g. Numerous C hri stmas customs were practiced o n C hristmas Eve . Basicall y , they were meant to express the farmer ' s thanksgiv in g for good crops in the preceding season, a nd to h elp assure a nd predict a good harvest in the forthcoming year. The latter kind were u su ally connected wit h magic . There we re rules of condu ct which were st ri ctl y followed �16 SLOVAKIA on Christmas Eve. For example, one could not light the house unless the Christmas Eve dinner - the biggest meal of the year - was already set on the table. The numerous courses of the meal had to follow acertain sequence . Christmas carolers were offered food and drink , and the boys were also given money. Many of the Christmas carols have a joking tone - besides bringing best wishes they expressly ask for a reward as in ''I Am a Very Small Boy,'' or ''I'm Just a Little Boy .' ' Sometimes they would ask expressly for money as in the carol "We Have Brought You Some News . '' New Year's wishes were also humorous in tone and expressed the good mood which prevailed in every household on that day . It was believed that if one felt happy on New Year's Day , he or she would be happy during the coming year. One song jokingly suggests that the farmer's stove burn out from too much cooking and baking: "I wish you in this/ coming New Year / that a side of your oven / may fall out." Carols for the eve of the Three Magi combine religious and secular motifs. Thus, in " Lord , Grant Us a Merry Evening," best wishes are expressed for everyone in the house, including the servants. Immediately after come Epiphany motifs, dealing with the birth of Christ and the arrival of the Three Kings. The Epiphany carol is concluded with a rather anticlimatic ending: the old man (probably the patriarch of the house) is not at home and has gone hunting. Very often , the boys were masked as the Three Kings, Joseph and Mary, and would perform a co medy based on the ancient legend . The Christmas ceremonial cycle ended with the Three Kings motif. Thematically, then , Slovak ceremonial calendar poetry focuses upon the four cycles of the year and the agricultural tradition con nected with them . It also contains the themes of love and fertility, and elements of ancestor worship, which are not treated here. From the formal point of view, calendar poetry is characte rized by symm etric bipartite verse and the frequent use of asso nance . Pre-Christmas Period The winter cycle of calendar poetry begins with St. Thomas's Day (December 21 ) , the shortest day of the year. Small boys walked around the village with a piece of steel, wishing farmers good lu ck in the next farming year : �SLOVAKIA 17 I have b rought you a piece of steel' so th a t you would not fall out of bed. Have as m a n y calves on yo ur farm as there a re spoons on your shelf. Have as man y oxen in your stable as there are logs in your shed. Let your girls have as many suito rs as there are dishes on your rack. May yo ur lads own as many hafts' as there are hearths in you r house. May as man y youn g men wear feathers in their caps• as you have number of dau ght ers. Have as m a ny more ears of corn in you r backyard as there are pictures on your walls. I ask onl y as many kreuzers' 0 as there are mirrors here. I wish you a good morning 1 Doniesou som vam ocele, aby ste nevypadli z postele. Kol'ko mate za ramom lyz iciek, tol'ko mate vo dvore teliciek; kol'ko mate na sope kolov, tol'ko mate V mastali volov; kol'ko mate za ramom tanierov , tol'ko maju vase dievky frajero v ; kol'ko mate vo vasom dome ohnisk, tol'ko maju vas i parobci porisk ; kol'ko zije vasich deer, tol'ko maju mladenci pier ; kol'ko ma te na stene obrazov , tol'ko raz vo vasom humne kl asov; kol'ko mate tuna zrkadov, !en tol'ko mi dajte krajciarov. Dobro rano vinsujem 1 p. 70 Christmastime Many Christmas carols and son gs are connected with the Christm as season. Both children and ad ults went from house to hou se caroling M erry C hristmas. For their service they expected som e reward. Many of these carols are joking in character, as is evident from the following carols: �18 SLOVAKIA I a m a very sm all boy. M y fa th er has se nt me to you , to ge t so methin g from you , but m ake it qui ck, for m y stomach rumbl es. J a som chl apec ve l'mi m aly, mn a moj otec k vam poslali, zeby ste mi dafo dali , ale chytro , lebo m i uz v bru chu svitlo. p. 70 2 I ' m ju st a little boy. I'm askin g fo r my sm all bag : a pi ece of cake a nd piece o f pie. T omorrow , I ' ll b rin g yo u a bird . If th at see m s too little, I will brin g you so me pork ; and if tha t 's not enough , I 'll b ri ng yo u a cat's ta il. J a so m maly, nevelicky, pyta m se be do ka psicky: kus kola.ca, kus kabaca, d onesiem vam zajtra vtaca. Ak sa vam to ma.lo vid f, d onesiem vam porfov iny; ak je vam to ni e dost', d onesiem va m z m acky chvost. p . 71 3 W e have b rought you so me news, we have come to you r feas t . The Saviour desce nded from H eave n , and we ca me to be your gues ts. A jug of wine is on th e table , and we are under your farm yard window, but you don ' t offer us a n y win e, nor do you have an y brand y th a t we ca n trea t ourselves to, and sing you songs eve n ni ce r . W e don ' t want your past ry, we' ll crac k a few nu ts.'' H ey, we a re not little ki ds , wh o get j ust a kreu ze r apiece. If yo u don ' t give us twe n ty we wo n ' t co me on New Yea r's Day. D oni esli sm e vam novinu , prisli sm e k vam na hos tinu , Sos tupi l Spasti el' z vysosti . M y sm e prisli k va m za hos ti . Krcah s vfn om j e na stole, m y sme pod oblokom v dvore , a nam vina nedavate, palenky ti ez ni c nem a te, co b y sme sa castu va]i a vam krajsie zaspievali . O pekance va m nechcem e, oriesky si poklcieme. A my sme ni e chl a pci m ali, ze by Ste nam krajc iar d ali. Ak na m dvads ia tnik ned a te, na Novy rok nas nema te. p. 71 New Year's Wish es Early in th e m ornin g on New Year's D ay, m en a nd youn g boys went from house to hou se, w ishin g lo ts of lu ck, p rosperity , a nd good h ealth to everyon e in the house . M ost of th eir w ishes foc u sed upon su ccessfu l fa rmin g a nd m a n age m e n t. I wish you in th is coming New Year, V in sujem vam V tento nas tavajuc i nov y rok , �SLOVAKIA that a side of your ove n may fall out , " that your wife may get pregna nt this year! Give us foo d and drink and stay well! 19 aby va m vypadol z pece bok, aby vam bola vasa gazdin a na te nto rok samod ruh a 1 Vypit', zajest' na m d ajte, a dob re sa tu m aj te 1 p . 78 2 l wish you plenty of hemp , bu shels of beets, a whole bin of blossoms, and a ba rnful of children' Vinsujem va m moc konopi, mecu repy , zacinok puckov, plevienec deti 1 p. 79 3 This l wish to all'' with vigo r and joy : to peasants, bags for their shoulders ; to shep herd s, porridge; to cows, good pasture; to pigs, lots of mast to make them fat. Vinsujem smele vse tk ym vese le : sedliakom vrece, pine na piece; pastiero m kase a kravam pase; svi niam zaludu, ze tu cne budu . p . 79 The Three Magi On the eve of Epiphany, children went from house to house, singing carols in which the Epiphany motifs were interspersed with such commonplace motifs as farming and the farmer's eve ryday activity. Lord, grant us a merry eve ning ," to the farmer, first of all! And then to th e farmwife, and then to all the se rvants! The Three M agi a rri ve from the East, wo rshippin g this fam il y. Do not worship this fa mil y but worship only the beloved Lo rd! " And you , bright star, go before us, Lord , Jesus C hri st, grant us a good ni ght! And you , Joseph , I say to you , do not leave the Virgin M ary 1 D on ' t you kn ow who is going to be bo rn ? The Virgin M ary is to bear a so n . There is a red rose on your table , �SLOVAKIA 20 let you r daught er marry a handsome man 1 There is a tu li p atop your table , yo ur son is ge ttin g read y to see his love. There is a handso me fe llow in this house , perhaps he ' d give us six kreu ze rs for a wrea th . God wi ll give him a lovely wife , whether it ' s Anna o r Susanna. The old man is not at home , he went out hunting . D aj nam Boh vecer diz vesely, najprv panu hospodarov i I A poto m aj tej hospod ince, po hospodin ce vseckej cel'adce 1 ldu tri a krali od vychod u , kl a naju sa tomut o rod u. Nekla naj te sa tom uto rod u , len sa kl a najte mil emu Bohu! A ty, j as na hviezd a, predchadzaj nas, pane J ezu Kri ste, dob ru noc nam d as 1 A ty , J ozefe, j a mlu vim tebe, neopust'aj pann y M a rie ! Nevid, co sa m a na sve t narod it'? M a panna Maria sy na porodit'. Na vaso m stole ce rve na ru za, daj vasej panenk e sva rn eho mu za 1 Na vaso m stole tulipan stoji, vas m lad enecek se k fraj erce strojL J est V tomto dome sva rn y ml adenec, azda nam on d a ses tak na veniec. D a jemu Panboh svarnu zenu , Annu alebo Zu za nu . Sta reho pana doma neni, isli oni po pol'uvanL pp. 79-80 Carnival Season Th e post-Chri stmas period does not present as m a n y cerem onies as th e C hri stmas season. The tim e of fasiangy (carni val season) was ch aracte rized b y a m asked procession which was to secure a good harvest. Th e carniv al processio n h ad mu sical accompaniment , u su all y a n accordi on . Most en gaged couples were also married during carnival season , sin ce there w as rela tively plenty of time for elaborate weddi n g celebration s, w hi ch las ted for several d ays. At the e nd of th e carnival seaso n , young m e n in ce re monial m asks we nt from ho u se to ho u se, collecting eggs, bacon , a nd m o ney. They �SLOVAKIA 21 would sing humorous songs, such as " Shrovetide, P entecost. . m which they would ask for a piece of bacon . From these donations they would arrange a feast for the youth of the entire village. The main course was bacon and eggs, while the money paid for the music . Shrovetide, P entecos t, and Easter pass by, 16 he who has no fur coat , feels cold . I have none, I have none, I ' m shakin g all over, give me some bacon " to fill my belly . H ere I got nothin g, over there something, maybe. They killed a m osqu ito , a nd got some bacon . There up the chimney," a tom cat sits on the bacon , go chase him away and cut me a piece; if you cut me too sm all a piece, you will cut your fin gers. Give to the teacher " a piece as big as a d oo r , to me , a piece as big as a goose. Fasangy, Turice, V el'ka noc byva, kto nem a kozucha, zima mu byva. Ja nemam, ja nem a m , !en sa tak tras im , daj te mi slaninky, nech sa popasim . Tuto mi nedali , tuto mi d aj u, K om a ra zabili , slaninku m aj u . A ta m hore na komin e, sedi kocur na sla nin e, h ybajte ho zohn at' a mne ku s odrezat', az mi mal y odrezete, svoje prsty poreze te. R echtorovi j ako dve re a mn e ku s - ako hus 1 pp . 82-83 Easter The spring custom s include taking out Morena (the goddess of dea th in the p agan Slavic traditio n) , ta king out the old m a n (dedko - possibly a m ale equivalent of Moren a), and welcoming in the n ew summe r . However , the sprin g ce remonial cycle is cente red prim a rily around Easter , the most important religious holiday of the season . Easte r customs still co nta in m a ny pre -Christia n ele m e nts, which have been prese rved up to the 20th century . For example, on Good Friday a t d awn, girls would chant incantations while ba thing, wishing for a hu sba nd (see " Pud- �22 SLOVAKIA dle, Puddle" in the preceding section). On Easter Monday, groups of ten to fifteen men and boys went from house to house, wishing the womenfolk a Happy Easter. It was a part of the tradition that they flogged women's legs with a birch switch and doused their heads with fresh water. This proced ure had a symbolic purifying function . If a young man was courting a particular young woman, he was expected to visit her house , thus showing his interest and affection. Then, the girl would reward her favorite suitor with the most lavishly decorated Easter egg. Besides the eggs, everybody would also receive drinks, food, sweets, and little boys would get money. Easter, Easter, will it come soon? which lad will pour water over me] Pour the water , pour the water, on my hair and head , but do spare my nice new skirt. Vel'ka noc , Vel'ka noc, kedyze uz bude? ktoryze ma suhaj oblievati prfde? Oblievaj, oblievaj, vlasy aj hlavicku , ale mi zasanuj tu novu suknicku. p . 93 Pentecost marked the beginning of the summer cycle. Many traditions were centered around the summer solstice and St. John's Eve CTune 24). On that day, love incantations were chanted and the future was foretold . Also, magic was practiced against witches whose power was believed very strong on that day. The later part of the summer season is poorer in folklore because of increased work in the fields . Harvest The autum cycle begins with the harvest season . During the harvest season, songs were sung in the fields, or on the way home after a day 's work. Thematically , they are associated with the work itself, love between two young people ("We Reaped Here") , or the feast following the work ("Master, Make Ready for a Feast "). Some of these songs are joking in tone . The songs sung around the harvest wreath reflect old Slovak customs . After the harvest, a procession of harvesters would walk from the fields to the house of the farmer who had hired them . Led by a young man who was carrying a colorful flag and a young woman wearing a wreath made of wild flowers , they would sing songs and some- �SLOVAKIA 23 times play music ("For Which Girl Shall We Weave a Wreath Today?"). In these songs, the peasants expressed their joy and happiness over a rich harvest. They also expressed their hope for the same bounty for the years to come. Harves t time offers a whole series of songs connected with this important agricultural season. They may refer to the work itself, or love between a young girl and a young man from the same village, or else the rest during the break or at the end of the day . W e reaped here , we reaped the re , in the valley, in th e valley, and the birdie, mottled birdie keeps singing, kee ps singin g. Kde sm e zali , tu sme fali , na doline , na doline , a ten vtacik, jarabacik pres pevuje , prespevuje. As the birdie , mottled birdie goes around th e tree , a rou nd the tree , so does m y d ea r, m y beloved go around me, around me . J ak ten vtacik, jarabacik okolo pna , okolo pna , tak moj mil y, najmilejsf okolo mna , okolo mn a. We reaped here , we reaped th ere, behind a path , behind a path , whoever will be our master, our clerk, our clerk? Kde sme zali , tu sme fali, za chonnfkom , za chonnfkom , ktoze bude nas fm panom , ura nnfkom , ura nnfkom ? p . 99 2 Master, make read y for a feas t, for a feast , we ' ve don e all the work for you . Master , prepa re the repast , th e repas t , a twelve- pound roas t. Add to it pints of wine , pints of wine, and a roasted capon. H otuj , pa ne , oldomas, oldomas , zrob ili sme , kd e co mas. H otuj , pa ne , veceru , vece ru, d vanas t' funtov pecenu . Este k tom u pint vfna, pint vfna, peceneho kapuna . p. 100 Around the h arvest wreath might be sung the foll owing song: 3 For which girl shall we weave a wreath today? For th e one chose n by the handsom es t young ma n . Wh o shall we let ca rry th e fl ag tod ay ? The one who hands hi s ri ght ha nd to her . T hat Ond1·is Slavik a nd Anna Bl ahej , �SLOVAKIA 24 they would make a nice couple would Lord grant it. Masters, our masters , open the gates, we bring you a gift - a nice pair of reapers. Harvesters back from the fields , cover the tables, the mapl e tables with linen tabl e-cloths. Ktorejze dnes, ktorej uvijeme veniec~ Tej, ktoru vyberie najkrajsi mladenec . Komuze dnes , komu dame niest' zastavu? Tomu , co jej poda svoju rucku pravu. Ten Ondris Slavike, ta Anna Blaheje, to by bou pekny par, keby im Panboh dau! Pani nasi, pani, otvarajte brany, nesieme vam darik, zencov pekny parik. Idu zenci z roli, prestierajte stoly, stoly javorove, obrusy kmentove. p. 100 CEREMONIAL FAMILY FOLKLORE Ceremonial family folklore focuses primarily on the most important events in an individual's life: birth, marriage and death . While only songs are discussed here (they are the most common form), the Slovak ceremonial family tradition is expressed in poems, proverbs, sayings, riddles, and short dramatic performances as well. Christening Songs In the distant past , the birth of a child was accompanied by rituals and many magic practices . Such practices, it was believed, would protect the mother and her child, and would also secure health and happiness for the child as he or she matured. These magic practices gradually developed into joyful, social celebrations to welcome the new member of the family . 10 Thematically, the christening songs are directly connected with the child's birth and prospects. They frequently mention the responsibilities and problems connected with his or her upbringing, and wish the child a happy life, prosperity, and even a good spouse. Some songs stress the importance attached to having male offspring: '' And if you my wife,/would have a boy ... " If the child is a girl, the song may wish her beauty, or possibly stress the importance of chastity or industrious- �25 SLOVAKIA ness: " Freedom and chastity prevail everywhere, / whichever girl has them , let her guard them .'' Other songs may express the abruptly felt loss of freedom experienced by the young parents , especially the new mother: '' ... m y freedom is crying in the cradle.'' M any songs are j okin g in tone and form the less serious part of the christening ceremony in Slovak villages . H ere, for example, the new parents tease each other a bout their responsibility for rocking the baby: '' Rock him , m y dear . .. I'm his mother.'' And here again, the m other m ockin gly compares her situation with that of the carefree life of unm arried m en and women: " I used to have a good time , ... m y maiden name/ is blotted out," or " As the maiden s d ance . . . while I , poor thing , / rock a baby ." Slovak christening songs usually have the following rhyme pattern : aa-bb-cc-dd. The number of syllables is usually the same in each line. Man y songs use assonance and employ colloquial express10ns . J ano , J ano, mily Jano! Donesu ti chl apca rano. K ed donesu , budem mati , vychova ho moja mati. A ked puojdem dolinami , vychovam ho malina mi , a ked puojdem sfrym svetom vychovam ho bielym kvetom . J ohn, John dear J ohn" They will bring you a boy tomorrow. Wh en they bring him, I'll keep him ," my mother wi ll raise him . And when I go down the valleys, I will raise him on raspberri es, and when I go in the wide world , I will raise him on white flo wers. p. 143 2 If you , m y wife," would have a boy, I would hire a wet nurse , a chef, a cook, a caretaker , and a house keeper. K eby si ty, zena moja , chlapca mal a, drzau by ti dojku , kuchara , kucharku, i safa ra i safarku. p. 144 3 Freedom and chastity prevail everyw here," whichever girl has th em, let her guard them . I would have protected mine, but it is too late. my freedom is crying in th e cradle. Sloboda, poctivost', ta vsade panuj e, kt ore j u di evca ma, nech si ju va ruje. I ja bych si moju , uz je ponecase, uz moja slobod a V belcove m i place. p . 144 �26 SLOVAKIA 4 As the maidens dance," they whirl around in circles, while I, poor thing, rock a baby. J a k tie panny tancuju, do kola sa zvrcuju, a ja neboz ia tko kolfsem diet'at ko. Rock him, my d ea r husband , he is such a lovely boy. Rock him yourself, you are his mother . Kolfbaj ho moj mily, vsak je synak spanily. Kolfbaj si sama, vsak si mu ty mama. I would be a fool to rock him by myself, You surely are his father just as I 'm his mother. Bola by ja blazon kolfba ti sama, vsak si mu ty otec jako i ja mama . I used to have a good time when luck served me, sitting by the window, with a handsome young man . Byvalo mi, byvalo, ked' mi stestia sluzilo, sedajfcej v okne, s mladeneckom pekne. I used to sit with him , now I am married to him , m y maiden name was blotted out. Sedala som, sedala, u z sem ho i dostala, me panenske jmeno bolo vymazano. pp. 144-45 Wedding Songs Of the three areas of ceremonial family folklore discussed here, the wedding ceremony offers the greatest variety of folklore material. This is because in Slovakia the wedding ceremonies of most villages and towns contained traditions that were peculiar to that particular locale . There were often specific differences between the ceremonies of neighboring villages even within a relatively small geographic area. 16 The entire ritual consisted of three parts: the period before the wedding during which a wedding contract was m ade between the future inlaws; the wedding ceremo ny itself, and the feast after the young couple had retired. The wedding actually began when the wedding guests gathered and the bride and groom left for the ceremony in the church. The first five selections under the headin g "Wedding Songs" are examples of what the wedding party might sing along the way. After the ceremony the bride and groom as well as the guests would arrive at the bride groom's h ouse , where the festivities would take place . The feast was and still is the culmination of the whole wedding. The structure of the entire wedding ceremon y was originally quite �SLOVAKIA 27 rigid . There were dan ces, ceremonial speeches, dramatic speeches and acts, as well as songs. All proceeded according to a traditionally fixed pattern . 1 7 Today, the songs themselves are no longer a part of the ceremony, and while many of the other forms remain (such as dances and speeches) the rigid , traditional patterns are no longer followed . Thematically, the bride is the focus of the often-lyrical and teasing ceremonial songs. Her beauty , upbringing, future as a married woman, and her character are all described in these songs: "Mother, mother, you have a lovely daughter''; ''Mother, mother, you may be proud . . . '' The most frequently mentioned virtues on the bride's part are modesty , diligence , obedience, and chastity. Some of the songs, especially those following the taking of the wreath and placing of the bonnet on the bride's head (when she symbolically becomes a woman), are permeated with laments: ''I lost my headdress . .. I like wearing it.'' Other songs picture the bride taking leave of her parents, relatives and friends: thanking her parents for her upbringing, expressing her sorrow about leaving them, and sometimes also expressing apprehension about her future with the bridgegroom' s family. Wedding songs and speeches employ rhymed verse, often of the following pattern : aa-bb-cc. The number of syllables is usually the same in each line. As in christening songs, wedding songs also employ assonance. Mother, mother, you have a lovely daughter , we will take her from you even if you hide her. Should you lock her behind four locks, we sure will get her with fin e words. Mamicka , mamicka, peknu dceru mate, m y vam ju vezmeme , co ju aj schovate . Co by ste ju zamkli aj styrma zamka mi , my ju dostaneme peknymi slova mi. p. 151 2 G et married , ge t ma rried , m y love, well will you learn what tyranny is. Get m arried , get m arri ed, my love , a birch switch awaits you behind th e door. V ydaj sa !en, vydaj , frajeruock a rn oj a, sak sa ve ru dozvies , aka je to zvola. V ydaj sa !en , vyd aj, fraj eruocka moj a, caka t'a za dve rmi ta b rezova hola. p. 151 �28 SLOVAKIA 3 I kept it a sec ret, a secret, but I won't anymore, mother, ge t the feath erbeds" read y, I ' m ge ttin g m ar ried. Thank you , mother , thank you, d ea r , for taking care of me wh ile I was a child . T aj ila som , taji la, uz tajit' nebudem , chystaj , m am ka, perin y, vydavat' sa budem . Dakujem va m , mamicka, dakujem va m sta ra, co ste vy mna chovali , kym so m bola mala . p . 152 4 M ot he r, mot her, you may be proud th at yo ur girl 's gettin g married still chaste. Chaste , she's getting ma rri ed to a you ng man , they both will be wearing a rosemary wreat h .'" Mamicka, mamicka , pekn a vasa chvala , ze sa vafa d ieuka poct iva vydava. Poctiva vyd ava, be ri e ju ml ade nec, budu mat' obidva z rozmarinu ve ni ec. p . 152 5 Whateve r yo u give me, oh, eternal Lord , just don ' t give me a n old hag with children . An old hag rumbl es like a ba rrel of bee r a nd a young girl ' s jumpy like a squirrel. I ' II give the old hag a fl a tca ke 10 to chew on, and th e yo ung gi rl a pair of boots to jump in . Co mi das, to das, pa ne boze vecny, !en ze mi nedavaj staru babu s det'mi. A ta stara dud le, ako z piva bocka a ta mlada skace a ko veve ru ocka. D am starej Osucha , aby ho fova la , ml ad ej na cizmicky, aby si skaka la. p. 152 On the way back from the church , the weddin g party sings songs like the following: 6 Now you a re ours, Ann ie, now you are ours, we a re tak in g you home from the wedd ing. They paid a lotll for your wedd ing, we have tied your hands with a stole . 1 ' Uz si ty, An icka, uz si teraz nasa, uz t'a my ved ieme domov ze sobasa . Od tvojho sobasa tvrdy toliar dali, uz sme tvoje rucky stolou poviazali. p . 153 �SLOVAKIA 29 7 Jaj , co si plakala, ked t'a sobasili? Var si si m ys lela l'ubit' sa s inymi ? A ja som sa bala tej tvojej materi, ked' ona ma jazyk zo samej oceli . Oh , why did you cry at your wedding? Maybe you thought of loving others? No, I was afraid of your moth er , becau se she has a tongue of steel. p. 154 During the wedding feast the bridgegroom and bride may sing to each other: 8 Bridegroom: Welcome, d ear little dove," half of my heart 1 I'm fl ying from bu sh to bush to see your cheeks. As soon as my heart spotted you, it looked back with joy , m y wish was fulfill ed. I want to ask you , Molly , are you willing to m a rry m e? will your fat her let you go? do you want to be my wife? Vitaj, mila holubicka, muojho srdca polovicka 1 Lietam od kricka do kricka, abych videl tvoje licka . J ak t'a moje srdce zrelo , od radosti zas pozrelo , podl'a vuoli sa mi stalo. Chcem sa, Marka, t'a p ytati, m as ty vuolu za mna iti , ci t'a otec chce pu stiti , ci chces mojou zenou byti? p. 161 Bride: You can't find fault with me, yo u can do as you please. Wh y should I spare myself, 34 when I like to see you. You can profit from m e Wh a t ca n I d o? I can tear old shirts to rags , throw wood into the stove, in the kitchen I have good luck, I can cook cabbage wit hout lard, and you wi ll li ck your fingers. l can make scrambled eggs , as my fat her knows . You , m y fat her , tell them what a special di sh it is 135 Nieto na mne ziadna chyba , mozes robit', co ti treba. Co by lutovala seba, ked' ja rada vidim teba . Zo mn a m ozes osoh vziati, co zo mn a moze vystati? Viem starie kosele driapat', dreva do peci nam eta t', aj v ku chyni sa mi stescf, mozem navar it' kapusty bez mas ti , oblfzes prsty. Viem spravit' praze ni cu z vaj ec. o com vie svadobny otec. T y pan svadobny otec povedz , aka je to obzvlastna vec 1 p. 161 The bonneting of the bride had its own special songs . 36 �SLOVAKIA 30 9 I lost m y headdress," m y green wreath, " the best m an" fo und it , a ha ndso me yo ung m an . H ey, bes t m an , best ma n , I beg of you , give me bac k that headb and , I like wearing it. If you like wearing that head ba nd so mu ch , surely you ' d ask the best man more ni cely . Stratila som partu, zeleny ve ni ec, nasiel mi ju dru zba, sva rny ml adenec. H ej , dru zba, hej, dru zba, pekn e t'a prosfm , d ajze mi tu partu , rad a ju nosfm 1 K eby si ty pa rtu rada nosila, ve ru by si druzbu krajsie prosila . p . 163 10 The bell s of r.upca' 0 have a ve ry ni ce rin g," 1 Annie , they ' ll kn ock off yo u r head ba nd . They will kn ock it off with nin e bells, so you won ' t go out with oth er yo un g men . So you won't go out , just love your husband , th e handso me J ohnn y, who is d evo ted to you . Tie lupcian ske zvo ny vel'mi pekne zvo ni a, u z tebe, Ani cka, tvoju pa rtu zro ma . Zronia ti ju , zronia deviatimi zvo ncf, abys nechodil a s cudzfmi mladencf. Abys nechodil a, mu za si l'ubila , Janfcka svarnyho, tebe oddan yho. p . 163 Wailing Over the Dead The practice of wailing over the dead form ed a n integral p a rt of the fun e ral ceremony , a nd according to the Muran Articles of the Protestant Church from 1585 , wailing had been widely practiced in Slovakia.42 The lam ents were performed by semi-professional wailers , usually by older women , who wailed a t the funeral for a fe e. Some times , the laments were perform ed by rela tives. The laments over the d ead were generally improvi sed on the spur of the moment , with the hired person attempting to express lyrically the dee p sorrow felt by the relatives and friends of the deceased. They also m e ntioned the good traits of the deceased, the progress of hi s or her illn ess (as in " Oh , My D ear Child "), and would dram atize the actual d emise of the deceased , portraying him as he took leave of hi s fa mily, relatives, and friends. The laments over the d ead are st ru ctured differentl y from other folklore genres . Since they h ad to be open for improvisa tions , they are �SLOVAKIA 31 free in form. They usuall y do not have regular stanzas or rhyme. Assonance predominates over rhym e and they are sung as melodic recitations. Laments can be characterized not only b y the lack of formal structure, but also by a certain degree of looseness and incoherency, possibly utilized to stress the depth of sorrow felt by the relatives and friends . This looseness is demonstra ted in the poem "George , George" in which the last two stanzas are only vaguely related to the theme of the first two stanzas. Oh , my dear child , beloved Angel," what shall I do without you , my dear souJ? My hea rt was bleeding while you were suffering, you looked at me, I couldn ' t help. Your fath er was walking stunned in the yard , walkin g aimlessly, not saying a word . You chattered to me your sweet words th e wh ole day, you dear innocent ch ild , a nd when you r father came home from th e fi elds, you smiled so that he would take you in his arms , and th ere was no end to your talking, and your father took d elight in you, hi s treasure. Ach, moj e drah uo diet'a, anjel premileny, cuo pocnem bez teba, moj a draha dusa, srdce mi zatislo, ked si sa trapilo, hl'adelo si na mna, nemohla som pomuoct'. Otec ti po dvore omrace ny chodiu , nikde miesta nemau, slov ka nepovedau. Stebotalo si mi slad uskymi recmi cely den, ty draha nevinnost ' premila , a ked otec z pol'a do domu sa vratiu, usmi evalo si sa, kym t'a k sebe nevzau, a n ebolo recom tvojim dlh o konec , a otec sa tesiu v tebe drahy poklad. p. 164 2 George, George, yo ur godfather ca me ," for yo u to plow hi s fi elds. You a re through with plowing since the Lord called you. Juro , Juro , km otor prise!, aby si mu orat' isol. A ty si uz dooral , ked' t'a panboh povolal. Ycs te rd ay you ate three sa usages," a nd a lot of bread. 46 Today you lie on th e bier, like a hog on a ca rt . Y ce ra si zjel tri jelita , aj chl eba z polk yky zita. Dnes uz lezis na marach ako bravec na karach. �32 SLOVAKIA M y dea r go lde n m oustache" would be fit fo r strin gs, my ve r y d ear ha ir , would be good fo r ropes. M oje m ile, zlate fuzy, boli ze by na mot u zy, moj e premile vlasy boli by na povrazy. Wh en he bega n to play hi s bagpipe: " tati -lat i, ta ti-l a ti ," he go t a farth ering" to bu y spices, he dropped it behind his shirt. K ed si pocal gajdovati : ta ti -lati , ta ti-l ati , ma! turak na koreni a, vsy pal ho do zahreni a. p . 165 NOTES ' Andrej M elichercfk , ed. , Slo vensky Folkl6r: Chrestomatia (Bra tislava: Slove nska Akademi a Vied, 1959) . ' J ozef r. . Holuby, Folklore studi es published ma inl y in Slovenske Pohl'ad y between 1883 a nd 1897; Jan Kolla r , N arodnie spievanky, I-II (Bra ti slava, 1953); Jii'i Polivka, Supis slo ven skych rozpravok I-V (Turciansky Svaty M artin , 1923 -1932). ' The fo lkloric ma teri al collected by Dobsinsky a nd oth ers is re ndered in th e dialec t o f the region fro m which it origina ted . The page reference to M elichercfk is give n in th e tex t a ft er th e Slovak ori ginal. ' " Puddle, Puddle ." In the Slova k, this love inca nta ti on has an irregul a r rhym e (aabbb-c-ddd-c-ee-fff- e-g-hh-g- iii -j- k-ll -m m) whi ch was sac rificed in th e tra nsla ti on fo r the sake of accuracy. • Although th e magical for mulae are pagan in origin , they contain refe rences to C hristi a nit y. ' Lit. · " H oly T rinity,/be a good helpe r to me/ to eve rythin g good,/ to the state of m a trimon y" (II. 26-29). 6 The colors refer to the body: red or pink cheeks were considered a sign of good health , a nd a white co m plex ion was much valued by both men and women, partl y as a sign of class di stin ction . O nly feuda l lords and wealth y merchants who di d not have to work in th e fi elds could afford to have white skin a ll year aro un d. " H oney " is a traditi onal refe rence to good te mper . 7 " I have brought you a piece of steel. . " With the exce ption of the wishes in the las t lin e, the Slova k poe m co nsis ts of rh ym in g co upl ets. All bu t 11 . 1 and 2 a re revised in order to con vey a prope r word order in English . Steel (iron) was co ns idered p ro tect ion aga ins t evil and fa iries in Europe (Maria Tymocz ko). ' H a ft is a ha nd le of a hoe, ax, scyt he, and oth er ag ricultu ral tools. H ere the number of hafts represen ts the far mer 's pros perity. 9 A typical orname n t a mong young marri ed village me n . Wh en give n by a you ng unm a r ried women, th e feather was co nside red a sign of affect ion. '° K re u ze r (o r kreutzer) was a small cop per coin in Aust ri a and Ge rmany, the 100th part of th e fl orin . It was so called because th e coin had th e fi gu re of a cross on it. A penny wou ld be probabl y the closest co n temporary eq ui valent to the kreuzer. " Wal nu ts and hazlenu ts were trad itionally eaten at C hristmas tim e after the ma in meal. �SLOVAKIA 33 " " I wi sh you in thi s/comin g New Yea r " : This is a very popular N ew Year 's wish . The unu su al wi sh , " that a side of your oven/ m ay fa ll out" (11 .3 -4) probably ha s the same conn otat ion as th e En gli sh '' break a leg!'' It also sugges ts a wi sh of prosperity to the farm er , i.e., th a t hi s oven m ay be fill ed to burstin g, or ove rh eated with con stant cooki ng a nd baking. " Fo rmall y, thi s poe m is arran ged in rh ymin g coupl ets but asson an ce plays a m o re impo rtant role . " This carol is loosely a rra nged in rh yming couplets. Again, the assonance a nd the rhym e take precedence ove r m eanin g, and thi s ex plains why such seemingly unrela ted them es as th e Three Kings, the Star of Bethlehem , J oseph and M a ry o n the one hand, and the rose, th e tulip on the ta ble, and the old man's huntin g expedition on th e other ha nd , fo und their place in thi s carol. The carol is a mi xture of religious and secular m otifs. " C hildren , dressed as the Three Magi, arrive a t a farmh ou se and sing. Yet they mu st no t sin g a bout the fa rm er ' s fa mil y, but the H oly Famil y of the Na tivity. 16 ' ' Sh rovetide, Pentecos t, and Easter ... '' This j okin g carnival song is ar ranged in rh ym in g coupl ets. 11 Fatback bacon (usual ly with no lean m eat) was a staple diet , often a snack, fo r village peo ple. It was ofte n eaten with baked potatoes a nd _onio ns, o r j ust plain bread . 18 Fa tback baco n u sed to be sm oked (cured ) in th e chimn ey. 19 The teac her , alo ng with the p riest a nd th e m ayo r , was amon g th e m ost prominent peo ple in th e vill age. 0 ' S loven sko: l', ud - II. cast', ed s. Boze na Filova et al. (B ra ti slava: O bzo r , 1975). " In the Slovak o ri ginal, thi s son g has a regula r rh yme pat tern: aa-b b-cc-dd . The first two lines ad d ress th e m a in speaker . " J oh n" is appa ren tl y a youn g fath er whose wife d ied in childbirth . T he fat her says that he will kee p his so n , but the boy ' s grandmoth er will have to bring him up . Them a ticall y, the so ng expresses conce rn fo r th e boy ' s upbringin g. In the seco nd stan za , the speake r ind icates that he m ay have to leave hi s nat ive vill age, probably in search of wo rk . T hi s was a co mm on prac ti ce among im poverished village rs. " Lit .: " I 'll have. " In 11. 3 an d 4 coll oqui al form s of the ve rb " to have " and the nou n " m other" have bee n used. The forms a re iden tical: mati , wh ich fac il itates th e rh ym e and keeps th e sam e num ber of syll a bles in each line. There a re eight sylla bles in each line, and th e standa rd m o nosy lla bic word m at' wo uld have redu ced th e syll a bles dow n to seven in 11 .3 a nd 4 . " The origin al son g uses assonance ra ther th an rh ym e. A fat her-to-be is th e speaker in this so ng . H alf-jokin g , he stresses the importance of a male offspring. H e p rom ises to pa m pe r hi s wife if she bears him a son . " The original so ng uses asson a nce . T he speaker , proba bly an un wed m o th er, po nders her fat e a nd talks a bout social conve nti on s. " W ith th e excepti o n of stanza 3, the so ng has a near regul a r rh ym e: aa-bb-cc-dd-e -fg- f-hh- ii -jj- kk. T he speaker in th is so.ig is the ba by 's moth er who regrets th e loss of her freedo m as a mother and/or a wife . It is not qu ite clear from the context wheth er she is m a rri ed o r no t. I n either case, it was not proper of her to joi n the ca refree d a nce of unm arri ed m en a nd wome n . �34 6 SLOVAKIA Slovensko: E,ud, p. 1057. " Melichercfk , p. 26 " A featherbed is a strong cloth con tainer thi ckly filled with goose feathers and down and used as a bed cover in lieu of blankets. Featherbeds were a part of the bride's dowry, which also included pillows, sheets, towels, cloths, etc . The dowry was collected throughout the years practically after the day the girl was born . Goose down and stripped feathers were collected ever y year from the fami ly's fl ock of geese and stashed in a special bag for each d aughter in the family. The wealthier the bride , the higher the pile of featherbeds and pillows atop her bed . " A rosemary wreath was a decoration used on such occasions as weddings and funerals . H ere it is a symbol of chastity. 0 ' A fl atcake (osuch ) is a simple, flat cake, usually round. It is baked from bread dough , which is sometimes mixed with a different type of fl our or else potatoes. " Lit .: "They paid a hard thaler for your wedding ," obviously meaning the dowry. Thaler (also taler) was a large silver coin u sed in various German states and in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was worth 30 silver groschen, worth about 3s. sterling . The word "dollar" is derived from " th aler." " R efe rring to the priest's vestments durin g the wedding ce remony, the stole is a long, decorated strip of cloth worn like a scarf by officiating clergymen of various chu rches. 33 In the Slovak original, each line consists of eight syllables. The rhyme pattern is: aaaa-bbb-cccc. " The meaning is not quite clear here. It probably indicates the bride's submission to the groom . 35 In this poem, each line consists of eight syllables . The rh yme pattern is: aaaa-bb-ccbbb-dddd. 36 Bonneting of the bride is the culmination of the wedding ceremony. The bride becomes a married woman when her wreath is replaced by a bonnet. 31 Headband or headdress is a wreath decorated with colorful ribbons, worn by un married women and brides. Married women wore bonnets or scarves. 38 Each line in this song consists of eleven syllables. The rhyme pattern is: aa-bb-cc. 39 It was customary that the best man led the bride to the wedding and took off her wreath or headband. H e led the bride down the aisle, whereas the bridesmaid led the bridegroom down the aisle. He was referred to as the " leading " best man and wore a sword to distinguish himself from other best men who wore sticks decorated with scarves . '° Cupca is a town in Central Slovakia, where many local customs and traditions have been preserved. 41 Each line in this song consists of twelve syllables. The rhyme pattern is: aa-bb-c-d. " Melichercfk, p . 142. 43 This lame ntation has a sporadic rhyme pattern: a-b-c-d-ee-f-g-ee- h-i. The lines consist of 12 to 13 syllables. 44 The poem has the following rhym e pattern: aa-bb-cc-dd-ee-ff-gg-hh . The lines consist of seven to eight syllables. 45 Pork sausage in natural casing. It is made of rice or grits combined with ground meat , liver, blood and spices. The sausages were usu all y made in winter or early ' �SLOVAKIA 35 spring when the fatt ened pigs were slaughtered . " '' ... a lot of bread.'' This is a free translation due to the discrepancy in the printed word indicating the amount of rye from which the bread was made . The original version of this song, titled, " W a iling over a D ead Husband" (Sbomik slovenskych n arodnych piesnf, povestf, prfslovf, porekadiel, hadok, hier, obycajov a povier [A Collection of Slovak Folk Songs, Riddles, Games, Customs, and Superstitions], II , (Turciansky Sva ty Martin : Matica slovenska, 18741) spells the wordpolkyly, which would mean half a kilo. On the other hand , Melichercik's edition lists the word polkyky (fem. gen. sg. ), which was an old , popula r measure in Slovak villages . The word k yky is of Ukrainian ori gin (a Ukrainian word for a scarf worn by village women, "babushka" type). ·since scales were a luxury item in the past, the amount of rye from which a loaf of bread was m ade was m easured in the scarf. Pol means half, i.e., the bread was made from half the amount measured by the scarf. 47 The poem , somewhat joking in character, shows the improvising character of funeral recitations. The stanzas wander from one subject to another, touching some memories of the dead man that may o r may not be relevant for the occasion of the funeral, but they are important in the eyes of the wailer. " " Farthing" is a free translation, indicating that the coin was small. In the Slovak original , turak was a small coin , worth one and a half groschen . It was used in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This paper is based on a doctoral dissertation , " Slovak Folklore : An Anthology, " at the Un iversity of M assachuset ts in Amh erst , 1982. I th ank especially Professors Sarah N. Lawall a nd Zdenek Salzmann . Presented in part in P anel 128 , " Slovak Literature as a Mirror of the National Awakening ," at the AAASS co nvention in Philadelphia on 8 November 1980 , and in Panel 65 , "The Village in Slovak Literature ," at the AAASS convention in Asiloma r , California on 2 1 September 1981. � 12 SLOVAKIA Three Kinds of Slovak Folk Literature Eva Susan Kucekova The following categories of Slovak folklore represent some of its oldest forms. Lyrical genres, such as m agical formul ae or incantations , ceremonial calendar poetry , and ceremonial fa mily poetry, a re of ritual and ceremonial character. The sample selections introduced in this pa per were taken from a comprehensive modern collection of Slovak folkl ore entitled Slovensky folk16r: Chrestomatia, and edited b y the foremost authority on the subj ect, the late Andrej Melichercfk . 1 Melichercfk based hi s anthology on Pavo! Dobsinsky' s publications , as well a s on other collections of Slovak folklore, for example those edited by Jozef I:. . Holuby, Jan Kollar and Jirf Polfvka . 2 The folklori c material collected by Dobsinsky and others is rendered in the dialect of the region from which it originated. MAGICAL FORMULAE Magical fo rmulae a re incantations associated with ritu als. These non-narrative forms are very ancient and are closely related to ce rem onial calendar poetry. M agical formulae were u sually connec ted with special rites and performed on spec ific occasions and/or holidays . They were often perform ed by semiprofessional m en and women (" wi se m en " and " wise wom en ") who were well versed in m agic. There are two types of incantations: tho se which were supposed to bring a desired effect( " sympathethic magic" ), and those which were supposed to preve nt undes irable and ha rmful effects (" preve ntive magic" ). Incantations we re u sed to brin g a hu sba nd , m ake one fall in love, prevent and cure illness , increase the yield of the fi elds, and also bring illness or bad lu ck upon a n enem y . Some incan tations were chanted primarily by girls or young women. " Puddle, Puddle," " Will ow, Willow," and " And You , Elm ," are typical examples of love incantations. Once m arried , a bride would chant an incanta tion " I Sow the Seed " and wish for good lu ck and prosperity . �SLOVAKIA 13 Magical formulae are rhythmical and based on syntactic parallelisms ; they rely extensively on various euphonic and semantic devices. Due to the fact that magical formulae are so closely associated with magic, their ritual form remains unchanged throughout the centuries . Magical incantations contain many pre-Christian elements, upon which a new layer of C hri st ian symbols has been added . Love Incantations This love incantation shows water as a powerful source of magic. T aken from fords at midnight , water was believed to attract lovers and help a girl get married . While bathing, girls chanted the following incantation: Puddle , puddle,' get me a husband! Above the bridge, below the bridge, let him go nowhere but to our house! Above th e footbrid ge, below th e footbr idge, don 't let him rest but in ou r house 1 I 'm not pouring away, I 'm pouring in: bachelors , wid owers, merchants, fiddlers, even those small boys I call after me, after my body , aft er my clothes , after my heels, a ft er this hou se of ours. Not by my power do I say this, but I say it by the divine power, from J es us Christ till m idn ight. And help me in this God th e Father, the Son , a nd the H oly Ghost!' H oly Trini ty , help me reach hap piness and get married. 1 Kaluza, kalu za, daj muza 1 Vyse mosta, ni ze mosta, aby nemal nikde miesta len u nas! Vyse lavky, ni ze lavky, aby nem al nikd e stavky len u nas 1 Neod lievam, ale prilievam: mladencov, vdovcov, kupcov , aj hudcov , aj tych malickych chlapcov za sebou volam, za mym telom , za m ymi satami, za mym i patami, za tym nasfm domom . J a to nehovorfm ze svej moc1, lez to hovorfm z bozskej m oci, od pana J ezisa Kri sta do pol noci. A k tomu mi dopomahaj Boh otec , Boh sy n , Boh du ch svaty! Svata troj ica , bud mi dobra pomocnica k vse tkemu dobremu, k stavu manzelskemu! p. 54 �14 SLOVAKIA On the eve of St. George ' s Day (April 24) , young girls made wreaths from different kinds of flowers and boughs. Later, wreaths were tossed into the air. It was believed that the girl whose wreath was caught on a tree branch would get married within a year. To attract a beloved, girls would make wreaths from nine different boughs and chant the following incantation: 2 A ty vaz - ty ho vaz, a ty hrab - se m ho hrab , a ty kJen - se m ho zen , a ty svfb - se m ho sib, a ty sip - ty ho stfp , a ty tfn - sem ho hrn , a ty dub - ty ho l'ub , a ty bez - za nim bez, a ty lieska - za nim vri es kaj ! And you, elm - you bind him , and you, hornbeam - rake him here, and you , maple - drive him here, and you , red dogwood - whip him here, and you , wild rose - you prick him, and you , thorn bush - push him here , and you , oak - you love him , and you , lilac - run aft er him , a nd you , hazel, - yell aft er him p . 57 Bridal Incantation A woman married into her husband's family . As soon as the bride entered her husband's house after the wedding, she would scatter flaxs6ed, millet and poppy seed in the yard for good luck , while chanting the following: 2 I sow the seed , to succeed with all my breed ; I sow millet, for others to beg m y fav or; I sow poppy seed , for this to last foreve r. Sejem se m eno, ab y sa mi viedl o vsetko ple meno; sej em proso, aby sa mi vse tci prosili ; sej em m ak, aby bolo vzdycky tak . p . 61 Incantation by the Willow To make sure that they would grow beautiful long hair, young girls would comb their hair under a willow on Good Friday at dawn. While combing their hair, they wished for a good husband . Willow, willow , ge t m e a m an , red as a rose , white as a fl ower, a nd good as honey. ' Vfba, vfb a , d aj mi mu za, ce rve neho a ko ru za a bieleho a ko kve t, a dobreho ako med . p . 62 �SLOVAKIA 15 CEREMONIAL CALENDAR POETRY Ceremonial calendar poetry celebrates different festivals of the year. The original calendar festivals coincided with the solstices and equinoxes. Calendar poetry contains many pre-Christian mythological elements which have been intertwined with and sometimes replaced by Christia n elements. In the calendar poetry of Slovakia a nd other Slavic countries which have been under Catholic influence, Christian features pred ominate. The traditions connected with calendar poetry are still being practi ced in some Slovak villages , particularly around holidays such as Christmas, New Year ' s and Easter. The classification of calendar poetry corresponds to the agricultural cycles, and all four seasons of the year are represented. In the poetry , three seasons are associated with the cultivation of the soil, while the last one is concerned with the harvest itself. The poetry is full of incantations and magical formulae meant to secure a good harvest and placate nature , which was often thought of as hostile. In the pre-Christian era the peasants turned for h elp to their gods and during Christian times to the numerous Christian saints. They would ask for good and prosperous years , abundant harvest, a nd good health and happy family life. Along with incantations and magical formulae, calendar poetry also contains chants , recitations , songs, riddles, and prognostications . In this poetry each season has its own characteristic customs . The winte r solstice cycle , beginning in November , is best represented. Its poetry is of a prophetic nature, and touche s on both family life and the prosperity of the homestead. The most important days of the season were the last 12 before Christmas since they represented the 12 months of the year; these days were used to judge what the weather would be like for the w hole next year. Children went caroling from hou se to house, a nd it was important that they b e healthy for if they were, they would bring good health to the fa rm ers ' fa milies as well . Moreover, the living room h a d to be cleaned a nd whitewashed in eve ry house to preve nt any kind of illn ess from ente rin g. Numerous C hri stmas customs were practiced o n C hristmas Eve . Basicall y , they were meant to express the farmer ' s thanksgiv in g for good crops in the preceding season, a nd to h elp assure a nd predict a good harvest in the forthcoming year. The latter kind were u su ally connected wit h magic . There we re rules of condu ct which were st ri ctl y followed �16 SLOVAKIA on Christmas Eve. For example, one could not light the house unless the Christmas Eve dinner - the biggest meal of the year - was already set on the table. The numerous courses of the meal had to follow acertain sequence . Christmas carolers were offered food and drink , and the boys were also given money. Many of the Christmas carols have a joking tone - besides bringing best wishes they expressly ask for a reward as in ''I Am a Very Small Boy,'' or ''I'm Just a Little Boy .' ' Sometimes they would ask expressly for money as in the carol "We Have Brought You Some News . '' New Year's wishes were also humorous in tone and expressed the good mood which prevailed in every household on that day . It was believed that if one felt happy on New Year's Day , he or she would be happy during the coming year. One song jokingly suggests that the farmer's stove burn out from too much cooking and baking: "I wish you in this/ coming New Year / that a side of your oven / may fall out." Carols for the eve of the Three Magi combine religious and secular motifs. Thus, in " Lord , Grant Us a Merry Evening," best wishes are expressed for everyone in the house, including the servants. Immediately after come Epiphany motifs, dealing with the birth of Christ and the arrival of the Three Kings. The Epiphany carol is concluded with a rather anticlimatic ending: the old man (probably the patriarch of the house) is not at home and has gone hunting. Very often , the boys were masked as the Three Kings, Joseph and Mary, and would perform a co medy based on the ancient legend . The Christmas ceremonial cycle ended with the Three Kings motif. Thematically, then , Slovak ceremonial calendar poetry focuses upon the four cycles of the year and the agricultural tradition con nected with them . It also contains the themes of love and fertility, and elements of ancestor worship, which are not treated here. From the formal point of view, calendar poetry is characte rized by symm etric bipartite verse and the frequent use of asso nance . Pre-Christmas Period The winter cycle of calendar poetry begins with St. Thomas's Day (December 21 ) , the shortest day of the year. Small boys walked around the village with a piece of steel, wishing farmers good lu ck in the next farming year : �SLOVAKIA 17 I have b rought you a piece of steel' so th a t you would not fall out of bed. Have as m a n y calves on yo ur farm as there a re spoons on your shelf. Have as man y oxen in your stable as there are logs in your shed. Let your girls have as many suito rs as there are dishes on your rack. May yo ur lads own as many hafts' as there are hearths in you r house. May as man y youn g men wear feathers in their caps• as you have number of dau ght ers. Have as m a ny more ears of corn in you r backyard as there are pictures on your walls. I ask onl y as many kreuzers' 0 as there are mirrors here. I wish you a good morning 1 Doniesou som vam ocele, aby ste nevypadli z postele. Kol'ko mate za ramom lyz iciek, tol'ko mate vo dvore teliciek; kol'ko mate na sope kolov, tol'ko mate V mastali volov; kol'ko mate za ramom tanierov , tol'ko maju vase dievky frajero v ; kol'ko mate vo vasom dome ohnisk, tol'ko maju vas i parobci porisk ; kol'ko zije vasich deer, tol'ko maju mladenci pier ; kol'ko ma te na stene obrazov , tol'ko raz vo vasom humne kl asov; kol'ko mate tuna zrkadov, !en tol'ko mi dajte krajciarov. Dobro rano vinsujem 1 p. 70 Christmastime Many Christmas carols and son gs are connected with the Christm as season. Both children and ad ults went from house to hou se caroling M erry C hristmas. For their service they expected som e reward. Many of these carols are joking in character, as is evident from the following carols: �18 SLOVAKIA I a m a very sm all boy. M y fa th er has se nt me to you , to ge t so methin g from you , but m ake it qui ck, for m y stomach rumbl es. J a som chl apec ve l'mi m aly, mn a moj otec k vam poslali, zeby ste mi dafo dali , ale chytro , lebo m i uz v bru chu svitlo. p. 70 2 I ' m ju st a little boy. I'm askin g fo r my sm all bag : a pi ece of cake a nd piece o f pie. T omorrow , I ' ll b rin g yo u a bird . If th at see m s too little, I will brin g you so me pork ; and if tha t 's not enough , I 'll b ri ng yo u a cat's ta il. J a so m maly, nevelicky, pyta m se be do ka psicky: kus kola.ca, kus kabaca, d onesiem vam zajtra vtaca. Ak sa vam to ma.lo vid f, d onesiem vam porfov iny; ak je vam to ni e dost', d onesiem va m z m acky chvost. p . 71 3 W e have b rought you so me news, we have come to you r feas t . The Saviour desce nded from H eave n , and we ca me to be your gues ts. A jug of wine is on th e table , and we are under your farm yard window, but you don ' t offer us a n y win e, nor do you have an y brand y th a t we ca n trea t ourselves to, and sing you songs eve n ni ce r . W e don ' t want your past ry, we' ll crac k a few nu ts.'' H ey, we a re not little ki ds , wh o get j ust a kreu ze r apiece. If yo u don ' t give us twe n ty we wo n ' t co me on New Yea r's Day. D oni esli sm e vam novinu , prisli sm e k vam na hos tinu , Sos tupi l Spasti el' z vysosti . M y sm e prisli k va m za hos ti . Krcah s vfn om j e na stole, m y sme pod oblokom v dvore , a nam vina nedavate, palenky ti ez ni c nem a te, co b y sme sa castu va]i a vam krajsie zaspievali . O pekance va m nechcem e, oriesky si poklcieme. A my sme ni e chl a pci m ali, ze by Ste nam krajc iar d ali. Ak na m dvads ia tnik ned a te, na Novy rok nas nema te. p. 71 New Year's Wish es Early in th e m ornin g on New Year's D ay, m en a nd youn g boys went from house to hou se, w ishin g lo ts of lu ck, p rosperity , a nd good h ealth to everyon e in the house . M ost of th eir w ishes foc u sed upon su ccessfu l fa rmin g a nd m a n age m e n t. I wish you in th is coming New Year, V in sujem vam V tento nas tavajuc i nov y rok , �SLOVAKIA that a side of your ove n may fall out , " that your wife may get pregna nt this year! Give us foo d and drink and stay well! 19 aby va m vypadol z pece bok, aby vam bola vasa gazdin a na te nto rok samod ruh a 1 Vypit', zajest' na m d ajte, a dob re sa tu m aj te 1 p . 78 2 l wish you plenty of hemp , bu shels of beets, a whole bin of blossoms, and a ba rnful of children' Vinsujem va m moc konopi, mecu repy , zacinok puckov, plevienec deti 1 p. 79 3 This l wish to all'' with vigo r and joy : to peasants, bags for their shoulders ; to shep herd s, porridge; to cows, good pasture; to pigs, lots of mast to make them fat. Vinsujem smele vse tk ym vese le : sedliakom vrece, pine na piece; pastiero m kase a kravam pase; svi niam zaludu, ze tu cne budu . p . 79 The Three Magi On the eve of Epiphany, children went from house to house, singing carols in which the Epiphany motifs were interspersed with such commonplace motifs as farming and the farmer's eve ryday activity. Lord, grant us a merry eve ning ," to the farmer, first of all! And then to th e farmwife, and then to all the se rvants! The Three M agi a rri ve from the East, wo rshippin g this fam il y. Do not worship this fa mil y but worship only the beloved Lo rd! " And you , bright star, go before us, Lord , Jesus C hri st, grant us a good ni ght! And you , Joseph , I say to you , do not leave the Virgin M ary 1 D on ' t you kn ow who is going to be bo rn ? The Virgin M ary is to bear a so n . There is a red rose on your table , �SLOVAKIA 20 let you r daught er marry a handsome man 1 There is a tu li p atop your table , yo ur son is ge ttin g read y to see his love. There is a handso me fe llow in this house , perhaps he ' d give us six kreu ze rs for a wrea th . God wi ll give him a lovely wife , whether it ' s Anna o r Susanna. The old man is not at home , he went out hunting . D aj nam Boh vecer diz vesely, najprv panu hospodarov i I A poto m aj tej hospod ince, po hospodin ce vseckej cel'adce 1 ldu tri a krali od vychod u , kl a naju sa tomut o rod u. Nekla naj te sa tom uto rod u , len sa kl a najte mil emu Bohu! A ty, j as na hviezd a, predchadzaj nas, pane J ezu Kri ste, dob ru noc nam d as 1 A ty , J ozefe, j a mlu vim tebe, neopust'aj pann y M a rie ! Nevid, co sa m a na sve t narod it'? M a panna Maria sy na porodit'. Na vaso m stole ce rve na ru za, daj vasej panenk e sva rn eho mu za 1 Na vaso m stole tulipan stoji, vas m lad enecek se k fraj erce strojL J est V tomto dome sva rn y ml adenec, azda nam on d a ses tak na veniec. D a jemu Panboh svarnu zenu , Annu alebo Zu za nu . Sta reho pana doma neni, isli oni po pol'uvanL pp. 79-80 Carnival Season Th e post-Chri stmas period does not present as m a n y cerem onies as th e C hri stmas season. The tim e of fasiangy (carni val season) was ch aracte rized b y a m asked procession which was to secure a good harvest. Th e carniv al processio n h ad mu sical accompaniment , u su all y a n accordi on . Most en gaged couples were also married during carnival season , sin ce there w as rela tively plenty of time for elaborate weddi n g celebration s, w hi ch las ted for several d ays. At the e nd of th e carnival seaso n , young m e n in ce re monial m asks we nt from ho u se to ho u se, collecting eggs, bacon , a nd m o ney. They �SLOVAKIA 21 would sing humorous songs, such as " Shrovetide, P entecost. . m which they would ask for a piece of bacon . From these donations they would arrange a feast for the youth of the entire village. The main course was bacon and eggs, while the money paid for the music . Shrovetide, P entecos t, and Easter pass by, 16 he who has no fur coat , feels cold . I have none, I have none, I ' m shakin g all over, give me some bacon " to fill my belly . H ere I got nothin g, over there something, maybe. They killed a m osqu ito , a nd got some bacon . There up the chimney," a tom cat sits on the bacon , go chase him away and cut me a piece; if you cut me too sm all a piece, you will cut your fin gers. Give to the teacher " a piece as big as a d oo r , to me , a piece as big as a goose. Fasangy, Turice, V el'ka noc byva, kto nem a kozucha, zima mu byva. Ja nemam, ja nem a m , !en sa tak tras im , daj te mi slaninky, nech sa popasim . Tuto mi nedali , tuto mi d aj u, K om a ra zabili , slaninku m aj u . A ta m hore na komin e, sedi kocur na sla nin e, h ybajte ho zohn at' a mne ku s odrezat', az mi mal y odrezete, svoje prsty poreze te. R echtorovi j ako dve re a mn e ku s - ako hus 1 pp . 82-83 Easter The spring custom s include taking out Morena (the goddess of dea th in the p agan Slavic traditio n) , ta king out the old m a n (dedko - possibly a m ale equivalent of Moren a), and welcoming in the n ew summe r . However , the sprin g ce remonial cycle is cente red prim a rily around Easter , the most important religious holiday of the season . Easte r customs still co nta in m a ny pre -Christia n ele m e nts, which have been prese rved up to the 20th century . For example, on Good Friday a t d awn, girls would chant incantations while ba thing, wishing for a hu sba nd (see " Pud- �22 SLOVAKIA dle, Puddle" in the preceding section). On Easter Monday, groups of ten to fifteen men and boys went from house to house, wishing the womenfolk a Happy Easter. It was a part of the tradition that they flogged women's legs with a birch switch and doused their heads with fresh water. This proced ure had a symbolic purifying function . If a young man was courting a particular young woman, he was expected to visit her house , thus showing his interest and affection. Then, the girl would reward her favorite suitor with the most lavishly decorated Easter egg. Besides the eggs, everybody would also receive drinks, food, sweets, and little boys would get money. Easter, Easter, will it come soon? which lad will pour water over me] Pour the water , pour the water, on my hair and head , but do spare my nice new skirt. Vel'ka noc , Vel'ka noc, kedyze uz bude? ktoryze ma suhaj oblievati prfde? Oblievaj, oblievaj, vlasy aj hlavicku , ale mi zasanuj tu novu suknicku. p . 93 Pentecost marked the beginning of the summer cycle. Many traditions were centered around the summer solstice and St. John's Eve CTune 24). On that day, love incantations were chanted and the future was foretold . Also, magic was practiced against witches whose power was believed very strong on that day. The later part of the summer season is poorer in folklore because of increased work in the fields . Harvest The autum cycle begins with the harvest season . During the harvest season, songs were sung in the fields, or on the way home after a day 's work. Thematically , they are associated with the work itself, love between two young people ("We Reaped Here") , or the feast following the work ("Master, Make Ready for a Feast "). Some of these songs are joking in tone . The songs sung around the harvest wreath reflect old Slovak customs . After the harvest, a procession of harvesters would walk from the fields to the house of the farmer who had hired them . Led by a young man who was carrying a colorful flag and a young woman wearing a wreath made of wild flowers , they would sing songs and some- �SLOVAKIA 23 times play music ("For Which Girl Shall We Weave a Wreath Today?"). In these songs, the peasants expressed their joy and happiness over a rich harvest. They also expressed their hope for the same bounty for the years to come. Harves t time offers a whole series of songs connected with this important agricultural season. They may refer to the work itself, or love between a young girl and a young man from the same village, or else the rest during the break or at the end of the day . W e reaped here , we reaped the re , in the valley, in th e valley, and the birdie, mottled birdie keeps singing, kee ps singin g. Kde sm e zali , tu sme fali , na doline , na doline , a ten vtacik, jarabacik pres pevuje , prespevuje. As the birdie , mottled birdie goes around th e tree , a rou nd the tree , so does m y d ea r, m y beloved go around me, around me . J ak ten vtacik, jarabacik okolo pna , okolo pna , tak moj mil y, najmilejsf okolo mna , okolo mn a. We reaped here , we reaped th ere, behind a path , behind a path , whoever will be our master, our clerk, our clerk? Kde sme zali , tu sme fali, za chonnfkom , za chonnfkom , ktoze bude nas fm panom , ura nnfkom , ura nnfkom ? p . 99 2 Master, make read y for a feas t, for a feast , we ' ve don e all the work for you . Master , prepa re the repast , th e repas t , a twelve- pound roas t. Add to it pints of wine , pints of wine, and a roasted capon. H otuj , pa ne , oldomas, oldomas , zrob ili sme , kd e co mas. H otuj , pa ne , veceru , vece ru, d vanas t' funtov pecenu . Este k tom u pint vfna, pint vfna, peceneho kapuna . p. 100 Around the h arvest wreath might be sung the foll owing song: 3 For which girl shall we weave a wreath today? For th e one chose n by the handsom es t young ma n . Wh o shall we let ca rry th e fl ag tod ay ? The one who hands hi s ri ght ha nd to her . T hat Ond1·is Slavik a nd Anna Bl ahej , �SLOVAKIA 24 they would make a nice couple would Lord grant it. Masters, our masters , open the gates, we bring you a gift - a nice pair of reapers. Harvesters back from the fields , cover the tables, the mapl e tables with linen tabl e-cloths. Ktorejze dnes, ktorej uvijeme veniec~ Tej, ktoru vyberie najkrajsi mladenec . Komuze dnes , komu dame niest' zastavu? Tomu , co jej poda svoju rucku pravu. Ten Ondris Slavike, ta Anna Blaheje, to by bou pekny par, keby im Panboh dau! Pani nasi, pani, otvarajte brany, nesieme vam darik, zencov pekny parik. Idu zenci z roli, prestierajte stoly, stoly javorove, obrusy kmentove. p. 100 CEREMONIAL FAMILY FOLKLORE Ceremonial family folklore focuses primarily on the most important events in an individual's life: birth, marriage and death . While only songs are discussed here (they are the most common form), the Slovak ceremonial family tradition is expressed in poems, proverbs, sayings, riddles, and short dramatic performances as well. Christening Songs In the distant past , the birth of a child was accompanied by rituals and many magic practices . Such practices, it was believed, would protect the mother and her child, and would also secure health and happiness for the child as he or she matured. These magic practices gradually developed into joyful, social celebrations to welcome the new member of the family . 10 Thematically, the christening songs are directly connected with the child's birth and prospects. They frequently mention the responsibilities and problems connected with his or her upbringing, and wish the child a happy life, prosperity, and even a good spouse. Some songs stress the importance attached to having male offspring: '' And if you my wife,/would have a boy ... " If the child is a girl, the song may wish her beauty, or possibly stress the importance of chastity or industrious- �25 SLOVAKIA ness: " Freedom and chastity prevail everywhere, / whichever girl has them , let her guard them .'' Other songs may express the abruptly felt loss of freedom experienced by the young parents , especially the new mother: '' ... m y freedom is crying in the cradle.'' M any songs are j okin g in tone and form the less serious part of the christening ceremony in Slovak villages . H ere, for example, the new parents tease each other a bout their responsibility for rocking the baby: '' Rock him , m y dear . .. I'm his mother.'' And here again, the m other m ockin gly compares her situation with that of the carefree life of unm arried m en and women: " I used to have a good time , ... m y maiden name/ is blotted out," or " As the maiden s d ance . . . while I , poor thing , / rock a baby ." Slovak christening songs usually have the following rhyme pattern : aa-bb-cc-dd. The number of syllables is usually the same in each line. Man y songs use assonance and employ colloquial express10ns . J ano , J ano, mily Jano! Donesu ti chl apca rano. K ed donesu , budem mati , vychova ho moja mati. A ked puojdem dolinami , vychovam ho malina mi , a ked puojdem sfrym svetom vychovam ho bielym kvetom . J ohn, John dear J ohn" They will bring you a boy tomorrow. Wh en they bring him, I'll keep him ," my mother wi ll raise him . And when I go down the valleys, I will raise him on raspberri es, and when I go in the wide world , I will raise him on white flo wers. p. 143 2 If you , m y wife," would have a boy, I would hire a wet nurse , a chef, a cook, a caretaker , and a house keeper. K eby si ty, zena moja , chlapca mal a, drzau by ti dojku , kuchara , kucharku, i safa ra i safarku. p. 144 3 Freedom and chastity prevail everyw here," whichever girl has th em, let her guard them . I would have protected mine, but it is too late. my freedom is crying in th e cradle. Sloboda, poctivost', ta vsade panuj e, kt ore j u di evca ma, nech si ju va ruje. I ja bych si moju , uz je ponecase, uz moja slobod a V belcove m i place. p . 144 �26 SLOVAKIA 4 As the maidens dance," they whirl around in circles, while I, poor thing, rock a baby. J a k tie panny tancuju, do kola sa zvrcuju, a ja neboz ia tko kolfsem diet'at ko. Rock him, my d ea r husband , he is such a lovely boy. Rock him yourself, you are his mother . Kolfbaj ho moj mily, vsak je synak spanily. Kolfbaj si sama, vsak si mu ty mama. I would be a fool to rock him by myself, You surely are his father just as I 'm his mother. Bola by ja blazon kolfba ti sama, vsak si mu ty otec jako i ja mama . I used to have a good time when luck served me, sitting by the window, with a handsome young man . Byvalo mi, byvalo, ked' mi stestia sluzilo, sedajfcej v okne, s mladeneckom pekne. I used to sit with him , now I am married to him , m y maiden name was blotted out. Sedala som, sedala, u z sem ho i dostala, me panenske jmeno bolo vymazano. pp. 144-45 Wedding Songs Of the three areas of ceremonial family folklore discussed here, the wedding ceremony offers the greatest variety of folklore material. This is because in Slovakia the wedding ceremonies of most villages and towns contained traditions that were peculiar to that particular locale . There were often specific differences between the ceremonies of neighboring villages even within a relatively small geographic area. 16 The entire ritual consisted of three parts: the period before the wedding during which a wedding contract was m ade between the future inlaws; the wedding ceremo ny itself, and the feast after the young couple had retired. The wedding actually began when the wedding guests gathered and the bride and groom left for the ceremony in the church. The first five selections under the headin g "Wedding Songs" are examples of what the wedding party might sing along the way. After the ceremony the bride and groom as well as the guests would arrive at the bride groom's h ouse , where the festivities would take place . The feast was and still is the culmination of the whole wedding. The structure of the entire wedding ceremon y was originally quite �SLOVAKIA 27 rigid . There were dan ces, ceremonial speeches, dramatic speeches and acts, as well as songs. All proceeded according to a traditionally fixed pattern . 1 7 Today, the songs themselves are no longer a part of the ceremony, and while many of the other forms remain (such as dances and speeches) the rigid , traditional patterns are no longer followed . Thematically, the bride is the focus of the often-lyrical and teasing ceremonial songs. Her beauty , upbringing, future as a married woman, and her character are all described in these songs: "Mother, mother, you have a lovely daughter''; ''Mother, mother, you may be proud . . . '' The most frequently mentioned virtues on the bride's part are modesty , diligence , obedience, and chastity. Some of the songs, especially those following the taking of the wreath and placing of the bonnet on the bride's head (when she symbolically becomes a woman), are permeated with laments: ''I lost my headdress . .. I like wearing it.'' Other songs picture the bride taking leave of her parents, relatives and friends: thanking her parents for her upbringing, expressing her sorrow about leaving them, and sometimes also expressing apprehension about her future with the bridgegroom' s family. Wedding songs and speeches employ rhymed verse, often of the following pattern : aa-bb-cc. The number of syllables is usually the same in each line. As in christening songs, wedding songs also employ assonance. Mother, mother, you have a lovely daughter , we will take her from you even if you hide her. Should you lock her behind four locks, we sure will get her with fin e words. Mamicka , mamicka, peknu dceru mate, m y vam ju vezmeme , co ju aj schovate . Co by ste ju zamkli aj styrma zamka mi , my ju dostaneme peknymi slova mi. p. 151 2 G et married , ge t ma rried , m y love, well will you learn what tyranny is. Get m arried , get m arri ed, my love , a birch switch awaits you behind th e door. V ydaj sa !en, vydaj , frajeruock a rn oj a, sak sa ve ru dozvies , aka je to zvola. V ydaj sa !en , vyd aj, fraj eruocka moj a, caka t'a za dve rmi ta b rezova hola. p. 151 �28 SLOVAKIA 3 I kept it a sec ret, a secret, but I won't anymore, mother, ge t the feath erbeds" read y, I ' m ge ttin g m ar ried. Thank you , mother , thank you, d ea r , for taking care of me wh ile I was a child . T aj ila som , taji la, uz tajit' nebudem , chystaj , m am ka, perin y, vydavat' sa budem . Dakujem va m , mamicka, dakujem va m sta ra, co ste vy mna chovali , kym so m bola mala . p . 152 4 M ot he r, mot her, you may be proud th at yo ur girl 's gettin g married still chaste. Chaste , she's getting ma rri ed to a you ng man , they both will be wearing a rosemary wreat h .'" Mamicka, mamicka , pekn a vasa chvala , ze sa vafa d ieuka poct iva vydava. Poctiva vyd ava, be ri e ju ml ade nec, budu mat' obidva z rozmarinu ve ni ec. p . 152 5 Whateve r yo u give me, oh, eternal Lord , just don ' t give me a n old hag with children . An old hag rumbl es like a ba rrel of bee r a nd a young girl ' s jumpy like a squirrel. I ' II give the old hag a fl a tca ke 10 to chew on, and th e yo ung gi rl a pair of boots to jump in . Co mi das, to das, pa ne boze vecny, !en ze mi nedavaj staru babu s det'mi. A ta stara dud le, ako z piva bocka a ta mlada skace a ko veve ru ocka. D am starej Osucha , aby ho fova la , ml ad ej na cizmicky, aby si skaka la. p. 152 On the way back from the church , the weddin g party sings songs like the following: 6 Now you a re ours, Ann ie, now you are ours, we a re tak in g you home from the wedd ing. They paid a lotll for your wedd ing, we have tied your hands with a stole . 1 ' Uz si ty, An icka, uz si teraz nasa, uz t'a my ved ieme domov ze sobasa . Od tvojho sobasa tvrdy toliar dali, uz sme tvoje rucky stolou poviazali. p . 153 �SLOVAKIA 29 7 Jaj , co si plakala, ked t'a sobasili? Var si si m ys lela l'ubit' sa s inymi ? A ja som sa bala tej tvojej materi, ked' ona ma jazyk zo samej oceli . Oh , why did you cry at your wedding? Maybe you thought of loving others? No, I was afraid of your moth er , becau se she has a tongue of steel. p. 154 During the wedding feast the bridgegroom and bride may sing to each other: 8 Bridegroom: Welcome, d ear little dove," half of my heart 1 I'm fl ying from bu sh to bush to see your cheeks. As soon as my heart spotted you, it looked back with joy , m y wish was fulfill ed. I want to ask you , Molly , are you willing to m a rry m e? will your fat her let you go? do you want to be my wife? Vitaj, mila holubicka, muojho srdca polovicka 1 Lietam od kricka do kricka, abych videl tvoje licka . J ak t'a moje srdce zrelo , od radosti zas pozrelo , podl'a vuoli sa mi stalo. Chcem sa, Marka, t'a p ytati, m as ty vuolu za mna iti , ci t'a otec chce pu stiti , ci chces mojou zenou byti? p. 161 Bride: You can't find fault with me, yo u can do as you please. Wh y should I spare myself, 34 when I like to see you. You can profit from m e Wh a t ca n I d o? I can tear old shirts to rags , throw wood into the stove, in the kitchen I have good luck, I can cook cabbage wit hout lard, and you wi ll li ck your fingers. l can make scrambled eggs , as my fat her knows . You , m y fat her , tell them what a special di sh it is 135 Nieto na mne ziadna chyba , mozes robit', co ti treba. Co by lutovala seba, ked' ja rada vidim teba . Zo mn a m ozes osoh vziati, co zo mn a moze vystati? Viem starie kosele driapat', dreva do peci nam eta t', aj v ku chyni sa mi stescf, mozem navar it' kapusty bez mas ti , oblfzes prsty. Viem spravit' praze ni cu z vaj ec. o com vie svadobny otec. T y pan svadobny otec povedz , aka je to obzvlastna vec 1 p. 161 The bonneting of the bride had its own special songs . 36 �SLOVAKIA 30 9 I lost m y headdress," m y green wreath, " the best m an" fo und it , a ha ndso me yo ung m an . H ey, bes t m an , best ma n , I beg of you , give me bac k that headb and , I like wearing it. If you like wearing that head ba nd so mu ch , surely you ' d ask the best man more ni cely . Stratila som partu, zeleny ve ni ec, nasiel mi ju dru zba, sva rny ml adenec. H ej , dru zba, hej, dru zba, pekn e t'a prosfm , d ajze mi tu partu , rad a ju nosfm 1 K eby si ty pa rtu rada nosila, ve ru by si druzbu krajsie prosila . p . 163 10 The bell s of r.upca' 0 have a ve ry ni ce rin g," 1 Annie , they ' ll kn ock off yo u r head ba nd . They will kn ock it off with nin e bells, so you won ' t go out with oth er yo un g men . So you won't go out , just love your husband , th e handso me J ohnn y, who is d evo ted to you . Tie lupcian ske zvo ny vel'mi pekne zvo ni a, u z tebe, Ani cka, tvoju pa rtu zro ma . Zronia ti ju , zronia deviatimi zvo ncf, abys nechodil a s cudzfmi mladencf. Abys nechodil a, mu za si l'ubila , Janfcka svarnyho, tebe oddan yho. p . 163 Wailing Over the Dead The practice of wailing over the dead form ed a n integral p a rt of the fun e ral ceremony , a nd according to the Muran Articles of the Protestant Church from 1585 , wailing had been widely practiced in Slovakia.42 The lam ents were performed by semi-professional wailers , usually by older women , who wailed a t the funeral for a fe e. Some times , the laments were perform ed by rela tives. The laments over the d ead were generally improvi sed on the spur of the moment , with the hired person attempting to express lyrically the dee p sorrow felt by the relatives and friends of the deceased. They also m e ntioned the good traits of the deceased, the progress of hi s or her illn ess (as in " Oh , My D ear Child "), and would dram atize the actual d emise of the deceased , portraying him as he took leave of hi s fa mily, relatives, and friends. The laments over the d ead are st ru ctured differentl y from other folklore genres . Since they h ad to be open for improvisa tions , they are �SLOVAKIA 31 free in form. They usuall y do not have regular stanzas or rhyme. Assonance predominates over rhym e and they are sung as melodic recitations. Laments can be characterized not only b y the lack of formal structure, but also by a certain degree of looseness and incoherency, possibly utilized to stress the depth of sorrow felt by the relatives and friends . This looseness is demonstra ted in the poem "George , George" in which the last two stanzas are only vaguely related to the theme of the first two stanzas. Oh , my dear child , beloved Angel," what shall I do without you , my dear souJ? My hea rt was bleeding while you were suffering, you looked at me, I couldn ' t help. Your fath er was walking stunned in the yard , walkin g aimlessly, not saying a word . You chattered to me your sweet words th e wh ole day, you dear innocent ch ild , a nd when you r father came home from th e fi elds, you smiled so that he would take you in his arms , and th ere was no end to your talking, and your father took d elight in you, hi s treasure. Ach, moj e drah uo diet'a, anjel premileny, cuo pocnem bez teba, moj a draha dusa, srdce mi zatislo, ked si sa trapilo, hl'adelo si na mna, nemohla som pomuoct'. Otec ti po dvore omrace ny chodiu , nikde miesta nemau, slov ka nepovedau. Stebotalo si mi slad uskymi recmi cely den, ty draha nevinnost ' premila , a ked otec z pol'a do domu sa vratiu, usmi evalo si sa, kym t'a k sebe nevzau, a n ebolo recom tvojim dlh o konec , a otec sa tesiu v tebe drahy poklad. p. 164 2 George, George, yo ur godfather ca me ," for yo u to plow hi s fi elds. You a re through with plowing since the Lord called you. Juro , Juro , km otor prise!, aby si mu orat' isol. A ty si uz dooral , ked' t'a panboh povolal. Ycs te rd ay you ate three sa usages," a nd a lot of bread. 46 Today you lie on th e bier, like a hog on a ca rt . Y ce ra si zjel tri jelita , aj chl eba z polk yky zita. Dnes uz lezis na marach ako bravec na karach. �32 SLOVAKIA M y dea r go lde n m oustache" would be fit fo r strin gs, my ve r y d ear ha ir , would be good fo r ropes. M oje m ile, zlate fuzy, boli ze by na mot u zy, moj e premile vlasy boli by na povrazy. Wh en he bega n to play hi s bagpipe: " tati -lat i, ta ti-l a ti ," he go t a farth ering" to bu y spices, he dropped it behind his shirt. K ed si pocal gajdovati : ta ti -lati , ta ti-l ati , ma! turak na koreni a, vsy pal ho do zahreni a. p . 165 NOTES ' Andrej M elichercfk , ed. , Slo vensky Folkl6r: Chrestomatia (Bra tislava: Slove nska Akademi a Vied, 1959) . ' J ozef r. . Holuby, Folklore studi es published ma inl y in Slovenske Pohl'ad y between 1883 a nd 1897; Jan Kolla r , N arodnie spievanky, I-II (Bra ti slava, 1953); Jii'i Polivka, Supis slo ven skych rozpravok I-V (Turciansky Svaty M artin , 1923 -1932). ' The fo lkloric ma teri al collected by Dobsinsky a nd oth ers is re ndered in th e dialec t o f the region fro m which it origina ted . The page reference to M elichercfk is give n in th e tex t a ft er th e Slovak ori ginal. ' " Puddle, Puddle ." In the Slova k, this love inca nta ti on has an irregul a r rhym e (aabbb-c-ddd-c-ee-fff- e-g-hh-g- iii -j- k-ll -m m) whi ch was sac rificed in th e tra nsla ti on fo r the sake of accuracy. • Although th e magical for mulae are pagan in origin , they contain refe rences to C hristi a nit y. ' Lit. · " H oly T rinity,/be a good helpe r to me/ to eve rythin g good,/ to the state of m a trimon y" (II. 26-29). 6 The colors refer to the body: red or pink cheeks were considered a sign of good health , a nd a white co m plex ion was much valued by both men and women, partl y as a sign of class di stin ction . O nly feuda l lords and wealth y merchants who di d not have to work in th e fi elds could afford to have white skin a ll year aro un d. " H oney " is a traditi onal refe rence to good te mper . 7 " I have brought you a piece of steel. . " With the exce ption of the wishes in the las t lin e, the Slova k poe m co nsis ts of rh ym in g co upl ets. All bu t 11 . 1 and 2 a re revised in order to con vey a prope r word order in English . Steel (iron) was co ns idered p ro tect ion aga ins t evil and fa iries in Europe (Maria Tymocz ko). ' H a ft is a ha nd le of a hoe, ax, scyt he, and oth er ag ricultu ral tools. H ere the number of hafts represen ts the far mer 's pros perity. 9 A typical orname n t a mong young marri ed village me n . Wh en give n by a you ng unm a r ried women, th e feather was co nside red a sign of affect ion. '° K re u ze r (o r kreutzer) was a small cop per coin in Aust ri a and Ge rmany, the 100th part of th e fl orin . It was so called because th e coin had th e fi gu re of a cross on it. A penny wou ld be probabl y the closest co n temporary eq ui valent to the kreuzer. " Wal nu ts and hazlenu ts were trad itionally eaten at C hristmas tim e after the ma in meal. �SLOVAKIA 33 " " I wi sh you in thi s/comin g New Yea r " : This is a very popular N ew Year 's wish . The unu su al wi sh , " that a side of your oven/ m ay fa ll out" (11 .3 -4) probably ha s the same conn otat ion as th e En gli sh '' break a leg!'' It also sugges ts a wi sh of prosperity to the farm er , i.e., th a t hi s oven m ay be fill ed to burstin g, or ove rh eated with con stant cooki ng a nd baking. " Fo rmall y, thi s poe m is arran ged in rh ymin g coupl ets but asson an ce plays a m o re impo rtant role . " This carol is loosely a rra nged in rh yming couplets. Again, the assonance a nd the rhym e take precedence ove r m eanin g, and thi s ex plains why such seemingly unrela ted them es as th e Three Kings, the Star of Bethlehem , J oseph and M a ry o n the one hand, and the rose, th e tulip on the ta ble, and the old man's huntin g expedition on th e other ha nd , fo und their place in thi s carol. The carol is a mi xture of religious and secular m otifs. " C hildren , dressed as the Three Magi, arrive a t a farmh ou se and sing. Yet they mu st no t sin g a bout the fa rm er ' s fa mil y, but the H oly Famil y of the Na tivity. 16 ' ' Sh rovetide, Pentecos t, and Easter ... '' This j okin g carnival song is ar ranged in rh ym in g coupl ets. 11 Fatback bacon (usual ly with no lean m eat) was a staple diet , often a snack, fo r village peo ple. It was ofte n eaten with baked potatoes a nd _onio ns, o r j ust plain bread . 18 Fa tback baco n u sed to be sm oked (cured ) in th e chimn ey. 19 The teac her , alo ng with the p riest a nd th e m ayo r , was amon g th e m ost prominent peo ple in th e vill age. 0 ' S loven sko: l', ud - II. cast', ed s. Boze na Filova et al. (B ra ti slava: O bzo r , 1975). " In the Slovak o ri ginal, thi s son g has a regula r rh yme pat tern: aa-b b-cc-dd . The first two lines ad d ress th e m a in speaker . " J oh n" is appa ren tl y a youn g fath er whose wife d ied in childbirth . T he fat her says that he will kee p his so n , but the boy ' s grandmoth er will have to bring him up . Them a ticall y, the so ng expresses conce rn fo r th e boy ' s upbringin g. In the seco nd stan za , the speake r ind icates that he m ay have to leave hi s nat ive vill age, probably in search of wo rk . T hi s was a co mm on prac ti ce among im poverished village rs. " Lit .: " I 'll have. " In 11. 3 an d 4 coll oqui al form s of the ve rb " to have " and the nou n " m other" have bee n used. The forms a re iden tical: mati , wh ich fac il itates th e rh ym e and keeps th e sam e num ber of syll a bles in each line. There a re eight sylla bles in each line, and th e standa rd m o nosy lla bic word m at' wo uld have redu ced th e syll a bles dow n to seven in 11 .3 a nd 4 . " The origin al son g uses assonance ra ther th an rh ym e. A fat her-to-be is th e speaker in this so ng . H alf-jokin g , he stresses the importance of a male offspring. H e p rom ises to pa m pe r hi s wife if she bears him a son . " The original so ng uses asson a nce . T he speaker , proba bly an un wed m o th er, po nders her fat e a nd talks a bout social conve nti on s. " W ith th e excepti o n of stanza 3, the so ng has a near regul a r rh ym e: aa-bb-cc-dd-e -fg- f-hh- ii -jj- kk. T he speaker in th is so.ig is the ba by 's moth er who regrets th e loss of her freedo m as a mother and/or a wife . It is not qu ite clear from the context wheth er she is m a rri ed o r no t. I n either case, it was not proper of her to joi n the ca refree d a nce of unm arri ed m en a nd wome n . �34 6 SLOVAKIA Slovensko: E,ud, p. 1057. " Melichercfk , p. 26 " A featherbed is a strong cloth con tainer thi ckly filled with goose feathers and down and used as a bed cover in lieu of blankets. Featherbeds were a part of the bride's dowry, which also included pillows, sheets, towels, cloths, etc . The dowry was collected throughout the years practically after the day the girl was born . Goose down and stripped feathers were collected ever y year from the fami ly's fl ock of geese and stashed in a special bag for each d aughter in the family. The wealthier the bride , the higher the pile of featherbeds and pillows atop her bed . " A rosemary wreath was a decoration used on such occasions as weddings and funerals . H ere it is a symbol of chastity. 0 ' A fl atcake (osuch ) is a simple, flat cake, usually round. It is baked from bread dough , which is sometimes mixed with a different type of fl our or else potatoes. " Lit .: "They paid a hard thaler for your wedding ," obviously meaning the dowry. Thaler (also taler) was a large silver coin u sed in various German states and in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was worth 30 silver groschen, worth about 3s. sterling . The word "dollar" is derived from " th aler." " R efe rring to the priest's vestments durin g the wedding ce remony, the stole is a long, decorated strip of cloth worn like a scarf by officiating clergymen of various chu rches. 33 In the Slovak original, each line consists of eight syllables. The rhyme pattern is: aaaa-bbb-cccc. " The meaning is not quite clear here. It probably indicates the bride's submission to the groom . 35 In this poem, each line consists of eight syllables . The rh yme pattern is: aaaa-bb-ccbbb-dddd. 36 Bonneting of the bride is the culmination of the wedding ceremony. The bride becomes a married woman when her wreath is replaced by a bonnet. 31 Headband or headdress is a wreath decorated with colorful ribbons, worn by un married women and brides. Married women wore bonnets or scarves. 38 Each line in this song consists of eleven syllables. The rhyme pattern is: aa-bb-cc. 39 It was customary that the best man led the bride to the wedding and took off her wreath or headband. H e led the bride down the aisle, whereas the bridesmaid led the bridegroom down the aisle. He was referred to as the " leading " best man and wore a sword to distinguish himself from other best men who wore sticks decorated with scarves . '° Cupca is a town in Central Slovakia, where many local customs and traditions have been preserved. 41 Each line in this song consists of twelve syllables. The rhyme pattern is: aa-bb-c-d. " Melichercfk, p . 142. 43 This lame ntation has a sporadic rhyme pattern: a-b-c-d-ee-f-g-ee- h-i. The lines consist of 12 to 13 syllables. 44 The poem has the following rhym e pattern: aa-bb-cc-dd-ee-ff-gg-hh . The lines consist of seven to eight syllables. 45 Pork sausage in natural casing. It is made of rice or grits combined with ground meat , liver, blood and spices. The sausages were usu all y made in winter or early ' �SLOVAKIA 35 spring when the fatt ened pigs were slaughtered . " '' ... a lot of bread.'' This is a free translation due to the discrepancy in the printed word indicating the amount of rye from which the bread was made . The original version of this song, titled, " W a iling over a D ead Husband" (Sbomik slovenskych n arodnych piesnf, povestf, prfslovf, porekadiel, hadok, hier, obycajov a povier [A Collection of Slovak Folk Songs, Riddles, Games, Customs, and Superstitions], II , (Turciansky Sva ty Martin : Matica slovenska, 18741) spells the wordpolkyly, which would mean half a kilo. On the other hand , Melichercik's edition lists the word polkyky (fem. gen. sg. ), which was an old , popula r measure in Slovak villages . The word k yky is of Ukrainian ori gin (a Ukrainian word for a scarf worn by village women, "babushka" type). ·since scales were a luxury item in the past, the amount of rye from which a loaf of bread was m ade was m easured in the scarf. Pol means half, i.e., the bread was made from half the amount measured by the scarf. 47 The poem , somewhat joking in character, shows the improvising character of funeral recitations. The stanzas wander from one subject to another, touching some memories of the dead man that may o r may not be relevant for the occasion of the funeral, but they are important in the eyes of the wailer. " " Farthing" is a free translation, indicating that the coin was small. In the Slovak original , turak was a small coin , worth one and a half groschen . It was used in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This paper is based on a doctoral dissertation , " Slovak Folklore : An Anthology, " at the Un iversity of M assachuset ts in Amh erst , 1982. I th ank especially Professors Sarah N. Lawall a nd Zdenek Salzmann . Presented in part in P anel 128 , " Slovak Literature as a Mirror of the National Awakening ," at the AAASS co nvention in Philadelphia on 8 November 1980 , and in Panel 65 , "The Village in Slovak Literature ," at the AAASS convention in Asiloma r , California on 2 1 September 1981. � 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 1982-83, Vol. 30 Description An account of the resource Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83. 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 1982-83 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 12 SLOVAKIA Three Kinds of Slovak Folk Literature Eva Susan Kucekova The following categories of Slovak folklore represent some of its oldest forms. Lyrical genres, such as m agical formul ae or incantations , ceremonial calendar poetry , and ceremonial fa mily poetry, a re of ritual and ceremonial character. The sample selections introduced in this pa per were taken from a comprehensive modern collection of Slovak folkl ore entitled Slovensky folk16r: Chrestomatia, and edited b y the foremost authority on the subj ect, the late Andrej Melichercfk . 1 Melichercfk based hi s anthology on Pavo! Dobsinsky' s publications , as well a s on other collections of Slovak folklore, for example those edited by Jozef I:. . Holuby, Jan Kollar and Jirf Polfvka . 2 The folklori c material collected by Dobsinsky and others is rendered in the dialect of the region from which it originated. MAGICAL FORMULAE Magical fo rmulae a re incantations associated with ritu als. These non-narrative forms are very ancient and are closely related to ce rem onial calendar poetry. M agical formulae were u sually connec ted with special rites and performed on spec ific occasions and/or holidays . They were often perform ed by semiprofessional m en and women (" wi se m en " and " wise wom en ") who were well versed in m agic. There are two types of incantations: tho se which were supposed to bring a desired effect( " sympathethic magic" ), and those which were supposed to preve nt undes irable and ha rmful effects (" preve ntive magic" ). Incantations we re u sed to brin g a hu sba nd , m ake one fall in love, prevent and cure illness , increase the yield of the fi elds, and also bring illness or bad lu ck upon a n enem y . Some incan tations were chanted primarily by girls or young women. " Puddle, Puddle," " Will ow, Willow," and " And You , Elm ," are typical examples of love incantations. Once m arried , a bride would chant an incanta tion " I Sow the Seed " and wish for good lu ck and prosperity . SLOVAKIA 13 Magical formulae are rhythmical and based on syntactic parallelisms ; they rely extensively on various euphonic and semantic devices. Due to the fact that magical formulae are so closely associated with magic, their ritual form remains unchanged throughout the centuries . Magical incantations contain many pre-Christian elements, upon which a new layer of C hri st ian symbols has been added . Love Incantations This love incantation shows water as a powerful source of magic. T aken from fords at midnight , water was believed to attract lovers and help a girl get married . While bathing, girls chanted the following incantation: Puddle , puddle,' get me a husband! Above the bridge, below the bridge, let him go nowhere but to our house! Above th e footbrid ge, below th e footbr idge, don 't let him rest but in ou r house 1 I 'm not pouring away, I 'm pouring in: bachelors , wid owers, merchants, fiddlers, even those small boys I call after me, after my body , aft er my clothes , after my heels, a ft er this hou se of ours. Not by my power do I say this, but I say it by the divine power, from J es us Christ till m idn ight. And help me in this God th e Father, the Son , a nd the H oly Ghost!' H oly Trini ty , help me reach hap piness and get married. 1 Kaluza, kalu za, daj muza 1 Vyse mosta, ni ze mosta, aby nemal nikde miesta len u nas! Vyse lavky, ni ze lavky, aby nem al nikd e stavky len u nas 1 Neod lievam, ale prilievam: mladencov, vdovcov, kupcov , aj hudcov , aj tych malickych chlapcov za sebou volam, za mym telom , za m ymi satami, za mym i patami, za tym nasfm domom . J a to nehovorfm ze svej moc1, lez to hovorfm z bozskej m oci, od pana J ezisa Kri sta do pol noci. A k tomu mi dopomahaj Boh otec , Boh sy n , Boh du ch svaty! Svata troj ica , bud mi dobra pomocnica k vse tkemu dobremu, k stavu manzelskemu! p. 54 14 SLOVAKIA On the eve of St. George ' s Day (April 24) , young girls made wreaths from different kinds of flowers and boughs. Later, wreaths were tossed into the air. It was believed that the girl whose wreath was caught on a tree branch would get married within a year. To attract a beloved, girls would make wreaths from nine different boughs and chant the following incantation: 2 A ty vaz - ty ho vaz, a ty hrab - se m ho hrab , a ty kJen - se m ho zen , a ty svfb - se m ho sib, a ty sip - ty ho stfp , a ty tfn - sem ho hrn , a ty dub - ty ho l'ub , a ty bez - za nim bez, a ty lieska - za nim vri es kaj ! And you, elm - you bind him , and you, hornbeam - rake him here, and you , maple - drive him here, and you , red dogwood - whip him here, and you , wild rose - you prick him, and you , thorn bush - push him here , and you , oak - you love him , and you , lilac - run aft er him , a nd you , hazel, - yell aft er him p . 57 Bridal Incantation A woman married into her husband's family . As soon as the bride entered her husband's house after the wedding, she would scatter flaxs6ed, millet and poppy seed in the yard for good luck , while chanting the following: 2 I sow the seed , to succeed with all my breed ; I sow millet, for others to beg m y fav or; I sow poppy seed , for this to last foreve r. Sejem se m eno, ab y sa mi viedl o vsetko ple meno; sej em proso, aby sa mi vse tci prosili ; sej em m ak, aby bolo vzdycky tak . p . 61 Incantation by the Willow To make sure that they would grow beautiful long hair, young girls would comb their hair under a willow on Good Friday at dawn. While combing their hair, they wished for a good husband . Willow, willow , ge t m e a m an , red as a rose , white as a fl ower, a nd good as honey. ' Vfba, vfb a , d aj mi mu za, ce rve neho a ko ru za a bieleho a ko kve t, a dobreho ako med . p . 62 SLOVAKIA 15 CEREMONIAL CALENDAR POETRY Ceremonial calendar poetry celebrates different festivals of the year. The original calendar festivals coincided with the solstices and equinoxes. Calendar poetry contains many pre-Christian mythological elements which have been intertwined with and sometimes replaced by Christia n elements. In the calendar poetry of Slovakia a nd other Slavic countries which have been under Catholic influence, Christian features pred ominate. The traditions connected with calendar poetry are still being practi ced in some Slovak villages , particularly around holidays such as Christmas, New Year ' s and Easter. The classification of calendar poetry corresponds to the agricultural cycles, and all four seasons of the year are represented. In the poetry , three seasons are associated with the cultivation of the soil, while the last one is concerned with the harvest itself. The poetry is full of incantations and magical formulae meant to secure a good harvest and placate nature , which was often thought of as hostile. In the pre-Christian era the peasants turned for h elp to their gods and during Christian times to the numerous Christian saints. They would ask for good and prosperous years , abundant harvest, a nd good health and happy family life. Along with incantations and magical formulae, calendar poetry also contains chants , recitations , songs, riddles, and prognostications . In this poetry each season has its own characteristic customs . The winte r solstice cycle , beginning in November , is best represented. Its poetry is of a prophetic nature, and touche s on both family life and the prosperity of the homestead. The most important days of the season were the last 12 before Christmas since they represented the 12 months of the year; these days were used to judge what the weather would be like for the w hole next year. Children went caroling from hou se to house, a nd it was important that they b e healthy for if they were, they would bring good health to the fa rm ers ' fa milies as well . Moreover, the living room h a d to be cleaned a nd whitewashed in eve ry house to preve nt any kind of illn ess from ente rin g. Numerous C hri stmas customs were practiced o n C hristmas Eve . Basicall y , they were meant to express the farmer ' s thanksgiv in g for good crops in the preceding season, a nd to h elp assure a nd predict a good harvest in the forthcoming year. The latter kind were u su ally connected wit h magic . There we re rules of condu ct which were st ri ctl y followed 16 SLOVAKIA on Christmas Eve. For example, one could not light the house unless the Christmas Eve dinner - the biggest meal of the year - was already set on the table. The numerous courses of the meal had to follow acertain sequence . Christmas carolers were offered food and drink , and the boys were also given money. Many of the Christmas carols have a joking tone - besides bringing best wishes they expressly ask for a reward as in ''I Am a Very Small Boy,'' or ''I'm Just a Little Boy .' ' Sometimes they would ask expressly for money as in the carol "We Have Brought You Some News . '' New Year's wishes were also humorous in tone and expressed the good mood which prevailed in every household on that day . It was believed that if one felt happy on New Year's Day , he or she would be happy during the coming year. One song jokingly suggests that the farmer's stove burn out from too much cooking and baking: "I wish you in this/ coming New Year / that a side of your oven / may fall out." Carols for the eve of the Three Magi combine religious and secular motifs. Thus, in " Lord , Grant Us a Merry Evening," best wishes are expressed for everyone in the house, including the servants. Immediately after come Epiphany motifs, dealing with the birth of Christ and the arrival of the Three Kings. The Epiphany carol is concluded with a rather anticlimatic ending: the old man (probably the patriarch of the house) is not at home and has gone hunting. Very often , the boys were masked as the Three Kings, Joseph and Mary, and would perform a co medy based on the ancient legend . The Christmas ceremonial cycle ended with the Three Kings motif. Thematically, then , Slovak ceremonial calendar poetry focuses upon the four cycles of the year and the agricultural tradition con nected with them . It also contains the themes of love and fertility, and elements of ancestor worship, which are not treated here. From the formal point of view, calendar poetry is characte rized by symm etric bipartite verse and the frequent use of asso nance . Pre-Christmas Period The winter cycle of calendar poetry begins with St. Thomas's Day (December 21 ) , the shortest day of the year. Small boys walked around the village with a piece of steel, wishing farmers good lu ck in the next farming year : SLOVAKIA 17 I have b rought you a piece of steel' so th a t you would not fall out of bed. Have as m a n y calves on yo ur farm as there a re spoons on your shelf. Have as man y oxen in your stable as there are logs in your shed. Let your girls have as many suito rs as there are dishes on your rack. May yo ur lads own as many hafts' as there are hearths in you r house. May as man y youn g men wear feathers in their caps• as you have number of dau ght ers. Have as m a ny more ears of corn in you r backyard as there are pictures on your walls. I ask onl y as many kreuzers' 0 as there are mirrors here. I wish you a good morning 1 Doniesou som vam ocele, aby ste nevypadli z postele. Kol'ko mate za ramom lyz iciek, tol'ko mate vo dvore teliciek; kol'ko mate na sope kolov, tol'ko mate V mastali volov; kol'ko mate za ramom tanierov , tol'ko maju vase dievky frajero v ; kol'ko mate vo vasom dome ohnisk, tol'ko maju vas i parobci porisk ; kol'ko zije vasich deer, tol'ko maju mladenci pier ; kol'ko ma te na stene obrazov , tol'ko raz vo vasom humne kl asov; kol'ko mate tuna zrkadov, !en tol'ko mi dajte krajciarov. Dobro rano vinsujem 1 p. 70 Christmastime Many Christmas carols and son gs are connected with the Christm as season. Both children and ad ults went from house to hou se caroling M erry C hristmas. For their service they expected som e reward. Many of these carols are joking in character, as is evident from the following carols: 18 SLOVAKIA I a m a very sm all boy. M y fa th er has se nt me to you , to ge t so methin g from you , but m ake it qui ck, for m y stomach rumbl es. J a som chl apec ve l'mi m aly, mn a moj otec k vam poslali, zeby ste mi dafo dali , ale chytro , lebo m i uz v bru chu svitlo. p. 70 2 I ' m ju st a little boy. I'm askin g fo r my sm all bag : a pi ece of cake a nd piece o f pie. T omorrow , I ' ll b rin g yo u a bird . If th at see m s too little, I will brin g you so me pork ; and if tha t 's not enough , I 'll b ri ng yo u a cat's ta il. J a so m maly, nevelicky, pyta m se be do ka psicky: kus kola.ca, kus kabaca, d onesiem vam zajtra vtaca. Ak sa vam to ma.lo vid f, d onesiem vam porfov iny; ak je vam to ni e dost', d onesiem va m z m acky chvost. p . 71 3 W e have b rought you so me news, we have come to you r feas t . The Saviour desce nded from H eave n , and we ca me to be your gues ts. A jug of wine is on th e table , and we are under your farm yard window, but you don ' t offer us a n y win e, nor do you have an y brand y th a t we ca n trea t ourselves to, and sing you songs eve n ni ce r . W e don ' t want your past ry, we' ll crac k a few nu ts.'' H ey, we a re not little ki ds , wh o get j ust a kreu ze r apiece. If yo u don ' t give us twe n ty we wo n ' t co me on New Yea r's Day. D oni esli sm e vam novinu , prisli sm e k vam na hos tinu , Sos tupi l Spasti el' z vysosti . M y sm e prisli k va m za hos ti . Krcah s vfn om j e na stole, m y sme pod oblokom v dvore , a nam vina nedavate, palenky ti ez ni c nem a te, co b y sme sa castu va]i a vam krajsie zaspievali . O pekance va m nechcem e, oriesky si poklcieme. A my sme ni e chl a pci m ali, ze by Ste nam krajc iar d ali. Ak na m dvads ia tnik ned a te, na Novy rok nas nema te. p. 71 New Year's Wish es Early in th e m ornin g on New Year's D ay, m en a nd youn g boys went from house to hou se, w ishin g lo ts of lu ck, p rosperity , a nd good h ealth to everyon e in the house . M ost of th eir w ishes foc u sed upon su ccessfu l fa rmin g a nd m a n age m e n t. I wish you in th is coming New Year, V in sujem vam V tento nas tavajuc i nov y rok , SLOVAKIA that a side of your ove n may fall out , " that your wife may get pregna nt this year! Give us foo d and drink and stay well! 19 aby va m vypadol z pece bok, aby vam bola vasa gazdin a na te nto rok samod ruh a 1 Vypit', zajest' na m d ajte, a dob re sa tu m aj te 1 p . 78 2 l wish you plenty of hemp , bu shels of beets, a whole bin of blossoms, and a ba rnful of children' Vinsujem va m moc konopi, mecu repy , zacinok puckov, plevienec deti 1 p. 79 3 This l wish to all'' with vigo r and joy : to peasants, bags for their shoulders ; to shep herd s, porridge; to cows, good pasture; to pigs, lots of mast to make them fat. Vinsujem smele vse tk ym vese le : sedliakom vrece, pine na piece; pastiero m kase a kravam pase; svi niam zaludu, ze tu cne budu . p . 79 The Three Magi On the eve of Epiphany, children went from house to house, singing carols in which the Epiphany motifs were interspersed with such commonplace motifs as farming and the farmer's eve ryday activity. Lord, grant us a merry eve ning ," to the farmer, first of all! And then to th e farmwife, and then to all the se rvants! The Three M agi a rri ve from the East, wo rshippin g this fam il y. Do not worship this fa mil y but worship only the beloved Lo rd! " And you , bright star, go before us, Lord , Jesus C hri st, grant us a good ni ght! And you , Joseph , I say to you , do not leave the Virgin M ary 1 D on ' t you kn ow who is going to be bo rn ? The Virgin M ary is to bear a so n . There is a red rose on your table , SLOVAKIA 20 let you r daught er marry a handsome man 1 There is a tu li p atop your table , yo ur son is ge ttin g read y to see his love. There is a handso me fe llow in this house , perhaps he ' d give us six kreu ze rs for a wrea th . God wi ll give him a lovely wife , whether it ' s Anna o r Susanna. The old man is not at home , he went out hunting . D aj nam Boh vecer diz vesely, najprv panu hospodarov i I A poto m aj tej hospod ince, po hospodin ce vseckej cel'adce 1 ldu tri a krali od vychod u , kl a naju sa tomut o rod u. Nekla naj te sa tom uto rod u , len sa kl a najte mil emu Bohu! A ty, j as na hviezd a, predchadzaj nas, pane J ezu Kri ste, dob ru noc nam d as 1 A ty , J ozefe, j a mlu vim tebe, neopust'aj pann y M a rie ! Nevid, co sa m a na sve t narod it'? M a panna Maria sy na porodit'. Na vaso m stole ce rve na ru za, daj vasej panenk e sva rn eho mu za 1 Na vaso m stole tulipan stoji, vas m lad enecek se k fraj erce strojL J est V tomto dome sva rn y ml adenec, azda nam on d a ses tak na veniec. D a jemu Panboh svarnu zenu , Annu alebo Zu za nu . Sta reho pana doma neni, isli oni po pol'uvanL pp. 79-80 Carnival Season Th e post-Chri stmas period does not present as m a n y cerem onies as th e C hri stmas season. The tim e of fasiangy (carni val season) was ch aracte rized b y a m asked procession which was to secure a good harvest. Th e carniv al processio n h ad mu sical accompaniment , u su all y a n accordi on . Most en gaged couples were also married during carnival season , sin ce there w as rela tively plenty of time for elaborate weddi n g celebration s, w hi ch las ted for several d ays. At the e nd of th e carnival seaso n , young m e n in ce re monial m asks we nt from ho u se to ho u se, collecting eggs, bacon , a nd m o ney. They SLOVAKIA 21 would sing humorous songs, such as " Shrovetide, P entecost. . m which they would ask for a piece of bacon . From these donations they would arrange a feast for the youth of the entire village. The main course was bacon and eggs, while the money paid for the music . Shrovetide, P entecos t, and Easter pass by, 16 he who has no fur coat , feels cold . I have none, I have none, I ' m shakin g all over, give me some bacon " to fill my belly . H ere I got nothin g, over there something, maybe. They killed a m osqu ito , a nd got some bacon . There up the chimney," a tom cat sits on the bacon , go chase him away and cut me a piece; if you cut me too sm all a piece, you will cut your fin gers. Give to the teacher " a piece as big as a d oo r , to me , a piece as big as a goose. Fasangy, Turice, V el'ka noc byva, kto nem a kozucha, zima mu byva. Ja nemam, ja nem a m , !en sa tak tras im , daj te mi slaninky, nech sa popasim . Tuto mi nedali , tuto mi d aj u, K om a ra zabili , slaninku m aj u . A ta m hore na komin e, sedi kocur na sla nin e, h ybajte ho zohn at' a mne ku s odrezat', az mi mal y odrezete, svoje prsty poreze te. R echtorovi j ako dve re a mn e ku s - ako hus 1 pp . 82-83 Easter The spring custom s include taking out Morena (the goddess of dea th in the p agan Slavic traditio n) , ta king out the old m a n (dedko - possibly a m ale equivalent of Moren a), and welcoming in the n ew summe r . However , the sprin g ce remonial cycle is cente red prim a rily around Easter , the most important religious holiday of the season . Easte r customs still co nta in m a ny pre -Christia n ele m e nts, which have been prese rved up to the 20th century . For example, on Good Friday a t d awn, girls would chant incantations while ba thing, wishing for a hu sba nd (see " Pud- 22 SLOVAKIA dle, Puddle" in the preceding section). On Easter Monday, groups of ten to fifteen men and boys went from house to house, wishing the womenfolk a Happy Easter. It was a part of the tradition that they flogged women's legs with a birch switch and doused their heads with fresh water. This proced ure had a symbolic purifying function . If a young man was courting a particular young woman, he was expected to visit her house , thus showing his interest and affection. Then, the girl would reward her favorite suitor with the most lavishly decorated Easter egg. Besides the eggs, everybody would also receive drinks, food, sweets, and little boys would get money. Easter, Easter, will it come soon? which lad will pour water over me] Pour the water , pour the water, on my hair and head , but do spare my nice new skirt. Vel'ka noc , Vel'ka noc, kedyze uz bude? ktoryze ma suhaj oblievati prfde? Oblievaj, oblievaj, vlasy aj hlavicku , ale mi zasanuj tu novu suknicku. p . 93 Pentecost marked the beginning of the summer cycle. Many traditions were centered around the summer solstice and St. John's Eve CTune 24). On that day, love incantations were chanted and the future was foretold . Also, magic was practiced against witches whose power was believed very strong on that day. The later part of the summer season is poorer in folklore because of increased work in the fields . Harvest The autum cycle begins with the harvest season . During the harvest season, songs were sung in the fields, or on the way home after a day 's work. Thematically , they are associated with the work itself, love between two young people ("We Reaped Here") , or the feast following the work ("Master, Make Ready for a Feast "). Some of these songs are joking in tone . The songs sung around the harvest wreath reflect old Slovak customs . After the harvest, a procession of harvesters would walk from the fields to the house of the farmer who had hired them . Led by a young man who was carrying a colorful flag and a young woman wearing a wreath made of wild flowers , they would sing songs and some- SLOVAKIA 23 times play music ("For Which Girl Shall We Weave a Wreath Today?"). In these songs, the peasants expressed their joy and happiness over a rich harvest. They also expressed their hope for the same bounty for the years to come. Harves t time offers a whole series of songs connected with this important agricultural season. They may refer to the work itself, or love between a young girl and a young man from the same village, or else the rest during the break or at the end of the day . W e reaped here , we reaped the re , in the valley, in th e valley, and the birdie, mottled birdie keeps singing, kee ps singin g. Kde sm e zali , tu sme fali , na doline , na doline , a ten vtacik, jarabacik pres pevuje , prespevuje. As the birdie , mottled birdie goes around th e tree , a rou nd the tree , so does m y d ea r, m y beloved go around me, around me . J ak ten vtacik, jarabacik okolo pna , okolo pna , tak moj mil y, najmilejsf okolo mna , okolo mn a. We reaped here , we reaped th ere, behind a path , behind a path , whoever will be our master, our clerk, our clerk? Kde sme zali , tu sme fali, za chonnfkom , za chonnfkom , ktoze bude nas fm panom , ura nnfkom , ura nnfkom ? p . 99 2 Master, make read y for a feas t, for a feast , we ' ve don e all the work for you . Master , prepa re the repast , th e repas t , a twelve- pound roas t. Add to it pints of wine , pints of wine, and a roasted capon. H otuj , pa ne , oldomas, oldomas , zrob ili sme , kd e co mas. H otuj , pa ne , veceru , vece ru, d vanas t' funtov pecenu . Este k tom u pint vfna, pint vfna, peceneho kapuna . p. 100 Around the h arvest wreath might be sung the foll owing song: 3 For which girl shall we weave a wreath today? For th e one chose n by the handsom es t young ma n . Wh o shall we let ca rry th e fl ag tod ay ? The one who hands hi s ri ght ha nd to her . T hat Ond1·is Slavik a nd Anna Bl ahej , SLOVAKIA 24 they would make a nice couple would Lord grant it. Masters, our masters , open the gates, we bring you a gift - a nice pair of reapers. Harvesters back from the fields , cover the tables, the mapl e tables with linen tabl e-cloths. Ktorejze dnes, ktorej uvijeme veniec~ Tej, ktoru vyberie najkrajsi mladenec . Komuze dnes , komu dame niest' zastavu? Tomu , co jej poda svoju rucku pravu. Ten Ondris Slavike, ta Anna Blaheje, to by bou pekny par, keby im Panboh dau! Pani nasi, pani, otvarajte brany, nesieme vam darik, zencov pekny parik. Idu zenci z roli, prestierajte stoly, stoly javorove, obrusy kmentove. p. 100 CEREMONIAL FAMILY FOLKLORE Ceremonial family folklore focuses primarily on the most important events in an individual's life: birth, marriage and death . While only songs are discussed here (they are the most common form), the Slovak ceremonial family tradition is expressed in poems, proverbs, sayings, riddles, and short dramatic performances as well. Christening Songs In the distant past , the birth of a child was accompanied by rituals and many magic practices . Such practices, it was believed, would protect the mother and her child, and would also secure health and happiness for the child as he or she matured. These magic practices gradually developed into joyful, social celebrations to welcome the new member of the family . 10 Thematically, the christening songs are directly connected with the child's birth and prospects. They frequently mention the responsibilities and problems connected with his or her upbringing, and wish the child a happy life, prosperity, and even a good spouse. Some songs stress the importance attached to having male offspring: '' And if you my wife,/would have a boy ... " If the child is a girl, the song may wish her beauty, or possibly stress the importance of chastity or industrious- 25 SLOVAKIA ness: " Freedom and chastity prevail everywhere, / whichever girl has them , let her guard them .'' Other songs may express the abruptly felt loss of freedom experienced by the young parents , especially the new mother: '' ... m y freedom is crying in the cradle.'' M any songs are j okin g in tone and form the less serious part of the christening ceremony in Slovak villages . H ere, for example, the new parents tease each other a bout their responsibility for rocking the baby: '' Rock him , m y dear . .. I'm his mother.'' And here again, the m other m ockin gly compares her situation with that of the carefree life of unm arried m en and women: " I used to have a good time , ... m y maiden name/ is blotted out," or " As the maiden s d ance . . . while I , poor thing , / rock a baby ." Slovak christening songs usually have the following rhyme pattern : aa-bb-cc-dd. The number of syllables is usually the same in each line. Man y songs use assonance and employ colloquial express10ns . J ano , J ano, mily Jano! Donesu ti chl apca rano. K ed donesu , budem mati , vychova ho moja mati. A ked puojdem dolinami , vychovam ho malina mi , a ked puojdem sfrym svetom vychovam ho bielym kvetom . J ohn, John dear J ohn" They will bring you a boy tomorrow. Wh en they bring him, I'll keep him ," my mother wi ll raise him . And when I go down the valleys, I will raise him on raspberri es, and when I go in the wide world , I will raise him on white flo wers. p. 143 2 If you , m y wife," would have a boy, I would hire a wet nurse , a chef, a cook, a caretaker , and a house keeper. K eby si ty, zena moja , chlapca mal a, drzau by ti dojku , kuchara , kucharku, i safa ra i safarku. p. 144 3 Freedom and chastity prevail everyw here," whichever girl has th em, let her guard them . I would have protected mine, but it is too late. my freedom is crying in th e cradle. Sloboda, poctivost', ta vsade panuj e, kt ore j u di evca ma, nech si ju va ruje. I ja bych si moju , uz je ponecase, uz moja slobod a V belcove m i place. p . 144 26 SLOVAKIA 4 As the maidens dance," they whirl around in circles, while I, poor thing, rock a baby. J a k tie panny tancuju, do kola sa zvrcuju, a ja neboz ia tko kolfsem diet'at ko. Rock him, my d ea r husband , he is such a lovely boy. Rock him yourself, you are his mother . Kolfbaj ho moj mily, vsak je synak spanily. Kolfbaj si sama, vsak si mu ty mama. I would be a fool to rock him by myself, You surely are his father just as I 'm his mother. Bola by ja blazon kolfba ti sama, vsak si mu ty otec jako i ja mama . I used to have a good time when luck served me, sitting by the window, with a handsome young man . Byvalo mi, byvalo, ked' mi stestia sluzilo, sedajfcej v okne, s mladeneckom pekne. I used to sit with him , now I am married to him , m y maiden name was blotted out. Sedala som, sedala, u z sem ho i dostala, me panenske jmeno bolo vymazano. pp. 144-45 Wedding Songs Of the three areas of ceremonial family folklore discussed here, the wedding ceremony offers the greatest variety of folklore material. This is because in Slovakia the wedding ceremonies of most villages and towns contained traditions that were peculiar to that particular locale . There were often specific differences between the ceremonies of neighboring villages even within a relatively small geographic area. 16 The entire ritual consisted of three parts: the period before the wedding during which a wedding contract was m ade between the future inlaws; the wedding ceremo ny itself, and the feast after the young couple had retired. The wedding actually began when the wedding guests gathered and the bride and groom left for the ceremony in the church. The first five selections under the headin g "Wedding Songs" are examples of what the wedding party might sing along the way. After the ceremony the bride and groom as well as the guests would arrive at the bride groom's h ouse , where the festivities would take place . The feast was and still is the culmination of the whole wedding. The structure of the entire wedding ceremon y was originally quite SLOVAKIA 27 rigid . There were dan ces, ceremonial speeches, dramatic speeches and acts, as well as songs. All proceeded according to a traditionally fixed pattern . 1 7 Today, the songs themselves are no longer a part of the ceremony, and while many of the other forms remain (such as dances and speeches) the rigid , traditional patterns are no longer followed . Thematically, the bride is the focus of the often-lyrical and teasing ceremonial songs. Her beauty , upbringing, future as a married woman, and her character are all described in these songs: "Mother, mother, you have a lovely daughter''; ''Mother, mother, you may be proud . . . '' The most frequently mentioned virtues on the bride's part are modesty , diligence , obedience, and chastity. Some of the songs, especially those following the taking of the wreath and placing of the bonnet on the bride's head (when she symbolically becomes a woman), are permeated with laments: ''I lost my headdress . .. I like wearing it.'' Other songs picture the bride taking leave of her parents, relatives and friends: thanking her parents for her upbringing, expressing her sorrow about leaving them, and sometimes also expressing apprehension about her future with the bridgegroom' s family. Wedding songs and speeches employ rhymed verse, often of the following pattern : aa-bb-cc. The number of syllables is usually the same in each line. As in christening songs, wedding songs also employ assonance. Mother, mother, you have a lovely daughter , we will take her from you even if you hide her. Should you lock her behind four locks, we sure will get her with fin e words. Mamicka , mamicka, peknu dceru mate, m y vam ju vezmeme , co ju aj schovate . Co by ste ju zamkli aj styrma zamka mi , my ju dostaneme peknymi slova mi. p. 151 2 G et married , ge t ma rried , m y love, well will you learn what tyranny is. Get m arried , get m arri ed, my love , a birch switch awaits you behind th e door. V ydaj sa !en, vydaj , frajeruock a rn oj a, sak sa ve ru dozvies , aka je to zvola. V ydaj sa !en , vyd aj, fraj eruocka moj a, caka t'a za dve rmi ta b rezova hola. p. 151 28 SLOVAKIA 3 I kept it a sec ret, a secret, but I won't anymore, mother, ge t the feath erbeds" read y, I ' m ge ttin g m ar ried. Thank you , mother , thank you, d ea r , for taking care of me wh ile I was a child . T aj ila som , taji la, uz tajit' nebudem , chystaj , m am ka, perin y, vydavat' sa budem . Dakujem va m , mamicka, dakujem va m sta ra, co ste vy mna chovali , kym so m bola mala . p . 152 4 M ot he r, mot her, you may be proud th at yo ur girl 's gettin g married still chaste. Chaste , she's getting ma rri ed to a you ng man , they both will be wearing a rosemary wreat h .'" Mamicka, mamicka , pekn a vasa chvala , ze sa vafa d ieuka poct iva vydava. Poctiva vyd ava, be ri e ju ml ade nec, budu mat' obidva z rozmarinu ve ni ec. p . 152 5 Whateve r yo u give me, oh, eternal Lord , just don ' t give me a n old hag with children . An old hag rumbl es like a ba rrel of bee r a nd a young girl ' s jumpy like a squirrel. I ' II give the old hag a fl a tca ke 10 to chew on, and th e yo ung gi rl a pair of boots to jump in . Co mi das, to das, pa ne boze vecny, !en ze mi nedavaj staru babu s det'mi. A ta stara dud le, ako z piva bocka a ta mlada skace a ko veve ru ocka. D am starej Osucha , aby ho fova la , ml ad ej na cizmicky, aby si skaka la. p. 152 On the way back from the church , the weddin g party sings songs like the following: 6 Now you a re ours, Ann ie, now you are ours, we a re tak in g you home from the wedd ing. They paid a lotll for your wedd ing, we have tied your hands with a stole . 1 ' Uz si ty, An icka, uz si teraz nasa, uz t'a my ved ieme domov ze sobasa . Od tvojho sobasa tvrdy toliar dali, uz sme tvoje rucky stolou poviazali. p . 153 SLOVAKIA 29 7 Jaj , co si plakala, ked t'a sobasili? Var si si m ys lela l'ubit' sa s inymi ? A ja som sa bala tej tvojej materi, ked' ona ma jazyk zo samej oceli . Oh , why did you cry at your wedding? Maybe you thought of loving others? No, I was afraid of your moth er , becau se she has a tongue of steel. p. 154 During the wedding feast the bridgegroom and bride may sing to each other: 8 Bridegroom: Welcome, d ear little dove," half of my heart 1 I'm fl ying from bu sh to bush to see your cheeks. As soon as my heart spotted you, it looked back with joy , m y wish was fulfill ed. I want to ask you , Molly , are you willing to m a rry m e? will your fat her let you go? do you want to be my wife? Vitaj, mila holubicka, muojho srdca polovicka 1 Lietam od kricka do kricka, abych videl tvoje licka . J ak t'a moje srdce zrelo , od radosti zas pozrelo , podl'a vuoli sa mi stalo. Chcem sa, Marka, t'a p ytati, m as ty vuolu za mna iti , ci t'a otec chce pu stiti , ci chces mojou zenou byti? p. 161 Bride: You can't find fault with me, yo u can do as you please. Wh y should I spare myself, 34 when I like to see you. You can profit from m e Wh a t ca n I d o? I can tear old shirts to rags , throw wood into the stove, in the kitchen I have good luck, I can cook cabbage wit hout lard, and you wi ll li ck your fingers. l can make scrambled eggs , as my fat her knows . You , m y fat her , tell them what a special di sh it is 135 Nieto na mne ziadna chyba , mozes robit', co ti treba. Co by lutovala seba, ked' ja rada vidim teba . Zo mn a m ozes osoh vziati, co zo mn a moze vystati? Viem starie kosele driapat', dreva do peci nam eta t', aj v ku chyni sa mi stescf, mozem navar it' kapusty bez mas ti , oblfzes prsty. Viem spravit' praze ni cu z vaj ec. o com vie svadobny otec. T y pan svadobny otec povedz , aka je to obzvlastna vec 1 p. 161 The bonneting of the bride had its own special songs . 36 SLOVAKIA 30 9 I lost m y headdress," m y green wreath, " the best m an" fo und it , a ha ndso me yo ung m an . H ey, bes t m an , best ma n , I beg of you , give me bac k that headb and , I like wearing it. If you like wearing that head ba nd so mu ch , surely you ' d ask the best man more ni cely . Stratila som partu, zeleny ve ni ec, nasiel mi ju dru zba, sva rny ml adenec. H ej , dru zba, hej, dru zba, pekn e t'a prosfm , d ajze mi tu partu , rad a ju nosfm 1 K eby si ty pa rtu rada nosila, ve ru by si druzbu krajsie prosila . p . 163 10 The bell s of r.upca' 0 have a ve ry ni ce rin g," 1 Annie , they ' ll kn ock off yo u r head ba nd . They will kn ock it off with nin e bells, so you won ' t go out with oth er yo un g men . So you won't go out , just love your husband , th e handso me J ohnn y, who is d evo ted to you . Tie lupcian ske zvo ny vel'mi pekne zvo ni a, u z tebe, Ani cka, tvoju pa rtu zro ma . Zronia ti ju , zronia deviatimi zvo ncf, abys nechodil a s cudzfmi mladencf. Abys nechodil a, mu za si l'ubila , Janfcka svarnyho, tebe oddan yho. p . 163 Wailing Over the Dead The practice of wailing over the dead form ed a n integral p a rt of the fun e ral ceremony , a nd according to the Muran Articles of the Protestant Church from 1585 , wailing had been widely practiced in Slovakia.42 The lam ents were performed by semi-professional wailers , usually by older women , who wailed a t the funeral for a fe e. Some times , the laments were perform ed by rela tives. The laments over the d ead were generally improvi sed on the spur of the moment , with the hired person attempting to express lyrically the dee p sorrow felt by the relatives and friends of the deceased. They also m e ntioned the good traits of the deceased, the progress of hi s or her illn ess (as in " Oh , My D ear Child "), and would dram atize the actual d emise of the deceased , portraying him as he took leave of hi s fa mily, relatives, and friends. The laments over the d ead are st ru ctured differentl y from other folklore genres . Since they h ad to be open for improvisa tions , they are SLOVAKIA 31 free in form. They usuall y do not have regular stanzas or rhyme. Assonance predominates over rhym e and they are sung as melodic recitations. Laments can be characterized not only b y the lack of formal structure, but also by a certain degree of looseness and incoherency, possibly utilized to stress the depth of sorrow felt by the relatives and friends . This looseness is demonstra ted in the poem "George , George" in which the last two stanzas are only vaguely related to the theme of the first two stanzas. Oh , my dear child , beloved Angel," what shall I do without you , my dear souJ? My hea rt was bleeding while you were suffering, you looked at me, I couldn ' t help. Your fath er was walking stunned in the yard , walkin g aimlessly, not saying a word . You chattered to me your sweet words th e wh ole day, you dear innocent ch ild , a nd when you r father came home from th e fi elds, you smiled so that he would take you in his arms , and th ere was no end to your talking, and your father took d elight in you, hi s treasure. Ach, moj e drah uo diet'a, anjel premileny, cuo pocnem bez teba, moj a draha dusa, srdce mi zatislo, ked si sa trapilo, hl'adelo si na mna, nemohla som pomuoct'. Otec ti po dvore omrace ny chodiu , nikde miesta nemau, slov ka nepovedau. Stebotalo si mi slad uskymi recmi cely den, ty draha nevinnost ' premila , a ked otec z pol'a do domu sa vratiu, usmi evalo si sa, kym t'a k sebe nevzau, a n ebolo recom tvojim dlh o konec , a otec sa tesiu v tebe drahy poklad. p. 164 2 George, George, yo ur godfather ca me ," for yo u to plow hi s fi elds. You a re through with plowing since the Lord called you. Juro , Juro , km otor prise!, aby si mu orat' isol. A ty si uz dooral , ked' t'a panboh povolal. Ycs te rd ay you ate three sa usages," a nd a lot of bread. 46 Today you lie on th e bier, like a hog on a ca rt . Y ce ra si zjel tri jelita , aj chl eba z polk yky zita. Dnes uz lezis na marach ako bravec na karach. 32 SLOVAKIA M y dea r go lde n m oustache" would be fit fo r strin gs, my ve r y d ear ha ir , would be good fo r ropes. M oje m ile, zlate fuzy, boli ze by na mot u zy, moj e premile vlasy boli by na povrazy. Wh en he bega n to play hi s bagpipe: " tati -lat i, ta ti-l a ti ," he go t a farth ering" to bu y spices, he dropped it behind his shirt. K ed si pocal gajdovati : ta ti -lati , ta ti-l ati , ma! turak na koreni a, vsy pal ho do zahreni a. p . 165 NOTES ' Andrej M elichercfk , ed. , Slo vensky Folkl6r: Chrestomatia (Bra tislava: Slove nska Akademi a Vied, 1959) . ' J ozef r. . Holuby, Folklore studi es published ma inl y in Slovenske Pohl'ad y between 1883 a nd 1897; Jan Kolla r , N arodnie spievanky, I-II (Bra ti slava, 1953); Jii'i Polivka, Supis slo ven skych rozpravok I-V (Turciansky Svaty M artin , 1923 -1932). ' The fo lkloric ma teri al collected by Dobsinsky a nd oth ers is re ndered in th e dialec t o f the region fro m which it origina ted . The page reference to M elichercfk is give n in th e tex t a ft er th e Slovak ori ginal. ' " Puddle, Puddle ." In the Slova k, this love inca nta ti on has an irregul a r rhym e (aabbb-c-ddd-c-ee-fff- e-g-hh-g- iii -j- k-ll -m m) whi ch was sac rificed in th e tra nsla ti on fo r the sake of accuracy. • Although th e magical for mulae are pagan in origin , they contain refe rences to C hristi a nit y. ' Lit. · " H oly T rinity,/be a good helpe r to me/ to eve rythin g good,/ to the state of m a trimon y" (II. 26-29). 6 The colors refer to the body: red or pink cheeks were considered a sign of good health , a nd a white co m plex ion was much valued by both men and women, partl y as a sign of class di stin ction . O nly feuda l lords and wealth y merchants who di d not have to work in th e fi elds could afford to have white skin a ll year aro un d. " H oney " is a traditi onal refe rence to good te mper . 7 " I have brought you a piece of steel. . " With the exce ption of the wishes in the las t lin e, the Slova k poe m co nsis ts of rh ym in g co upl ets. All bu t 11 . 1 and 2 a re revised in order to con vey a prope r word order in English . Steel (iron) was co ns idered p ro tect ion aga ins t evil and fa iries in Europe (Maria Tymocz ko). ' H a ft is a ha nd le of a hoe, ax, scyt he, and oth er ag ricultu ral tools. H ere the number of hafts represen ts the far mer 's pros perity. 9 A typical orname n t a mong young marri ed village me n . Wh en give n by a you ng unm a r ried women, th e feather was co nside red a sign of affect ion. '° K re u ze r (o r kreutzer) was a small cop per coin in Aust ri a and Ge rmany, the 100th part of th e fl orin . It was so called because th e coin had th e fi gu re of a cross on it. A penny wou ld be probabl y the closest co n temporary eq ui valent to the kreuzer. " Wal nu ts and hazlenu ts were trad itionally eaten at C hristmas tim e after the ma in meal. SLOVAKIA 33 " " I wi sh you in thi s/comin g New Yea r " : This is a very popular N ew Year 's wish . The unu su al wi sh , " that a side of your oven/ m ay fa ll out" (11 .3 -4) probably ha s the same conn otat ion as th e En gli sh '' break a leg!'' It also sugges ts a wi sh of prosperity to the farm er , i.e., th a t hi s oven m ay be fill ed to burstin g, or ove rh eated with con stant cooki ng a nd baking. " Fo rmall y, thi s poe m is arran ged in rh ymin g coupl ets but asson an ce plays a m o re impo rtant role . " This carol is loosely a rra nged in rh yming couplets. Again, the assonance a nd the rhym e take precedence ove r m eanin g, and thi s ex plains why such seemingly unrela ted them es as th e Three Kings, the Star of Bethlehem , J oseph and M a ry o n the one hand, and the rose, th e tulip on the ta ble, and the old man's huntin g expedition on th e other ha nd , fo und their place in thi s carol. The carol is a mi xture of religious and secular m otifs. " C hildren , dressed as the Three Magi, arrive a t a farmh ou se and sing. Yet they mu st no t sin g a bout the fa rm er ' s fa mil y, but the H oly Famil y of the Na tivity. 16 ' ' Sh rovetide, Pentecos t, and Easter ... '' This j okin g carnival song is ar ranged in rh ym in g coupl ets. 11 Fatback bacon (usual ly with no lean m eat) was a staple diet , often a snack, fo r village peo ple. It was ofte n eaten with baked potatoes a nd _onio ns, o r j ust plain bread . 18 Fa tback baco n u sed to be sm oked (cured ) in th e chimn ey. 19 The teac her , alo ng with the p riest a nd th e m ayo r , was amon g th e m ost prominent peo ple in th e vill age. 0 ' S loven sko: l', ud - II. cast', ed s. Boze na Filova et al. (B ra ti slava: O bzo r , 1975). " In the Slovak o ri ginal, thi s son g has a regula r rh yme pat tern: aa-b b-cc-dd . The first two lines ad d ress th e m a in speaker . " J oh n" is appa ren tl y a youn g fath er whose wife d ied in childbirth . T he fat her says that he will kee p his so n , but the boy ' s grandmoth er will have to bring him up . Them a ticall y, the so ng expresses conce rn fo r th e boy ' s upbringin g. In the seco nd stan za , the speake r ind icates that he m ay have to leave hi s nat ive vill age, probably in search of wo rk . T hi s was a co mm on prac ti ce among im poverished village rs. " Lit .: " I 'll have. " In 11. 3 an d 4 coll oqui al form s of the ve rb " to have " and the nou n " m other" have bee n used. The forms a re iden tical: mati , wh ich fac il itates th e rh ym e and keeps th e sam e num ber of syll a bles in each line. There a re eight sylla bles in each line, and th e standa rd m o nosy lla bic word m at' wo uld have redu ced th e syll a bles dow n to seven in 11 .3 a nd 4 . " The origin al son g uses assonance ra ther th an rh ym e. A fat her-to-be is th e speaker in this so ng . H alf-jokin g , he stresses the importance of a male offspring. H e p rom ises to pa m pe r hi s wife if she bears him a son . " The original so ng uses asson a nce . T he speaker , proba bly an un wed m o th er, po nders her fat e a nd talks a bout social conve nti on s. " W ith th e excepti o n of stanza 3, the so ng has a near regul a r rh ym e: aa-bb-cc-dd-e -fg- f-hh- ii -jj- kk. T he speaker in th is so.ig is the ba by 's moth er who regrets th e loss of her freedo m as a mother and/or a wife . It is not qu ite clear from the context wheth er she is m a rri ed o r no t. I n either case, it was not proper of her to joi n the ca refree d a nce of unm arri ed m en a nd wome n . 34 6 SLOVAKIA Slovensko: E,ud, p. 1057. " Melichercfk , p. 26 " A featherbed is a strong cloth con tainer thi ckly filled with goose feathers and down and used as a bed cover in lieu of blankets. Featherbeds were a part of the bride's dowry, which also included pillows, sheets, towels, cloths, etc . The dowry was collected throughout the years practically after the day the girl was born . Goose down and stripped feathers were collected ever y year from the fami ly's fl ock of geese and stashed in a special bag for each d aughter in the family. The wealthier the bride , the higher the pile of featherbeds and pillows atop her bed . " A rosemary wreath was a decoration used on such occasions as weddings and funerals . H ere it is a symbol of chastity. 0 ' A fl atcake (osuch ) is a simple, flat cake, usually round. It is baked from bread dough , which is sometimes mixed with a different type of fl our or else potatoes. " Lit .: "They paid a hard thaler for your wedding ," obviously meaning the dowry. Thaler (also taler) was a large silver coin u sed in various German states and in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was worth 30 silver groschen, worth about 3s. sterling . The word "dollar" is derived from " th aler." " R efe rring to the priest's vestments durin g the wedding ce remony, the stole is a long, decorated strip of cloth worn like a scarf by officiating clergymen of various chu rches. 33 In the Slovak original, each line consists of eight syllables. The rhyme pattern is: aaaa-bbb-cccc. " The meaning is not quite clear here. It probably indicates the bride's submission to the groom . 35 In this poem, each line consists of eight syllables . The rh yme pattern is: aaaa-bb-ccbbb-dddd. 36 Bonneting of the bride is the culmination of the wedding ceremony. The bride becomes a married woman when her wreath is replaced by a bonnet. 31 Headband or headdress is a wreath decorated with colorful ribbons, worn by un married women and brides. Married women wore bonnets or scarves. 38 Each line in this song consists of eleven syllables. The rhyme pattern is: aa-bb-cc. 39 It was customary that the best man led the bride to the wedding and took off her wreath or headband. H e led the bride down the aisle, whereas the bridesmaid led the bridegroom down the aisle. He was referred to as the " leading " best man and wore a sword to distinguish himself from other best men who wore sticks decorated with scarves . '° Cupca is a town in Central Slovakia, where many local customs and traditions have been preserved. 41 Each line in this song consists of twelve syllables. The rhyme pattern is: aa-bb-c-d. " Melichercfk, p . 142. 43 This lame ntation has a sporadic rhyme pattern: a-b-c-d-ee-f-g-ee- h-i. The lines consist of 12 to 13 syllables. 44 The poem has the following rhym e pattern: aa-bb-cc-dd-ee-ff-gg-hh . The lines consist of seven to eight syllables. 45 Pork sausage in natural casing. It is made of rice or grits combined with ground meat , liver, blood and spices. The sausages were usu all y made in winter or early ' SLOVAKIA 35 spring when the fatt ened pigs were slaughtered . " '' ... a lot of bread.'' This is a free translation due to the discrepancy in the printed word indicating the amount of rye from which the bread was made . The original version of this song, titled, " W a iling over a D ead Husband" (Sbomik slovenskych n arodnych piesnf, povestf, prfslovf, porekadiel, hadok, hier, obycajov a povier [A Collection of Slovak Folk Songs, Riddles, Games, Customs, and Superstitions], II , (Turciansky Sva ty Martin : Matica slovenska, 18741) spells the wordpolkyly, which would mean half a kilo. On the other hand , Melichercik's edition lists the word polkyky (fem. gen. sg. ), which was an old , popula r measure in Slovak villages . The word k yky is of Ukrainian ori gin (a Ukrainian word for a scarf worn by village women, "babushka" type). ·since scales were a luxury item in the past, the amount of rye from which a loaf of bread was m ade was m easured in the scarf. Pol means half, i.e., the bread was made from half the amount measured by the scarf. 47 The poem , somewhat joking in character, shows the improvising character of funeral recitations. The stanzas wander from one subject to another, touching some memories of the dead man that may o r may not be relevant for the occasion of the funeral, but they are important in the eyes of the wailer. " " Farthing" is a free translation, indicating that the coin was small. In the Slovak original , turak was a small coin , worth one and a half groschen . It was used in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This paper is based on a doctoral dissertation , " Slovak Folklore : An Anthology, " at the Un iversity of M assachuset ts in Amh erst , 1982. I th ank especially Professors Sarah N. Lawall a nd Zdenek Salzmann . Presented in part in P anel 128 , " Slovak Literature as a Mirror of the National Awakening ," at the AAASS co nvention in Philadelphia on 8 November 1980 , and in Panel 65 , "The Village in Slovak Literature ," at the AAASS convention in Asiloma r , California on 2 1 September 1981.  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 Three Kinds of Slovak Folk Literature Description An account of the resource Eva Susan Kucekova Slovakia, Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83 pp. 12-35 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kucekova, Eva Susan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/c7aebf31e593b016ebcfff30a963df96.pdf 7c8e9ae006c5b22b862fe39c50c61eb8 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA Introduction Slovak Literature: What, Where From, and Whither? F . W. Galan If the nineteenth century was the age of grand (that is, imperial) unification, the twentieth century, by contrast, appears as the age of unceasing fragmentation. Nowadays everyone wants to be a master and very much a mistress too - of his or her house . The same situation prevails in literature . The idea of one supranational Weltliteratur is now a badly tarnished remnant of a bygone era. Comparative literature flounders as well. The only approach to literary study that is still effective to a degree is along national lines. The literature of Slovakia, though inspired by the rising tide of nationalism that swept Europe after the revolution of 1848, has not yet found its rightful place in world literature, its proper voice in the concert of nations. Seen in an international (particularly American) perspective, Slovak literature does not exist at all - not, I would submit, because of the poor quality of writing, but because of its minority status. Incontrovertibly, Slovak literature is a literature of a minority, indeed, of a minority of a minority. Even within the field of Slavic studies, literatures other than Russian suffer considerable neglect. Czech literatu re, mainly thanks to recent recognition of exiled writers, however, is beginning to gain ground . Unfortunately, contemporary Slovak literature has not produced any controversial political and literary figures, although it could boast a whole pleiade of distinguished writers, especially in so-called lyrical prose , between the two wars. Thus , even though the prospects of Slovak literature are problematic in the present-day social �SLOVAKIA 11 and literary context, it amply merits our attention on literary rather than merely "ethnic" grounds . The following studies should be assessed in these terms . Abstract of commentary presented in Pa nel 65 , " The Village in Slovak Literature ," a t th e AAASS convention in Asiloma r , California on 21 September 1981. � SLOVAKIA Introduction Slovak Literature: What, Where From, and Whither? F . W. Galan If the nineteenth century was the age of grand (that is, imperial) unification, the twentieth century, by contrast, appears as the age of unceasing fragmentation. Nowadays everyone wants to be a master and very much a mistress too - of his or her house . The same situation prevails in literature . The idea of one supranational Weltliteratur is now a badly tarnished remnant of a bygone era. Comparative literature flounders as well. The only approach to literary study that is still effective to a degree is along national lines. The literature of Slovakia, though inspired by the rising tide of nationalism that swept Europe after the revolution of 1848, has not yet found its rightful place in world literature, its proper voice in the concert of nations. Seen in an international (particularly American) perspective, Slovak literature does not exist at all - not, I would submit, because of the poor quality of writing, but because of its minority status. Incontrovertibly, Slovak literature is a literature of a minority, indeed, of a minority of a minority. Even within the field of Slavic studies, literatures other than Russian suffer considerable neglect. Czech literatu re, mainly thanks to recent recognition of exiled writers, however, is beginning to gain ground . Unfortunately, contemporary Slovak literature has not produced any controversial political and literary figures, although it could boast a whole pleiade of distinguished writers, especially in so-called lyrical prose , between the two wars. Thus , even though the prospects of Slovak literature are problematic in the present-day social �SLOVAKIA 11 and literary context, it amply merits our attention on literary rather than merely "ethnic" grounds . The following studies should be assessed in these terms . Abstract of commentary presented in Pa nel 65 , " The Village in Slovak Literature ," a t th e AAASS convention in Asiloma r , California on 21 September 1981. � 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 1982-83, Vol. 30 Description An account of the resource Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83. 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 1982-83 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 Introduction Slovak Literature: What, Where From, and Whither? F . W. Galan If the nineteenth century was the age of grand (that is, imperial) unification, the twentieth century, by contrast, appears as the age of unceasing fragmentation. Nowadays everyone wants to be a master and very much a mistress too - of his or her house . The same situation prevails in literature . The idea of one supranational Weltliteratur is now a badly tarnished remnant of a bygone era. Comparative literature flounders as well. The only approach to literary study that is still effective to a degree is along national lines. The literature of Slovakia, though inspired by the rising tide of nationalism that swept Europe after the revolution of 1848, has not yet found its rightful place in world literature, its proper voice in the concert of nations. Seen in an international (particularly American) perspective, Slovak literature does not exist at all - not, I would submit, because of the poor quality of writing, but because of its minority status. Incontrovertibly, Slovak literature is a literature of a minority, indeed, of a minority of a minority. Even within the field of Slavic studies, literatures other than Russian suffer considerable neglect. Czech literatu re, mainly thanks to recent recognition of exiled writers, however, is beginning to gain ground . Unfortunately, contemporary Slovak literature has not produced any controversial political and literary figures, although it could boast a whole pleiade of distinguished writers, especially in so-called lyrical prose , between the two wars. Thus , even though the prospects of Slovak literature are problematic in the present-day social SLOVAKIA 11 and literary context, it amply merits our attention on literary rather than merely "ethnic" grounds . The following studies should be assessed in these terms . Abstract of commentary presented in Pa nel 65 , " The Village in Slovak Literature ," a t th e AAASS convention in Asiloma r , California on 21 September 1981.  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 Introduction - Slovak Literature: What, Where from, and Whither? Description An account of the resource F. W . Galan Slovakia, Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83 pp. 10-11 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Galan, F. W. (František William), 1947- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/0e8530e3c6c123e852af74a8134a4771.pdf 4028a1593468c0393b5c9ae34a28d5c0 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 1982-83 Publi shed By THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA ����SLOVAKIA VOLUME XXX NUMBERS 55-56 1982-83 A schola rl y a nnual devoted to the hi story , li terature and culture of Slovaks the world over Guesc Editor NORMAL. R U DINSKY Oregon State U ni ve rsit y Editor M . MARK STOLARIK The Balch Institute for Ethni c Studies Edicorial Boa rd DA YID P DANIEL Concordia Theological Seminary MICHAEL NOVAK American Ent erprise Institute OWEN V . JOHNSON Ind iana University STAN LEY Z . PECH Unive rsity of British Columbia THOMAS D . MARZIK Saint J oseph 's U ni vers ity NORMA L. R U DINSKY Oregon State University Slovak League Advisory Board EDWARDJ. BEHUNC IK DRAGA DIVI NS KA JOHN A . H OLY DANIEL F. TANZONE JOS EPH C . KRAJ SA Publisher The Slovak League of America cl o J ohn A. H oly, Secretary-Treasurer 870 Rifl e Camp Road W est Paterson , NJ. 07424 Inquiries regarding subscriptions shou ld be add ressed to J ohn H oly M a nu sc ri pts for possible publi cati on a nd books for review should be sent to M . M ark Stolarik , Editor , Slovakia, 700 Penfield Ave. , H ave rtow n , Pa . 19083. ��SLOVAKIA 5 Table of Contents Guest Editor 's Note Norma L. Rudinsk y 7 Introduction - Slova k Literature: Wha t , Where from , and Whither? F. W . Galan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Three Kinds of Slovak Folk Literature Eva Susan Ku cekova .... .. ..... ... . . .... ..... .. . .... . . 12 Counter-Reformation and Early Czech Catholic Kan cionaly in the Kin gdom of Bohemia ( 1588-1683) M arie-Elizabeth Ducreux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 The Influence of Juraj Tra novsky's Cithara San ctorum in Slovakia J aros/av ]. V ajda ..... .... .. .. . . . ..... . . . .... .. ....... 51 Daniel Sinapius-Horc icka 's H ortulus Animae Piae Gerald]. Sabo .............. .... .... . ... . ........ . ... 61 Some Observations o n D evotio nal Literature and Culture : R esponse David P. D aniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Hu golfn Gavlovic's Valaska Skala a nd Skala Krest'an ska G erald ]. Sabo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Vaj ans ky a nd Turgenev William E. H arkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 The Slovak Fairytale Tradition and J .R.R . Tolkien 's " Eucatastrophe" in the Reali st ic Stories of M a rtin Kukucfn Norma L . Rudinsk y ............ ... . . ..... . ..... . ...... 100 Kukucfn's Vill age Stories and Shukshin 's " Snowball Berry-Red" Gerald ]. Sabo ............... . . . . . .. . .. .. . . .... . ..... 112 J ozef Cfge r-Hronsky: C hronology a nd Part ial Bibliograph y Norm a L . Rudinsky .. ..... . ...... .. ................ . .. 128 �6 SLOVAKIA Jozef Cfger-Hronsky: A M aj or Slovak Novelist Peter Petro . .. .. .. . . .... .. . .... ... . . ... . . .. . . .. . ..... 142 Modern Slovak Fiction : The Sixties , a Decade of Experimentation Peter Petro .. . . ... .. .. . .... . . . . ... . .. ... . . . .. . .. .... . 153 The Lyrical Prose of V incent Sikula Peter Petro . ... .. . . ..... . .. ... ... .. . . ... . .. ... . .. .. . . 165 Contributors ... . . . . . .. . .... . .... . . .. . ... . . . ..... . ..... . . . 175 Guidelines for Manuscripts . . . .. .. . .. . .... . . .... .... . .. . . . . . 176 �SLOVAKIA 7 GUEST EDITOR'S NOTE This issue of Slovakia is devoted to English studies of Slovak literature. In all of the Slavic cultures, literature has often played an extraliterary role, frequently with political or even economic force. In Slovak culture, especially, literary creation and criticism have more often been seen as a defensive and partisan political activity than as an esthetic activity. In the present studies, however, we wanted to consider Slovak literature esthetically as literary art. This new approach is now possible because the tendentious political definitions that formerly plagued Slovak studies have been laid to rest with the abandonment of the theory of a single ''Czechoslovak language'' and the concept of Slovak literature as a regional derivative of Czech literature. Therefore, the consequent national defensiveness can also be laid to rest. Slovak culture can now be considered on its own merits. These papers were presented under the sponsorship of the Slovak Studies Association at the four past annual meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies: on November 5-8, 1980 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; on September 20-23, 1981 in Asilomar, California ; on October 14-17, 1982 in Washington , D. C . ; and on October 22-25, 1983 in Kansas City, Missouri . Given here in the chronological order of their subject matter , not of their presentation, these papers show an elementary outline of much of Slovak literature. In keeping with the current position of Slovak literary historians in Bratislava, we are taking "literature" not only as an ethnic or language category, i .e. literature in the Slovak language , but also as a geographic category, i.e. literature produced within the borders of present-day Slovakia and including works written in Latin, German, Magyar, or Czech by Slovaks or other residents of Slovakia if that literature resulted from and/or influenced literary trends in Slovakia. This is the standard p ractice of literary historians with Latin literature written when Latin was the universal language and the vernacular languages were only beginning, and also with bilingual countries such as Canada or Belgium . There is little difficulty with the German and Magyar languages, but there h as been a major problem with the Czech lan guage for several historical reasons that must be summarized here because they �8 SLOVAKIA directly affect five of our papers on the early written (not folk) literature , and indirectly they have affected all study of Slovak literature. Slovak and Czech developed separately as parallel West Slavic languages, but not on the same schedule: Czech was formed very early as a literary language (because of the political/cultural center of Prague, Holy Roman Emperor Karel IV, a major medieval university , Jan Hus ' s vernacular translations, etc .) , and Slovak was formed as a literary language very late (because of the lack of a political/cultural center , the long adherence to Latin in Hungary , etc.). Furthermore, the Czech language became a substitute for Slovak from the 15th century on, first when clerks of many nationalities educated at Prague University used Czech as an administrative language in Austria and Hungary, then second when many religious and accompanying political controversies were debated in Czech instead of Latin from Hus through much of the Catholic Counter-Reformation . By replacing Latin and constricting the use of German and Magyar , Czech with its similarity and relative comprehensibility for Slovaks fostered the development of Slovak within its disadvantaged position in Hungary. But, on the other hand , it became a crutch that slowed Slovak development because it somewhat filled the need for a vernacular and delayed or obscured the natural stimulus toward codification of spoken Slovak that finally occurred with Bernolak and Stur. Our papers illustrate this situation. Two concern the standard Czech-language Protestant hymnals that became partial sources for the Czech Catholic hymnals in Bohemia and Moravia that Marie-Elizabeth Ducreux writes of and also sources for the Czech-language hymnal written and published in Slovakia thatjaroslav Vajda writes of; the Czech form of the name Tfanovsky, used on his h ym nal and continu ed by historians of his place in Czech literature, was domesticated to the Slovak form Trano vsk y by the Lutheran tradition and is so used by historians of his place in Slovak literature. A century later another Pole (like Tranovsky) , Hugolfn Gavlovic, now wrote not in Czech but in an uncodified Western Slovak with Czech elem ents. Between Tranovsky and Gavlovic, the three m embers of the Sinapius-Horcicka family , all Slovak born , wrote in Latin , German, Slovakized Czech, or Slovak with Czech elements. Thus , the complexity of the language situation in the Slovak R enaissance and Baroque periods has to be understood before taking up the esthet ic value of a work, and in some cases a transitional work must be appreciated without a �SLOVAKIA 9 final decision on whether it is in Czech with Slovak features or Slovak with Czech features. On the later literature, two papers are comparative with Russian and one with English literature, and the two papers on J. C. Hronsky testify to our belief that he was a major European writer who has not yet received the attention due him outside Slovak literary criticism. The final two papers concern contemporary fiction . Not all the papers give purely esthetic studies, as we wished, because many Slovak literary subjects still require basic historical and biographical investigation . We are grateful to the regular editors of Slovakia for this opportunity to make a beginning. Norma L . Rudinsky � SLOVAKIA 1982-83 Publi shed By THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA ����SLOVAKIA VOLUME XXX NUMBERS 55-56 1982-83 A schola rl y a nnual devoted to the hi story , li terature and culture of Slovaks the world over Guesc Editor NORMAL. R U DINSKY Oregon State U ni ve rsit y Editor M . MARK STOLARIK The Balch Institute for Ethni c Studies Edicorial Boa rd DA YID P DANIEL Concordia Theological Seminary MICHAEL NOVAK American Ent erprise Institute OWEN V . JOHNSON Ind iana University STAN LEY Z . PECH Unive rsity of British Columbia THOMAS D . MARZIK Saint J oseph 's U ni vers ity NORMA L. R U DINSKY Oregon State University Slovak League Advisory Board EDWARDJ. BEHUNC IK DRAGA DIVI NS KA JOHN A . H OLY DANIEL F. TANZONE JOS EPH C . KRAJ SA Publisher The Slovak League of America cl o J ohn A. H oly, Secretary-Treasurer 870 Rifl e Camp Road W est Paterson , NJ. 07424 Inquiries regarding subscriptions shou ld be add ressed to J ohn H oly M a nu sc ri pts for possible publi cati on a nd books for review should be sent to M . M ark Stolarik , Editor , Slovakia, 700 Penfield Ave. , H ave rtow n , Pa . 19083. ��SLOVAKIA 5 Table of Contents Guest Editor 's Note Norma L. Rudinsk y 7 Introduction - Slova k Literature: Wha t , Where from , and Whither? F. W . Galan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Three Kinds of Slovak Folk Literature Eva Susan Ku cekova .... .. ..... ... . . .... ..... .. . .... . . 12 Counter-Reformation and Early Czech Catholic Kan cionaly in the Kin gdom of Bohemia ( 1588-1683) M arie-Elizabeth Ducreux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 The Influence of Juraj Tra novsky's Cithara San ctorum in Slovakia J aros/av ]. V ajda ..... .... .. .. . . . ..... . . . .... .. ....... 51 Daniel Sinapius-Horc icka 's H ortulus Animae Piae Gerald]. Sabo .............. .... .... . ... . ........ . ... 61 Some Observations o n D evotio nal Literature and Culture : R esponse David P. D aniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Hu golfn Gavlovic's Valaska Skala a nd Skala Krest'an ska G erald ]. Sabo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Vaj ans ky a nd Turgenev William E. H arkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 The Slovak Fairytale Tradition and J .R.R . Tolkien 's " Eucatastrophe" in the Reali st ic Stories of M a rtin Kukucfn Norma L . Rudinsk y ............ ... . . ..... . ..... . ...... 100 Kukucfn's Vill age Stories and Shukshin 's " Snowball Berry-Red" Gerald ]. Sabo ............... . . . . . .. . .. .. . . .... . ..... 112 J ozef Cfge r-Hronsky: C hronology a nd Part ial Bibliograph y Norm a L . Rudinsky .. ..... . ...... .. ................ . .. 128 �6 SLOVAKIA Jozef Cfger-Hronsky: A M aj or Slovak Novelist Peter Petro . .. .. .. . . .... .. . .... ... . . ... . . .. . . .. . ..... 142 Modern Slovak Fiction : The Sixties , a Decade of Experimentation Peter Petro .. . . ... .. .. . .... . . . . ... . .. ... . . . .. . .. .... . 153 The Lyrical Prose of V incent Sikula Peter Petro . ... .. . . ..... . .. ... ... .. . . ... . .. ... . .. .. . . 165 Contributors ... . . . . . .. . .... . .... . . .. . ... . . . ..... . ..... . . . 175 Guidelines for Manuscripts . . . .. .. . .. . .... . . .... .... . .. . . . . . 176 �SLOVAKIA 7 GUEST EDITOR'S NOTE This issue of Slovakia is devoted to English studies of Slovak literature. In all of the Slavic cultures, literature has often played an extraliterary role, frequently with political or even economic force. In Slovak culture, especially, literary creation and criticism have more often been seen as a defensive and partisan political activity than as an esthetic activity. In the present studies, however, we wanted to consider Slovak literature esthetically as literary art. This new approach is now possible because the tendentious political definitions that formerly plagued Slovak studies have been laid to rest with the abandonment of the theory of a single ''Czechoslovak language'' and the concept of Slovak literature as a regional derivative of Czech literature. Therefore, the consequent national defensiveness can also be laid to rest. Slovak culture can now be considered on its own merits. These papers were presented under the sponsorship of the Slovak Studies Association at the four past annual meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies: on November 5-8, 1980 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; on September 20-23, 1981 in Asilomar, California ; on October 14-17, 1982 in Washington , D. C . ; and on October 22-25, 1983 in Kansas City, Missouri . Given here in the chronological order of their subject matter , not of their presentation, these papers show an elementary outline of much of Slovak literature. In keeping with the current position of Slovak literary historians in Bratislava, we are taking "literature" not only as an ethnic or language category, i .e. literature in the Slovak language , but also as a geographic category, i.e. literature produced within the borders of present-day Slovakia and including works written in Latin, German, Magyar, or Czech by Slovaks or other residents of Slovakia if that literature resulted from and/or influenced literary trends in Slovakia. This is the standard p ractice of literary historians with Latin literature written when Latin was the universal language and the vernacular languages were only beginning, and also with bilingual countries such as Canada or Belgium . There is little difficulty with the German and Magyar languages, but there h as been a major problem with the Czech lan guage for several historical reasons that must be summarized here because they �8 SLOVAKIA directly affect five of our papers on the early written (not folk) literature , and indirectly they have affected all study of Slovak literature. Slovak and Czech developed separately as parallel West Slavic languages, but not on the same schedule: Czech was formed very early as a literary language (because of the political/cultural center of Prague, Holy Roman Emperor Karel IV, a major medieval university , Jan Hus ' s vernacular translations, etc .) , and Slovak was formed as a literary language very late (because of the lack of a political/cultural center , the long adherence to Latin in Hungary , etc.). Furthermore, the Czech language became a substitute for Slovak from the 15th century on, first when clerks of many nationalities educated at Prague University used Czech as an administrative language in Austria and Hungary, then second when many religious and accompanying political controversies were debated in Czech instead of Latin from Hus through much of the Catholic Counter-Reformation . By replacing Latin and constricting the use of German and Magyar , Czech with its similarity and relative comprehensibility for Slovaks fostered the development of Slovak within its disadvantaged position in Hungary. But, on the other hand , it became a crutch that slowed Slovak development because it somewhat filled the need for a vernacular and delayed or obscured the natural stimulus toward codification of spoken Slovak that finally occurred with Bernolak and Stur. Our papers illustrate this situation. Two concern the standard Czech-language Protestant hymnals that became partial sources for the Czech Catholic hymnals in Bohemia and Moravia that Marie-Elizabeth Ducreux writes of and also sources for the Czech-language hymnal written and published in Slovakia thatjaroslav Vajda writes of; the Czech form of the name Tfanovsky, used on his h ym nal and continu ed by historians of his place in Czech literature, was domesticated to the Slovak form Trano vsk y by the Lutheran tradition and is so used by historians of his place in Slovak literature. A century later another Pole (like Tranovsky) , Hugolfn Gavlovic, now wrote not in Czech but in an uncodified Western Slovak with Czech elem ents. Between Tranovsky and Gavlovic, the three m embers of the Sinapius-Horcicka family , all Slovak born , wrote in Latin , German, Slovakized Czech, or Slovak with Czech elements. Thus , the complexity of the language situation in the Slovak R enaissance and Baroque periods has to be understood before taking up the esthet ic value of a work, and in some cases a transitional work must be appreciated without a �SLOVAKIA 9 final decision on whether it is in Czech with Slovak features or Slovak with Czech features. On the later literature, two papers are comparative with Russian and one with English literature, and the two papers on J. C. Hronsky testify to our belief that he was a major European writer who has not yet received the attention due him outside Slovak literary criticism. The final two papers concern contemporary fiction . Not all the papers give purely esthetic studies, as we wished, because many Slovak literary subjects still require basic historical and biographical investigation . We are grateful to the regular editors of Slovakia for this opportunity to make a beginning. Norma L . Rudinsky � 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 1982-83, Vol. 30 Description An account of the resource Vol. 30 (No. 55-56), 1982-83. 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 1982-83 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 1982-83 Publi shed By THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA SLOVAKIA VOLUME XXX NUMBERS 55-56 1982-83 A schola rl y a nnual devoted to the hi story , li terature and culture of Slovaks the world over Guesc Editor NORMAL. R U DINSKY Oregon State U ni ve rsit y Editor M . MARK STOLARIK The Balch Institute for Ethni c Studies Edicorial Boa rd DA YID P DANIEL Concordia Theological Seminary MICHAEL NOVAK American Ent erprise Institute OWEN V . JOHNSON Ind iana University STAN LEY Z . PECH Unive rsity of British Columbia THOMAS D . MARZIK Saint J oseph 's U ni vers ity NORMA L. R U DINSKY Oregon State University Slovak League Advisory Board EDWARDJ. BEHUNC IK DRAGA DIVI NS KA JOHN A . H OLY DANIEL F. TANZONE JOS EPH C . KRAJ SA Publisher The Slovak League of America cl o J ohn A. H oly, Secretary-Treasurer 870 Rifl e Camp Road W est Paterson , NJ. 07424 Inquiries regarding subscriptions shou ld be add ressed to J ohn H oly M a nu sc ri pts for possible publi cati on a nd books for review should be sent to M . M ark Stolarik , Editor , Slovakia, 700 Penfield Ave. , H ave rtow n , Pa . 19083. SLOVAKIA 5 Table of Contents Guest Editor 's Note Norma L. Rudinsk y 7 Introduction - Slova k Literature: Wha t , Where from , and Whither? F. W . Galan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Three Kinds of Slovak Folk Literature Eva Susan Ku cekova .... .. ..... ... . . .... ..... .. . .... . . 12 Counter-Reformation and Early Czech Catholic Kan cionaly in the Kin gdom of Bohemia ( 1588-1683) M arie-Elizabeth Ducreux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 The Influence of Juraj Tra novsky's Cithara San ctorum in Slovakia J aros/av ]. V ajda ..... .... .. .. . . . ..... . . . .... .. ....... 51 Daniel Sinapius-Horc icka 's H ortulus Animae Piae Gerald]. Sabo .............. .... .... . ... . ........ . ... 61 Some Observations o n D evotio nal Literature and Culture : R esponse David P. D aniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Hu golfn Gavlovic's Valaska Skala a nd Skala Krest'an ska G erald ]. Sabo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Vaj ans ky a nd Turgenev William E. H arkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 The Slovak Fairytale Tradition and J .R.R . Tolkien 's " Eucatastrophe" in the Reali st ic Stories of M a rtin Kukucfn Norma L . Rudinsk y ............ ... . . ..... . ..... . ...... 100 Kukucfn's Vill age Stories and Shukshin 's " Snowball Berry-Red" Gerald ]. Sabo ............... . . . . . .. . .. .. . . .... . ..... 112 J ozef Cfge r-Hronsky: C hronology a nd Part ial Bibliograph y Norm a L . Rudinsky .. ..... . ...... .. ................ . .. 128 6 SLOVAKIA Jozef Cfger-Hronsky: A M aj or Slovak Novelist Peter Petro . .. .. .. . . .... .. . .... ... . . ... . . .. . . .. . ..... 142 Modern Slovak Fiction : The Sixties , a Decade of Experimentation Peter Petro .. . . ... .. .. . .... . . . . ... . .. ... . . . .. . .. .... . 153 The Lyrical Prose of V incent Sikula Peter Petro . ... .. . . ..... . .. ... ... .. . . ... . .. ... . .. .. . . 165 Contributors ... . . . . . .. . .... . .... . . .. . ... . . . ..... . ..... . . . 175 Guidelines for Manuscripts . . . .. .. . .. . .... . . .... .... . .. . . . . . 176 SLOVAKIA 7 GUEST EDITOR'S NOTE This issue of Slovakia is devoted to English studies of Slovak literature. In all of the Slavic cultures, literature has often played an extraliterary role, frequently with political or even economic force. In Slovak culture, especially, literary creation and criticism have more often been seen as a defensive and partisan political activity than as an esthetic activity. In the present studies, however, we wanted to consider Slovak literature esthetically as literary art. This new approach is now possible because the tendentious political definitions that formerly plagued Slovak studies have been laid to rest with the abandonment of the theory of a single ''Czechoslovak language'' and the concept of Slovak literature as a regional derivative of Czech literature. Therefore, the consequent national defensiveness can also be laid to rest. Slovak culture can now be considered on its own merits. These papers were presented under the sponsorship of the Slovak Studies Association at the four past annual meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies: on November 5-8, 1980 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; on September 20-23, 1981 in Asilomar, California ; on October 14-17, 1982 in Washington , D. C . ; and on October 22-25, 1983 in Kansas City, Missouri . Given here in the chronological order of their subject matter , not of their presentation, these papers show an elementary outline of much of Slovak literature. In keeping with the current position of Slovak literary historians in Bratislava, we are taking "literature" not only as an ethnic or language category, i .e. literature in the Slovak language , but also as a geographic category, i.e. literature produced within the borders of present-day Slovakia and including works written in Latin, German, Magyar, or Czech by Slovaks or other residents of Slovakia if that literature resulted from and/or influenced literary trends in Slovakia. This is the standard p ractice of literary historians with Latin literature written when Latin was the universal language and the vernacular languages were only beginning, and also with bilingual countries such as Canada or Belgium . There is little difficulty with the German and Magyar languages, but there h as been a major problem with the Czech lan guage for several historical reasons that must be summarized here because they 8 SLOVAKIA directly affect five of our papers on the early written (not folk) literature , and indirectly they have affected all study of Slovak literature. Slovak and Czech developed separately as parallel West Slavic languages, but not on the same schedule: Czech was formed very early as a literary language (because of the political/cultural center of Prague, Holy Roman Emperor Karel IV, a major medieval university , Jan Hus ' s vernacular translations, etc .) , and Slovak was formed as a literary language very late (because of the lack of a political/cultural center , the long adherence to Latin in Hungary , etc.). Furthermore, the Czech language became a substitute for Slovak from the 15th century on, first when clerks of many nationalities educated at Prague University used Czech as an administrative language in Austria and Hungary, then second when many religious and accompanying political controversies were debated in Czech instead of Latin from Hus through much of the Catholic Counter-Reformation . By replacing Latin and constricting the use of German and Magyar , Czech with its similarity and relative comprehensibility for Slovaks fostered the development of Slovak within its disadvantaged position in Hungary. But, on the other hand , it became a crutch that slowed Slovak development because it somewhat filled the need for a vernacular and delayed or obscured the natural stimulus toward codification of spoken Slovak that finally occurred with Bernolak and Stur. Our papers illustrate this situation. Two concern the standard Czech-language Protestant hymnals that became partial sources for the Czech Catholic hymnals in Bohemia and Moravia that Marie-Elizabeth Ducreux writes of and also sources for the Czech-language hymnal written and published in Slovakia thatjaroslav Vajda writes of; the Czech form of the name Tfanovsky, used on his h ym nal and continu ed by historians of his place in Czech literature, was domesticated to the Slovak form Trano vsk y by the Lutheran tradition and is so used by historians of his place in Slovak literature. A century later another Pole (like Tranovsky) , Hugolfn Gavlovic, now wrote not in Czech but in an uncodified Western Slovak with Czech elem ents. Between Tranovsky and Gavlovic, the three m embers of the Sinapius-Horcicka family , all Slovak born , wrote in Latin , German, Slovakized Czech, or Slovak with Czech elements. Thus , the complexity of the language situation in the Slovak R enaissance and Baroque periods has to be understood before taking up the esthet ic value of a work, and in some cases a transitional work must be appreciated without a SLOVAKIA 9 final decision on whether it is in Czech with Slovak features or Slovak with Czech features. On the later literature, two papers are comparative with Russian and one with English literature, and the two papers on J. C. Hronsky testify to our belief that he was a major European writer who has not yet received the attention due him outside Slovak literary criticism. The final two papers concern contemporary fiction . Not all the papers give purely esthetic studies, as we wished, because many Slovak literary subjects still require basic historical and biographical investigation . We are grateful to the regular editors of Slovakia for this opportunity to make a beginning. Norma L . Rudinsky  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. 30 (No. 55-56) Description An account of the resource includes Guest Editor's Note (Norma L. Rudinsky) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rudinsky, Norma Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-83 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/087ee42d27cbceeadc3364c8bed177a7.pdf e27f8bd5d3768bdaec78ee01b75d1158 PDF Text Text " Logan Place." September 26, 1935. All ey Dwellin g Authority. Nati onal Capital H ousin g Authorit y Collection . Library, D e pa rtm ent of H ou sin g and Com munit y D evelo pm ent. W as hin gto n, D .C . ► ► ;,::; ...... < 0 L' (/) 0::, �SLOVAKIA 9 Migrant Responses To The City: The Neighborhood, Case Studies in Black and White, 1870-1940* James Borchert and Susan Danziger-Borchert Th ey tend to reproduce spontaneously the home community and to live in it. L etters show that they frequently reply to inquiries from home for a description of America, " I have yet been able to see America." W.I. Thomas, "The Immigrant Community" Students of migration to American cities have, over the years, produ ced a large library of studies. The greatest outpouring of work has co ncentra ted on the migration of southern and eastern European immigrants during the years from 1880 to 1920, and the "great migrati o n " of blacks from the rural South. This profusion of work has not produced any final conclusions on the migrant experience, although there a re a number of schools of thought about what happen ed to migrants . Th e first group of scholars who considered European migrants of this pe riod concl uded that d espite efforts to re- establish their rural ways of life, the city proved too poor a soil for such institutions to ta ke root. Thus extended family , kinship network , neighborhood , and community 1 • A ve rsio n of this paper was prese nted a t th e Nin ety-Seve nth Annu al M ee tin g of th e Am eri ca n Hi sto ri cal Associa ti o n held in Washin gton, D .C. in D ece mb er 198 2. The authors are indebted to th e Am erican Hi to ri cal Associati on for a n Albert J. Beveridge M em o ri a l Fund Grant and the Smithson ian In sti tuti on for a fellowship, whi ch provided esse nti al fundin g in conn ec tion with th e preparation of th e original presenta tion. �10 SLOVAKIA withered ; a pe riod of disorde r a nd co nfu sion foll owed u nt il mi grant s discovered the " urba n way of life. " 1 Accordin g to the theory, thi s d iscovery , synonymous with the beginnings of assimil a tion a nd accultu ration, provided migrants with the form s of order a nd organization tha t would m ake success in America (and cities) possible and p rob able . After a n appropriate period of apprenticeship in the " zon e in transition " a nd the " zone of workingmen ' s homes, " the urba nized mi grant began to m ove to middle-class status a nd suburban h om es. 3 M ore recent scholars, a n alyzing a ggregate cen sus d a ta (fo r indi ces of di ssimil a rity) a nd city directories (for spa tial a nd occupa tional m obility), have questioned the notion that European mi gra nts spent mu ch tim e in the zon e in tran sition . Based on this d a ta, they contend tha t individu al m igra nts from diffe rent immi grant groups lived widely scattered acro ss workin g-class residential a reas . Few con centration s we re great e nou gh to permit the development of urba n vill ages or ghet toes. Where they ex isted, mi grant s passed through so quickl y th a t their importa n ce as a n institution was minimized for most. 4 In contrast , until recently , most observers of black migran ts in the city concluded tha t folk breakdown was extensive. Moreover , whil e new bl ack residents seem ed to m ove as frequ ently as white mi gra nts, they did so within a n increasingly restrictive ghetto area . 5 Thu s, whe re a disorganized ghetto confronted black migrants, white migrants ex peri en ced greater spa tial and (implicitly) m ore occupa tional mobility. Whi te migrants m elted to gether into a working cl ass div ided by reli gion (P rotestant , Catholi c, and J ew) , 6 while blacks confronted a n earl y caste-like experien ce. 7 The m ost recent work by students of Eu ro pean a nd bl ack mi gra nt s of the 1880 to 1930 period h as b egun to challen ge som e of these findin gs . Students of urba n bl ack communi ties h ave foc u sed on the exte nsive presen ce of fo rm al organi zati ons to dem onstra te the exten t of order in black life. 8 Simila rl y, studies of E u rop ean immi grant group s h ave demon stra ted the persisten ce of ethni c life in th e city throu gh the in stituti on s of church , b e nevolen t groups, lod ges, politi cal ac tivity, a nd a n active press. 9 M oreove r , both se ts of studi es presum e th e prese nce of a recogni zable geogra phical b ase upon whi ch these fo rm al or gani zations operate . In the case of black communities, the ghetto explicity fo rm s the b ounda ries; fo r white immi gra nt s, th e pa rish or" immi gran t n eighborhood " implicitly serves as the turf around which the story of organi za- �SLOVAKIA 11 tional life unfolds. Unfortunately, in either case, the empirical demonstration of this critical base and its role is often assumed as given. Few have sought to consider the role of neighborhood and community development as a crucial framework for their analyses. 10 • Because this literature provides little basis for analysis or comparison, it is necessary to turn to the work of sociologists for a framework. 11 While there is little work on scale and its impact on the nature of neighborhood, 11 more has been done on neighborhood typologies. Gerald Suttles suggests three: the defended neighborhood, the community oflimited liability, and the contrived community. The first is most pertinent to the discussion here: "a residential group which seals itself off through the efforts of delinquent gangs, . . . by sharp boundaries, or by forbidding reputation." 13 The elements of the defended community are: "a recognizable identity, a consensus among residents of a common fate, and a 'positive' and sentimental attachment to neighbors, local establishments, and local traditions to the exclusion of other persons, establishments, and traditions . '' 14 Another set of issues that the current literature ignores concerns the distinction between primary or informal groups (family, neighborhood, community) and formal organization. Historians' concentration on formal group life represents a great limitation on their work, since these groups represent only one level of response migrants made to the city. 15 In part, these formal groups reflect most fully the experiences of the most successful: those who are largely "a-typical" of the larger group's experience. 16 More importantly, informal groups played a critical role in the life of the folk migrants prior to their move to the city. 17 Their presence and roles in the city represent important elements to test to determine the nature and extent of changes that resulted from migration, urbanization, industrialization, and modernization. Since earlier observers pointed to these informal groups as the institutions that underwent the most complete and severe change, with formal groups replacing them, it seems central to the discussion of the persistency of ethnic group life that primary group life be given careful analysis. This is especially so since it is the family, neighborhood, and community that are so central for the socialization and identity of the young. 18 There are other reasons for considering the issue of informal group life. Recent studies of both European and black migrant areas have reported population turnover that was thought to undermine the develop- �12 SLOVAKIA ment and impact of ethnic enclaves; proximity to many other groups diminished European ethnicity to one of the three major religions. While recent studies demonstrate the importance of chain-migration for both black and white migrants, little effort has been made to determine what effect this chain migration had on the formation of groups in the city. 19 In contrast, the presence ( or absence) of a neighborhood in proximity to formal institutions of an ethnic group represents theoretically a very different experience than that postulated by studies of movement and mobility . Rather than seemingly random movement, it would be possible to hypothesize the informal neighborhood providing important sets of support for the church (parish), businesses, beneficial organizations, press, and national organizations. While it may be difficult to determine which came first, it seems likely that informal neighborhood lies at the base of the ethnic urban village. Moreover, despite the mobility, the presence of an ethnic village that provides important goods and services for "members," whatever the place of residence, plays an important role in the "maintenance" of ethnicity and identity. 20 Thus, while it may have have served every member of a given ethnic group in its particular part of the city, the neighborhood/urban village fostered important networks of institutions for migrants; dominance of a section of the city permitted residents a chance to be "themselves" within the confines of a turf dominated by persons from the same kin network, town, region, and country. In these neighborhoods, residents hammered out their own identities, consciousness, and relations with the larger world. Without this envelope, it is hard to imagine how so many informal and formal groups could have persisted and prospered . 21 It is the purpose of this article to examine the development of residential neighborhoods and communities by two different groups of migrants in different environments. While these are far from "random" selections, 22 we do feel that they represent two different kinds of migrant settlements, one very small, the other fairly large. Both neighborhoods conform roughly to Suttles' definition of a defended neighborhood; both represent an important migrant response to the urban environment, a response that has been passed over all too briefly by past work. The article focuses on the efforts of two different groups of folk migrants to establish a "turf" in the city: Black migrants settled in the inhabited alleys of Washington, D .C ., and the eastern European migrants settled in the "Bird's Nest" on the fringe of Cleveland, Ohio. �SLOVAKIA 13 In m a ny ways the social co nditions migrants faced in these two environments were dramatically different; each cam e with a different set of experie nces and cultural baggage, and each faced very different conditions in the cities they settled despite the fact that both entered the urban marketpl ace at the ' 'bottom .' ' 23 While these differences are critical to understand what happened to each group, it is also important to see in general term s what migrants shared in their struggle with the urban-industrial environment. The article begins with a consideration of similarities and differences between the two communities in terms of physical form , population , occupations, and living conditions. The major part of the article focuses on the development and form each neighborhood took . The conclusions seek to compa re these two experien ces and suggest their implicat ions for othe r migrant experien ces and for the study of migrants . II. Descriptive Comparison of Neighborhoods: Alley Communities and The Bird 's Nest Physical Form and Isolation . Alley communities of Washington, like their counterparts throughout the urban United States and Europe , were small, relatively circumscribed , and isola ted neighborhoods spread throu ghout the central city 24 (see Map 1) . In Washington , alley house co nstru ction fell largely in the period from the end of the Civil War until 1892, when Congress banned new construction. D eveloped on narrow st reets or alleys inside a large city block , the tiny, two-story fram e or brick row houses faced inwa rd onto the interior alley, while larger, more expensive row houses lined the outside of the block and faced onto the street (M ap 2). W ell-to-do residents of the street-front property were separated from their poor and often black, backyard neighbors physically, sociall y, and culturally. D evelopers and owne rs of alley property , often well to do , generally lived outside the immediate section of the city where their all ey property was located, thus furth er isolating the alley n eighborhood . 25 The Bird 's N est, a single neighborhood , was equ ally isolated , but shared much more in co mmon with the la rge ethnic enclaves in urban indu st ri al areas throu ghout the United States. In 1892 , a land company sub sidary (Pleasant Hill L and Company-PHLC) of the National Carbon Company laid out the eight n a rrow stree ts (five n a m ed for birds), a nd 424 lots to provide hous in g for workers at its new facto ry n earby. 26 �SLOVAKIA 14 INHABITED ALLEYS 1897 POPUATION 0 1- ,. 0 0 0 JOO - ... 0 RKE • • 0 MAP 1 - 1/l or mor, 81,il(: k 2/lormor,\Nhct C ommi ssione rs of the District of Columbia, Annual R eport (W ashin gton , 189 7), 195-202. 1897 �SLOVAKIA 15 N STREET [ fr" I l'Fif =! .J.Jo . a--1 II ' ' .. ~ • II - '-M STREET L STREET D BUILDINGS HEADS Of HOUSEHOLD Native Born Whites S.ablo Foreign Born \\'hites (born outside Ncw1h America or p,uenc~ born outside Othe<Buldir@ Store o, AmYm Shop North Amtfil:a) • •• !lacks ~ (when lhan l) more MAP 2 - Sanborn Map Publishin g Company, In surance M aps of Washington , D .C. (New York , N . Y., 1888) ; and Fed eral Populat ion Census Schedules, I 880 W ashington , D .C., V ol. 2 pan 2, R eco rd Group 29 National Archi ves. �SLOVAKIA 16 \~ PART Of" L.\I(E,ro on .>. ' -~ I I .A 11 LE 1 1 ROCKPORT TOWNSHIP. \~_. ~':. ~ \" \ ... ~7;:... MAP .3 - Pleasa nt Hill La nd C ompan y subdi vision of th e " Bird 's Nes t " a nd th e adjoining Na ti on al Ca rbon Facto r y, 1898 . Thom as Fl ynn , Ott o Ba rth el, R .H . Bunni ng , and Thomas H assa n , Atlas o[ th e Suburbs o[ Cleveland, Ohio ( Phil ad elphia , 1898), Plate 24 . �SLOVAKIA 17 The neighborhood was circumscribed by railroad tracks, th e factory , a nd a wood s (later d eveloped for a factory and park) on three sides; the fourth side, a secondary comme rcial artery, p ermitted some overflow into the immediate n eighborhood to the north (see Map 3). While Bird's Nest workers were able to gain ownership of the area, it remained isolated from the surrounding area which was developin g as a middl e-class suburb. 2 7 Like the inward facing alley, th e neighborhood also turned in ward with its " main street," Plover , being the most isol a ted of its streets. 28 Migration and Neighborhood Size. Black migrants from the surrounding states of Virginia and Maryland, coming largely in cha ins of family, fri ends , and neighbors, settled into the alley communities. 29 Predominantl y from rural areas, these mi grants mainta ined ties to the countryside a nd encouraged furth er m ove me nt from those areas . While rural migrants had a number of differe nt res id enti al environm e nts to chose from in the city, a nd often m oved b ack a nd forth betwee n these , m an y se ttled initially in the alleys . Alley popu lations varied co nsiderabl y in size within a given year and over tim e . The smallest held one or two famil ies, the largest ove r 400 peopl e (see Map 1). Most all eys fell so m ewhere in be tween , with the average all ey size in 1880 bein g 50 residents ; at the peak of alley population in 1897, when there were nearl y 20 ,000 all ey res idents living in 240 all eys, th e average all ey size was 73. Th ese were, th e n , very small , face-to-face co mmunities of bl ack rural migrants. 3° In contrast, migra nts to the Bird 's N es t cam e from rural a reas in Easte rn Europe; most id entifi ed th emselves as " Hun garian Slovaks ," alth ou gh some were from P ola nd a nd Ru ss ia . 31 Th ey also mi grated in cha in s of relat ives, fri end s, and n eighbors as well as by region. 32 Like bl ack mi gra ti on to th e all eys, th e re was cons iderab le movem ent back a nd forth betwee n th e Old W o rld a nd th e New. Un like th e all ey populat ion th at reached its peak in 1900 a nd began to drop off, with each alley being a small isola ted community onto itself, the Bird 's N est populati on of 429 in 1900 in creased fi ve -fold by 19 10 a nd then doubled by 1920 at its peak ( see T able 1.) Thi s represe nts a different kind of ethni c encl ave with pote nti al for m o re sub sta nti ve inst itu tion al d evelopme nt. Occupations and Workplace. Black residents of W ashin gton alleys co nfronted profound limita ti ons in their search for work. R ac ism limi ted �18 SLOVAKIA employment of black males largely to day labor and black women to dom estic or laundry work; none had access to the limited industrial occupations in Washington 33 (see Table 2). The employment open to alley dwell ers, then, represented the worst paid , least secure, and often the m ost physically demanding and dangerous positions available. Moreover, despite long residence in the ci ty, black alley dwellers experienced little if any upward occupational mobility ; a color bar en sured that any movem ent would be minimal. 3 4 In contrast , while migrants from Eastern Europe came with similar skills as rural blacks , they often found industrial employment available to them, even though it was nearly always at the bottom . In 1900, most male residents of the Bird 's Nest were laborers working at the adjacent National Carbon factory; by 1910, a number of residents had gained som e mobility by gaining access to semi-skilled industrial occupations. Moreover, a number of women were able to gain indu strial employment, although usually a t the lowest levels ; many others earn ed incom e by runnin g boarding houses or taking in boarders. While this work was long, hard , physically demanding , and often dangerous , it was also more secure and better paying than anything available to alley dwellers . By 1940 , em ployed male a nd female workers of the Bird 's Nest were concentrated in semi-skilled pos itions ( 44 percent), with another 10 percent skilled and 13 percent proprietarial or white collar employees; only a third remained as unskill ed or service workers 35 (see Table 3). Living Conditions. Living conditions in most D .C. alleys were far from wholesome; crowding, poorly maintained buildings and outhouses, piles of uncollected trash in alleys, and the co nstant d anger of contagious disease plagued residents. D espite the limited space inside the two-story 12x30 foot alley house, man y were shared by more than one hou sehold unit ; in some cases four family units lived in one small room each . 36 These crowded cond itions made residents m ore susceptible to di sease, while landl ord s' lack of co ncern for maintenance and the city's di sinterest in coll ect in g trash from the alleys exposed residents to di sease in other ways. Limited and unstable income restricted diets while d angerou s, outdoor work further taxed alley dwellers' health . Ultimately these cond iti ons led to death rates for alley dwell ers th at were twice th at for residents of the streets; the major causes were diseases that cou ld clearly be linked to socio-economic status . 3 7 Children under the age of one year acco unted for much of the high death rate. 38 �SLOVAKIA 19 While the Bird's Nest developed in a suburban setting and lacked the extreme density of the alley community, living conditions were little better. While outside the multi-family homes "everything was mud," inside the long, narrow two - and three-story buildings many families lived in tiny cold water flats 39 (see Map 4) . Whereas alley dwellers had to go outside for water and toilets, Bird's Nesters shared "indoor water closets .' ' 40 Residents of the latter community, however, were more likely to share their tiny apartments with boarders; 32 percent of households had boarders in 1910 (boarders made up one-fourth of the total population), 41 while only 13 percent of 1880 alley households were augmented. 41 The crowded living conditions in the Bird's Nest, along with the long hours at work and limited income, led to high death rates, especially for the very young. 43 In 1900, women reported over one-fourth of the children they had borne were dead, 44 a condition that continued in later years. There are, then, substantial similarities between the two populations; Both came into the urban marketplace at the bottom; both lived in housing conditions that were crowded and dangerous ; the "communities" were isolated physically and socially from the surrounding populations; both were made up of groups that had migrated in chains to the city. Nevertheless , residents of the Bird's Nest did have access to industrial jobs that were more stable and better paying; and these positions permitted some mobility from unskilled labor to semi- and eventually skilled jobs. In addition, where alley communities were largely limited in size by the number of houses built in each alley , and ultimately by the limited interior space of the block itself, the Bird's Nest faced less spatial constriction. This afforded the potential for more complete development. Finally, while alley dwellers seldom had the resources to purchase their alley homes from absentee landlords , res idents of the Bird's Nest were encouraged to do so by the industrial developer of their community . Where ownership always remained external to the alley community , the Bird 's N est quickly becam e locally owned. Despite these differences, each area developed a se ries of informal groups that provided the base for the formation of a neighborhood . That neighborhood , in turn , provided the foundation for the d evelopment of more formal organizations. Given the differe nt resources and scale, however, residents d eveloped different kinds of ne ighborhoods. �10 FAM ILY UNtTS .I H oward Whipple G ree n , Plan es of Living in C uyah oga County: as D epicted by th e R eal Property Survey (C leveland , 1940), 65. Bird ' s Nest = LW18 MAP 4 - e 6.5 o/o OF ALL FAMILY UNITS 2 1,953 IN COUNT Y COLD WATER FLATS ~ ► ~ < >- 0 r< (./J 0 �SLOVAKIA 21 III. Neighborhoods Alley Communities. Black migrants who came to Washington alleys re-established their kin and friendship networks in the alley; they continued to use these networks for emotional and financial support. Because their resources were so marginal, only reliance on these groups made survival more likely. Each alley then, had several or more such networks into which "fictive kin" were also drawn. They provided the most basic form of social organization, albeit informal, in the alley . 45 It was the alley neighborhood, itself, that brought these kin groups together into a loose , but cohesive unit . Since alleys were isolated from the surrounding neighborhood and often some distance from the emerging black enclaves of the city where the major institutions of black life were located, alley residents often had to fall back on themselves for help and support. Drawing on their rural experience, migrants constructed informal defended neighborhoods to provide for their needs. In many respects, however, this informal community became much more important in the city because residents were more dependent on each other, especially in the period just following their migration. Since migration to the city (and alleys) continued throughout the period, and since there were always some "native" alley residents as well as some migrants who had lived in a given alley for many years, new migrants did not have to confront the urban environment alone . New neighbors, kin, and old friends helped ease the transition from country to city. 46 The alley itself' 7 was the center of the alley community; residents congregated there, save in the worst weather, to meet with friends and neighbors. 48 A major location for informal meeting took place at the intersection of the two main alleys . All residents passed this point on their way into and out of the alleys; neighbors met each other here as they returned home from work each day, or hung out there during the day if there was no work available . In addition , residents generally sat in front of their homes and talked to neighbors who joined them on the steps, benches, or chairs set out for this purpose . 49 It is impossible to overestimate the value and import of this activity, for virtually every aspect of the alley community was based on this interaction . If neighboring provided an important element of entertainment, it also provided information on which neighbors needed help and where jobs were available. A critical function of the alley community �22 SLOVAKIA involved help and support for those in need; neighbors aided each other by providing money, food, and shelter while in some cases they took in friends' children and cared for them, in others they let neighborhood children sleep at their house '' because they had more room.'' 50 A third function neighboring and the alley community provided was the maintenance of internal social control. Part of this came as a result of the positive support neighbors gave each other; they also used gossip and more formal sanctions to maintain order. 51 Ultimately, these daily discussions about ' ' appropriate behavior'' by residents resulted in the hammering out of a common philosophy and world view; a world view that was shared by members of the community and differed from that of outsiders. 52 Finally, alley dwellers defended their neighborhood against outsiders . Part of this resulted from their intensive use of alley space for neighboring , thus discouraging others from entering the area . When outsiders did enter they were confronted by residents and watched throughout their alley visit, an experience that unnerved many observers of alley life. 53 Alley dwellers had good reason to watch "outsiders"; other Washingtonians, black and white, generally viewed residents of the alleys with great disdain. While the police were especially harsh in their attempts to control alley populations, other residents, though less overt in their actions, expressed nearly universal condemnation of alley dwellers. 54 This external hostility helped hold the alley community together, despite its internal dissension . Disputes over life style dominated these schisms, but the small scale of the neighborhood, the necessity to cooperate to survive, and the external threats effectively held residents together. Because of its small size and very limited resources, however, the alley community was not able to develop or support a very extensive set of formal organizations. It did provide an excellent medium for small alley churches, which were simply alley houses residents rented "for Jesus. " They were kept going by neighbors' contributions and the pastors ' earnings from "doing occasional laundry" or other work . 55 While most alleys seem to have had at least one of these churches, their small size - "Ten chairs and a pulpit, and an improvised altar" - makes the extent of participation problematic . 56 Alley businesses were equally marginal, and often involved in illegal activity. Like the semi-formal alley church, these businesses required conversion of part ofan alley house into a " speak-easy" or "fac- �SLOVAKIA 23 tory" for the m a nufacture of illegal alcohol , or oft en both . While these were cl early ill egal and we re often closed down by law e nforcem ent offi cia ls, th ey provided an importa nt service for the alley ne ighborhood in representin g a " proto " ne ighborhood tave rn a nd community ce nter where residents co uld m eet. 57 The Bird 's Nest. A s earl y as 1889 , Slovak mi gran ts b egan work on the construction of the n ew National Carbon factory . 58 After the factory was co mpl eted , these worke rs and their fri ends were hired to work in th e factory . 59 Like alley dwellers, initial settle rs in the Bird 's N est began a cha in mi gration , at first drawing from the oth er Slovak enclaves throughout the city and eventuall y reaching back to Hun gary. This process resu lted in ex tended kin n etworks bein g refo rmul a ted in th e n ew neighborhood . In a number of cases, this reformu la tion extended to Old World v ill age pa rishes. Within th e fir st few years, m a n y of the core famili es had m oved in and esta blished them selves. Fri end s, ne ighbors, a nd co -reli gionists followed . As o ne oral history repo rted, " m a n y times the m en came along first , leaving wives a nd children behind in Slovakia, until they h ad found work a nd could send back for th eir families. When they cam e first, they sought out others from the sam e village who were alread y" in the neighborhood . 60 The most criti cal form of organization , however, was the neighborhood it self. Like the all ey community , the n eighborhood rem a ined largely inform al; initiall y it w as a grouping of kin n etworks largely of Slovak a n cestry. Y e t this inform a l " institution " p rovided the precon dition s necessary for the con structio n of other aspects of the community. In large p a rt the migrants es tablished th eir co ntrol over th e ne ighborhood in the first years of settle m e nt , 1892- 1900 . A lthough the a rea was th en only sli ghtl y bigge r tha n th e largest all ey, these earl y migrants a nd th eir famili es esta blish ed a beachhead that was neve r chall en ged . Unlike alley dwell ers who neve r gained ow nership of th eir ne ighborhood , res idents of the Bird 's N est quickly bou ght up th e small parcels o f la nd (wheth er simpl y cl eared b y the PHLC, or built upon ) , 6 1 as soo n as th eir fin ances m ad e it possibl e. 61 A lon g Pl ove r , migrant s purch ased 43 perce nt of the lots prior to 1900; o nl y three of th e 35 lots o n the street m ay h ave been ini tiall y purchased by non-Sl avs. 63 R es id ent s gain ed ow ners hi p o f m ost of th e 424 lots in the subdi vion s on initi a l sale; w ith few exce ptio n s, th ey eve ntuall y ga in ed co ntrol ove r th e rem a ining o nes as well. �24 SLOVAKIA P e rhaps the most striking aspect of n eighborhood d evelopment is the extent to which residents drew on each other's skill s and resources to construct houses, stores, a nd shops. Of the 171 lots for which information is available on th e initial con struction , 92 perce nt of the owners were alread y residents of the neighborhood. While m a n y built their own hom e (or a building to rent), those owners who hired a builde r to co nstruct their houses overwhelmingly chose a resident of the neighborhood (64 percent). Many of the non-resident builders were also of Slavic origin , but lived in one of the other encl aves spread throughout the city. 64 T o an impressive ex tent , th en , residents bought up the neighbo rhood la nd, and per son ally built th eir own hom e or a home to sell to more rece nt migra nts ; when they did not do their own co nstru ction they hired neighbors . In doing so, they establi shed an impress ive investm ent upon which they could draw or build on in the future. 65 H av in g es tablish ed a turf a nd access to employ m ent , residents encouraged n ew migra nt s to join them. Whe reas the m ajo rity of th e first res idents ha d migrated to the United Sta tes in the ten years prior to the building of th e factory, the massive influx of n ew migrants in the fir st two d ecad es of the twenti eth century cam e direc tl y to the n eigh bo rhood. Slovaks continu ed their d omination of the n eighborhood (70 perce nt) , whil e Slovak was the most common la ngu age. 66 One of the key attractions of thi s N ew Slovak/ Slav ic village, in a d dition to the presen ce of fri ends , relatives, and an ethni c ne ighborhood , was the prese nce of employm ent possibilities in industry. H av ing mad e important inroads from th e beginnin g of the constru ction o f the new factory, Slovaks , a nd to a lesse r extent P oles a nd Ru ssians, dominated the lowest level of empl oym e nt in the facto ry. 67 Th ere is so m e indi cation th a t the original pl a nt o n the east side of Clevela nd may also h ave empl oyed workers from a nearb y Slovak e nclave. These employees m ay have been attrac ted to th e new factory b y the avail ab ilit y of la nd ; a disastrous fire a t the old e r pl a nt in 1893 m ay well have speed ed up this process. 68 Wh a teve r the initi a l co nnection, Slovaks a nd oth er Sl av ic mi gra nt s establi shed a beachh ead in th e factory from th e beginnin g b y drawin g o n th eir inform a l networks . 69 Jun e Alexand er found a similar co nditio n for Slovaks in Pittsburgh , namely that "factori es relied o n their fore m e n to hire workers and foreme n, in turn, reli ed o n th e ir workers as intermedi a ries to find la borers. " 70 As mi grants worked their way slowly up the ranks to semi-skilled a nd occasion all y forem en positions , th ey �SLOVAKIA 25 gain ed m ore direct access to the hiring process. With the informal neighborhood networks , Slovaks came to dominate both workplace and neighborhood . 7 1 Whil e info rm al social cont rol and aid permeated th e early years of the Bird's N est as it did in the alleys, the ra pid growth of the neighborhood in the first decade of the twentieth cen tury permitted the developme nt of m ore form al organiza tions . R esidents of different reli gious persuas ion s m et sepa rately; initially these m ee tings, like the alley church , were worshi p serv ices held in co-reli gioni sts' hom es. Eve ntu ally these m eetin gs led to the fo rmation of lod ges and other m ore form al organizations designed to bring about the formation of a parish and the building of a church . 72 The first parish , Sts. Peter and P aul Lutheran , was offi cially form ed in 1901 ( church building-1 902/school som e years later) ; it was followed by Sts. Cyril and M ethod ius R om an Catholic Church in 1903 (church building and school-1905); St. Gregory ' s Byzantine Rite Catholic Church in 1905 ( chu rch building 1906/school som e years later); and the C alvin Presbyterian C hurch in 19 17 (church buildin g-19 2 1) . Ca lvin Presbyte ri a n C h urch in th e foreg round occupi es th e first sit e of Sts. Pe te r a nd Pau l Luth era n C hurch . In th e b ac kg round is St . Grego ry's Byza nti e n Rit e Ca th oli c C hurch . (Ph ot0g ra ph by a ut ho rs, J a nu a ry , 1984). �26 SLOVAKIA Sts. Peter and Paul Luthera n. (Photograph by au thors, January, 1984). SS. Cyril a nd M eth odi us R om an Ca th oli c C hurch . (Ph otog raph by au th ors, J anua ry, I 984). �SLOVAKIA 27 These "predominantly" Slovak parishes were joined by those of the other ethnic groups sharing the neighborhood, the first of which was St. Hedwig's Church (Roman Catholic Polish Parish) in 1905 ( church building-l 914/school-1926). Because residents took the initiative in the formation of these parishes and schools, they often had considerable control over their direction, especially in the early years. 73 These parishes made the neighborhood even more attractive to potential migrants; their founding at the beginning of the decade undoubtedly encouraged many others to migrate. Religious schools provided another incentive, especially to Slovaks who witnessed their own schools closed or "converted for Magyarization" in the homeland. For residents in the Bird's Nest, these schools represented a way to avoid efforts at Americanization promoted by the public schools. As a result many children from the neighborhood attended these parochial schools. 74 Drawing on their growing neighborhood and its greater resources (compared to alley communities), residents of the Bird's Nest also started an incredible number of businesses. While most of these were small stores and shops that served the immediate neighborhood , several developed into substantial businesses that provided necessary goods and services for ethnic and religious needs . 75 Most important, however, was the formation of Eagle Building and Loan Company in 1911 . Controlled from within the neighborhood, residents built an institution that made possible complete acquisition and building of the area, and expansion beyond . 76 The building and loan was critical since over fifty percent of the neighborhood's lots were sold by the PHLC during the 1910s, while the period from 1912 to 191 7 was the period of greatest home construction. 77 Although the neighborhood was divided by ethnicity, religion, and class , as well as by very different attitudes on assimilation, 78 these divisions were subsumed by the needs of the neighborhood and the workings of informal groups. For some, the community revolved around the parish ; Peter Glovna remembered that "it was just like a little village, and the pillar was St. Cyril. " 79 Nevertheless , they were a series of co mmunity-wide activities that drew residents together. 80 Most important , " the first settlers tried to reconstruct , as closely as possible , the village system they were so accustomed to in Poland , Russia, and Slovakia. The close-knit warmth a nd familiarity of the village provided security and a sense of home to the recently displaced immigrants. " 81 �28 SLOVAKIA Ultimately , residents used the neighborhood as alley residents did theirs; everyone knew everyone else and interaction on the streets, front yards, and porches was extensive, especially in warm weather. 82 This neighboring activity , largely through informal, small groups of relatives and friends, made up a critical element in the neighborhood life . It provided the first level (past kin network) of organization, one that replicated itself as formal groups began in the churches, lodges, and benevolent associations as well as the workplace. These primary groups provided members with an immediate sense of belonging, a connection with larger, more formal organizations, and a way by which members of the primary group could collectively continue to co nstru ct a world view, maintain social control , and provide help and support for the needy. 83 Like the alley community, the Bird's Nest found that the external threat was often sufficient to contain internal conflict. Hostility , both formal (from police and other official sources) and informal (from personal prejudice directed at residents), was extensive throughout the period. Outsiders, as in the case of alley communities, targeted the neighborhood as an eyesore and danger to the rest of the community; and police exercised their authority to "maintain social control by overenforcing the law .' ' 84 IV. Conclusions Based on these examples, it seems clear that migrants, via chain migration and efforts to gain entry/control over admission to a j ob market , began to establish residential enclaves. 85 If the process of neighborhood formation appears to have begun almost unconsciously, its development was quite conscious. While the presence of such neighborhoods is taken as given to most studies, what stands out in these two examples is the extent to which migrants took over their respective turfs, defended them, and built informal and formal institutions around them. In fact , the clustering provided the necessary context for virtually every further institutional development. If some or many migrants eventually passed through and out of the neighborhood , it remained(s) an important focal point in the lives of many , even those who could "escape" to more affluent suburban settlements. 86 The neighborhood , then , must be taken more fully into account as one, if not the most critical, of migrant institutions. �SLOVAKI A 29 T hese neighborhood s provided the b ase fo r su rvival in the new urban en vironment. They were the source of housing, employm ent , mutual aid , p rotection , famil y, and friends . They permitted pa rents to raise their children in a n en v iro nment a nd throu gh in stitutio n s ove r w hich the fam ili es exerted som e co ntrol. They also provided a safe ha rbor from whi ch m igrants confro n ted the confu sin g city . M o reove r , ne ighbor s worked out their respo n ses to the issu es o f ethnicity, accultu ratio n , a nd ass im il at ion in this con text of everyd ay life. If n eighbo r s chose diver ging path s, they were n eve rtheless path s th a t d evelo ped w ithin the confines a nd con text of the ethnic en clave. R a ther th a n the stilted b ackwaters th a t R o bert P a rk a nd other s saw, th ese e ncl aves we re vibrant wi th conflicts over life style, ch a n gin g ethnic ide n tity, a d a pta tion , a nd eve n interna tio n al issu es . 8 7 T hu s, to under stand migrant organization s a nd the role they played in accul tu rat io n and et h nic ident ity, it is necessary to con sider th e first in st ituti on m igran ts created in th e city, th e neighbo rhood . 88 W hile these two n eigh borhood s were dram aticall y d ifferent, they both fi t well into Suttles' d efinition of a defended neighbo rhood . I t seem s q uite likely tha t m os t imm igrant e nclaves also fit thi s descri ption , even in cases where the areas was no t so highly segregated fro m the surroundin g city b y either physical ba rrier s or class differen ces. A number o f rece nt studies d em o n stra te tha t d efended n eighborhood s can hold up without these two elem ents. 89 H oweve r , wha t seem s m ost important here is the signifi cance of scale . Becau se alley neighbo rhood s we re sm all a nd u nable to develop ex ten sive for m al o rganizat io n s d oes no t m ean tha t they we re a n y less impor tant for m a inta inin g a nd d evelopin g a n e thnic consciousness and way of life. R a ther, wha t the alley neighborhood seem s to suggest is that smal l scale e nclaves, w hethe r hidden in alleys, or scatte red alo n g stree t fro nt s, co n tin ue to have fl ouri shin g p r im a ry group li fe : in tern al orde r and co n trol, social serv ice act ivities, a nd eve n som e p roto in stitu tio n al li fe. M oreove r , it is likely tha t ethnic identity is heigh te ned in those situ at io ns w hen other groups are in su ch close proxim ity . 90 In the case of the Bi rd 's Nest o r la rge r ethnic co mmuni ties,9 1 the sig nifi cance of the ne ighborhood is often overlooked because of the exte n t of ethni c organ izat io n al a nd b u siness li fe. H oweve r , it is the pop u la ti o n scale tha t makes poss ible this d evelopment. Nevert heless, these a reas con tinue to be marked by extensive informal groups ; their aggregate �30 SLOVAKIA makes the neighborhood and keeps it operating, althou gh formal associations play an important role. Ultimately, then , we should exp ect smalle r settlem ents to develop strong informal groups but few formal ones; the larger the co mmunity , the greater the potential for formal organizations to develop , although infor mal group life rema ins active and important. It may well be, as Fischer suggests, that ethnic ide ntity is greatest in these smaller areas, less able to adapt or adjust to the n ew world . In larger enclaves, migrants have more space to consider alternatives , to pick and chose from diverging paths, m ore a bility to ad a pt or adjust to things "Am e rican " b y in corporating them into their repertoire a nd making them " their own. " 91 Finally, in addition to the observations con ce rnin g the importance of neighborhood as a mi grant institution , it is worth noting the different conditions white and bl ack migrants confronted. The caste barrier blacks confronted in Washington as well as the severely restricted housing m arket limited the potential for comm unity d evelopment. Alley dwellers utilized highly creative methods to circumvent the nearly impossible conditions they confronted . To surv ive in this enviro nment was success. In contrast, Slovak men and women were able to gain e nt ry to more stable a nd be tte r paying industrial jobs; eventu ally they secured so me m ovemen t into semi- a nd even skilled positions as a resu lt of their tenacious hold over jobs in their neighborhood. By doing so, they es ta blished ethnic occupation al beachheads for their kin a nd progeny , whil e blacks we re limited to day la bor a nd positions in the secondary labor market. 93 Similarly, Slovaks a nd other white ethnics through considerable personal and fami ly sacrifice were able to purchase their turf; few black alley dwellers were ever so fort un a te. In short , Bird Nesters could use their ethnic ties to establish and maintain occupational and property turf; blacks were "permitted " those jobs and hou sin g no one else wanted. D ominance of these turfs, occupational and residential, were always transitory, requiring incred ible hum an effort to m ainta in th em or develop n ew ones. They seldom permitted a n opportunity to grow or expand. �SLOVAKIA 31 NOTES ' O scar Handlin concludes that "wherever the immigrants went , th ere was one com mon ex peri ence th ey shared: nowhere could they transplant the European village . Wh atever th e va riati ons among environments in America , none was familiar. The pressure of th at stran geness exe rted a dee p influence upon th e character of rese ttlement , upon the usual forms of behavior , and upon the notes of communal action th a t emerged as th e immigrants beca me Americans .'' Th e Uprooted (2nd edn., Boston, 1973) , 129 . ' Loui s Wirth noted that the "shift from a rural to a predominantly urban society .. has bee n acco mpa ni ed by profound changes in virtually every phase of social life, '' with th e "substituti on of seconda ry for primary contacts , th e weakening of bonds of kin ship , and the declining social significance of the famil y, the disappearance of the neighborhood , and th e undermining of the tradition al bas is of social solidarity." On Cities and Social Life , ed . by Albert R eiss, Jr . (Chicago, 1964) , 79-80. See also Wirth, " Urbanism as a Way of Life , " American Journal of Sociology, 44 Ouly , 1938) , 1-24 . ' Ernes t Burgess , who devised the co nce ntri c zone th eory from which this co mes, concluded th a t ' 'disorganization as preliminary to reorgani za ti on of attitud es and condu ct is almost invariably th e lot of th e newcomer to the cit y.'' ' ' The Growth of the City," in Robert E. Park a nd Ernest Burgess, Th e City (Chicago, 1967), 54, 47-62 . • Howa rd Chudacoff found th at while foreign born migrants " m ay have retained their social , eco nomic , and religious commun iti es, their incidence of move ment out of th e old neighborhoods and a round the city make residential coherence a ve ry temporary experience." " A New Look at Ethnic Neighborhoods: Residential Dispersion and th e Concept of Visibilit y in a M edium-Sized City,'' Journal of America n History , 60 Oune , 1973), 91. See also Chudacoff, Mobile Americans: Residential and Social Mobility in Om ah a, 1880- 1920 (New York , 1972), 154-55; Humbert S . N elli, The Italians in Chicago: 1880-1 930( N ew York, 1970), xi i-xiii; Sam Bass Warner and Colin B. Burke, " Cultural Change and th e Ghetto," Journal of Contempnrary History, 4 (O ctober , 1969) , 173 -88 ; David W ard, " The Internal Spatial Different iat ion of Immi grant R esiden ti al Distri cts ,'' in Geographic Perspectives on America's Past , ed. by Dav id Ward ( ew York , 1979) , 335 -43; and Ward , " The Emergence of Central Immi gra nt Ghettoes in American Cities: 1840-1920, " Annals of th e A ssociation of America n Geographers , 38 ( 1968) , 343-59. ' The most class ic stateme nt of this positi on was that of E . Franklin Fraz ier: Southern black mi gra nts to north ern cities los t " res tra ints imposed by a simple folk culture" and creat ed a "class of rovi ng Negroes who will li ve a lawless sex a nd quasi-family life ." " The Impac t of U rba n Civilization upon Negro Family Life, " American Sociological R el'iew , 2 (October , 1937), 6 18. See also Frazier's The Negro Family in the United States (Chicago, 1966), 207-92; Cl yd e Vernon Ki se r , Sea Island co City ( New York, 1968), 223; Gilbert O sofsky, H arlem : Th e Making of a Ghetro (N ew York , 1964) , 135-49 ; Allen H . Spear, Black Chicago: Th e M aking of a Negro Gherto (C hi cago , 1967), 167-80 , x; Constance M cLaughlin Green, Th e Secret Ciry �32 SLOVAKIA (Prince ton, 1967); a nd D av id K atzm a n , Befor e th e Gh etto (U rba na, 1973). 6 W a rn er notes that reli gious co nfli cts in Am eri ca n cities "forced a ll cit y dwellers to think of th em selves either as Protestant s o r Ca th olics ' ' o r J ews, not as members of spec ific ethni c group s. " Cu ltural Cha nge a nd Ghett o," 178. See also Will H erberg, Prot estant , Cath olic, J ew (New York , 1955). ' G ilbert O sofsky, " The Endurin g Ghetto," J ournal of Am erica n History, 55 (September , 1968). ' 8 K enn eth Ku smer , A Ghetto T ak es Shap e: Black C leveland 1870- 1930 (Urbana, Ill ., 1976); D ou glas D a ni els, Pioneer Urbanites: A Social and C ultural History of Black San Fran cisco (Philadelphi a, 1980); and Thomas Cox , Bla cks in T op ek a, K ansas : A Social History (Baton R ouge, La., 1982). 9 Josef J. Barton , Peasants and Strangers: Italians, Rumanians, and Slovaks in an Am erica n C ity, 1890-1950 (Cambrid ge , M ass. , 1975), 64-90 ; M . Mark Stola rik , " Immigration a nd Urban izati on: The Slova k Experi ence, 1870-1 9 18" (Ph .D . di sse rtat ion, Universit y of Minneso ta , 1974), 69 -109; Sylvia June G ranatir Al exander , "The Immi gra nt C hurch a nd Co mmunit y: The Forma ti o n of Pittsburgh 's Slova k R eli gio us In stitution s, 1880- 19 14" (Ph .D . disse rta ti on, Uni vers it y of Minneso ta , 1980), 209-355, 443-5 18 ; Al exa nder , " Stay in g Togeth er : Chain Mi gration and Pattern s of Slovak Settl em ent in Pittsburgh Prio r to World W ar I , '' J ournal of Am erican Echnic History, I (Fall, 198 1), 56-83; K athleen Neils Conze n, Immigrant Milwa ukee: 1836-1 860 (Cambridge, M ass., 19 76) , 154-191 ; and V irginia Vans-M cLaughlin , Family and Commu nicy: Italian Immigranc s in Buffalo, 1880- 1930 (Ith aca, N. Y ., 1977). 0 A numb er of studi es do develop th e role of famil y life in mi gra nt se ttlements; thi s wo rk represe nts a m ajo r co ntribution to th e a nalys is of " inform al" o r prim ary gro up life in th e cit y. For exa mple , see T ama ra K . H a reve n , " Th e Histo ri cal Study of th e Fa mil y in Urban Society , " J ourn al of Urba n History , I (M ay , 1975 ). Unfortuna tely, such studi es neglect th e relati on ship of fa mil y a nd extended kin netwo rk to other inform al-primary groups of neighbo rh ood a nd communit y. Wh at is mi ss in g here is a discussion of th e informal social organi zat ion that makes up the nei ghborh ood . Fo r m o re co mpl ete ana lyses of social netwo rk s, see J . C lyde Mit chell , ed. , Social N ecworks in Urban Situation (M anches ter, 1969); Eli zabet h Bott , Family and Social N etwork (N ew Yo rk , 197 1); and C la ud e S. Fischer, To Dwell Among Friends: Personal N etwo rk s in T own and Cicy (C hi cago, 1982). " For exa mp le, see K a thl ee n Neil s Co nze n , " Commentary: Immi grants , Im mi g ra nt Neighborhoods, and Ethni c Identit y: Histo ri cal Issues, " J ourn al or Am erica n History, 66 (D ece mbe r, 1979), 603 -15. " Su za nn e Keller , Th e Urba n N eig hborh ood (N ew Yo rk , 1968). " Gera ld Sut tl es , Tn e S ocial Constru ction or Communicies (C hi cago, I 972 ), 2 I , 3- I 07 . " R o m a n A. C ybri ws ky, "Soc ia l Aspec ts of Ne ighbo rh ood Change ," Annals or th e Associa tion of Am erica n Geograph ers, 68 ( I 978) , 2 7. In co ntras t , th e co nce pt of th e co mmunit y of limi ted liab ilit y, o ri ginall y developed by M o rri s j a now it z, emp hasizes " th e int enti o na l, vo lunt a ry, a nd es peciall y, th e pa rtial a nd d ifferenti ated in vo lve- �SLOVAKIA 33 ment of res ident s in th eir local comm uniti es.'' Suttles, Social Construction of Communities , 47 , 44-81. See also Morris J anow it z, Th e Community Press in an Urban Setting: The Social Elements of Urbanism (Chicago, 1952). The contrived community is one that is pla nn ed , at leas t in part, with a d es ign to prom ote a ce rt ain kind of co mmunit y. New towns probabl y fall most closely in to thi s catego ry. See Suttles, Social Constru ction of Commun ities, 82-107 . " Formal o rgan ization is an assoc iation th at " is more or less purposefully created for th e at ta inmen t of rela tiv ely specific and limi ted goals.'' M a rvin E. Olsen , Th e Process of Social Organization (New York , 1968) , 92. M em bers are only partiall y involved a nd co mmitted to such " limited-li a bilit y" o rga ni zati on s; th ey rela te to each oth er largely in terms of the organization and th eir spec ific interest in its goals. Whi le members m ay beco m e " fri end s, " impl yin g a mu ch m ore inten se relations hip , and perh aps the development of a prima ry group or netwo rk , thi s is not the goal of the formal o rgani zati on . Primary or inform al gro up s, on th e ot her hand , are " those characteri zed by intimate, face-to-face aswciati on and co-operation, " i.e., " the family , th e play-group of children , a nd th e neighbo rh ood o r co mmunit y of elders. ' ' C ha rl es Cooley, Social Organization (New Yo rk , 1923), 23, 24. Fo r a rev iew of th e significant roles of informal groups, see Elihu K atz and Paul Lazarsfeld , Personal Influen ces (New York, 1955), 3 1-42. 16 For a discussion of this point , see J am es Bo rchert , " Urban Neighborhood and Communit y: Informal Group Life, 1850-1970, ' ' Journ al of Interdisciplin ary History , 11 (Sprin g, 1981 ), 607-3 1; Floyd Dodson, " Pa tt ern s of Volu nta ry Association among W o rkin g-C lass Families," America n Sociological R evie w , 16 (1951), 687-93; and Benn ett Berge r , W orking Class Suburb (Berkeley, Ca. , 1971 ) , 59-73. " R obert R edfi eld , "The Folk Society ," America njournal of Sociology, 52 Qanua ry, 1947) , 293-308. Thi s is not to su gges t that mi gra nts had no experience with forma l groups prior to mi gra ti on. As Ba rt o n , Stola rik , and oth ers have demonstrated , migrants brought both forma l and in formal group s with them. Whil e few have m ade d irec t comp a ri so ns of formal group s in th eir two se ttings (Ba rt on is an importa nt pa rti al except io n here), virtua ll y no o ne has co mpared informal grou ps. " J a m es S. Pil an t, Th e Envelope: A Study of the Imp act of th e World upon th e C hild (New Yo rk , 1950); Suttles, Th e Social Constru ction of Communities, 2 1- 43. 19 C hain migrat ion has bee n defin ed as " th at m ove m ent in which prospecti ve mi grants lea rn of oppo rtuniti es, a re provided with transporta ti on , and have initi al accommodati on and employment a rranged by m ea ns of primary social relationships with previous migra nts" (aut hors' itali cs). J ohn S. M acdon ald a nd Leatri ce D. M acdonald , "Chain Mi gra ti on , Ethn ic Neighborhood Fo rm ati on , and Social Netwo rks," Milbank M emorial Fund Quart erly, 42 Q anu a ry, 1964) , 82. 0 T hese vary, of course , by ethni c gro ups, circum stances , a nd over time , as well as by cl ass. Specia l foods a nd restaurants a re probably th e most obviou s exa mpl es, but churches and lodges a re probably the m ost uni ve rsal ''se rvices. '' Profess ionals a nd ethni c bu siness a re also important elements of th e urba n village, especiall y fun eral homes; th ey con tinu e to draw former res idents a nd th eir children bac k to th e urba n ' �34 SLOVAKIA vi llage, a t leas t on special occasions. Finall y, ma ny wh o left th e "village" continu e to own buildings there; their rental income made "escape" easier; it di d nm , however, break th e ties. " See Suttles, T he Social C onstru ction of C ommunities, 2 1-43. " These environments a re strikin gly different ; th e two group s a re eve n more different in term s of their past ex peri ences, institutional life, and cultural baggage. Co mparison, th en , prese nts considerable problems; limited da ta make thi s eve n more problema ti c. " For oth er effort s to co mpa re th e bl ac k and white ex peri ence, see ta nl ey Lieberso n , A Piece of th e Pie: Black s and Whit e Immigranrs Since 1880 ( Berkeley, Ca ., 1980); J ohn Bodn a r , Michael W eber , and R oge r Simon , " Mi gra ti on , Kin ship , a nd U rba n Adjustm ent : Blac ks a nd Poles in Pitt sb urgh , 1900- 1930," j ournal o f America n History, 66 (Dece mber , 19 79) , 548-565; a nd Bodnar , Sim on , W eber , Lives o f th eir Own : Black s, Italians, and Poles in Piusburgh , 1900- 1960 (Urbana, Ill. , 1982). " For a more compl ete di scussion, ee Borchert, Alley Life in W ashing ton ( Urbana , Ill. , 1980) . For a d iscussion of alleys else wh ere, see 223-37 , 3 12- 17. " Ibid . , 1-56 . ' 6 C u yahoga C ount y Treasure r's Depa rtm ent T ax Duplica tes , I 894- 1923 . C uyahoga Count y Archi ves; M a rgare t M anor Bu tle r, Th e Lakewood tory ( ew York , 1949); 228 ; " City Plays Vital R ole," newspa per clipping-source unkn ow n , M ay 5, 1955 . Lakewood Historical Society; " ati onal Carbon C om pany," C leveland Plain D ealer , September 10, 19 77 . The neighbo rhood has been kn own by a se ri es of names; Bird's Nes t and Bird T own deri ve from th e predominance of stree t with bi rd na me . Other na mes suggest how th e neighborh ood has bee n viewed by outsid er : T he Settl ement, th e Village , " Dago Forum , " C a rbon T own , " Little Slova ki a," a nd th e Carbon Distri ct. John Fedor , "Ju st Loo k at th e Stree t Signs to Find Bird T own ," Lakewood L edger , Dece mber 14, 1967; Butler, Lakewood Story, 188, 228-29; Butler, R om ance in Lakewood Streets (C leve la nd , 1962), 41 ; C ynthi a A. Rud e r, " Th e Imprint of C ultura l V alues on Birdtow n , La kewood, Ohio, " un publi shed typesc ript , M ay 1, 1978. Lakewood Hi stori cal Society. " C uyahoga Count y Au d ito r's T ax M aps , Cuyahoga Coun ty Adm inistrat ion Bu ild ing. Vol. 35-C it y of La kewood. 1890- 1982. " Fed or , " Just Loo k a t th e tree t igns " R eco rd s of th e Distri ct of Colu mb ia , Reco rd Grou p 35 1. Na ti onal Archi ves. Boa rd of C hi ldren ' s Guardi ans, C hildren 's History , I ll : I 129, I 162 , 1392; IV: 158 1. See also Bo rchert , " Survivin g th e C it y: Persistence a nd C ha nge in Bl ac k Folkways of Life in a N ew Environment ," pa per prese nt ed a t th e Associa ti on for th e Stud y of Afro-Ameri ca n Life a nd Hi sto ry, O ctober 2 1- 24, 1982, Baltim ore, M a ryla nd, 8. '° 31 Federal Population Ce nsus Schedul es, 1880, W ashin gto n , D .C., R eco rd Group 29 . ati onal Archi ves; a nd Com missioner of th e Di trict of Colum bia , Ann ual R ep orc -1897 (W as hin gto n , 1897), 195-202. Fed eral Popul ati on C ensus ched ul es, 19 I 0 , La kewood, Ohio. at ional Archives . See also Fed eral Popula ti on Ce nsus Sched ul es, 1900 , Lakewood, Ohio . ational Ar- �SLOVAKIA 35 chi ves. The less precise category "country of origin" makes it impossible to know , oth er than Hun ga ry, where migra nts came from. The 1910 ce nsus clea rs this matter up through more precise desi gnati on ; in this case 70 perce nt listed th emselves as " Hunga rian Slovaks" rath er th a n merely" Hun gary," as in 1900 . "Language" also permit s more precise determination . " While J osef Barton has co ncluded that Slovak migration to C leveland was from more gene rall y dispersed areas in Slovakia, migrating more by district than personal or village chains, oth er studies report considerably more personal co ntacts in the migrati on process, both generally a mong lovak migra nts and specificall y for Cleveland. Peasa ncs and Strangers , 50-51, 54, 59, 63. Emily Greene Balch reports that nearly 99 percent of Slovaks en terin g the United States in 1907-1908 planned to join relatives or friends . Our Slavic Fellow Citizens (New York , 1910), 433. Al exander repo rts that whi le Slovak mi gran ts to Pittsburgh did mi grate in cha ins either by village, or by th e more loose " district" pattern Ba rton found, th e selecti on of one's res idence in a give n cit y was strongly influenced by fri end s and rela tives . " Th e Immi grant C hurch ," 55, 68. M a rk Stolarik also found "Slovaks in the Un ited States and Canada originall y reside(d) in distinct neighborhoods nea r their parish ch urches . most of these in each co ngregation ha iled from the same cluster of villages in the old country." " Immi grat ion a nd Urbanization, " 40. Stolarik a nd his co-authors of a st ud y of C leveland Slovaks reported simila r findings for th at cit y. Susi Megles, Mark Stolarik, and Martina Tybor, Slovak Americans and th eir Communities of Cleveland (C levela nd , 1979), 132. M ore importa nt for this study, Stolarik's analysis of parish reco rds of one Bird 's Nest church found 68 percent were from the ext reme end of one Slovak county; " nearly ha lf of the group was from . . three neighboring villages . " " Immi grat ion a nd Urbanization, " 41. For other informa ti on on chain mi gra ti on of Bird 's Nest residents, see Mary Towarni cky, " Helping One Another in the New Land: The Old Timers R emem ber," in SS. Cyril and M ethodius Church , Diamond Jubilee, 1903 -1 978 (La kewood, 1978), 67; and Common Pleas Court, Records of Declaration of Intention , Cuyahoga County Archives. Vo ls. 1- 30, Octobe r 10 , 1906-Sep tember 8, 19 13. " Lo renzo] . Greene and Myra Colso n Callis, The Employment of Negroes in th e District of Columbia (Washington, I 930), 65. " Borchert, Alley Life, 166-77. " Fed eral Popu lat ion Ce nsus Schedul es, I 900, 1910, La kewood, Ohio ; U.S . Bureau of th e Ce nsus, Population and H ousing- 1940: Cleveland, Ohio and Adjacent Area (Was hin gto n , 1942), 106. This is not to suggest that co nditions were easy o r wages hi gh. J an Pa nku ch notes that " during the first years their wages barely met their needs .'' Dejin y Clevelandskych a Lakewoodsk ych Slovakov (C leveland, 1930), 24. ' 6 Borchert, Alley Life, 85. " Ibid., l 83. The impact of a lley co nditions can be seen most clearly in co mparison to nati onal statisti cs. In 1910 the death rate for urban whit es was 14.6 per thousand ; for urba n blacks, 24.3. James H. Jones , Bad Blood ( ew York, 198 I), 37 . For street �36 SLOVAKIA dwelling W ashin gtoni an s (whit e and black), the dea th rate per thousand was 17 .56 ; for alley residents it was 30 .09 . Willia m H enry J ones, Th e H ousing of Negroes in W ashington , D.C. (Washington, 1929), 45 . " Borchert , Alley Life, 183 . 39 ' 0 41 Albina M olek, " Builders of the Spirit ," C leveland News, November 18, 1949 ; H oward Whipple Green , Plan es of Living in C uyah oga Co unty: as D epicted by th e Real Prop erty Survey (Cleveland , 1940), 65 . Green, Planes of Living, 58. Federal Population C ensu s Schedul es, 1910, Lakewood , Ohio. " Fed eral Population Census Schedul es, 1880, W as hin gton , D .C. See Borchert , Alley Life , 68. 43 Butler, Lakewood Story, 188. " Federal Populaton Census Schedul es, 19 10 , Lakewood, Ohio. In 1911 , residents of the larger community , led by a prominent member of the Rhodes family , established a clinic in the neighborhood becau se of the seve re health conditions, es peciall y the hi gh infant mortality . " Dispensary," in " History of Lakewood ," C lipping fil e, Lakewood Histo rical Society; a nd Butler , L ak ewood Story, 188-89. 45 Borchert , Alley Life , 69-85. •• It is important to note th a t the household unit , whi ch is usually considered th e base of the urban nei ghborh ood , was only part of a m ore important ex tend ed kin ship network whi ch included fi ctive kin adopted in the count rys ide or city. These ext ra- household units ti e re sidents of the alley together into " cliques" th at m ake up the large r alley communit y. Alley residents were linked together in other ways ; marriage of two alley residents linked two fa mil ies and kin networks together . After so me tim e , it is possible that mos t lon g-term residents in a given alley were linked by kinship to each ot her in multiple ways. 47 Becau se th e alley neighb orh ood/comm unity rema ined an informal inst itut ion with no " reco rd s" of its act ivities, it is ve ry difficult to determin e the full ex tent of neighborhood act ivities and their import . Nevertheless , some as pects do seem to stand out : neighborin g a nd ent erta inin g, a id to the needy, commo n action on com munit y need s, intern al social co nt rol, a nd defense of the neighborhood again st outsiders. 48 For a desc ription of the alley as meeting place , see W as hin gton National lnte1ligencer , Jul y 25, 1865; W ashington Times, Septembe r 11, 1904; Washington S tar , Jun e 6, 1930; W ashin gton D aily N ews, April 15, 1954; Charles W eller , Neglected Neighbors (Philadelphi a, 1909), 17 , 82; Wilbur V . Mallalieu , "A W ashin gton Alley," Survey , 28 (October 19, 19 12), 71; Gladys Sellew, A D eviant Social Situation: A Cou rr (Washin gton , 1938), 17 ; a nd D a ni el D. Swinney, " Alley Dwellings a nd H ousing R eform in the Di stri ct of Columbia " (M .A . th esis, University of C hi cago, 1938) , 141 -42. During the winter , several homes in a give n all ey see m to have se rved as mee ting spots. Dora Bessie Somerville , " A Study of a Group of Negro C hildren Li ving in an Alley C ulture" (M.A. th esis, Cat holic U ni ve rsit y of Ameri ca, 1941 ), 20. These homes usually di spensed liquor , oft en homemade , providing resid ents wit h a social �SLOVAKIA 37 ce nt er a nd tenants with a "second in co me . " For a discu ssio n based on a n a nalysis o f histori cal photog raphs , see " Photographs a nd th e Study of th e Pas t, " in Borchert, Alley Life , 291-93; Borche rt , "Analysis of Histo ri cal Photographs," Srudies in Visual Communication, 7 (Fall , 1981 ), 51-56; and Borchert , " Alley Landscapes of Washington, " Landscape , 23 (No. 3, 1979), 6-8. 0 ' Marion M . Ratigan, A Sociological Survey of Disease in Four Alleys in the National Capital (Was hin gton , 1946), 59 ; Mary R edempta Fores tall , "Trend s in Housing, Delinquency, and H ealth in the Central Northwest Area in Washington, D.C." (M.A . th es is , Catholic University of Ame ri ca, 1938), 32; Grace Vawter Bicknell , The Inhabited Alleys o f Washington, D .C. (W ashington , 1912), 31; Well er, Neglected Neighbors, 47 ; Leonise Ruth Aubry, "A mbitions of Youth in a Poo r Economic Status " (M.A. thes is , Catholic University of America, 1938), 3; Sellew, Deviant Social Siruarion, 46, 54; Sommerville, " Study of a Group of Negro Children," 24; Washington Daily News, Augu st 29, 1941; Swinney , "Alley Dwellings and Housin g R efo rm, " 50, 73; Leono r Enriquez Pablo , " The Housing Needs and Social Problems of Residen ts in a Deteriorated Area" (M .S.W. thesis , Catholic University of America , I 953), 56; Board of Children's Guardians , Children's History, I-VII (see especia ll y I:2 33-34 ; II : 657, 667, 801); Washington National R ep ublican , March 24 , 1862 ; a nd Washington Times , September 11, 1904 . " Whil e it is impossible to recreate co nversations between res idents from the ex isting hi sto ri cal records, it is clear from a large body of literatu re in sociology and anthropology that goss ip plays a critical role in the ma intena nce of order as well as the development of a commo n world view. Scholars of black rural and small town life in th e South noted th e importance of goss ip; CharlesJohnson found that "communit y gossi p exercises restraint . . There are limits ... and when th ese limits are reached violators a re treated with unmi stakable group disapproval.'' Shadow of the Plan cation (Chicago, I 94 1), 81, 82. Similarly , H ylan Lewis concluded that " gossip, or th e possibility of gossip " m a kes residents " more careful of th eir behavior." Blackways of Kent (New H ave n , Conn., 1962) , 193. " Those who show signs of group status de via tion . . are subject of a kind of gro up pressure marked by resentment and cri ti cism." Ibid ., 191 . " See Al. L. Epstein , " Gossip , Norms , a nd Social Network," in Social Networks in Urban Situ ations, 117-27. " For example , see Swinney , "Alley Dwellings and H ous in g R efo rm , " 136-37; and Pablo, " H ousin g Needs and Social Problems," 42. " Bo rchert , "U rban Neighborhood a nd Community," 615-18. " Swinney, " Alley Dwellings and H ousin g R eform, " 121 . " Ibid.; W ashington Post , D ece mber 26, 1948; Well er , Neglected Neighbors, 17, 22, 97 ; Mallalieu, " Washington Alley , " 71 ; a nd the R ev . Daniel O'Connell, "The Inhabit ed Alleys of Washington and the Early Social Hi story of One Alley" (M .A. thesis, Ca th oli c University of Ameri ca , 1953) , 110 . It is importa nt to note that attendan ce in the rural South does not seem to have been especially la rge based on Lewi s' findin gs for K ent . Lewis, B/ackways of Kent , 129-30. �38 SLOVAKIA " Borchert, Alley Life, 185-86. 58 Pankuch, Dejiny , 22. " Ibid .; Mary Towarnicky , "Slovak Newcomers to America, " in SS. Cyril and Methodius Church, Diamondjubilee, 1903-1978 (Lakewood, 1978), 66; Towarnicky , " Helping One Another," 67 . 60 Towarnicky, " Helping One Another," 67. 61 The Pleasant Hill Land Company was owned and run by Washington H. Lawrence, the president of the National Carbon Company. It seems clear that Lawrence purchased an extra large parcel ofland from the Case Estate with the intention of developing a residential area for workers . Butler, Lakewood Story, 228; "C ity Plays Vital Role, " "National Carbon Company," Plain Dealer; and G . Frederick Wright, Representative Citizens of Ohio: Memorial-Biographical (Cleveland, 1914) , 181-84. Since the factory was well outside the built-up parts of C leveland, Lawrence may well have considered this development a necessity to attract workers; he must also have planned to make a good return on his investment. The difficulty of the commute from in-city residences to the plant prior to the completion of a street car line in 1898 was incredible . For examples, see "City Plays a Vital Role" and Pankuch , Dejiny, 23. 61 Initially the early buildings were rented to workers; however, the PHLC sold off most of the improved lots within a couple years of construction. Cuyahoga County Treasurer's Tax Duplicates , 1894- 1923. There is some indication that the Na tional Carbon Company (via PHLC) "sold lots to ... immigrants on installments. " Loretta l vany, " 'Birdtown' Became C ity's Ethnic Center," Sun Post , Jun e 30, 1979 . •• Cuyahoga County Auditor's Tax Maps, Cuyahoga County Administration Building. Migrants bought up lots on Plover first because they were cheaper du e to their proximity to th e railroad tracks. Pankuch, Dejiny , 23. R esidents not only bought up land in the neighborhood as soon as they could afford to, they also held on to th e land, passing it on to relatives or selling it with in the community. Paul Wrobel found a sim ila r practice when he did an extensive participant-observation study of a Polish-American parish in D etroit. Our Way: Family, Parish and Neighborhood in a Polish-American Community (Notre Dame, Ind ., 1979), 5. 6 ' City of Lakewood, Building Department, Building Permits , 1900(?)-1982. It is interesting to note that no building permits a ppear to have been taken out by the PHLC, des pite the fact that they clea rl y improved and built on one-fifth of th e lots over the thirt y year period before the last lot was sold ( 1923). Although the city records are incomplete , and use of building permits seems to have been casual in the earl y years, as well as the fact th at many early reco rd s have not survived, it is strange that no PHLC perm its remain in the records. Insurance maps and descriptive sources do confirm the com pany 's activity in th is area prior to 1900. Thomas Flynn, Otto Barthel, R.H. Bunning, and Thomas H assan , Atlas of the Suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio (Philadelphia, 1898), Plate 24; M argaret Butler, R omance in Lakewood's Streets 41; lvany, " 'Birdtown' Became City's Ethnic Center"; and Cynthia A. Rud er , "The Imprint of Cultural Values.'' �SLOVAKIA 39 " As Stephan Thernstrom found in Newburyport , however, home ownership came a t a high price : " To cut family co nsumption expenditures to the bone was one such sac rifice. To withdraw the children from school and to put them to work at the age of ten or twelve was another.'' Poverty and Progress: Social Mobility in a Nin eteenth Century City (New York , 1969), 155. 66 Federal Population Census Schedules, 1910, Lakewood , Ohio. 67 Pankuch , D ejin y, 22; Towarnicky, "Slova k Newcomers to America," 66 ; Towarnicky, " H elping One An other," 67; and Ivany, " 'Birdtown' Became City's Ethnic Center . " 68 M egles, Stolarik , and T ybor, Slo vak Americans and their Communities, 132; Sts. Peter and Paul Lutheran Church , Seventy-Fifth Anniversary (Lakewood, 1976), 3; and Towarnicky , " H elping One Another," 67. 6 ' One of the first Slovak employees recalled th at he " ' got a job in the construction of the . factory. After I had worked th ere for a couple days, the boss told me to bring in a couple more men. I asked him how many I should bring; he answered as man y as I could, even a dozen would do, he said . So I called up my brothers: Juraj, and J an, also Jan andJuraj Nemec, A. Chovana and a bunch of others; Michael Urban and A. Goda all got hired. All the Scerbas; J an Scerba, Jan Scerba, Jr. , Adam Scerba, Andrej R yba nik and many others ca me in later.' " Andrej Babej, quoted in Pank uch, Dejin y, 22. ' 0 Alexander, "The Immigrant Church and Community, " 56-57. More importantl y she notes that "at tim es, when firms desperately needed labor, foremen promised jobs to employees' fri end s or relati ves if th ey would send for them." Ibid ., 57. " Ibid ., 57. She also notes that "Slovaks and other immigra nt groups came to rely on a sys tem of personal relationships in order to get jobs. '' Ibid. For more recent discussions of this process, see Ri chard M yer, " Interpersonal R elations in the Building Indu stry," Man , Work , and Society, ed . by Sigmond Nosow and William Form (New York , 1962) and William K ornblum , Blue Collar Community (C hi cago, 1974). " Sts . Pete r and Paul Lutheran Church, Seventy-Fifth Anniversary , 2-3; Megles , Stolarik , and Tybor, Slovak Americans and their Communities , 13 3; Peter M . Glovna, Sr., " Hi story of SS. Cyril and Methodius Pari sh ," in SS. Cyril and Methodius Church , Diamond Jubilee, 33; " Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church, " undat ed news paper clipping in Margaret Butler, " Hi story of Churches" fil e, Lakewood Hi storical Society; " Ukrainian Church Ded ication Is Set ," undated newspaper clipping in Butl er, ' ' Hi sto ry of Churches . ' ' " Stolarik , " Immigration and Urbanization, " 85-97. It is usefu l to note here that three of the first four Slovak churches in the neighborhood still have services in Slovak, althou gh the y have th em in English as well. " Ru de r , " Imprint of Cultural Values" ; Butler, Lakewood Story, 20,7. In a fine stud y of Slova k Cat holi c lead ers' at titud es toward public ed uca ti on , Mark Stolarik found th ey "valued parochial schools above all else worried mu ch m ore about their children 's moral a nd national upbringing th a n about social mobility . . had no u se �40 SLOVAKIA for publi c schools . . (which) ' den a ti onali ze ou r children . ' " " Immi gra ti on , Education, and the Social Mobilit y of Slova ks, 1870- 1930, " in R a nd all M. Mill e r a nd Thomas D . Marzik, ed s., Immigrants and R eligion in Urban America (Phil adelphia, 19 77) , 107 , 106 . Both Ba rton and Stolarik report th a t 60 to 80 percent of Slovak children a ttended parochi al schools. Ba rto n, Peasa nts and Strangers, 145-46; Stola rik , " Immi grati on and Urban ization ," 165-66. Th e public elem ent a ry school in th e Bird ' s Nest had no teachers wh o co uld speak Slovak ; of those children who did att end , few, if any , spoke Engli sh. Rud e r , "Imprint of C ultural V alu es." 75 The 1930 City Directory includes over 75 bu sinesses (17 local groce rs) and 16 profess ionals a nd se rvi ces avai lable to th e neighborh ood run by local res id ent s (or fo rme r resid ent s). C leveland Directory Compan y, C leveland, Ohio C ity Directory- I 930 (C levela nd , 1930). 76 Inspec to r , Building and Loa n Associat io n , 22nd Annual R ep ort far th e Y ea r Ending D ecember 31, 19 12 (Springfi eld , Ohio, 19 13) , 165 . Oro! Buildin g and Loa n Co. The founding preside nt a nd sec re tary both li ved on Plover , while o nl y th e treas ure r li ved outsid e th e immediat e neighborh ood. H e li ved , howeve r , ju st on th e o th e r sid e (north) of Madison Ave nu e, an a rea th a t Slova ks a nd other mi g ra nt s expand ed int o. Panku ch noted that th e Sav ings a nd Loa n wa s in ex ist ence by 1902 , so it may well have been operating to help res idents long before its offi cial cha rt er in 19 11 . D ejin y, 24. 77 Cuyahoga Count y Treasu re r 's Tax Duplica tes a nd Ci ty of La kewood, Building Permits. 78 For a n excellent discu ssion o n th e conflict be twee n "accult u ra ti o ni sts a nd tradition ali sts , " sec Howard F . Stein , " An Ethnohistory of Slova k-Am e ri ca n R eli gio us and Frate rnal Associations: A Study in Cultural M eanin g, Group Identit y, and Soc ial Instituti o ns," Slo va kia, 29 ( 1980-1 98 1) , 53 -101 . 19 Peter Glovna, as quoted in l vany, " ' Birdtown ' Beca me City 's Ethn ic Center ." G lovna's fath e r m oved to the neighborhood in 1893 a nd was a founder of SS. Cyril and M e thodius , whi le hi s son li ved on Plove r for 40 yea rs. D es pite hi s rece nt m ove out of the area, he still maint ains contacts and serves as pa rish hi sto ri a n . Glovna, "H istory of SS . Cyril and M e th odiu s Pa rish. " 0 " R esidents of Birdtown also enjoyed neighborh ood picnics a nd dancing to th e sound s of bands which were se t up on M a gee and M adison Av enu es.' ' l va ny , '' ' Birdt own ' Beca m e C ity's Ethnic Center.' ' 81 Ruder, " Im print of Cultural Valu es," 5. See also l van y , " ' Birdtown ' Beca me C it y's Ethni c Center ," and 1941 survey quoted extensively in Butler , L akewood St an ·, 229. ' " Rud e r, " Imprint of Cultural V alu es," 18. " Al exa nd e r ' s comment cit ed ea rli e r th a t Slovaks ca m e to rely o n a sys te m of pe rsonal relationships in order to get j obs (see not e 70) needs to be put in a la rge con text he re. Social scienti sts have not ed the impo rt a nce of informal groups in a variety of settings from factory, army, stree t co rn e r gang , a nd neighbo rh ood . Fo r exa mpl e , see F.j . R oet hli sberger a nd W.J . Dickson, M an agem ent and th e W orker (Cam bridge , M ass., 1939); Samuel A. Stoffe r , et. al . , Th e America n Soldier: Studies in Social Psvcholog1· �SLOVAKIA 41 in W orld W ar II , 2 vols (P rin ceto n , .J ., 1949); Edwa rd Shil s, " Prima ry Groups in th e Am eri can Arm y," in R obert M erton and Paul Laza rsfeld, ed s., Studies in ch e S cope and M ech od ofch e " Th e American Soldier " (Gl enoce, Ill. , 1951) ; W . Ll oyd Warn er and Paul S. Lunt , Th e S ocial Life of a M od ern C ommunicy (New H ave n , C onn . , 1941 ); Willi a m Foote Wh yte, Screet Com er Sociecy (Chicago, 1943); a nd K ornblum , Blue Collar Community. 14 Butler, Lakewood S cory , 228 , 188; C leveland Press , M ay 13 , 1947 ; and Rud er, " Imprint of Cultural V alues," 1, 3, 18 . " An impo rtant pa rt of th e p rocess, of course, invol ved co mpetiti o n for hou sing with oth er groups, a res tri cted housin g m a rket accessible to mi g rant s a nd their work . 16 M a ny form er res ident s of th e neighbo rh ood return a t least once a week fo r religious se rvices on Sunday; m a n y d o so m o re often . See al so Wrobel, Our Wa y. " R obert Park obse rved th at "certain urban neighborhoods suffer from isolation ." "The Ci ty," in Park and Burgess , Th e C it y, 8 . Fo r a different view, see Alfr ed Kazin , A W alk er in ch e C ic y (New Yo rk , 195 1). " The persistence of these a reas, outli vin g in som e cases th e in stituti ons th at ca m e aft er th em , att es ts to th eir vit alit y. " In th e Bird 's Nes t th e co ntinuin g prese nce of churches of eac h ethni c group suggests th e continuin g vit alit y of each group . Fo r other exampl es, see Cybriwsky, " Social Aspec ts of N eighbo rhood C ha nge"; Cybriwsky and D avid Ley, " Urba n Graffiti as T erri tori al M a rkers,'' Annals of ch e A ssociacion of American Geographers, 64 (1974) , 475-505; and K ornblum , Blue Collar Community . Some older studies infer the same conclu sion s: H elen L. Wilson and Eunice W . Smith , " Chicago H ou sin g Conditions, VIII : Am ong th e Slova ks in th e Twenti eth Ward ," America n j ourn al of S ociology, 20 (September , 19 14), 145-69 ; Emil y W. Dinwiddie, H ousing Condicions in Philadelphia (Philadelphi a, 1904); J a net K emp , R epore of ch e T en em enc H ouse Commission o f L ouisville (Loui sville, 1_909); Ulf H a nn erz, S ou/side ( ew Yo rk , 1969) ; and Wh yte, Scree/ Corn er Sociecy. •o Sec C la ud e Fi sc her , Th e Urban Experien ce ( ew Yo rk , 19 76) . In hi s m o re recent stud y, Fi sc her has fo un d th e current cit y '' a m osaic of inten se ethni c wo rld s rather th a n . . a la ndsca pe of ethni c di sintegra tion ." M o reo ver , " urba ni sm - or at least th e co nce ntrati o n of spec ific ethni c g roup s - m o re oft en bolsters th a n brea ks down ethni cit y. As the urbani sm of th e communit y increased , respo nd ent s were m ore likely to be ' ethni cs.' " T o Dwell Am ong Friends, 204 , 206 . " For example , H am tramck is an ex treme case where Polish-Am eri cans developed their ow n co mmunit y o n a m ass ive scale . In 1950 , 70 perce nt of th e 44 ,000 res idents of thi s inde pend ent co mmunit y in D etro it were of Poli sh-Am eri ca n ancestry. Arthur Eva ns W ood , H amcram ck : A S ociological Scudy of a Polish -America n Communicy (New H ave n , Conn ., 1955) , 13-28 . " Fisc her, T o D well Among Friends, 207 . See also Peter R ose, S crangers in Th eir Midsc: Small T own J ews and T h eir Neigh bors (M erri ck , New Yo rk , 1977). " Sec note 23. �SLOVAKIA 42 TABLE 1 Bird's Nest Population 1900-1940 Population i900· 1910 .. 429 2,186 1920 ± 4, 145 19.30t 3,729 1940# 3,125 •M a nusc ript Census- Federal Po pul atio n Census Sched ules , 1900 La kewood, O hio . '"Ma nuscript Census-Federal Popula ti o n Census Schedul es, 19 10 Lakewood , O hio . ± Federal Po pulation C ensus Schedules, 1920 Lakewood, O hio for census trac t LW 18. Unfo rtu na tely. the cen· su s tract leaves out one side of one stree t in the neighbo rh ood . tFede ral Po pul ati on C ensus Schedul es , 1930 La kewood, O hio fo r census tract LW1 8. U nfo rtun ately. the cen· sus tract leaves out one side Of one stree t in the neighborhood . #Bu rea u of the Census, Popula tion and H ousing - 1940: Cle,·eland. O hio and Adj acent Arca (Washingto n , 1941), 106. U nfo rtun a tely, the ce nsus trac t leaves out o ne side of one street in 1hc neighborhood . �SLOVAKIA 43 TABLE 2 Occupations of Alley Dwellers 1880 Federal Population Census Schedules , 1880 . Washington, D .C. Record Group 29. National Archives Occupations , 1880 • Adult Males (16 or older) Occupacion N % Unski lled Service Semi-skilled Skilled White-collar Proprieto r (and self-employed) Professional Agriculture/Fishing None 1,641 251 318 233 50 112 28 17 124 59 TOTAL 2,774 100 N % 9 12 8 2 4 4 Adule Females (16 or older) Occupacion Unskilled Service Semi-skilled Skilled White-collar Proprietor None (includes "at home ," "keeping house , " and "at school" ) TOTAL 4 1,742 70 6 10 8 49 1, 780 49 3 ,620 100 2 •Th e substanti al numbe rs of a lley d we ll ers in skilled throu gh professi onal ac tivities is th e res ult of a classifica1io n system th at is ma rk edl y diffe re nt fro m the ones ge nerall y used . It was used here to detec t " class" differen ces within the alley po pula ti on . Thu s, ba rbers a re class ified as skilled , while a number of " proprietors " a rc , in fac 1,ju nkmen . V irtu all y all the adult alley po pula ti o n sho uld fall in the unskilled , se rvice, o r semi- skilled a reas. See Bo rchert, Alley Life, 306-08 . �SLOVAKIA 44 TABLE 3 Occupations of Residents of the Bird 's Nest 1900 A. Adult Males - 15 yea rs of age or older. Occupation Unskill ed .. . . . . . . .. .. .. .. ........ . . . . ... .. ... .... . Service ............ . .... . ... . . . . .... . .. . .. .. .. . . . Semi-skilled .. . ... . . ... . . . . . . . . Skilled ... . . ... .. .... . . . White-collar Proprietor Professional Agricultural T otal B. Adult W omen - Number Percent 147 92 % 3 2 0 5 0 3 2 0 3 2 160 15 yea rs of age or older . Occupation Number 2 2 Unskilled Service ... Semi- skill ed Skill ed White-colla r Proprietor Agri cultural Percent 50 % 50 % 0 0 0 0 0 T otal 4 100 % TABLE 3 Occupations of Residents of the Bird's Nest 1910 A . Adult M ales - 15 yea rs of age or older. Occupation Number Un skill ed 79 1 Se rvice 19 Semi-skilled . .. .. . . .... .. ... . ...... . .. . ... ... .... . 38 Skill ed ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 White-co ll a r 10 P roprietor 11 P rofessional 1 Agri cul tural To tal 949 Percent 84 % 2 4 8 100 % �SLOVAKIA B. Ad u lt Wom en - 45 15 ye ars of age or olde r. Occupation Number 75 Un ski lled ....... . . Service Semi- ski lled Ski lled W hi te-coll ar P ro prieto r Profess io nal Agricultu ral 33 Percent 66 % 29 % 0 4 4 1 0 0 0 11 3 T otal 100 % TABLE 3 Occupations of Residents of the Bird 's Nest 1940 Occupations Number O cc u pa ti ons not repo rt ed U nskilled Service wo rkers D om es ti c se rvi ce wo rkers Opera ti ves a nd kind red wo rkers C ra ft sm en , fo rem en , a nd kindred wo rkers . ... . .... . . . .. . . . C leri cal, sales , and kind red wo rkers . .. . . P ro pri etors, m a nage rs, and offi cials . ... . .. . Se mi -pro fess io nal Pro fess ional T otal Percent 2 184 83 98 17% 8 9 478 44 105 10 9 3 96 29 4 13 1,092 100 % Bu reau of the Ce nsus, Populat ion and Housing - 1940: Cleveland , Ohio and Adjacent A rea (W as hin gton , 1942) , 106 . Ce nsus tract leaves o ut o ne side of one street of neighbo rhood . �� " Logan Place." September 26, 1935. All ey Dwellin g Authority. Nati onal Capital H ousin g Authorit y Collection . Library, D e pa rtm ent of H ou sin g and Com munit y D evelo pm ent. W as hin gto n, D .C . ► ► ;,::; ...... < 0 L' (/) 0::, �SLOVAKIA 9 Migrant Responses To The City: The Neighborhood, Case Studies in Black and White, 1870-1940* James Borchert and Susan Danziger-Borchert Th ey tend to reproduce spontaneously the home community and to live in it. L etters show that they frequently reply to inquiries from home for a description of America, " I have yet been able to see America." W.I. Thomas, "The Immigrant Community" Students of migration to American cities have, over the years, produ ced a large library of studies. The greatest outpouring of work has co ncentra ted on the migration of southern and eastern European immigrants during the years from 1880 to 1920, and the "great migrati o n " of blacks from the rural South. This profusion of work has not produced any final conclusions on the migrant experience, although there a re a number of schools of thought about what happen ed to migrants . Th e first group of scholars who considered European migrants of this pe riod concl uded that d espite efforts to re- establish their rural ways of life, the city proved too poor a soil for such institutions to ta ke root. Thus extended family , kinship network , neighborhood , and community 1 • A ve rsio n of this paper was prese nted a t th e Nin ety-Seve nth Annu al M ee tin g of th e Am eri ca n Hi sto ri cal Associa ti o n held in Washin gton, D .C. in D ece mb er 198 2. The authors are indebted to th e Am erican Hi to ri cal Associati on for a n Albert J. Beveridge M em o ri a l Fund Grant and the Smithson ian In sti tuti on for a fellowship, whi ch provided esse nti al fundin g in conn ec tion with th e preparation of th e original presenta tion. �10 SLOVAKIA withered ; a pe riod of disorde r a nd co nfu sion foll owed u nt il mi grant s discovered the " urba n way of life. " 1 Accordin g to the theory, thi s d iscovery , synonymous with the beginnings of assimil a tion a nd accultu ration, provided migrants with the form s of order a nd organization tha t would m ake success in America (and cities) possible and p rob able . After a n appropriate period of apprenticeship in the " zon e in transition " a nd the " zone of workingmen ' s homes, " the urba nized mi grant began to m ove to middle-class status a nd suburban h om es. 3 M ore recent scholars, a n alyzing a ggregate cen sus d a ta (fo r indi ces of di ssimil a rity) a nd city directories (for spa tial a nd occupa tional m obility), have questioned the notion that European mi gra nts spent mu ch tim e in the zon e in tran sition . Based on this d a ta, they contend tha t individu al m igra nts from diffe rent immi grant groups lived widely scattered acro ss workin g-class residential a reas . Few con centration s we re great e nou gh to permit the development of urba n vill ages or ghet toes. Where they ex isted, mi grant s passed through so quickl y th a t their importa n ce as a n institution was minimized for most. 4 In contrast , until recently , most observers of black migran ts in the city concluded tha t folk breakdown was extensive. Moreover , whil e new bl ack residents seem ed to m ove as frequ ently as white mi gra nts, they did so within a n increasingly restrictive ghetto area . 5 Thu s, whe re a disorganized ghetto confronted black migrants, white migrants ex peri en ced greater spa tial and (implicitly) m ore occupa tional mobility. Whi te migrants m elted to gether into a working cl ass div ided by reli gion (P rotestant , Catholi c, and J ew) , 6 while blacks confronted a n earl y caste-like experien ce. 7 The m ost recent work by students of Eu ro pean a nd bl ack mi gra nt s of the 1880 to 1930 period h as b egun to challen ge som e of these findin gs . Students of urba n bl ack communi ties h ave foc u sed on the exte nsive presen ce of fo rm al organi zati ons to dem onstra te the exten t of order in black life. 8 Simila rl y, studies of E u rop ean immi grant group s h ave demon stra ted the persisten ce of ethni c life in th e city throu gh the in stituti on s of church , b e nevolen t groups, lod ges, politi cal ac tivity, a nd a n active press. 9 M oreove r , both se ts of studi es presum e th e prese nce of a recogni zable geogra phical b ase upon whi ch these fo rm al or gani zations operate . In the case of black communities, the ghetto explicity fo rm s the b ounda ries; fo r white immi gra nt s, th e pa rish or" immi gran t n eighborhood " implicitly serves as the turf around which the story of organi za- �SLOVAKIA 11 tional life unfolds. Unfortunately, in either case, the empirical demonstration of this critical base and its role is often assumed as given. Few have sought to consider the role of neighborhood and community development as a crucial framework for their analyses. 10 • Because this literature provides little basis for analysis or comparison, it is necessary to turn to the work of sociologists for a framework. 11 While there is little work on scale and its impact on the nature of neighborhood, 11 more has been done on neighborhood typologies. Gerald Suttles suggests three: the defended neighborhood, the community oflimited liability, and the contrived community. The first is most pertinent to the discussion here: "a residential group which seals itself off through the efforts of delinquent gangs, . . . by sharp boundaries, or by forbidding reputation." 13 The elements of the defended community are: "a recognizable identity, a consensus among residents of a common fate, and a 'positive' and sentimental attachment to neighbors, local establishments, and local traditions to the exclusion of other persons, establishments, and traditions . '' 14 Another set of issues that the current literature ignores concerns the distinction between primary or informal groups (family, neighborhood, community) and formal organization. Historians' concentration on formal group life represents a great limitation on their work, since these groups represent only one level of response migrants made to the city. 15 In part, these formal groups reflect most fully the experiences of the most successful: those who are largely "a-typical" of the larger group's experience. 16 More importantly, informal groups played a critical role in the life of the folk migrants prior to their move to the city. 17 Their presence and roles in the city represent important elements to test to determine the nature and extent of changes that resulted from migration, urbanization, industrialization, and modernization. Since earlier observers pointed to these informal groups as the institutions that underwent the most complete and severe change, with formal groups replacing them, it seems central to the discussion of the persistency of ethnic group life that primary group life be given careful analysis. This is especially so since it is the family, neighborhood, and community that are so central for the socialization and identity of the young. 18 There are other reasons for considering the issue of informal group life. Recent studies of both European and black migrant areas have reported population turnover that was thought to undermine the develop- �12 SLOVAKIA ment and impact of ethnic enclaves; proximity to many other groups diminished European ethnicity to one of the three major religions. While recent studies demonstrate the importance of chain-migration for both black and white migrants, little effort has been made to determine what effect this chain migration had on the formation of groups in the city. 19 In contrast, the presence ( or absence) of a neighborhood in proximity to formal institutions of an ethnic group represents theoretically a very different experience than that postulated by studies of movement and mobility . Rather than seemingly random movement, it would be possible to hypothesize the informal neighborhood providing important sets of support for the church (parish), businesses, beneficial organizations, press, and national organizations. While it may be difficult to determine which came first, it seems likely that informal neighborhood lies at the base of the ethnic urban village. Moreover, despite the mobility, the presence of an ethnic village that provides important goods and services for "members," whatever the place of residence, plays an important role in the "maintenance" of ethnicity and identity. 20 Thus, while it may have have served every member of a given ethnic group in its particular part of the city, the neighborhood/urban village fostered important networks of institutions for migrants; dominance of a section of the city permitted residents a chance to be "themselves" within the confines of a turf dominated by persons from the same kin network, town, region, and country. In these neighborhoods, residents hammered out their own identities, consciousness, and relations with the larger world. Without this envelope, it is hard to imagine how so many informal and formal groups could have persisted and prospered . 21 It is the purpose of this article to examine the development of residential neighborhoods and communities by two different groups of migrants in different environments. While these are far from "random" selections, 22 we do feel that they represent two different kinds of migrant settlements, one very small, the other fairly large. Both neighborhoods conform roughly to Suttles' definition of a defended neighborhood; both represent an important migrant response to the urban environment, a response that has been passed over all too briefly by past work. The article focuses on the efforts of two different groups of folk migrants to establish a "turf" in the city: Black migrants settled in the inhabited alleys of Washington, D .C ., and the eastern European migrants settled in the "Bird's Nest" on the fringe of Cleveland, Ohio. �SLOVAKIA 13 In m a ny ways the social co nditions migrants faced in these two environments were dramatically different; each cam e with a different set of experie nces and cultural baggage, and each faced very different conditions in the cities they settled despite the fact that both entered the urban marketpl ace at the ' 'bottom .' ' 23 While these differences are critical to understand what happened to each group, it is also important to see in general term s what migrants shared in their struggle with the urban-industrial environment. The article begins with a consideration of similarities and differences between the two communities in terms of physical form , population , occupations, and living conditions. The major part of the article focuses on the development and form each neighborhood took . The conclusions seek to compa re these two experien ces and suggest their implicat ions for othe r migrant experien ces and for the study of migrants . II. Descriptive Comparison of Neighborhoods: Alley Communities and The Bird 's Nest Physical Form and Isolation . Alley communities of Washington, like their counterparts throughout the urban United States and Europe , were small, relatively circumscribed , and isola ted neighborhoods spread throu ghout the central city 24 (see Map 1) . In Washington , alley house co nstru ction fell largely in the period from the end of the Civil War until 1892, when Congress banned new construction. D eveloped on narrow st reets or alleys inside a large city block , the tiny, two-story fram e or brick row houses faced inwa rd onto the interior alley, while larger, more expensive row houses lined the outside of the block and faced onto the street (M ap 2). W ell-to-do residents of the street-front property were separated from their poor and often black, backyard neighbors physically, sociall y, and culturally. D evelopers and owne rs of alley property , often well to do , generally lived outside the immediate section of the city where their all ey property was located, thus furth er isolating the alley n eighborhood . 25 The Bird 's N est, a single neighborhood , was equ ally isolated , but shared much more in co mmon with the la rge ethnic enclaves in urban indu st ri al areas throu ghout the United States. In 1892 , a land company sub sidary (Pleasant Hill L and Company-PHLC) of the National Carbon Company laid out the eight n a rrow stree ts (five n a m ed for birds), a nd 424 lots to provide hous in g for workers at its new facto ry n earby. 26 �SLOVAKIA 14 INHABITED ALLEYS 1897 POPUATION 0 1- ,. 0 0 0 JOO - ... 0 RKE • • 0 MAP 1 - 1/l or mor, 81,il(: k 2/lormor,\Nhct C ommi ssione rs of the District of Columbia, Annual R eport (W ashin gton , 189 7), 195-202. 1897 �SLOVAKIA 15 N STREET [ fr" I l'Fif =! .J.Jo . a--1 II ' ' .. ~ • II - '-M STREET L STREET D BUILDINGS HEADS Of HOUSEHOLD Native Born Whites S.ablo Foreign Born \\'hites (born outside Ncw1h America or p,uenc~ born outside Othe<Buldir@ Store o, AmYm Shop North Amtfil:a) • •• !lacks ~ (when lhan l) more MAP 2 - Sanborn Map Publishin g Company, In surance M aps of Washington , D .C. (New York , N . Y., 1888) ; and Fed eral Populat ion Census Schedules, I 880 W ashington , D .C., V ol. 2 pan 2, R eco rd Group 29 National Archi ves. �SLOVAKIA 16 \~ PART Of" L.\I(E,ro on .>. ' -~ I I .A 11 LE 1 1 ROCKPORT TOWNSHIP. \~_. ~':. ~ \" \ ... ~7;:... MAP .3 - Pleasa nt Hill La nd C ompan y subdi vision of th e " Bird 's Nes t " a nd th e adjoining Na ti on al Ca rbon Facto r y, 1898 . Thom as Fl ynn , Ott o Ba rth el, R .H . Bunni ng , and Thomas H assa n , Atlas o[ th e Suburbs o[ Cleveland, Ohio ( Phil ad elphia , 1898), Plate 24 . �SLOVAKIA 17 The neighborhood was circumscribed by railroad tracks, th e factory , a nd a wood s (later d eveloped for a factory and park) on three sides; the fourth side, a secondary comme rcial artery, p ermitted some overflow into the immediate n eighborhood to the north (see Map 3). While Bird's Nest workers were able to gain ownership of the area, it remained isolated from the surrounding area which was developin g as a middl e-class suburb. 2 7 Like the inward facing alley, th e neighborhood also turned in ward with its " main street," Plover , being the most isol a ted of its streets. 28 Migration and Neighborhood Size. Black migrants from the surrounding states of Virginia and Maryland, coming largely in cha ins of family, fri ends , and neighbors, settled into the alley communities. 29 Predominantl y from rural areas, these mi grants mainta ined ties to the countryside a nd encouraged furth er m ove me nt from those areas . While rural migrants had a number of differe nt res id enti al environm e nts to chose from in the city, a nd often m oved b ack a nd forth betwee n these , m an y se ttled initially in the alleys . Alley popu lations varied co nsiderabl y in size within a given year and over tim e . The smallest held one or two famil ies, the largest ove r 400 peopl e (see Map 1). Most all eys fell so m ewhere in be tween , with the average all ey size in 1880 bein g 50 residents ; at the peak of alley population in 1897, when there were nearl y 20 ,000 all ey res idents living in 240 all eys, th e average all ey size was 73. Th ese were, th e n , very small , face-to-face co mmunities of bl ack rural migrants. 3° In contrast, migra nts to the Bird 's N es t cam e from rural a reas in Easte rn Europe; most id entifi ed th emselves as " Hun garian Slovaks ," alth ou gh some were from P ola nd a nd Ru ss ia . 31 Th ey also mi grated in cha in s of relat ives, fri end s, and n eighbors as well as by region. 32 Like bl ack mi gra ti on to th e all eys, th e re was cons iderab le movem ent back a nd forth betwee n th e Old W o rld a nd th e New. Un like th e all ey populat ion th at reached its peak in 1900 a nd began to drop off, with each alley being a small isola ted community onto itself, the Bird 's N est populati on of 429 in 1900 in creased fi ve -fold by 19 10 a nd then doubled by 1920 at its peak ( see T able 1.) Thi s represe nts a different kind of ethni c encl ave with pote nti al for m o re sub sta nti ve inst itu tion al d evelopme nt. Occupations and Workplace. Black residents of W ashin gton alleys co nfronted profound limita ti ons in their search for work. R ac ism limi ted �18 SLOVAKIA employment of black males largely to day labor and black women to dom estic or laundry work; none had access to the limited industrial occupations in Washington 33 (see Table 2). The employment open to alley dwell ers, then, represented the worst paid , least secure, and often the m ost physically demanding and dangerous positions available. Moreover, despite long residence in the ci ty, black alley dwellers experienced little if any upward occupational mobility ; a color bar en sured that any movem ent would be minimal. 3 4 In contrast , while migrants from Eastern Europe came with similar skills as rural blacks , they often found industrial employment available to them, even though it was nearly always at the bottom . In 1900, most male residents of the Bird 's Nest were laborers working at the adjacent National Carbon factory; by 1910, a number of residents had gained som e mobility by gaining access to semi-skilled industrial occupations. Moreover, a number of women were able to gain indu strial employment, although usually a t the lowest levels ; many others earn ed incom e by runnin g boarding houses or taking in boarders. While this work was long, hard , physically demanding , and often dangerous , it was also more secure and better paying than anything available to alley dwellers . By 1940 , em ployed male a nd female workers of the Bird 's Nest were concentrated in semi-skilled pos itions ( 44 percent), with another 10 percent skilled and 13 percent proprietarial or white collar employees; only a third remained as unskill ed or service workers 35 (see Table 3). Living Conditions. Living conditions in most D .C. alleys were far from wholesome; crowding, poorly maintained buildings and outhouses, piles of uncollected trash in alleys, and the co nstant d anger of contagious disease plagued residents. D espite the limited space inside the two-story 12x30 foot alley house, man y were shared by more than one hou sehold unit ; in some cases four family units lived in one small room each . 36 These crowded cond itions made residents m ore susceptible to di sease, while landl ord s' lack of co ncern for maintenance and the city's di sinterest in coll ect in g trash from the alleys exposed residents to di sease in other ways. Limited and unstable income restricted diets while d angerou s, outdoor work further taxed alley dwellers' health . Ultimately these cond iti ons led to death rates for alley dwell ers th at were twice th at for residents of the streets; the major causes were diseases that cou ld clearly be linked to socio-economic status . 3 7 Children under the age of one year acco unted for much of the high death rate. 38 �SLOVAKIA 19 While the Bird's Nest developed in a suburban setting and lacked the extreme density of the alley community, living conditions were little better. While outside the multi-family homes "everything was mud," inside the long, narrow two - and three-story buildings many families lived in tiny cold water flats 39 (see Map 4) . Whereas alley dwellers had to go outside for water and toilets, Bird's Nesters shared "indoor water closets .' ' 40 Residents of the latter community, however, were more likely to share their tiny apartments with boarders; 32 percent of households had boarders in 1910 (boarders made up one-fourth of the total population), 41 while only 13 percent of 1880 alley households were augmented. 41 The crowded living conditions in the Bird's Nest, along with the long hours at work and limited income, led to high death rates, especially for the very young. 43 In 1900, women reported over one-fourth of the children they had borne were dead, 44 a condition that continued in later years. There are, then, substantial similarities between the two populations; Both came into the urban marketplace at the bottom; both lived in housing conditions that were crowded and dangerous ; the "communities" were isolated physically and socially from the surrounding populations; both were made up of groups that had migrated in chains to the city. Nevertheless , residents of the Bird's Nest did have access to industrial jobs that were more stable and better paying; and these positions permitted some mobility from unskilled labor to semi- and eventually skilled jobs. In addition, where alley communities were largely limited in size by the number of houses built in each alley , and ultimately by the limited interior space of the block itself, the Bird's Nest faced less spatial constriction. This afforded the potential for more complete development. Finally, while alley dwellers seldom had the resources to purchase their alley homes from absentee landlords , res idents of the Bird's Nest were encouraged to do so by the industrial developer of their community . Where ownership always remained external to the alley community , the Bird 's N est quickly becam e locally owned. Despite these differences, each area developed a se ries of informal groups that provided the base for the formation of a neighborhood . That neighborhood , in turn , provided the foundation for the d evelopment of more formal organizations. Given the differe nt resources and scale, however, residents d eveloped different kinds of ne ighborhoods. �10 FAM ILY UNtTS .I H oward Whipple G ree n , Plan es of Living in C uyah oga County: as D epicted by th e R eal Property Survey (C leveland , 1940), 65. Bird ' s Nest = LW18 MAP 4 - e 6.5 o/o OF ALL FAMILY UNITS 2 1,953 IN COUNT Y COLD WATER FLATS ~ ► ~ < >- 0 r< (./J 0 �SLOVAKIA 21 III. Neighborhoods Alley Communities. Black migrants who came to Washington alleys re-established their kin and friendship networks in the alley; they continued to use these networks for emotional and financial support. Because their resources were so marginal, only reliance on these groups made survival more likely. Each alley then, had several or more such networks into which "fictive kin" were also drawn. They provided the most basic form of social organization, albeit informal, in the alley . 45 It was the alley neighborhood, itself, that brought these kin groups together into a loose , but cohesive unit . Since alleys were isolated from the surrounding neighborhood and often some distance from the emerging black enclaves of the city where the major institutions of black life were located, alley residents often had to fall back on themselves for help and support. Drawing on their rural experience, migrants constructed informal defended neighborhoods to provide for their needs. In many respects, however, this informal community became much more important in the city because residents were more dependent on each other, especially in the period just following their migration. Since migration to the city (and alleys) continued throughout the period, and since there were always some "native" alley residents as well as some migrants who had lived in a given alley for many years, new migrants did not have to confront the urban environment alone . New neighbors, kin, and old friends helped ease the transition from country to city. 46 The alley itself' 7 was the center of the alley community; residents congregated there, save in the worst weather, to meet with friends and neighbors. 48 A major location for informal meeting took place at the intersection of the two main alleys . All residents passed this point on their way into and out of the alleys; neighbors met each other here as they returned home from work each day, or hung out there during the day if there was no work available . In addition , residents generally sat in front of their homes and talked to neighbors who joined them on the steps, benches, or chairs set out for this purpose . 49 It is impossible to overestimate the value and import of this activity, for virtually every aspect of the alley community was based on this interaction . If neighboring provided an important element of entertainment, it also provided information on which neighbors needed help and where jobs were available. A critical function of the alley community �22 SLOVAKIA involved help and support for those in need; neighbors aided each other by providing money, food, and shelter while in some cases they took in friends' children and cared for them, in others they let neighborhood children sleep at their house '' because they had more room.'' 50 A third function neighboring and the alley community provided was the maintenance of internal social control. Part of this came as a result of the positive support neighbors gave each other; they also used gossip and more formal sanctions to maintain order. 51 Ultimately, these daily discussions about ' ' appropriate behavior'' by residents resulted in the hammering out of a common philosophy and world view; a world view that was shared by members of the community and differed from that of outsiders. 52 Finally, alley dwellers defended their neighborhood against outsiders . Part of this resulted from their intensive use of alley space for neighboring , thus discouraging others from entering the area . When outsiders did enter they were confronted by residents and watched throughout their alley visit, an experience that unnerved many observers of alley life. 53 Alley dwellers had good reason to watch "outsiders"; other Washingtonians, black and white, generally viewed residents of the alleys with great disdain. While the police were especially harsh in their attempts to control alley populations, other residents, though less overt in their actions, expressed nearly universal condemnation of alley dwellers. 54 This external hostility helped hold the alley community together, despite its internal dissension . Disputes over life style dominated these schisms, but the small scale of the neighborhood, the necessity to cooperate to survive, and the external threats effectively held residents together. Because of its small size and very limited resources, however, the alley community was not able to develop or support a very extensive set of formal organizations. It did provide an excellent medium for small alley churches, which were simply alley houses residents rented "for Jesus. " They were kept going by neighbors' contributions and the pastors ' earnings from "doing occasional laundry" or other work . 55 While most alleys seem to have had at least one of these churches, their small size - "Ten chairs and a pulpit, and an improvised altar" - makes the extent of participation problematic . 56 Alley businesses were equally marginal, and often involved in illegal activity. Like the semi-formal alley church, these businesses required conversion of part ofan alley house into a " speak-easy" or "fac- �SLOVAKIA 23 tory" for the m a nufacture of illegal alcohol , or oft en both . While these were cl early ill egal and we re often closed down by law e nforcem ent offi cia ls, th ey provided an importa nt service for the alley ne ighborhood in representin g a " proto " ne ighborhood tave rn a nd community ce nter where residents co uld m eet. 57 The Bird 's Nest. A s earl y as 1889 , Slovak mi gran ts b egan work on the construction of the n ew National Carbon factory . 58 After the factory was co mpl eted , these worke rs and their fri ends were hired to work in th e factory . 59 Like alley dwellers, initial settle rs in the Bird 's N est began a cha in mi gration , at first drawing from the oth er Slovak enclaves throughout the city and eventuall y reaching back to Hun gary. This process resu lted in ex tended kin n etworks bein g refo rmul a ted in th e n ew neighborhood . In a number of cases, this reformu la tion extended to Old World v ill age pa rishes. Within th e fir st few years, m a n y of the core famili es had m oved in and esta blished them selves. Fri end s, ne ighbors, a nd co -reli gionists followed . As o ne oral history repo rted, " m a n y times the m en came along first , leaving wives a nd children behind in Slovakia, until they h ad found work a nd could send back for th eir families. When they cam e first, they sought out others from the sam e village who were alread y" in the neighborhood . 60 The most criti cal form of organization , however, was the neighborhood it self. Like the all ey community , the n eighborhood rem a ined largely inform al; initiall y it w as a grouping of kin n etworks largely of Slovak a n cestry. Y e t this inform a l " institution " p rovided the precon dition s necessary for the con structio n of other aspects of the community. In large p a rt the migrants es tablished th eir co ntrol over th e ne ighborhood in the first years of settle m e nt , 1892- 1900 . A lthough the a rea was th en only sli ghtl y bigge r tha n th e largest all ey, these earl y migrants a nd th eir famili es esta blish ed a beachhead that was neve r chall en ged . Unlike alley dwell ers who neve r gained ow nership of th eir ne ighborhood , res idents of the Bird 's N est quickly bou ght up th e small parcels o f la nd (wheth er simpl y cl eared b y the PHLC, or built upon ) , 6 1 as soo n as th eir fin ances m ad e it possibl e. 61 A lon g Pl ove r , migrant s purch ased 43 perce nt of the lots prior to 1900; o nl y three of th e 35 lots o n the street m ay h ave been ini tiall y purchased by non-Sl avs. 63 R es id ent s gain ed ow ners hi p o f m ost of th e 424 lots in the subdi vion s on initi a l sale; w ith few exce ptio n s, th ey eve ntuall y ga in ed co ntrol ove r th e rem a ining o nes as well. �24 SLOVAKIA P e rhaps the most striking aspect of n eighborhood d evelopment is the extent to which residents drew on each other's skill s and resources to construct houses, stores, a nd shops. Of the 171 lots for which information is available on th e initial con struction , 92 perce nt of the owners were alread y residents of the neighborhood. While m a n y built their own hom e (or a building to rent), those owners who hired a builde r to co nstruct their houses overwhelmingly chose a resident of the neighborhood (64 percent). Many of the non-resident builders were also of Slavic origin , but lived in one of the other encl aves spread throughout the city. 64 T o an impressive ex tent , th en , residents bought up the neighbo rhood la nd, and per son ally built th eir own hom e or a home to sell to more rece nt migra nts ; when they did not do their own co nstru ction they hired neighbors . In doing so, they establi shed an impress ive investm ent upon which they could draw or build on in the future. 65 H av in g es tablish ed a turf a nd access to employ m ent , residents encouraged n ew migra nt s to join them. Whe reas the m ajo rity of th e first res idents ha d migrated to the United Sta tes in the ten years prior to the building of th e factory, the massive influx of n ew migrants in the fir st two d ecad es of the twenti eth century cam e direc tl y to the n eigh bo rhood. Slovaks continu ed their d omination of the n eighborhood (70 perce nt) , whil e Slovak was the most common la ngu age. 66 One of the key attractions of thi s N ew Slovak/ Slav ic village, in a d dition to the presen ce of fri ends , relatives, and an ethni c ne ighborhood , was the prese nce of employm ent possibilities in industry. H av ing mad e important inroads from th e beginnin g of the constru ction o f the new factory, Slovaks , a nd to a lesse r extent P oles a nd Ru ssians, dominated the lowest level of empl oym e nt in the facto ry. 67 Th ere is so m e indi cation th a t the original pl a nt o n the east side of Clevela nd may also h ave empl oyed workers from a nearb y Slovak e nclave. These employees m ay have been attrac ted to th e new factory b y the avail ab ilit y of la nd ; a disastrous fire a t the old e r pl a nt in 1893 m ay well have speed ed up this process. 68 Wh a teve r the initi a l co nnection, Slovaks a nd oth er Sl av ic mi gra nt s establi shed a beachh ead in th e factory from th e beginnin g b y drawin g o n th eir inform a l networks . 69 Jun e Alexand er found a similar co nditio n for Slovaks in Pittsburgh , namely that "factori es relied o n their fore m e n to hire workers and foreme n, in turn, reli ed o n th e ir workers as intermedi a ries to find la borers. " 70 As mi grants worked their way slowly up the ranks to semi-skilled a nd occasion all y forem en positions , th ey �SLOVAKIA 25 gain ed m ore direct access to the hiring process. With the informal neighborhood networks , Slovaks came to dominate both workplace and neighborhood . 7 1 Whil e info rm al social cont rol and aid permeated th e early years of the Bird's N est as it did in the alleys, the ra pid growth of the neighborhood in the first decade of the twentieth cen tury permitted the developme nt of m ore form al organiza tions . R esidents of different reli gious persuas ion s m et sepa rately; initially these m ee tings, like the alley church , were worshi p serv ices held in co-reli gioni sts' hom es. Eve ntu ally these m eetin gs led to the fo rmation of lod ges and other m ore form al organizations designed to bring about the formation of a parish and the building of a church . 72 The first parish , Sts. Peter and P aul Lutheran , was offi cially form ed in 1901 ( church building-1 902/school som e years later) ; it was followed by Sts. Cyril and M ethod ius R om an Catholic Church in 1903 (church building and school-1905); St. Gregory ' s Byzantine Rite Catholic Church in 1905 ( chu rch building 1906/school som e years later); and the C alvin Presbyterian C hurch in 19 17 (church buildin g-19 2 1) . Ca lvin Presbyte ri a n C h urch in th e foreg round occupi es th e first sit e of Sts. Pe te r a nd Pau l Luth era n C hurch . In th e b ac kg round is St . Grego ry's Byza nti e n Rit e Ca th oli c C hurch . (Ph ot0g ra ph by a ut ho rs, J a nu a ry , 1984). �26 SLOVAKIA Sts. Peter and Paul Luthera n. (Photograph by au thors, January, 1984). SS. Cyril a nd M eth odi us R om an Ca th oli c C hurch . (Ph otog raph by au th ors, J anua ry, I 984). �SLOVAKIA 27 These "predominantly" Slovak parishes were joined by those of the other ethnic groups sharing the neighborhood, the first of which was St. Hedwig's Church (Roman Catholic Polish Parish) in 1905 ( church building-l 914/school-1926). Because residents took the initiative in the formation of these parishes and schools, they often had considerable control over their direction, especially in the early years. 73 These parishes made the neighborhood even more attractive to potential migrants; their founding at the beginning of the decade undoubtedly encouraged many others to migrate. Religious schools provided another incentive, especially to Slovaks who witnessed their own schools closed or "converted for Magyarization" in the homeland. For residents in the Bird's Nest, these schools represented a way to avoid efforts at Americanization promoted by the public schools. As a result many children from the neighborhood attended these parochial schools. 74 Drawing on their growing neighborhood and its greater resources (compared to alley communities), residents of the Bird's Nest also started an incredible number of businesses. While most of these were small stores and shops that served the immediate neighborhood , several developed into substantial businesses that provided necessary goods and services for ethnic and religious needs . 75 Most important, however, was the formation of Eagle Building and Loan Company in 1911 . Controlled from within the neighborhood, residents built an institution that made possible complete acquisition and building of the area, and expansion beyond . 76 The building and loan was critical since over fifty percent of the neighborhood's lots were sold by the PHLC during the 1910s, while the period from 1912 to 191 7 was the period of greatest home construction. 77 Although the neighborhood was divided by ethnicity, religion, and class , as well as by very different attitudes on assimilation, 78 these divisions were subsumed by the needs of the neighborhood and the workings of informal groups. For some, the community revolved around the parish ; Peter Glovna remembered that "it was just like a little village, and the pillar was St. Cyril. " 79 Nevertheless , they were a series of co mmunity-wide activities that drew residents together. 80 Most important , " the first settlers tried to reconstruct , as closely as possible , the village system they were so accustomed to in Poland , Russia, and Slovakia. The close-knit warmth a nd familiarity of the village provided security and a sense of home to the recently displaced immigrants. " 81 �28 SLOVAKIA Ultimately , residents used the neighborhood as alley residents did theirs; everyone knew everyone else and interaction on the streets, front yards, and porches was extensive, especially in warm weather. 82 This neighboring activity , largely through informal, small groups of relatives and friends, made up a critical element in the neighborhood life . It provided the first level (past kin network) of organization, one that replicated itself as formal groups began in the churches, lodges, and benevolent associations as well as the workplace. These primary groups provided members with an immediate sense of belonging, a connection with larger, more formal organizations, and a way by which members of the primary group could collectively continue to co nstru ct a world view, maintain social control , and provide help and support for the needy. 83 Like the alley community, the Bird's Nest found that the external threat was often sufficient to contain internal conflict. Hostility , both formal (from police and other official sources) and informal (from personal prejudice directed at residents), was extensive throughout the period. Outsiders, as in the case of alley communities, targeted the neighborhood as an eyesore and danger to the rest of the community; and police exercised their authority to "maintain social control by overenforcing the law .' ' 84 IV. Conclusions Based on these examples, it seems clear that migrants, via chain migration and efforts to gain entry/control over admission to a j ob market , began to establish residential enclaves. 85 If the process of neighborhood formation appears to have begun almost unconsciously, its development was quite conscious. While the presence of such neighborhoods is taken as given to most studies, what stands out in these two examples is the extent to which migrants took over their respective turfs, defended them, and built informal and formal institutions around them. In fact , the clustering provided the necessary context for virtually every further institutional development. If some or many migrants eventually passed through and out of the neighborhood , it remained(s) an important focal point in the lives of many , even those who could "escape" to more affluent suburban settlements. 86 The neighborhood , then , must be taken more fully into account as one, if not the most critical, of migrant institutions. �SLOVAKI A 29 T hese neighborhood s provided the b ase fo r su rvival in the new urban en vironment. They were the source of housing, employm ent , mutual aid , p rotection , famil y, and friends . They permitted pa rents to raise their children in a n en v iro nment a nd throu gh in stitutio n s ove r w hich the fam ili es exerted som e co ntrol. They also provided a safe ha rbor from whi ch m igrants confro n ted the confu sin g city . M o reove r , ne ighbor s worked out their respo n ses to the issu es o f ethnicity, accultu ratio n , a nd ass im il at ion in this con text of everyd ay life. If n eighbo r s chose diver ging path s, they were n eve rtheless path s th a t d evelo ped w ithin the confines a nd con text of the ethnic en clave. R a ther th a n the stilted b ackwaters th a t R o bert P a rk a nd other s saw, th ese e ncl aves we re vibrant wi th conflicts over life style, ch a n gin g ethnic ide n tity, a d a pta tion , a nd eve n interna tio n al issu es . 8 7 T hu s, to under stand migrant organization s a nd the role they played in accul tu rat io n and et h nic ident ity, it is necessary to con sider th e first in st ituti on m igran ts created in th e city, th e neighbo rhood . 88 W hile these two n eigh borhood s were dram aticall y d ifferent, they both fi t well into Suttles' d efinition of a defended neighbo rhood . I t seem s q uite likely tha t m os t imm igrant e nclaves also fit thi s descri ption , even in cases where the areas was no t so highly segregated fro m the surroundin g city b y either physical ba rrier s or class differen ces. A number o f rece nt studies d em o n stra te tha t d efended n eighborhood s can hold up without these two elem ents. 89 H oweve r , wha t seem s m ost important here is the signifi cance of scale . Becau se alley neighbo rhood s we re sm all a nd u nable to develop ex ten sive for m al o rganizat io n s d oes no t m ean tha t they we re a n y less impor tant for m a inta inin g a nd d evelopin g a n e thnic consciousness and way of life. R a ther, wha t the alley neighborhood seem s to suggest is that smal l scale e nclaves, w hethe r hidden in alleys, or scatte red alo n g stree t fro nt s, co n tin ue to have fl ouri shin g p r im a ry group li fe : in tern al orde r and co n trol, social serv ice act ivities, a nd eve n som e p roto in stitu tio n al li fe. M oreove r , it is likely tha t ethnic identity is heigh te ned in those situ at io ns w hen other groups are in su ch close proxim ity . 90 In the case of the Bi rd 's Nest o r la rge r ethnic co mmuni ties,9 1 the sig nifi cance of the ne ighborhood is often overlooked because of the exte n t of ethni c organ izat io n al a nd b u siness li fe. H oweve r , it is the pop u la ti o n scale tha t makes poss ible this d evelopment. Nevert heless, these a reas con tinue to be marked by extensive informal groups ; their aggregate �30 SLOVAKIA makes the neighborhood and keeps it operating, althou gh formal associations play an important role. Ultimately, then , we should exp ect smalle r settlem ents to develop strong informal groups but few formal ones; the larger the co mmunity , the greater the potential for formal organizations to develop , although infor mal group life rema ins active and important. It may well be, as Fischer suggests, that ethnic ide ntity is greatest in these smaller areas, less able to adapt or adjust to the n ew world . In larger enclaves, migrants have more space to consider alternatives , to pick and chose from diverging paths, m ore a bility to ad a pt or adjust to things "Am e rican " b y in corporating them into their repertoire a nd making them " their own. " 91 Finally, in addition to the observations con ce rnin g the importance of neighborhood as a mi grant institution , it is worth noting the different conditions white and bl ack migrants confronted. The caste barrier blacks confronted in Washington as well as the severely restricted housing m arket limited the potential for comm unity d evelopment. Alley dwellers utilized highly creative methods to circumvent the nearly impossible conditions they confronted . To surv ive in this enviro nment was success. In contrast, Slovak men and women were able to gain e nt ry to more stable a nd be tte r paying industrial jobs; eventu ally they secured so me m ovemen t into semi- a nd even skilled positions as a resu lt of their tenacious hold over jobs in their neighborhood. By doing so, they es ta blished ethnic occupation al beachheads for their kin a nd progeny , whil e blacks we re limited to day la bor a nd positions in the secondary labor market. 93 Similarly, Slovaks a nd other white ethnics through considerable personal and fami ly sacrifice were able to purchase their turf; few black alley dwellers were ever so fort un a te. In short , Bird Nesters could use their ethnic ties to establish and maintain occupational and property turf; blacks were "permitted " those jobs and hou sin g no one else wanted. D ominance of these turfs, occupational and residential, were always transitory, requiring incred ible hum an effort to m ainta in th em or develop n ew ones. They seldom permitted a n opportunity to grow or expand. �SLOVAKIA 31 NOTES ' O scar Handlin concludes that "wherever the immigrants went , th ere was one com mon ex peri ence th ey shared: nowhere could they transplant the European village . Wh atever th e va riati ons among environments in America , none was familiar. The pressure of th at stran geness exe rted a dee p influence upon th e character of rese ttlement , upon the usual forms of behavior , and upon the notes of communal action th a t emerged as th e immigrants beca me Americans .'' Th e Uprooted (2nd edn., Boston, 1973) , 129 . ' Loui s Wirth noted that the "shift from a rural to a predominantly urban society .. has bee n acco mpa ni ed by profound changes in virtually every phase of social life, '' with th e "substituti on of seconda ry for primary contacts , th e weakening of bonds of kin ship , and the declining social significance of the famil y, the disappearance of the neighborhood , and th e undermining of the tradition al bas is of social solidarity." On Cities and Social Life , ed . by Albert R eiss, Jr . (Chicago, 1964) , 79-80. See also Wirth, " Urbanism as a Way of Life , " American Journal of Sociology, 44 Ouly , 1938) , 1-24 . ' Ernes t Burgess , who devised the co nce ntri c zone th eory from which this co mes, concluded th a t ' 'disorganization as preliminary to reorgani za ti on of attitud es and condu ct is almost invariably th e lot of th e newcomer to the cit y.'' ' ' The Growth of the City," in Robert E. Park a nd Ernest Burgess, Th e City (Chicago, 1967), 54, 47-62 . • Howa rd Chudacoff found th at while foreign born migrants " m ay have retained their social , eco nomic , and religious commun iti es, their incidence of move ment out of th e old neighborhoods and a round the city make residential coherence a ve ry temporary experience." " A New Look at Ethnic Neighborhoods: Residential Dispersion and th e Concept of Visibilit y in a M edium-Sized City,'' Journal of America n History , 60 Oune , 1973), 91. See also Chudacoff, Mobile Americans: Residential and Social Mobility in Om ah a, 1880- 1920 (New York , 1972), 154-55; Humbert S . N elli, The Italians in Chicago: 1880-1 930( N ew York, 1970), xi i-xiii; Sam Bass Warner and Colin B. Burke, " Cultural Change and th e Ghetto," Journal of Contempnrary History, 4 (O ctober , 1969) , 173 -88 ; David W ard, " The Internal Spatial Different iat ion of Immi grant R esiden ti al Distri cts ,'' in Geographic Perspectives on America's Past , ed. by Dav id Ward ( ew York , 1979) , 335 -43; and Ward , " The Emergence of Central Immi gra nt Ghettoes in American Cities: 1840-1920, " Annals of th e A ssociation of America n Geographers , 38 ( 1968) , 343-59. ' The most class ic stateme nt of this positi on was that of E . Franklin Fraz ier: Southern black mi gra nts to north ern cities los t " res tra ints imposed by a simple folk culture" and creat ed a "class of rovi ng Negroes who will li ve a lawless sex a nd quasi-family life ." " The Impac t of U rba n Civilization upon Negro Family Life, " American Sociological R el'iew , 2 (October , 1937), 6 18. See also Frazier's The Negro Family in the United States (Chicago, 1966), 207-92; Cl yd e Vernon Ki se r , Sea Island co City ( New York, 1968), 223; Gilbert O sofsky, H arlem : Th e Making of a Ghetro (N ew York , 1964) , 135-49 ; Allen H . Spear, Black Chicago: Th e M aking of a Negro Gherto (C hi cago , 1967), 167-80 , x; Constance M cLaughlin Green, Th e Secret Ciry �32 SLOVAKIA (Prince ton, 1967); a nd D av id K atzm a n , Befor e th e Gh etto (U rba na, 1973). 6 W a rn er notes that reli gious co nfli cts in Am eri ca n cities "forced a ll cit y dwellers to think of th em selves either as Protestant s o r Ca th olics ' ' o r J ews, not as members of spec ific ethni c group s. " Cu ltural Cha nge a nd Ghett o," 178. See also Will H erberg, Prot estant , Cath olic, J ew (New York , 1955). ' G ilbert O sofsky, " The Endurin g Ghetto," J ournal of Am erica n History, 55 (September , 1968). ' 8 K enn eth Ku smer , A Ghetto T ak es Shap e: Black C leveland 1870- 1930 (Urbana, Ill ., 1976); D ou glas D a ni els, Pioneer Urbanites: A Social and C ultural History of Black San Fran cisco (Philadelphi a, 1980); and Thomas Cox , Bla cks in T op ek a, K ansas : A Social History (Baton R ouge, La., 1982). 9 Josef J. Barton , Peasants and Strangers: Italians, Rumanians, and Slovaks in an Am erica n C ity, 1890-1950 (Cambrid ge , M ass. , 1975), 64-90 ; M . Mark Stola rik , " Immigration a nd Urban izati on: The Slova k Experi ence, 1870-1 9 18" (Ph .D . di sse rtat ion, Universit y of Minneso ta , 1974), 69 -109; Sylvia June G ranatir Al exander , "The Immi gra nt C hurch a nd Co mmunit y: The Forma ti o n of Pittsburgh 's Slova k R eli gio us In stitution s, 1880- 19 14" (Ph .D . disse rta ti on, Uni vers it y of Minneso ta , 1980), 209-355, 443-5 18 ; Al exa nder , " Stay in g Togeth er : Chain Mi gration and Pattern s of Slovak Settl em ent in Pittsburgh Prio r to World W ar I , '' J ournal of Am erican Echnic History, I (Fall, 198 1), 56-83; K athleen Neils Conze n, Immigrant Milwa ukee: 1836-1 860 (Cambridge, M ass., 19 76) , 154-191 ; and V irginia Vans-M cLaughlin , Family and Commu nicy: Italian Immigranc s in Buffalo, 1880- 1930 (Ith aca, N. Y ., 1977). 0 A numb er of studi es do develop th e role of famil y life in mi gra nt se ttlements; thi s wo rk represe nts a m ajo r co ntribution to th e a nalys is of " inform al" o r prim ary gro up life in th e cit y. For exa mple , see T ama ra K . H a reve n , " Th e Histo ri cal Study of th e Fa mil y in Urban Society , " J ourn al of Urba n History , I (M ay , 1975 ). Unfortuna tely, such studi es neglect th e relati on ship of fa mil y a nd extended kin netwo rk to other inform al-primary groups of neighbo rh ood a nd communit y. Wh at is mi ss in g here is a discussion of th e informal social organi zat ion that makes up the nei ghborh ood . Fo r m o re co mpl ete ana lyses of social netwo rk s, see J . C lyde Mit chell , ed. , Social N ecworks in Urban Situation (M anches ter, 1969); Eli zabet h Bott , Family and Social N etwork (N ew Yo rk , 197 1); and C la ud e S. Fischer, To Dwell Among Friends: Personal N etwo rk s in T own and Cicy (C hi cago, 1982). " For exa mp le, see K a thl ee n Neil s Co nze n , " Commentary: Immi grants , Im mi g ra nt Neighborhoods, and Ethni c Identit y: Histo ri cal Issues, " J ourn al or Am erica n History, 66 (D ece mbe r, 1979), 603 -15. " Su za nn e Keller , Th e Urba n N eig hborh ood (N ew Yo rk , 1968). " Gera ld Sut tl es , Tn e S ocial Constru ction or Communicies (C hi cago, I 972 ), 2 I , 3- I 07 . " R o m a n A. C ybri ws ky, "Soc ia l Aspec ts of Ne ighbo rh ood Change ," Annals or th e Associa tion of Am erica n Geograph ers, 68 ( I 978) , 2 7. In co ntras t , th e co nce pt of th e co mmunit y of limi ted liab ilit y, o ri ginall y developed by M o rri s j a now it z, emp hasizes " th e int enti o na l, vo lunt a ry, a nd es peciall y, th e pa rtial a nd d ifferenti ated in vo lve- �SLOVAKIA 33 ment of res ident s in th eir local comm uniti es.'' Suttles, Social Construction of Communities , 47 , 44-81. See also Morris J anow it z, Th e Community Press in an Urban Setting: The Social Elements of Urbanism (Chicago, 1952). The contrived community is one that is pla nn ed , at leas t in part, with a d es ign to prom ote a ce rt ain kind of co mmunit y. New towns probabl y fall most closely in to thi s catego ry. See Suttles, Social Constru ction of Commun ities, 82-107 . " Formal o rgan ization is an assoc iation th at " is more or less purposefully created for th e at ta inmen t of rela tiv ely specific and limi ted goals.'' M a rvin E. Olsen , Th e Process of Social Organization (New York , 1968) , 92. M em bers are only partiall y involved a nd co mmitted to such " limited-li a bilit y" o rga ni zati on s; th ey rela te to each oth er largely in terms of the organization and th eir spec ific interest in its goals. Whi le members m ay beco m e " fri end s, " impl yin g a mu ch m ore inten se relations hip , and perh aps the development of a prima ry group or netwo rk , thi s is not the goal of the formal o rgani zati on . Primary or inform al gro up s, on th e ot her hand , are " those characteri zed by intimate, face-to-face aswciati on and co-operation, " i.e., " the family , th e play-group of children , a nd th e neighbo rh ood o r co mmunit y of elders. ' ' C ha rl es Cooley, Social Organization (New Yo rk , 1923), 23, 24. Fo r a rev iew of th e significant roles of informal groups, see Elihu K atz and Paul Lazarsfeld , Personal Influen ces (New York, 1955), 3 1-42. 16 For a discussion of this point , see J am es Bo rchert , " Urban Neighborhood and Communit y: Informal Group Life, 1850-1970, ' ' Journ al of Interdisciplin ary History , 11 (Sprin g, 1981 ), 607-3 1; Floyd Dodson, " Pa tt ern s of Volu nta ry Association among W o rkin g-C lass Families," America n Sociological R evie w , 16 (1951), 687-93; and Benn ett Berge r , W orking Class Suburb (Berkeley, Ca. , 1971 ) , 59-73. " R obert R edfi eld , "The Folk Society ," America njournal of Sociology, 52 Qanua ry, 1947) , 293-308. Thi s is not to su gges t that mi gra nts had no experience with forma l groups prior to mi gra ti on. As Ba rt o n , Stola rik , and oth ers have demonstrated , migrants brought both forma l and in formal group s with them. Whil e few have m ade d irec t comp a ri so ns of formal group s in th eir two se ttings (Ba rt on is an importa nt pa rti al except io n here), virtua ll y no o ne has co mpared informal grou ps. " J a m es S. Pil an t, Th e Envelope: A Study of the Imp act of th e World upon th e C hild (New Yo rk , 1950); Suttles, Th e Social Constru ction of Communities, 2 1- 43. 19 C hain migrat ion has bee n defin ed as " th at m ove m ent in which prospecti ve mi grants lea rn of oppo rtuniti es, a re provided with transporta ti on , and have initi al accommodati on and employment a rranged by m ea ns of primary social relationships with previous migra nts" (aut hors' itali cs). J ohn S. M acdon ald a nd Leatri ce D. M acdonald , "Chain Mi gra ti on , Ethn ic Neighborhood Fo rm ati on , and Social Netwo rks," Milbank M emorial Fund Quart erly, 42 Q anu a ry, 1964) , 82. 0 T hese vary, of course , by ethni c gro ups, circum stances , a nd over time , as well as by cl ass. Specia l foods a nd restaurants a re probably th e most obviou s exa mpl es, but churches and lodges a re probably the m ost uni ve rsal ''se rvices. '' Profess ionals a nd ethni c bu siness a re also important elements of th e urba n village, especiall y fun eral homes; th ey con tinu e to draw former res idents a nd th eir children bac k to th e urba n ' �34 SLOVAKIA vi llage, a t leas t on special occasions. Finall y, ma ny wh o left th e "village" continu e to own buildings there; their rental income made "escape" easier; it di d nm , however, break th e ties. " See Suttles, T he Social C onstru ction of C ommunities, 2 1-43. " These environments a re strikin gly different ; th e two group s a re eve n more different in term s of their past ex peri ences, institutional life, and cultural baggage. Co mparison, th en , prese nts considerable problems; limited da ta make thi s eve n more problema ti c. " For oth er effort s to co mpa re th e bl ac k and white ex peri ence, see ta nl ey Lieberso n , A Piece of th e Pie: Black s and Whit e Immigranrs Since 1880 ( Berkeley, Ca ., 1980); J ohn Bodn a r , Michael W eber , and R oge r Simon , " Mi gra ti on , Kin ship , a nd U rba n Adjustm ent : Blac ks a nd Poles in Pitt sb urgh , 1900- 1930," j ournal o f America n History, 66 (Dece mber , 19 79) , 548-565; a nd Bodnar , Sim on , W eber , Lives o f th eir Own : Black s, Italians, and Poles in Piusburgh , 1900- 1960 (Urbana, Ill. , 1982). " For a more compl ete di scussion, ee Borchert, Alley Life in W ashing ton ( Urbana , Ill. , 1980) . For a d iscussion of alleys else wh ere, see 223-37 , 3 12- 17. " Ibid . , 1-56 . ' 6 C u yahoga C ount y Treasure r's Depa rtm ent T ax Duplica tes , I 894- 1923 . C uyahoga Count y Archi ves; M a rgare t M anor Bu tle r, Th e Lakewood tory ( ew York , 1949); 228 ; " City Plays Vital R ole," newspa per clipping-source unkn ow n , M ay 5, 1955 . Lakewood Historical Society; " ati onal Carbon C om pany," C leveland Plain D ealer , September 10, 19 77 . The neighbo rhood has been kn own by a se ri es of names; Bird's Nes t and Bird T own deri ve from th e predominance of stree t with bi rd na me . Other na mes suggest how th e neighborh ood has bee n viewed by outsid er : T he Settl ement, th e Village , " Dago Forum , " C a rbon T own , " Little Slova ki a," a nd th e Carbon Distri ct. John Fedor , "Ju st Loo k at th e Stree t Signs to Find Bird T own ," Lakewood L edger , Dece mber 14, 1967; Butler, Lakewood Story, 188, 228-29; Butler, R om ance in Lakewood Streets (C leve la nd , 1962), 41 ; C ynthi a A. Rud e r, " Th e Imprint of C ultura l V alues on Birdtow n , La kewood, Ohio, " un publi shed typesc ript , M ay 1, 1978. Lakewood Hi stori cal Society. " C uyahoga Count y Au d ito r's T ax M aps , Cuyahoga Coun ty Adm inistrat ion Bu ild ing. Vol. 35-C it y of La kewood. 1890- 1982. " Fed or , " Just Loo k a t th e tree t igns " R eco rd s of th e Distri ct of Colu mb ia , Reco rd Grou p 35 1. Na ti onal Archi ves. Boa rd of C hi ldren ' s Guardi ans, C hildren 's History , I ll : I 129, I 162 , 1392; IV: 158 1. See also Bo rchert , " Survivin g th e C it y: Persistence a nd C ha nge in Bl ac k Folkways of Life in a N ew Environment ," pa per prese nt ed a t th e Associa ti on for th e Stud y of Afro-Ameri ca n Life a nd Hi sto ry, O ctober 2 1- 24, 1982, Baltim ore, M a ryla nd, 8. '° 31 Federal Population Ce nsus Schedul es, 1880, W ashin gto n , D .C., R eco rd Group 29 . ati onal Archi ves; a nd Com missioner of th e Di trict of Colum bia , Ann ual R ep orc -1897 (W as hin gto n , 1897), 195-202. Fed eral Popul ati on C ensus ched ul es, 19 I 0 , La kewood, Ohio. at ional Archives . See also Fed eral Popula ti on Ce nsus Sched ul es, 1900 , Lakewood, Ohio . ational Ar- �SLOVAKIA 35 chi ves. The less precise category "country of origin" makes it impossible to know , oth er than Hun ga ry, where migra nts came from. The 1910 ce nsus clea rs this matter up through more precise desi gnati on ; in this case 70 perce nt listed th emselves as " Hunga rian Slovaks" rath er th a n merely" Hun gary," as in 1900 . "Language" also permit s more precise determination . " While J osef Barton has co ncluded that Slovak migration to C leveland was from more gene rall y dispersed areas in Slovakia, migrating more by district than personal or village chains, oth er studies report considerably more personal co ntacts in the migrati on process, both generally a mong lovak migra nts and specificall y for Cleveland. Peasa ncs and Strangers , 50-51, 54, 59, 63. Emily Greene Balch reports that nearly 99 percent of Slovaks en terin g the United States in 1907-1908 planned to join relatives or friends . Our Slavic Fellow Citizens (New York , 1910), 433. Al exander repo rts that whi le Slovak mi gran ts to Pittsburgh did mi grate in cha ins either by village, or by th e more loose " district" pattern Ba rton found, th e selecti on of one's res idence in a give n cit y was strongly influenced by fri end s and rela tives . " Th e Immi grant C hurch ," 55, 68. M a rk Stolarik also found "Slovaks in the Un ited States and Canada originall y reside(d) in distinct neighborhoods nea r their parish ch urches . most of these in each co ngregation ha iled from the same cluster of villages in the old country." " Immi grat ion a nd Urbanization, " 40. Stolarik a nd his co-authors of a st ud y of C leveland Slovaks reported simila r findings for th at cit y. Susi Megles, Mark Stolarik, and Martina Tybor, Slovak Americans and th eir Communities of Cleveland (C levela nd , 1979), 132. M ore importa nt for this study, Stolarik's analysis of parish reco rds of one Bird 's Nest church found 68 percent were from the ext reme end of one Slovak county; " nearly ha lf of the group was from . . three neighboring villages . " " Immi grat ion a nd Urbanization, " 41. For other informa ti on on chain mi gra ti on of Bird 's Nest residents, see Mary Towarni cky, " Helping One Another in the New Land: The Old Timers R emem ber," in SS. Cyril and M ethodius Church , Diamond Jubilee, 1903 -1 978 (La kewood, 1978), 67; and Common Pleas Court, Records of Declaration of Intention , Cuyahoga County Archives. Vo ls. 1- 30, Octobe r 10 , 1906-Sep tember 8, 19 13. " Lo renzo] . Greene and Myra Colso n Callis, The Employment of Negroes in th e District of Columbia (Washington, I 930), 65. " Borchert, Alley Life, 166-77. " Fed eral Popu lat ion Ce nsus Schedul es, I 900, 1910, La kewood, Ohio ; U.S . Bureau of th e Ce nsus, Population and H ousing- 1940: Cleveland, Ohio and Adjacent Area (Was hin gto n , 1942), 106. This is not to suggest that co nditions were easy o r wages hi gh. J an Pa nku ch notes that " during the first years their wages barely met their needs .'' Dejin y Clevelandskych a Lakewoodsk ych Slovakov (C leveland, 1930), 24. ' 6 Borchert, Alley Life, 85. " Ibid., l 83. The impact of a lley co nditions can be seen most clearly in co mparison to nati onal statisti cs. In 1910 the death rate for urban whit es was 14.6 per thousand ; for urba n blacks, 24.3. James H. Jones , Bad Blood ( ew York, 198 I), 37 . For street �36 SLOVAKIA dwelling W ashin gtoni an s (whit e and black), the dea th rate per thousand was 17 .56 ; for alley residents it was 30 .09 . Willia m H enry J ones, Th e H ousing of Negroes in W ashington , D.C. (Washington, 1929), 45 . " Borchert , Alley Life, 183 . 39 ' 0 41 Albina M olek, " Builders of the Spirit ," C leveland News, November 18, 1949 ; H oward Whipple Green , Plan es of Living in C uyah oga Co unty: as D epicted by th e Real Prop erty Survey (Cleveland , 1940), 65 . Green, Planes of Living, 58. Federal Population C ensu s Schedul es, 1910, Lakewood , Ohio. " Fed eral Population Census Schedul es, 1880, W as hin gton , D .C. See Borchert , Alley Life , 68. 43 Butler, Lakewood Story, 188. " Federal Populaton Census Schedul es, 19 10 , Lakewood, Ohio. In 1911 , residents of the larger community , led by a prominent member of the Rhodes family , established a clinic in the neighborhood becau se of the seve re health conditions, es peciall y the hi gh infant mortality . " Dispensary," in " History of Lakewood ," C lipping fil e, Lakewood Histo rical Society; a nd Butler , L ak ewood Story, 188-89. 45 Borchert , Alley Life , 69-85. •• It is important to note th a t the household unit , whi ch is usually considered th e base of the urban nei ghborh ood , was only part of a m ore important ex tend ed kin ship network whi ch included fi ctive kin adopted in the count rys ide or city. These ext ra- household units ti e re sidents of the alley together into " cliques" th at m ake up the large r alley communit y. Alley residents were linked together in other ways ; marriage of two alley residents linked two fa mil ies and kin networks together . After so me tim e , it is possible that mos t lon g-term residents in a given alley were linked by kinship to each ot her in multiple ways. 47 Becau se th e alley neighb orh ood/comm unity rema ined an informal inst itut ion with no " reco rd s" of its act ivities, it is ve ry difficult to determin e the full ex tent of neighborhood act ivities and their import . Nevertheless , some as pects do seem to stand out : neighborin g a nd ent erta inin g, a id to the needy, commo n action on com munit y need s, intern al social co nt rol, a nd defense of the neighborhood again st outsiders. 48 For a desc ription of the alley as meeting place , see W as hin gton National lnte1ligencer , Jul y 25, 1865; W ashington Times, Septembe r 11, 1904; Washington S tar , Jun e 6, 1930; W ashin gton D aily N ews, April 15, 1954; Charles W eller , Neglected Neighbors (Philadelphi a, 1909), 17 , 82; Wilbur V . Mallalieu , "A W ashin gton Alley," Survey , 28 (October 19, 19 12), 71; Gladys Sellew, A D eviant Social Situation: A Cou rr (Washin gton , 1938), 17 ; a nd D a ni el D. Swinney, " Alley Dwellings a nd H ousing R eform in the Di stri ct of Columbia " (M .A . th esis, University of C hi cago, 1938) , 141 -42. During the winter , several homes in a give n all ey see m to have se rved as mee ting spots. Dora Bessie Somerville , " A Study of a Group of Negro C hildren Li ving in an Alley C ulture" (M.A. th esis, Cat holic U ni ve rsit y of Ameri ca, 1941 ), 20. These homes usually di spensed liquor , oft en homemade , providing resid ents wit h a social �SLOVAKIA 37 ce nt er a nd tenants with a "second in co me . " For a discu ssio n based on a n a nalysis o f histori cal photog raphs , see " Photographs a nd th e Study of th e Pas t, " in Borchert, Alley Life , 291-93; Borche rt , "Analysis of Histo ri cal Photographs," Srudies in Visual Communication, 7 (Fall , 1981 ), 51-56; and Borchert , " Alley Landscapes of Washington, " Landscape , 23 (No. 3, 1979), 6-8. 0 ' Marion M . Ratigan, A Sociological Survey of Disease in Four Alleys in the National Capital (Was hin gton , 1946), 59 ; Mary R edempta Fores tall , "Trend s in Housing, Delinquency, and H ealth in the Central Northwest Area in Washington, D.C." (M.A . th es is , Catholic University of Ame ri ca, 1938), 32; Grace Vawter Bicknell , The Inhabited Alleys o f Washington, D .C. (W ashington , 1912), 31; Well er, Neglected Neighbors, 47 ; Leonise Ruth Aubry, "A mbitions of Youth in a Poo r Economic Status " (M.A. thes is , Catholic University of America, 1938), 3; Sellew, Deviant Social Siruarion, 46, 54; Sommerville, " Study of a Group of Negro Children," 24; Washington Daily News, Augu st 29, 1941; Swinney , "Alley Dwellings and Housin g R efo rm, " 50, 73; Leono r Enriquez Pablo , " The Housing Needs and Social Problems of Residen ts in a Deteriorated Area" (M .S.W. thesis , Catholic University of America , I 953), 56; Board of Children's Guardians , Children's History, I-VII (see especia ll y I:2 33-34 ; II : 657, 667, 801); Washington National R ep ublican , March 24 , 1862 ; a nd Washington Times , September 11, 1904 . " Whil e it is impossible to recreate co nversations between res idents from the ex isting hi sto ri cal records, it is clear from a large body of literatu re in sociology and anthropology that goss ip plays a critical role in the ma intena nce of order as well as the development of a commo n world view. Scholars of black rural and small town life in th e South noted th e importance of goss ip; CharlesJohnson found that "communit y gossi p exercises restraint . . There are limits ... and when th ese limits are reached violators a re treated with unmi stakable group disapproval.'' Shadow of the Plan cation (Chicago, I 94 1), 81, 82. Similarly , H ylan Lewis concluded that " gossip, or th e possibility of gossip " m a kes residents " more careful of th eir behavior." Blackways of Kent (New H ave n , Conn., 1962) , 193. " Those who show signs of group status de via tion . . are subject of a kind of gro up pressure marked by resentment and cri ti cism." Ibid ., 191 . " See Al. L. Epstein , " Gossip , Norms , a nd Social Network," in Social Networks in Urban Situ ations, 117-27. " For example , see Swinney , "Alley Dwellings and H ous in g R efo rm , " 136-37; and Pablo, " H ousin g Needs and Social Problems," 42. " Bo rchert , "U rban Neighborhood a nd Community," 615-18. " Swinney, " Alley Dwellings and H ousin g R eform, " 121 . " Ibid.; W ashington Post , D ece mber 26, 1948; Well er , Neglected Neighbors, 17, 22, 97 ; Mallalieu, " Washington Alley , " 71 ; a nd the R ev . Daniel O'Connell, "The Inhabit ed Alleys of Washington and the Early Social Hi story of One Alley" (M .A. thesis, Ca th oli c University of Ameri ca , 1953) , 110 . It is importa nt to note that attendan ce in the rural South does not seem to have been especially la rge based on Lewi s' findin gs for K ent . Lewis, B/ackways of Kent , 129-30. �38 SLOVAKIA " Borchert, Alley Life, 185-86. 58 Pankuch, Dejiny , 22. " Ibid .; Mary Towarnicky , "Slovak Newcomers to America, " in SS. Cyril and Methodius Church, Diamondjubilee, 1903-1978 (Lakewood, 1978), 66; Towarnicky , " Helping One Another," 67 . 60 Towarnicky, " Helping One Another," 67. 61 The Pleasant Hill Land Company was owned and run by Washington H. Lawrence, the president of the National Carbon Company. It seems clear that Lawrence purchased an extra large parcel ofland from the Case Estate with the intention of developing a residential area for workers . Butler, Lakewood Story, 228; "C ity Plays Vital Role, " "National Carbon Company," Plain Dealer; and G . Frederick Wright, Representative Citizens of Ohio: Memorial-Biographical (Cleveland, 1914) , 181-84. Since the factory was well outside the built-up parts of C leveland, Lawrence may well have considered this development a necessity to attract workers; he must also have planned to make a good return on his investment. The difficulty of the commute from in-city residences to the plant prior to the completion of a street car line in 1898 was incredible . For examples, see "City Plays a Vital Role" and Pankuch , Dejiny, 23. 61 Initially the early buildings were rented to workers; however, the PHLC sold off most of the improved lots within a couple years of construction. Cuyahoga County Treasurer's Tax Duplicates , 1894- 1923. There is some indication that the Na tional Carbon Company (via PHLC) "sold lots to ... immigrants on installments. " Loretta l vany, " 'Birdtown' Became C ity's Ethnic Center," Sun Post , Jun e 30, 1979 . •• Cuyahoga County Auditor's Tax Maps, Cuyahoga County Administration Building. Migrants bought up lots on Plover first because they were cheaper du e to their proximity to th e railroad tracks. Pankuch, Dejiny , 23. R esidents not only bought up land in the neighborhood as soon as they could afford to, they also held on to th e land, passing it on to relatives or selling it with in the community. Paul Wrobel found a sim ila r practice when he did an extensive participant-observation study of a Polish-American parish in D etroit. Our Way: Family, Parish and Neighborhood in a Polish-American Community (Notre Dame, Ind ., 1979), 5. 6 ' City of Lakewood, Building Department, Building Permits , 1900(?)-1982. It is interesting to note that no building permits a ppear to have been taken out by the PHLC, des pite the fact that they clea rl y improved and built on one-fifth of th e lots over the thirt y year period before the last lot was sold ( 1923). Although the city records are incomplete , and use of building permits seems to have been casual in the earl y years, as well as the fact th at many early reco rd s have not survived, it is strange that no PHLC perm its remain in the records. Insurance maps and descriptive sources do confirm the com pany 's activity in th is area prior to 1900. Thomas Flynn, Otto Barthel, R.H. Bunning, and Thomas H assan , Atlas of the Suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio (Philadelphia, 1898), Plate 24; M argaret Butler, R omance in Lakewood's Streets 41; lvany, " 'Birdtown' Became City's Ethnic Center"; and Cynthia A. Rud er , "The Imprint of Cultural Values.'' �SLOVAKIA 39 " As Stephan Thernstrom found in Newburyport , however, home ownership came a t a high price : " To cut family co nsumption expenditures to the bone was one such sac rifice. To withdraw the children from school and to put them to work at the age of ten or twelve was another.'' Poverty and Progress: Social Mobility in a Nin eteenth Century City (New York , 1969), 155. 66 Federal Population Census Schedules, 1910, Lakewood , Ohio. 67 Pankuch , D ejin y, 22; Towarnicky, "Slova k Newcomers to America," 66 ; Towarnicky, " H elping One An other," 67; and Ivany, " 'Birdtown' Became City's Ethnic Center . " 68 M egles, Stolarik , and T ybor, Slo vak Americans and their Communities, 132; Sts. Peter and Paul Lutheran Church , Seventy-Fifth Anniversary (Lakewood, 1976), 3; and Towarnicky , " H elping One Another," 67. 6 ' One of the first Slovak employees recalled th at he " ' got a job in the construction of the . factory. After I had worked th ere for a couple days, the boss told me to bring in a couple more men. I asked him how many I should bring; he answered as man y as I could, even a dozen would do, he said . So I called up my brothers: Juraj, and J an, also Jan andJuraj Nemec, A. Chovana and a bunch of others; Michael Urban and A. Goda all got hired. All the Scerbas; J an Scerba, Jan Scerba, Jr. , Adam Scerba, Andrej R yba nik and many others ca me in later.' " Andrej Babej, quoted in Pank uch, Dejin y, 22. ' 0 Alexander, "The Immigrant Church and Community, " 56-57. More importantl y she notes that "at tim es, when firms desperately needed labor, foremen promised jobs to employees' fri end s or relati ves if th ey would send for them." Ibid ., 57. " Ibid ., 57. She also notes that "Slovaks and other immigra nt groups came to rely on a sys tem of personal relationships in order to get jobs. '' Ibid. For more recent discussions of this process, see Ri chard M yer, " Interpersonal R elations in the Building Indu stry," Man , Work , and Society, ed . by Sigmond Nosow and William Form (New York , 1962) and William K ornblum , Blue Collar Community (C hi cago, 1974). " Sts . Pete r and Paul Lutheran Church, Seventy-Fifth Anniversary , 2-3; Megles , Stolarik , and Tybor, Slovak Americans and their Communities , 13 3; Peter M . Glovna, Sr., " Hi story of SS. Cyril and Methodius Pari sh ," in SS. Cyril and Methodius Church , Diamond Jubilee, 33; " Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church, " undat ed news paper clipping in Margaret Butler, " Hi story of Churches" fil e, Lakewood Hi storical Society; " Ukrainian Church Ded ication Is Set ," undated newspaper clipping in Butl er, ' ' Hi sto ry of Churches . ' ' " Stolarik , " Immigration and Urbanization, " 85-97. It is usefu l to note here that three of the first four Slovak churches in the neighborhood still have services in Slovak, althou gh the y have th em in English as well. " Ru de r , " Imprint of Cultural Values" ; Butler, Lakewood Story, 20,7. In a fine stud y of Slova k Cat holi c lead ers' at titud es toward public ed uca ti on , Mark Stolarik found th ey "valued parochial schools above all else worried mu ch m ore about their children 's moral a nd national upbringing th a n about social mobility . . had no u se �40 SLOVAKIA for publi c schools . . (which) ' den a ti onali ze ou r children . ' " " Immi gra ti on , Education, and the Social Mobilit y of Slova ks, 1870- 1930, " in R a nd all M. Mill e r a nd Thomas D . Marzik, ed s., Immigrants and R eligion in Urban America (Phil adelphia, 19 77) , 107 , 106 . Both Ba rton and Stolarik report th a t 60 to 80 percent of Slovak children a ttended parochi al schools. Ba rto n, Peasa nts and Strangers, 145-46; Stola rik , " Immi grati on and Urban ization ," 165-66. Th e public elem ent a ry school in th e Bird ' s Nest had no teachers wh o co uld speak Slovak ; of those children who did att end , few, if any , spoke Engli sh. Rud e r , "Imprint of C ultural V alu es." 75 The 1930 City Directory includes over 75 bu sinesses (17 local groce rs) and 16 profess ionals a nd se rvi ces avai lable to th e neighborh ood run by local res id ent s (or fo rme r resid ent s). C leveland Directory Compan y, C leveland, Ohio C ity Directory- I 930 (C levela nd , 1930). 76 Inspec to r , Building and Loa n Associat io n , 22nd Annual R ep ort far th e Y ea r Ending D ecember 31, 19 12 (Springfi eld , Ohio, 19 13) , 165 . Oro! Buildin g and Loa n Co. The founding preside nt a nd sec re tary both li ved on Plover , while o nl y th e treas ure r li ved outsid e th e immediat e neighborh ood. H e li ved , howeve r , ju st on th e o th e r sid e (north) of Madison Ave nu e, an a rea th a t Slova ks a nd other mi g ra nt s expand ed int o. Panku ch noted that th e Sav ings a nd Loa n wa s in ex ist ence by 1902 , so it may well have been operating to help res idents long before its offi cial cha rt er in 19 11 . D ejin y, 24. 77 Cuyahoga Count y Treasu re r 's Tax Duplica tes a nd Ci ty of La kewood, Building Permits. 78 For a n excellent discu ssion o n th e conflict be twee n "accult u ra ti o ni sts a nd tradition ali sts , " sec Howard F . Stein , " An Ethnohistory of Slova k-Am e ri ca n R eli gio us and Frate rnal Associations: A Study in Cultural M eanin g, Group Identit y, and Soc ial Instituti o ns," Slo va kia, 29 ( 1980-1 98 1) , 53 -101 . 19 Peter Glovna, as quoted in l vany, " ' Birdtown ' Beca me City 's Ethn ic Center ." G lovna's fath e r m oved to the neighborhood in 1893 a nd was a founder of SS. Cyril and M e thodius , whi le hi s son li ved on Plove r for 40 yea rs. D es pite hi s rece nt m ove out of the area, he still maint ains contacts and serves as pa rish hi sto ri a n . Glovna, "H istory of SS . Cyril and M e th odiu s Pa rish. " 0 " R esidents of Birdtown also enjoyed neighborh ood picnics a nd dancing to th e sound s of bands which were se t up on M a gee and M adison Av enu es.' ' l va ny , '' ' Birdt own ' Beca m e C ity's Ethnic Center.' ' 81 Ruder, " Im print of Cultural Valu es," 5. See also l van y , " ' Birdtown ' Beca me C it y's Ethni c Center ," and 1941 survey quoted extensively in Butler , L akewood St an ·, 229. ' " Rud e r, " Imprint of Cultural V alu es," 18. " Al exa nd e r ' s comment cit ed ea rli e r th a t Slovaks ca m e to rely o n a sys te m of pe rsonal relationships in order to get j obs (see not e 70) needs to be put in a la rge con text he re. Social scienti sts have not ed the impo rt a nce of informal groups in a variety of settings from factory, army, stree t co rn e r gang , a nd neighbo rh ood . Fo r exa mpl e , see F.j . R oet hli sberger a nd W.J . Dickson, M an agem ent and th e W orker (Cam bridge , M ass., 1939); Samuel A. Stoffe r , et. al . , Th e America n Soldier: Studies in Social Psvcholog1· �SLOVAKIA 41 in W orld W ar II , 2 vols (P rin ceto n , .J ., 1949); Edwa rd Shil s, " Prima ry Groups in th e Am eri can Arm y," in R obert M erton and Paul Laza rsfeld, ed s., Studies in ch e S cope and M ech od ofch e " Th e American Soldier " (Gl enoce, Ill. , 1951) ; W . Ll oyd Warn er and Paul S. Lunt , Th e S ocial Life of a M od ern C ommunicy (New H ave n , C onn . , 1941 ); Willi a m Foote Wh yte, Screet Com er Sociecy (Chicago, 1943); a nd K ornblum , Blue Collar Community. 14 Butler, Lakewood S cory , 228 , 188; C leveland Press , M ay 13 , 1947 ; and Rud er, " Imprint of Cultural V alues," 1, 3, 18 . " An impo rtant pa rt of th e p rocess, of course, invol ved co mpetiti o n for hou sing with oth er groups, a res tri cted housin g m a rket accessible to mi g rant s a nd their work . 16 M a ny form er res ident s of th e neighbo rh ood return a t least once a week fo r religious se rvices on Sunday; m a n y d o so m o re often . See al so Wrobel, Our Wa y. " R obert Park obse rved th at "certain urban neighborhoods suffer from isolation ." "The Ci ty," in Park and Burgess , Th e C it y, 8 . Fo r a different view, see Alfr ed Kazin , A W alk er in ch e C ic y (New Yo rk , 195 1). " The persistence of these a reas, outli vin g in som e cases th e in stituti ons th at ca m e aft er th em , att es ts to th eir vit alit y. " In th e Bird 's Nes t th e co ntinuin g prese nce of churches of eac h ethni c group suggests th e continuin g vit alit y of each group . Fo r other exampl es, see Cybriwsky, " Social Aspec ts of N eighbo rhood C ha nge"; Cybriwsky and D avid Ley, " Urba n Graffiti as T erri tori al M a rkers,'' Annals of ch e A ssociacion of American Geographers, 64 (1974) , 475-505; and K ornblum , Blue Collar Community . Some older studies infer the same conclu sion s: H elen L. Wilson and Eunice W . Smith , " Chicago H ou sin g Conditions, VIII : Am ong th e Slova ks in th e Twenti eth Ward ," America n j ourn al of S ociology, 20 (September , 19 14), 145-69 ; Emil y W. Dinwiddie, H ousing Condicions in Philadelphia (Philadelphi a, 1904); J a net K emp , R epore of ch e T en em enc H ouse Commission o f L ouisville (Loui sville, 1_909); Ulf H a nn erz, S ou/side ( ew Yo rk , 1969) ; and Wh yte, Scree/ Corn er Sociecy. •o Sec C la ud e Fi sc her , Th e Urban Experien ce ( ew Yo rk , 19 76) . In hi s m o re recent stud y, Fi sc her has fo un d th e current cit y '' a m osaic of inten se ethni c wo rld s rather th a n . . a la ndsca pe of ethni c di sintegra tion ." M o reo ver , " urba ni sm - or at least th e co nce ntrati o n of spec ific ethni c g roup s - m o re oft en bolsters th a n brea ks down ethni cit y. As the urbani sm of th e communit y increased , respo nd ent s were m ore likely to be ' ethni cs.' " T o Dwell Am ong Friends, 204 , 206 . " For example , H am tramck is an ex treme case where Polish-Am eri cans developed their ow n co mmunit y o n a m ass ive scale . In 1950 , 70 perce nt of th e 44 ,000 res idents of thi s inde pend ent co mmunit y in D etro it were of Poli sh-Am eri ca n ancestry. Arthur Eva ns W ood , H amcram ck : A S ociological Scudy of a Polish -America n Communicy (New H ave n , Conn ., 1955) , 13-28 . " Fisc her, T o D well Among Friends, 207 . See also Peter R ose, S crangers in Th eir Midsc: Small T own J ews and T h eir Neigh bors (M erri ck , New Yo rk , 1977). " Sec note 23. �SLOVAKIA 42 TABLE 1 Bird's Nest Population 1900-1940 Population i900· 1910 .. 429 2,186 1920 ± 4, 145 19.30t 3,729 1940# 3,125 •M a nusc ript Census- Federal Po pul atio n Census Sched ules , 1900 La kewood, O hio . '"Ma nuscript Census-Federal Popula ti o n Census Schedul es, 19 10 Lakewood , O hio . ± Federal Po pulation C ensus Schedules, 1920 Lakewood, O hio for census trac t LW 18. Unfo rtu na tely. the cen· su s tract leaves out one side of one stree t in the neighbo rh ood . tFede ral Po pul ati on C ensus Schedul es , 1930 La kewood, O hio fo r census tract LW1 8. U nfo rtun ately. the cen· sus tract leaves out one side Of one stree t in the neighborhood . #Bu rea u of the Census, Popula tion and H ousing - 1940: Cle,·eland. O hio and Adj acent Arca (Washingto n , 1941), 106. U nfo rtun a tely, the ce nsus trac t leaves out o ne side of one street in 1hc neighborhood . �SLOVAKIA 43 TABLE 2 Occupations of Alley Dwellers 1880 Federal Population Census Schedules , 1880 . Washington, D .C. Record Group 29. National Archives Occupations , 1880 • Adult Males (16 or older) Occupacion N % Unski lled Service Semi-skilled Skilled White-collar Proprieto r (and self-employed) Professional Agriculture/Fishing None 1,641 251 318 233 50 112 28 17 124 59 TOTAL 2,774 100 N % 9 12 8 2 4 4 Adule Females (16 or older) Occupacion Unskilled Service Semi-skilled Skilled White-collar Proprietor None (includes "at home ," "keeping house , " and "at school" ) TOTAL 4 1,742 70 6 10 8 49 1, 780 49 3 ,620 100 2 •Th e substanti al numbe rs of a lley d we ll ers in skilled throu gh professi onal ac tivities is th e res ult of a classifica1io n system th at is ma rk edl y diffe re nt fro m the ones ge nerall y used . It was used here to detec t " class" differen ces within the alley po pula ti on . Thu s, ba rbers a re class ified as skilled , while a number of " proprietors " a rc , in fac 1,ju nkmen . V irtu all y all the adult alley po pula ti o n sho uld fall in the unskilled , se rvice, o r semi- skilled a reas. See Bo rchert, Alley Life, 306-08 . �SLOVAKIA 44 TABLE 3 Occupations of Residents of the Bird 's Nest 1900 A. Adult Males - 15 yea rs of age or older. Occupation Unskill ed .. . . . . . . .. .. .. .. ........ . . . . ... .. ... .... . Service ............ . .... . ... . . . . .... . .. . .. .. .. . . . Semi-skilled .. . ... . . ... . . . . . . . . Skilled ... . . ... .. .... . . . White-collar Proprietor Professional Agricultural T otal B. Adult W omen - Number Percent 147 92 % 3 2 0 5 0 3 2 0 3 2 160 15 yea rs of age or older . Occupation Number 2 2 Unskilled Service ... Semi- skill ed Skill ed White-colla r Proprietor Agri cultural Percent 50 % 50 % 0 0 0 0 0 T otal 4 100 % TABLE 3 Occupations of Residents of the Bird's Nest 1910 A . Adult M ales - 15 yea rs of age or older. Occupation Number Un skill ed 79 1 Se rvice 19 Semi-skilled . .. .. . . .... .. ... . ...... . .. . ... ... .... . 38 Skill ed ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 White-co ll a r 10 P roprietor 11 P rofessional 1 Agri cul tural To tal 949 Percent 84 % 2 4 8 100 % �SLOVAKIA B. Ad u lt Wom en - 45 15 ye ars of age or olde r. Occupation Number 75 Un ski lled ....... . . Service Semi- ski lled Ski lled W hi te-coll ar P ro prieto r Profess io nal Agricultu ral 33 Percent 66 % 29 % 0 4 4 1 0 0 0 11 3 T otal 100 % TABLE 3 Occupations of Residents of the Bird 's Nest 1940 Occupations Number O cc u pa ti ons not repo rt ed U nskilled Service wo rkers D om es ti c se rvi ce wo rkers Opera ti ves a nd kind red wo rkers C ra ft sm en , fo rem en , a nd kindred wo rkers . ... . .... . . . .. . . . C leri cal, sales , and kind red wo rkers . .. . . P ro pri etors, m a nage rs, and offi cials . ... . .. . Se mi -pro fess io nal Pro fess ional T otal Percent 2 184 83 98 17% 8 9 478 44 105 10 9 3 96 29 4 13 1,092 100 % Bu reau of the Ce nsus, Populat ion and Housing - 1940: Cleveland , Ohio and Adjacent A rea (W as hin gton , 1942) , 106 . Ce nsus tract leaves o ut o ne side of one street of neighbo rhood . �� 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 1984, Vol. 31 Description An account of the resource Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984. 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 1984 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 " Logan Place." September 26, 1935. All ey Dwellin g Authority. Nati onal Capital H ousin g Authorit y Collection . Library, D e pa rtm ent of H ou sin g and Com munit y D evelo pm ent. W as hin gto n, D .C . ► ► ;,::; ...... < 0 L' (/) 0::, SLOVAKIA 9 Migrant Responses To The City: The Neighborhood, Case Studies in Black and White, 1870-1940* James Borchert and Susan Danziger-Borchert Th ey tend to reproduce spontaneously the home community and to live in it. L etters show that they frequently reply to inquiries from home for a description of America, " I have yet been able to see America." W.I. Thomas, "The Immigrant Community" Students of migration to American cities have, over the years, produ ced a large library of studies. The greatest outpouring of work has co ncentra ted on the migration of southern and eastern European immigrants during the years from 1880 to 1920, and the "great migrati o n " of blacks from the rural South. This profusion of work has not produced any final conclusions on the migrant experience, although there a re a number of schools of thought about what happen ed to migrants . Th e first group of scholars who considered European migrants of this pe riod concl uded that d espite efforts to re- establish their rural ways of life, the city proved too poor a soil for such institutions to ta ke root. Thus extended family , kinship network , neighborhood , and community 1 • A ve rsio n of this paper was prese nted a t th e Nin ety-Seve nth Annu al M ee tin g of th e Am eri ca n Hi sto ri cal Associa ti o n held in Washin gton, D .C. in D ece mb er 198 2. The authors are indebted to th e Am erican Hi to ri cal Associati on for a n Albert J. Beveridge M em o ri a l Fund Grant and the Smithson ian In sti tuti on for a fellowship, whi ch provided esse nti al fundin g in conn ec tion with th e preparation of th e original presenta tion. 10 SLOVAKIA withered ; a pe riod of disorde r a nd co nfu sion foll owed u nt il mi grant s discovered the " urba n way of life. " 1 Accordin g to the theory, thi s d iscovery , synonymous with the beginnings of assimil a tion a nd accultu ration, provided migrants with the form s of order a nd organization tha t would m ake success in America (and cities) possible and p rob able . After a n appropriate period of apprenticeship in the " zon e in transition " a nd the " zone of workingmen ' s homes, " the urba nized mi grant began to m ove to middle-class status a nd suburban h om es. 3 M ore recent scholars, a n alyzing a ggregate cen sus d a ta (fo r indi ces of di ssimil a rity) a nd city directories (for spa tial a nd occupa tional m obility), have questioned the notion that European mi gra nts spent mu ch tim e in the zon e in tran sition . Based on this d a ta, they contend tha t individu al m igra nts from diffe rent immi grant groups lived widely scattered acro ss workin g-class residential a reas . Few con centration s we re great e nou gh to permit the development of urba n vill ages or ghet toes. Where they ex isted, mi grant s passed through so quickl y th a t their importa n ce as a n institution was minimized for most. 4 In contrast , until recently , most observers of black migran ts in the city concluded tha t folk breakdown was extensive. Moreover , whil e new bl ack residents seem ed to m ove as frequ ently as white mi gra nts, they did so within a n increasingly restrictive ghetto area . 5 Thu s, whe re a disorganized ghetto confronted black migrants, white migrants ex peri en ced greater spa tial and (implicitly) m ore occupa tional mobility. Whi te migrants m elted to gether into a working cl ass div ided by reli gion (P rotestant , Catholi c, and J ew) , 6 while blacks confronted a n earl y caste-like experien ce. 7 The m ost recent work by students of Eu ro pean a nd bl ack mi gra nt s of the 1880 to 1930 period h as b egun to challen ge som e of these findin gs . Students of urba n bl ack communi ties h ave foc u sed on the exte nsive presen ce of fo rm al organi zati ons to dem onstra te the exten t of order in black life. 8 Simila rl y, studies of E u rop ean immi grant group s h ave demon stra ted the persisten ce of ethni c life in th e city throu gh the in stituti on s of church , b e nevolen t groups, lod ges, politi cal ac tivity, a nd a n active press. 9 M oreove r , both se ts of studi es presum e th e prese nce of a recogni zable geogra phical b ase upon whi ch these fo rm al or gani zations operate . In the case of black communities, the ghetto explicity fo rm s the b ounda ries; fo r white immi gra nt s, th e pa rish or" immi gran t n eighborhood " implicitly serves as the turf around which the story of organi za- SLOVAKIA 11 tional life unfolds. Unfortunately, in either case, the empirical demonstration of this critical base and its role is often assumed as given. Few have sought to consider the role of neighborhood and community development as a crucial framework for their analyses. 10 • Because this literature provides little basis for analysis or comparison, it is necessary to turn to the work of sociologists for a framework. 11 While there is little work on scale and its impact on the nature of neighborhood, 11 more has been done on neighborhood typologies. Gerald Suttles suggests three: the defended neighborhood, the community oflimited liability, and the contrived community. The first is most pertinent to the discussion here: "a residential group which seals itself off through the efforts of delinquent gangs, . . . by sharp boundaries, or by forbidding reputation." 13 The elements of the defended community are: "a recognizable identity, a consensus among residents of a common fate, and a 'positive' and sentimental attachment to neighbors, local establishments, and local traditions to the exclusion of other persons, establishments, and traditions . '' 14 Another set of issues that the current literature ignores concerns the distinction between primary or informal groups (family, neighborhood, community) and formal organization. Historians' concentration on formal group life represents a great limitation on their work, since these groups represent only one level of response migrants made to the city. 15 In part, these formal groups reflect most fully the experiences of the most successful: those who are largely "a-typical" of the larger group's experience. 16 More importantly, informal groups played a critical role in the life of the folk migrants prior to their move to the city. 17 Their presence and roles in the city represent important elements to test to determine the nature and extent of changes that resulted from migration, urbanization, industrialization, and modernization. Since earlier observers pointed to these informal groups as the institutions that underwent the most complete and severe change, with formal groups replacing them, it seems central to the discussion of the persistency of ethnic group life that primary group life be given careful analysis. This is especially so since it is the family, neighborhood, and community that are so central for the socialization and identity of the young. 18 There are other reasons for considering the issue of informal group life. Recent studies of both European and black migrant areas have reported population turnover that was thought to undermine the develop- 12 SLOVAKIA ment and impact of ethnic enclaves; proximity to many other groups diminished European ethnicity to one of the three major religions. While recent studies demonstrate the importance of chain-migration for both black and white migrants, little effort has been made to determine what effect this chain migration had on the formation of groups in the city. 19 In contrast, the presence ( or absence) of a neighborhood in proximity to formal institutions of an ethnic group represents theoretically a very different experience than that postulated by studies of movement and mobility . Rather than seemingly random movement, it would be possible to hypothesize the informal neighborhood providing important sets of support for the church (parish), businesses, beneficial organizations, press, and national organizations. While it may be difficult to determine which came first, it seems likely that informal neighborhood lies at the base of the ethnic urban village. Moreover, despite the mobility, the presence of an ethnic village that provides important goods and services for "members," whatever the place of residence, plays an important role in the "maintenance" of ethnicity and identity. 20 Thus, while it may have have served every member of a given ethnic group in its particular part of the city, the neighborhood/urban village fostered important networks of institutions for migrants; dominance of a section of the city permitted residents a chance to be "themselves" within the confines of a turf dominated by persons from the same kin network, town, region, and country. In these neighborhoods, residents hammered out their own identities, consciousness, and relations with the larger world. Without this envelope, it is hard to imagine how so many informal and formal groups could have persisted and prospered . 21 It is the purpose of this article to examine the development of residential neighborhoods and communities by two different groups of migrants in different environments. While these are far from "random" selections, 22 we do feel that they represent two different kinds of migrant settlements, one very small, the other fairly large. Both neighborhoods conform roughly to Suttles' definition of a defended neighborhood; both represent an important migrant response to the urban environment, a response that has been passed over all too briefly by past work. The article focuses on the efforts of two different groups of folk migrants to establish a "turf" in the city: Black migrants settled in the inhabited alleys of Washington, D .C ., and the eastern European migrants settled in the "Bird's Nest" on the fringe of Cleveland, Ohio. SLOVAKIA 13 In m a ny ways the social co nditions migrants faced in these two environments were dramatically different; each cam e with a different set of experie nces and cultural baggage, and each faced very different conditions in the cities they settled despite the fact that both entered the urban marketpl ace at the ' 'bottom .' ' 23 While these differences are critical to understand what happened to each group, it is also important to see in general term s what migrants shared in their struggle with the urban-industrial environment. The article begins with a consideration of similarities and differences between the two communities in terms of physical form , population , occupations, and living conditions. The major part of the article focuses on the development and form each neighborhood took . The conclusions seek to compa re these two experien ces and suggest their implicat ions for othe r migrant experien ces and for the study of migrants . II. Descriptive Comparison of Neighborhoods: Alley Communities and The Bird 's Nest Physical Form and Isolation . Alley communities of Washington, like their counterparts throughout the urban United States and Europe , were small, relatively circumscribed , and isola ted neighborhoods spread throu ghout the central city 24 (see Map 1) . In Washington , alley house co nstru ction fell largely in the period from the end of the Civil War until 1892, when Congress banned new construction. D eveloped on narrow st reets or alleys inside a large city block , the tiny, two-story fram e or brick row houses faced inwa rd onto the interior alley, while larger, more expensive row houses lined the outside of the block and faced onto the street (M ap 2). W ell-to-do residents of the street-front property were separated from their poor and often black, backyard neighbors physically, sociall y, and culturally. D evelopers and owne rs of alley property , often well to do , generally lived outside the immediate section of the city where their all ey property was located, thus furth er isolating the alley n eighborhood . 25 The Bird 's N est, a single neighborhood , was equ ally isolated , but shared much more in co mmon with the la rge ethnic enclaves in urban indu st ri al areas throu ghout the United States. In 1892 , a land company sub sidary (Pleasant Hill L and Company-PHLC) of the National Carbon Company laid out the eight n a rrow stree ts (five n a m ed for birds), a nd 424 lots to provide hous in g for workers at its new facto ry n earby. 26 SLOVAKIA 14 INHABITED ALLEYS 1897 POPUATION 0 1- ,. 0 0 0 JOO - ... 0 RKE • • 0 MAP 1 - 1/l or mor, 81,il(: k 2/lormor,\Nhct C ommi ssione rs of the District of Columbia, Annual R eport (W ashin gton , 189 7), 195-202. 1897 SLOVAKIA 15 N STREET [ fr" I l'Fif =! .J.Jo . a--1 II ' ' .. ~ • II - '-M STREET L STREET D BUILDINGS HEADS Of HOUSEHOLD Native Born Whites S.ablo Foreign Born \\'hites (born outside Ncw1h America or p,uenc~ born outside Othe<Buldir@ Store o, AmYm Shop North Amtfil:a) • •• !lacks ~ (when lhan l) more MAP 2 - Sanborn Map Publishin g Company, In surance M aps of Washington , D .C. (New York , N . Y., 1888) ; and Fed eral Populat ion Census Schedules, I 880 W ashington , D .C., V ol. 2 pan 2, R eco rd Group 29 National Archi ves. SLOVAKIA 16 \~ PART Of" L.\I(E,ro on .>. ' -~ I I .A 11 LE 1 1 ROCKPORT TOWNSHIP. \~_. ~':. ~ \" \ ... ~7;:... MAP .3 - Pleasa nt Hill La nd C ompan y subdi vision of th e " Bird 's Nes t " a nd th e adjoining Na ti on al Ca rbon Facto r y, 1898 . Thom as Fl ynn , Ott o Ba rth el, R .H . Bunni ng , and Thomas H assa n , Atlas o[ th e Suburbs o[ Cleveland, Ohio ( Phil ad elphia , 1898), Plate 24 . SLOVAKIA 17 The neighborhood was circumscribed by railroad tracks, th e factory , a nd a wood s (later d eveloped for a factory and park) on three sides; the fourth side, a secondary comme rcial artery, p ermitted some overflow into the immediate n eighborhood to the north (see Map 3). While Bird's Nest workers were able to gain ownership of the area, it remained isolated from the surrounding area which was developin g as a middl e-class suburb. 2 7 Like the inward facing alley, th e neighborhood also turned in ward with its " main street," Plover , being the most isol a ted of its streets. 28 Migration and Neighborhood Size. Black migrants from the surrounding states of Virginia and Maryland, coming largely in cha ins of family, fri ends , and neighbors, settled into the alley communities. 29 Predominantl y from rural areas, these mi grants mainta ined ties to the countryside a nd encouraged furth er m ove me nt from those areas . While rural migrants had a number of differe nt res id enti al environm e nts to chose from in the city, a nd often m oved b ack a nd forth betwee n these , m an y se ttled initially in the alleys . Alley popu lations varied co nsiderabl y in size within a given year and over tim e . The smallest held one or two famil ies, the largest ove r 400 peopl e (see Map 1). Most all eys fell so m ewhere in be tween , with the average all ey size in 1880 bein g 50 residents ; at the peak of alley population in 1897, when there were nearl y 20 ,000 all ey res idents living in 240 all eys, th e average all ey size was 73. Th ese were, th e n , very small , face-to-face co mmunities of bl ack rural migrants. 3° In contrast, migra nts to the Bird 's N es t cam e from rural a reas in Easte rn Europe; most id entifi ed th emselves as " Hun garian Slovaks ," alth ou gh some were from P ola nd a nd Ru ss ia . 31 Th ey also mi grated in cha in s of relat ives, fri end s, and n eighbors as well as by region. 32 Like bl ack mi gra ti on to th e all eys, th e re was cons iderab le movem ent back a nd forth betwee n th e Old W o rld a nd th e New. Un like th e all ey populat ion th at reached its peak in 1900 a nd began to drop off, with each alley being a small isola ted community onto itself, the Bird 's N est populati on of 429 in 1900 in creased fi ve -fold by 19 10 a nd then doubled by 1920 at its peak ( see T able 1.) Thi s represe nts a different kind of ethni c encl ave with pote nti al for m o re sub sta nti ve inst itu tion al d evelopme nt. Occupations and Workplace. Black residents of W ashin gton alleys co nfronted profound limita ti ons in their search for work. R ac ism limi ted 18 SLOVAKIA employment of black males largely to day labor and black women to dom estic or laundry work; none had access to the limited industrial occupations in Washington 33 (see Table 2). The employment open to alley dwell ers, then, represented the worst paid , least secure, and often the m ost physically demanding and dangerous positions available. Moreover, despite long residence in the ci ty, black alley dwellers experienced little if any upward occupational mobility ; a color bar en sured that any movem ent would be minimal. 3 4 In contrast , while migrants from Eastern Europe came with similar skills as rural blacks , they often found industrial employment available to them, even though it was nearly always at the bottom . In 1900, most male residents of the Bird 's Nest were laborers working at the adjacent National Carbon factory; by 1910, a number of residents had gained som e mobility by gaining access to semi-skilled industrial occupations. Moreover, a number of women were able to gain indu strial employment, although usually a t the lowest levels ; many others earn ed incom e by runnin g boarding houses or taking in boarders. While this work was long, hard , physically demanding , and often dangerous , it was also more secure and better paying than anything available to alley dwellers . By 1940 , em ployed male a nd female workers of the Bird 's Nest were concentrated in semi-skilled pos itions ( 44 percent), with another 10 percent skilled and 13 percent proprietarial or white collar employees; only a third remained as unskill ed or service workers 35 (see Table 3). Living Conditions. Living conditions in most D .C. alleys were far from wholesome; crowding, poorly maintained buildings and outhouses, piles of uncollected trash in alleys, and the co nstant d anger of contagious disease plagued residents. D espite the limited space inside the two-story 12x30 foot alley house, man y were shared by more than one hou sehold unit ; in some cases four family units lived in one small room each . 36 These crowded cond itions made residents m ore susceptible to di sease, while landl ord s' lack of co ncern for maintenance and the city's di sinterest in coll ect in g trash from the alleys exposed residents to di sease in other ways. Limited and unstable income restricted diets while d angerou s, outdoor work further taxed alley dwellers' health . Ultimately these cond iti ons led to death rates for alley dwell ers th at were twice th at for residents of the streets; the major causes were diseases that cou ld clearly be linked to socio-economic status . 3 7 Children under the age of one year acco unted for much of the high death rate. 38 SLOVAKIA 19 While the Bird's Nest developed in a suburban setting and lacked the extreme density of the alley community, living conditions were little better. While outside the multi-family homes "everything was mud," inside the long, narrow two - and three-story buildings many families lived in tiny cold water flats 39 (see Map 4) . Whereas alley dwellers had to go outside for water and toilets, Bird's Nesters shared "indoor water closets .' ' 40 Residents of the latter community, however, were more likely to share their tiny apartments with boarders; 32 percent of households had boarders in 1910 (boarders made up one-fourth of the total population), 41 while only 13 percent of 1880 alley households were augmented. 41 The crowded living conditions in the Bird's Nest, along with the long hours at work and limited income, led to high death rates, especially for the very young. 43 In 1900, women reported over one-fourth of the children they had borne were dead, 44 a condition that continued in later years. There are, then, substantial similarities between the two populations; Both came into the urban marketplace at the bottom; both lived in housing conditions that were crowded and dangerous ; the "communities" were isolated physically and socially from the surrounding populations; both were made up of groups that had migrated in chains to the city. Nevertheless , residents of the Bird's Nest did have access to industrial jobs that were more stable and better paying; and these positions permitted some mobility from unskilled labor to semi- and eventually skilled jobs. In addition, where alley communities were largely limited in size by the number of houses built in each alley , and ultimately by the limited interior space of the block itself, the Bird's Nest faced less spatial constriction. This afforded the potential for more complete development. Finally, while alley dwellers seldom had the resources to purchase their alley homes from absentee landlords , res idents of the Bird's Nest were encouraged to do so by the industrial developer of their community . Where ownership always remained external to the alley community , the Bird 's N est quickly becam e locally owned. Despite these differences, each area developed a se ries of informal groups that provided the base for the formation of a neighborhood . That neighborhood , in turn , provided the foundation for the d evelopment of more formal organizations. Given the differe nt resources and scale, however, residents d eveloped different kinds of ne ighborhoods. 10 FAM ILY UNtTS .I H oward Whipple G ree n , Plan es of Living in C uyah oga County: as D epicted by th e R eal Property Survey (C leveland , 1940), 65. Bird ' s Nest = LW18 MAP 4 - e 6.5 o/o OF ALL FAMILY UNITS 2 1,953 IN COUNT Y COLD WATER FLATS ~ ► ~ < >- 0 r< (./J 0 SLOVAKIA 21 III. Neighborhoods Alley Communities. Black migrants who came to Washington alleys re-established their kin and friendship networks in the alley; they continued to use these networks for emotional and financial support. Because their resources were so marginal, only reliance on these groups made survival more likely. Each alley then, had several or more such networks into which "fictive kin" were also drawn. They provided the most basic form of social organization, albeit informal, in the alley . 45 It was the alley neighborhood, itself, that brought these kin groups together into a loose , but cohesive unit . Since alleys were isolated from the surrounding neighborhood and often some distance from the emerging black enclaves of the city where the major institutions of black life were located, alley residents often had to fall back on themselves for help and support. Drawing on their rural experience, migrants constructed informal defended neighborhoods to provide for their needs. In many respects, however, this informal community became much more important in the city because residents were more dependent on each other, especially in the period just following their migration. Since migration to the city (and alleys) continued throughout the period, and since there were always some "native" alley residents as well as some migrants who had lived in a given alley for many years, new migrants did not have to confront the urban environment alone . New neighbors, kin, and old friends helped ease the transition from country to city. 46 The alley itself' 7 was the center of the alley community; residents congregated there, save in the worst weather, to meet with friends and neighbors. 48 A major location for informal meeting took place at the intersection of the two main alleys . All residents passed this point on their way into and out of the alleys; neighbors met each other here as they returned home from work each day, or hung out there during the day if there was no work available . In addition , residents generally sat in front of their homes and talked to neighbors who joined them on the steps, benches, or chairs set out for this purpose . 49 It is impossible to overestimate the value and import of this activity, for virtually every aspect of the alley community was based on this interaction . If neighboring provided an important element of entertainment, it also provided information on which neighbors needed help and where jobs were available. A critical function of the alley community 22 SLOVAKIA involved help and support for those in need; neighbors aided each other by providing money, food, and shelter while in some cases they took in friends' children and cared for them, in others they let neighborhood children sleep at their house '' because they had more room.'' 50 A third function neighboring and the alley community provided was the maintenance of internal social control. Part of this came as a result of the positive support neighbors gave each other; they also used gossip and more formal sanctions to maintain order. 51 Ultimately, these daily discussions about ' ' appropriate behavior'' by residents resulted in the hammering out of a common philosophy and world view; a world view that was shared by members of the community and differed from that of outsiders. 52 Finally, alley dwellers defended their neighborhood against outsiders . Part of this resulted from their intensive use of alley space for neighboring , thus discouraging others from entering the area . When outsiders did enter they were confronted by residents and watched throughout their alley visit, an experience that unnerved many observers of alley life. 53 Alley dwellers had good reason to watch "outsiders"; other Washingtonians, black and white, generally viewed residents of the alleys with great disdain. While the police were especially harsh in their attempts to control alley populations, other residents, though less overt in their actions, expressed nearly universal condemnation of alley dwellers. 54 This external hostility helped hold the alley community together, despite its internal dissension . Disputes over life style dominated these schisms, but the small scale of the neighborhood, the necessity to cooperate to survive, and the external threats effectively held residents together. Because of its small size and very limited resources, however, the alley community was not able to develop or support a very extensive set of formal organizations. It did provide an excellent medium for small alley churches, which were simply alley houses residents rented "for Jesus. " They were kept going by neighbors' contributions and the pastors ' earnings from "doing occasional laundry" or other work . 55 While most alleys seem to have had at least one of these churches, their small size - "Ten chairs and a pulpit, and an improvised altar" - makes the extent of participation problematic . 56 Alley businesses were equally marginal, and often involved in illegal activity. Like the semi-formal alley church, these businesses required conversion of part ofan alley house into a " speak-easy" or "fac- SLOVAKIA 23 tory" for the m a nufacture of illegal alcohol , or oft en both . While these were cl early ill egal and we re often closed down by law e nforcem ent offi cia ls, th ey provided an importa nt service for the alley ne ighborhood in representin g a " proto " ne ighborhood tave rn a nd community ce nter where residents co uld m eet. 57 The Bird 's Nest. A s earl y as 1889 , Slovak mi gran ts b egan work on the construction of the n ew National Carbon factory . 58 After the factory was co mpl eted , these worke rs and their fri ends were hired to work in th e factory . 59 Like alley dwellers, initial settle rs in the Bird 's N est began a cha in mi gration , at first drawing from the oth er Slovak enclaves throughout the city and eventuall y reaching back to Hun gary. This process resu lted in ex tended kin n etworks bein g refo rmul a ted in th e n ew neighborhood . In a number of cases, this reformu la tion extended to Old World v ill age pa rishes. Within th e fir st few years, m a n y of the core famili es had m oved in and esta blished them selves. Fri end s, ne ighbors, a nd co -reli gionists followed . As o ne oral history repo rted, " m a n y times the m en came along first , leaving wives a nd children behind in Slovakia, until they h ad found work a nd could send back for th eir families. When they cam e first, they sought out others from the sam e village who were alread y" in the neighborhood . 60 The most criti cal form of organization , however, was the neighborhood it self. Like the all ey community , the n eighborhood rem a ined largely inform al; initiall y it w as a grouping of kin n etworks largely of Slovak a n cestry. Y e t this inform a l " institution " p rovided the precon dition s necessary for the con structio n of other aspects of the community. In large p a rt the migrants es tablished th eir co ntrol over th e ne ighborhood in the first years of settle m e nt , 1892- 1900 . A lthough the a rea was th en only sli ghtl y bigge r tha n th e largest all ey, these earl y migrants a nd th eir famili es esta blish ed a beachhead that was neve r chall en ged . Unlike alley dwell ers who neve r gained ow nership of th eir ne ighborhood , res idents of the Bird 's N est quickly bou ght up th e small parcels o f la nd (wheth er simpl y cl eared b y the PHLC, or built upon ) , 6 1 as soo n as th eir fin ances m ad e it possibl e. 61 A lon g Pl ove r , migrant s purch ased 43 perce nt of the lots prior to 1900; o nl y three of th e 35 lots o n the street m ay h ave been ini tiall y purchased by non-Sl avs. 63 R es id ent s gain ed ow ners hi p o f m ost of th e 424 lots in the subdi vion s on initi a l sale; w ith few exce ptio n s, th ey eve ntuall y ga in ed co ntrol ove r th e rem a ining o nes as well. 24 SLOVAKIA P e rhaps the most striking aspect of n eighborhood d evelopment is the extent to which residents drew on each other's skill s and resources to construct houses, stores, a nd shops. Of the 171 lots for which information is available on th e initial con struction , 92 perce nt of the owners were alread y residents of the neighborhood. While m a n y built their own hom e (or a building to rent), those owners who hired a builde r to co nstruct their houses overwhelmingly chose a resident of the neighborhood (64 percent). Many of the non-resident builders were also of Slavic origin , but lived in one of the other encl aves spread throughout the city. 64 T o an impressive ex tent , th en , residents bought up the neighbo rhood la nd, and per son ally built th eir own hom e or a home to sell to more rece nt migra nts ; when they did not do their own co nstru ction they hired neighbors . In doing so, they establi shed an impress ive investm ent upon which they could draw or build on in the future. 65 H av in g es tablish ed a turf a nd access to employ m ent , residents encouraged n ew migra nt s to join them. Whe reas the m ajo rity of th e first res idents ha d migrated to the United Sta tes in the ten years prior to the building of th e factory, the massive influx of n ew migrants in the fir st two d ecad es of the twenti eth century cam e direc tl y to the n eigh bo rhood. Slovaks continu ed their d omination of the n eighborhood (70 perce nt) , whil e Slovak was the most common la ngu age. 66 One of the key attractions of thi s N ew Slovak/ Slav ic village, in a d dition to the presen ce of fri ends , relatives, and an ethni c ne ighborhood , was the prese nce of employm ent possibilities in industry. H av ing mad e important inroads from th e beginnin g of the constru ction o f the new factory, Slovaks , a nd to a lesse r extent P oles a nd Ru ssians, dominated the lowest level of empl oym e nt in the facto ry. 67 Th ere is so m e indi cation th a t the original pl a nt o n the east side of Clevela nd may also h ave empl oyed workers from a nearb y Slovak e nclave. These employees m ay have been attrac ted to th e new factory b y the avail ab ilit y of la nd ; a disastrous fire a t the old e r pl a nt in 1893 m ay well have speed ed up this process. 68 Wh a teve r the initi a l co nnection, Slovaks a nd oth er Sl av ic mi gra nt s establi shed a beachh ead in th e factory from th e beginnin g b y drawin g o n th eir inform a l networks . 69 Jun e Alexand er found a similar co nditio n for Slovaks in Pittsburgh , namely that "factori es relied o n their fore m e n to hire workers and foreme n, in turn, reli ed o n th e ir workers as intermedi a ries to find la borers. " 70 As mi grants worked their way slowly up the ranks to semi-skilled a nd occasion all y forem en positions , th ey SLOVAKIA 25 gain ed m ore direct access to the hiring process. With the informal neighborhood networks , Slovaks came to dominate both workplace and neighborhood . 7 1 Whil e info rm al social cont rol and aid permeated th e early years of the Bird's N est as it did in the alleys, the ra pid growth of the neighborhood in the first decade of the twentieth cen tury permitted the developme nt of m ore form al organiza tions . R esidents of different reli gious persuas ion s m et sepa rately; initially these m ee tings, like the alley church , were worshi p serv ices held in co-reli gioni sts' hom es. Eve ntu ally these m eetin gs led to the fo rmation of lod ges and other m ore form al organizations designed to bring about the formation of a parish and the building of a church . 72 The first parish , Sts. Peter and P aul Lutheran , was offi cially form ed in 1901 ( church building-1 902/school som e years later) ; it was followed by Sts. Cyril and M ethod ius R om an Catholic Church in 1903 (church building and school-1905); St. Gregory ' s Byzantine Rite Catholic Church in 1905 ( chu rch building 1906/school som e years later); and the C alvin Presbyterian C hurch in 19 17 (church buildin g-19 2 1) . Ca lvin Presbyte ri a n C h urch in th e foreg round occupi es th e first sit e of Sts. Pe te r a nd Pau l Luth era n C hurch . In th e b ac kg round is St . Grego ry's Byza nti e n Rit e Ca th oli c C hurch . (Ph ot0g ra ph by a ut ho rs, J a nu a ry , 1984). 26 SLOVAKIA Sts. Peter and Paul Luthera n. (Photograph by au thors, January, 1984). SS. Cyril a nd M eth odi us R om an Ca th oli c C hurch . (Ph otog raph by au th ors, J anua ry, I 984). SLOVAKIA 27 These "predominantly" Slovak parishes were joined by those of the other ethnic groups sharing the neighborhood, the first of which was St. Hedwig's Church (Roman Catholic Polish Parish) in 1905 ( church building-l 914/school-1926). Because residents took the initiative in the formation of these parishes and schools, they often had considerable control over their direction, especially in the early years. 73 These parishes made the neighborhood even more attractive to potential migrants; their founding at the beginning of the decade undoubtedly encouraged many others to migrate. Religious schools provided another incentive, especially to Slovaks who witnessed their own schools closed or "converted for Magyarization" in the homeland. For residents in the Bird's Nest, these schools represented a way to avoid efforts at Americanization promoted by the public schools. As a result many children from the neighborhood attended these parochial schools. 74 Drawing on their growing neighborhood and its greater resources (compared to alley communities), residents of the Bird's Nest also started an incredible number of businesses. While most of these were small stores and shops that served the immediate neighborhood , several developed into substantial businesses that provided necessary goods and services for ethnic and religious needs . 75 Most important, however, was the formation of Eagle Building and Loan Company in 1911 . Controlled from within the neighborhood, residents built an institution that made possible complete acquisition and building of the area, and expansion beyond . 76 The building and loan was critical since over fifty percent of the neighborhood's lots were sold by the PHLC during the 1910s, while the period from 1912 to 191 7 was the period of greatest home construction. 77 Although the neighborhood was divided by ethnicity, religion, and class , as well as by very different attitudes on assimilation, 78 these divisions were subsumed by the needs of the neighborhood and the workings of informal groups. For some, the community revolved around the parish ; Peter Glovna remembered that "it was just like a little village, and the pillar was St. Cyril. " 79 Nevertheless , they were a series of co mmunity-wide activities that drew residents together. 80 Most important , " the first settlers tried to reconstruct , as closely as possible , the village system they were so accustomed to in Poland , Russia, and Slovakia. The close-knit warmth a nd familiarity of the village provided security and a sense of home to the recently displaced immigrants. " 81 28 SLOVAKIA Ultimately , residents used the neighborhood as alley residents did theirs; everyone knew everyone else and interaction on the streets, front yards, and porches was extensive, especially in warm weather. 82 This neighboring activity , largely through informal, small groups of relatives and friends, made up a critical element in the neighborhood life . It provided the first level (past kin network) of organization, one that replicated itself as formal groups began in the churches, lodges, and benevolent associations as well as the workplace. These primary groups provided members with an immediate sense of belonging, a connection with larger, more formal organizations, and a way by which members of the primary group could collectively continue to co nstru ct a world view, maintain social control , and provide help and support for the needy. 83 Like the alley community, the Bird's Nest found that the external threat was often sufficient to contain internal conflict. Hostility , both formal (from police and other official sources) and informal (from personal prejudice directed at residents), was extensive throughout the period. Outsiders, as in the case of alley communities, targeted the neighborhood as an eyesore and danger to the rest of the community; and police exercised their authority to "maintain social control by overenforcing the law .' ' 84 IV. Conclusions Based on these examples, it seems clear that migrants, via chain migration and efforts to gain entry/control over admission to a j ob market , began to establish residential enclaves. 85 If the process of neighborhood formation appears to have begun almost unconsciously, its development was quite conscious. While the presence of such neighborhoods is taken as given to most studies, what stands out in these two examples is the extent to which migrants took over their respective turfs, defended them, and built informal and formal institutions around them. In fact , the clustering provided the necessary context for virtually every further institutional development. If some or many migrants eventually passed through and out of the neighborhood , it remained(s) an important focal point in the lives of many , even those who could "escape" to more affluent suburban settlements. 86 The neighborhood , then , must be taken more fully into account as one, if not the most critical, of migrant institutions. SLOVAKI A 29 T hese neighborhood s provided the b ase fo r su rvival in the new urban en vironment. They were the source of housing, employm ent , mutual aid , p rotection , famil y, and friends . They permitted pa rents to raise their children in a n en v iro nment a nd throu gh in stitutio n s ove r w hich the fam ili es exerted som e co ntrol. They also provided a safe ha rbor from whi ch m igrants confro n ted the confu sin g city . M o reove r , ne ighbor s worked out their respo n ses to the issu es o f ethnicity, accultu ratio n , a nd ass im il at ion in this con text of everyd ay life. If n eighbo r s chose diver ging path s, they were n eve rtheless path s th a t d evelo ped w ithin the confines a nd con text of the ethnic en clave. R a ther th a n the stilted b ackwaters th a t R o bert P a rk a nd other s saw, th ese e ncl aves we re vibrant wi th conflicts over life style, ch a n gin g ethnic ide n tity, a d a pta tion , a nd eve n interna tio n al issu es . 8 7 T hu s, to under stand migrant organization s a nd the role they played in accul tu rat io n and et h nic ident ity, it is necessary to con sider th e first in st ituti on m igran ts created in th e city, th e neighbo rhood . 88 W hile these two n eigh borhood s were dram aticall y d ifferent, they both fi t well into Suttles' d efinition of a defended neighbo rhood . I t seem s q uite likely tha t m os t imm igrant e nclaves also fit thi s descri ption , even in cases where the areas was no t so highly segregated fro m the surroundin g city b y either physical ba rrier s or class differen ces. A number o f rece nt studies d em o n stra te tha t d efended n eighborhood s can hold up without these two elem ents. 89 H oweve r , wha t seem s m ost important here is the signifi cance of scale . Becau se alley neighbo rhood s we re sm all a nd u nable to develop ex ten sive for m al o rganizat io n s d oes no t m ean tha t they we re a n y less impor tant for m a inta inin g a nd d evelopin g a n e thnic consciousness and way of life. R a ther, wha t the alley neighborhood seem s to suggest is that smal l scale e nclaves, w hethe r hidden in alleys, or scatte red alo n g stree t fro nt s, co n tin ue to have fl ouri shin g p r im a ry group li fe : in tern al orde r and co n trol, social serv ice act ivities, a nd eve n som e p roto in stitu tio n al li fe. M oreove r , it is likely tha t ethnic identity is heigh te ned in those situ at io ns w hen other groups are in su ch close proxim ity . 90 In the case of the Bi rd 's Nest o r la rge r ethnic co mmuni ties,9 1 the sig nifi cance of the ne ighborhood is often overlooked because of the exte n t of ethni c organ izat io n al a nd b u siness li fe. H oweve r , it is the pop u la ti o n scale tha t makes poss ible this d evelopment. Nevert heless, these a reas con tinue to be marked by extensive informal groups ; their aggregate 30 SLOVAKIA makes the neighborhood and keeps it operating, althou gh formal associations play an important role. Ultimately, then , we should exp ect smalle r settlem ents to develop strong informal groups but few formal ones; the larger the co mmunity , the greater the potential for formal organizations to develop , although infor mal group life rema ins active and important. It may well be, as Fischer suggests, that ethnic ide ntity is greatest in these smaller areas, less able to adapt or adjust to the n ew world . In larger enclaves, migrants have more space to consider alternatives , to pick and chose from diverging paths, m ore a bility to ad a pt or adjust to things "Am e rican " b y in corporating them into their repertoire a nd making them " their own. " 91 Finally, in addition to the observations con ce rnin g the importance of neighborhood as a mi grant institution , it is worth noting the different conditions white and bl ack migrants confronted. The caste barrier blacks confronted in Washington as well as the severely restricted housing m arket limited the potential for comm unity d evelopment. Alley dwellers utilized highly creative methods to circumvent the nearly impossible conditions they confronted . To surv ive in this enviro nment was success. In contrast, Slovak men and women were able to gain e nt ry to more stable a nd be tte r paying industrial jobs; eventu ally they secured so me m ovemen t into semi- a nd even skilled positions as a resu lt of their tenacious hold over jobs in their neighborhood. By doing so, they es ta blished ethnic occupation al beachheads for their kin a nd progeny , whil e blacks we re limited to day la bor a nd positions in the secondary labor market. 93 Similarly, Slovaks a nd other white ethnics through considerable personal and fami ly sacrifice were able to purchase their turf; few black alley dwellers were ever so fort un a te. In short , Bird Nesters could use their ethnic ties to establish and maintain occupational and property turf; blacks were "permitted " those jobs and hou sin g no one else wanted. D ominance of these turfs, occupational and residential, were always transitory, requiring incred ible hum an effort to m ainta in th em or develop n ew ones. They seldom permitted a n opportunity to grow or expand. SLOVAKIA 31 NOTES ' O scar Handlin concludes that "wherever the immigrants went , th ere was one com mon ex peri ence th ey shared: nowhere could they transplant the European village . Wh atever th e va riati ons among environments in America , none was familiar. The pressure of th at stran geness exe rted a dee p influence upon th e character of rese ttlement , upon the usual forms of behavior , and upon the notes of communal action th a t emerged as th e immigrants beca me Americans .'' Th e Uprooted (2nd edn., Boston, 1973) , 129 . ' Loui s Wirth noted that the "shift from a rural to a predominantly urban society .. has bee n acco mpa ni ed by profound changes in virtually every phase of social life, '' with th e "substituti on of seconda ry for primary contacts , th e weakening of bonds of kin ship , and the declining social significance of the famil y, the disappearance of the neighborhood , and th e undermining of the tradition al bas is of social solidarity." On Cities and Social Life , ed . by Albert R eiss, Jr . (Chicago, 1964) , 79-80. See also Wirth, " Urbanism as a Way of Life , " American Journal of Sociology, 44 Ouly , 1938) , 1-24 . ' Ernes t Burgess , who devised the co nce ntri c zone th eory from which this co mes, concluded th a t ' 'disorganization as preliminary to reorgani za ti on of attitud es and condu ct is almost invariably th e lot of th e newcomer to the cit y.'' ' ' The Growth of the City," in Robert E. Park a nd Ernest Burgess, Th e City (Chicago, 1967), 54, 47-62 . • Howa rd Chudacoff found th at while foreign born migrants " m ay have retained their social , eco nomic , and religious commun iti es, their incidence of move ment out of th e old neighborhoods and a round the city make residential coherence a ve ry temporary experience." " A New Look at Ethnic Neighborhoods: Residential Dispersion and th e Concept of Visibilit y in a M edium-Sized City,'' Journal of America n History , 60 Oune , 1973), 91. See also Chudacoff, Mobile Americans: Residential and Social Mobility in Om ah a, 1880- 1920 (New York , 1972), 154-55; Humbert S . N elli, The Italians in Chicago: 1880-1 930( N ew York, 1970), xi i-xiii; Sam Bass Warner and Colin B. Burke, " Cultural Change and th e Ghetto," Journal of Contempnrary History, 4 (O ctober , 1969) , 173 -88 ; David W ard, " The Internal Spatial Different iat ion of Immi grant R esiden ti al Distri cts ,'' in Geographic Perspectives on America's Past , ed. by Dav id Ward ( ew York , 1979) , 335 -43; and Ward , " The Emergence of Central Immi gra nt Ghettoes in American Cities: 1840-1920, " Annals of th e A ssociation of America n Geographers , 38 ( 1968) , 343-59. ' The most class ic stateme nt of this positi on was that of E . Franklin Fraz ier: Southern black mi gra nts to north ern cities los t " res tra ints imposed by a simple folk culture" and creat ed a "class of rovi ng Negroes who will li ve a lawless sex a nd quasi-family life ." " The Impac t of U rba n Civilization upon Negro Family Life, " American Sociological R el'iew , 2 (October , 1937), 6 18. See also Frazier's The Negro Family in the United States (Chicago, 1966), 207-92; Cl yd e Vernon Ki se r , Sea Island co City ( New York, 1968), 223; Gilbert O sofsky, H arlem : Th e Making of a Ghetro (N ew York , 1964) , 135-49 ; Allen H . Spear, Black Chicago: Th e M aking of a Negro Gherto (C hi cago , 1967), 167-80 , x; Constance M cLaughlin Green, Th e Secret Ciry 32 SLOVAKIA (Prince ton, 1967); a nd D av id K atzm a n , Befor e th e Gh etto (U rba na, 1973). 6 W a rn er notes that reli gious co nfli cts in Am eri ca n cities "forced a ll cit y dwellers to think of th em selves either as Protestant s o r Ca th olics ' ' o r J ews, not as members of spec ific ethni c group s. " Cu ltural Cha nge a nd Ghett o," 178. See also Will H erberg, Prot estant , Cath olic, J ew (New York , 1955). ' G ilbert O sofsky, " The Endurin g Ghetto," J ournal of Am erica n History, 55 (September , 1968). ' 8 K enn eth Ku smer , A Ghetto T ak es Shap e: Black C leveland 1870- 1930 (Urbana, Ill ., 1976); D ou glas D a ni els, Pioneer Urbanites: A Social and C ultural History of Black San Fran cisco (Philadelphi a, 1980); and Thomas Cox , Bla cks in T op ek a, K ansas : A Social History (Baton R ouge, La., 1982). 9 Josef J. Barton , Peasants and Strangers: Italians, Rumanians, and Slovaks in an Am erica n C ity, 1890-1950 (Cambrid ge , M ass. , 1975), 64-90 ; M . Mark Stola rik , " Immigration a nd Urban izati on: The Slova k Experi ence, 1870-1 9 18" (Ph .D . di sse rtat ion, Universit y of Minneso ta , 1974), 69 -109; Sylvia June G ranatir Al exander , "The Immi gra nt C hurch a nd Co mmunit y: The Forma ti o n of Pittsburgh 's Slova k R eli gio us In stitution s, 1880- 19 14" (Ph .D . disse rta ti on, Uni vers it y of Minneso ta , 1980), 209-355, 443-5 18 ; Al exa nder , " Stay in g Togeth er : Chain Mi gration and Pattern s of Slovak Settl em ent in Pittsburgh Prio r to World W ar I , '' J ournal of Am erican Echnic History, I (Fall, 198 1), 56-83; K athleen Neils Conze n, Immigrant Milwa ukee: 1836-1 860 (Cambridge, M ass., 19 76) , 154-191 ; and V irginia Vans-M cLaughlin , Family and Commu nicy: Italian Immigranc s in Buffalo, 1880- 1930 (Ith aca, N. Y ., 1977). 0 A numb er of studi es do develop th e role of famil y life in mi gra nt se ttlements; thi s wo rk represe nts a m ajo r co ntribution to th e a nalys is of " inform al" o r prim ary gro up life in th e cit y. For exa mple , see T ama ra K . H a reve n , " Th e Histo ri cal Study of th e Fa mil y in Urban Society , " J ourn al of Urba n History , I (M ay , 1975 ). Unfortuna tely, such studi es neglect th e relati on ship of fa mil y a nd extended kin netwo rk to other inform al-primary groups of neighbo rh ood a nd communit y. Wh at is mi ss in g here is a discussion of th e informal social organi zat ion that makes up the nei ghborh ood . Fo r m o re co mpl ete ana lyses of social netwo rk s, see J . C lyde Mit chell , ed. , Social N ecworks in Urban Situation (M anches ter, 1969); Eli zabet h Bott , Family and Social N etwork (N ew Yo rk , 197 1); and C la ud e S. Fischer, To Dwell Among Friends: Personal N etwo rk s in T own and Cicy (C hi cago, 1982). " For exa mp le, see K a thl ee n Neil s Co nze n , " Commentary: Immi grants , Im mi g ra nt Neighborhoods, and Ethni c Identit y: Histo ri cal Issues, " J ourn al or Am erica n History, 66 (D ece mbe r, 1979), 603 -15. " Su za nn e Keller , Th e Urba n N eig hborh ood (N ew Yo rk , 1968). " Gera ld Sut tl es , Tn e S ocial Constru ction or Communicies (C hi cago, I 972 ), 2 I , 3- I 07 . " R o m a n A. C ybri ws ky, "Soc ia l Aspec ts of Ne ighbo rh ood Change ," Annals or th e Associa tion of Am erica n Geograph ers, 68 ( I 978) , 2 7. In co ntras t , th e co nce pt of th e co mmunit y of limi ted liab ilit y, o ri ginall y developed by M o rri s j a now it z, emp hasizes " th e int enti o na l, vo lunt a ry, a nd es peciall y, th e pa rtial a nd d ifferenti ated in vo lve- SLOVAKIA 33 ment of res ident s in th eir local comm uniti es.'' Suttles, Social Construction of Communities , 47 , 44-81. See also Morris J anow it z, Th e Community Press in an Urban Setting: The Social Elements of Urbanism (Chicago, 1952). The contrived community is one that is pla nn ed , at leas t in part, with a d es ign to prom ote a ce rt ain kind of co mmunit y. New towns probabl y fall most closely in to thi s catego ry. See Suttles, Social Constru ction of Commun ities, 82-107 . " Formal o rgan ization is an assoc iation th at " is more or less purposefully created for th e at ta inmen t of rela tiv ely specific and limi ted goals.'' M a rvin E. Olsen , Th e Process of Social Organization (New York , 1968) , 92. M em bers are only partiall y involved a nd co mmitted to such " limited-li a bilit y" o rga ni zati on s; th ey rela te to each oth er largely in terms of the organization and th eir spec ific interest in its goals. Whi le members m ay beco m e " fri end s, " impl yin g a mu ch m ore inten se relations hip , and perh aps the development of a prima ry group or netwo rk , thi s is not the goal of the formal o rgani zati on . Primary or inform al gro up s, on th e ot her hand , are " those characteri zed by intimate, face-to-face aswciati on and co-operation, " i.e., " the family , th e play-group of children , a nd th e neighbo rh ood o r co mmunit y of elders. ' ' C ha rl es Cooley, Social Organization (New Yo rk , 1923), 23, 24. Fo r a rev iew of th e significant roles of informal groups, see Elihu K atz and Paul Lazarsfeld , Personal Influen ces (New York, 1955), 3 1-42. 16 For a discussion of this point , see J am es Bo rchert , " Urban Neighborhood and Communit y: Informal Group Life, 1850-1970, ' ' Journ al of Interdisciplin ary History , 11 (Sprin g, 1981 ), 607-3 1; Floyd Dodson, " Pa tt ern s of Volu nta ry Association among W o rkin g-C lass Families," America n Sociological R evie w , 16 (1951), 687-93; and Benn ett Berge r , W orking Class Suburb (Berkeley, Ca. , 1971 ) , 59-73. " R obert R edfi eld , "The Folk Society ," America njournal of Sociology, 52 Qanua ry, 1947) , 293-308. Thi s is not to su gges t that mi gra nts had no experience with forma l groups prior to mi gra ti on. As Ba rt o n , Stola rik , and oth ers have demonstrated , migrants brought both forma l and in formal group s with them. Whil e few have m ade d irec t comp a ri so ns of formal group s in th eir two se ttings (Ba rt on is an importa nt pa rti al except io n here), virtua ll y no o ne has co mpared informal grou ps. " J a m es S. Pil an t, Th e Envelope: A Study of the Imp act of th e World upon th e C hild (New Yo rk , 1950); Suttles, Th e Social Constru ction of Communities, 2 1- 43. 19 C hain migrat ion has bee n defin ed as " th at m ove m ent in which prospecti ve mi grants lea rn of oppo rtuniti es, a re provided with transporta ti on , and have initi al accommodati on and employment a rranged by m ea ns of primary social relationships with previous migra nts" (aut hors' itali cs). J ohn S. M acdon ald a nd Leatri ce D. M acdonald , "Chain Mi gra ti on , Ethn ic Neighborhood Fo rm ati on , and Social Netwo rks," Milbank M emorial Fund Quart erly, 42 Q anu a ry, 1964) , 82. 0 T hese vary, of course , by ethni c gro ups, circum stances , a nd over time , as well as by cl ass. Specia l foods a nd restaurants a re probably th e most obviou s exa mpl es, but churches and lodges a re probably the m ost uni ve rsal ''se rvices. '' Profess ionals a nd ethni c bu siness a re also important elements of th e urba n village, especiall y fun eral homes; th ey con tinu e to draw former res idents a nd th eir children bac k to th e urba n ' 34 SLOVAKIA vi llage, a t leas t on special occasions. Finall y, ma ny wh o left th e "village" continu e to own buildings there; their rental income made "escape" easier; it di d nm , however, break th e ties. " See Suttles, T he Social C onstru ction of C ommunities, 2 1-43. " These environments a re strikin gly different ; th e two group s a re eve n more different in term s of their past ex peri ences, institutional life, and cultural baggage. Co mparison, th en , prese nts considerable problems; limited da ta make thi s eve n more problema ti c. " For oth er effort s to co mpa re th e bl ac k and white ex peri ence, see ta nl ey Lieberso n , A Piece of th e Pie: Black s and Whit e Immigranrs Since 1880 ( Berkeley, Ca ., 1980); J ohn Bodn a r , Michael W eber , and R oge r Simon , " Mi gra ti on , Kin ship , a nd U rba n Adjustm ent : Blac ks a nd Poles in Pitt sb urgh , 1900- 1930," j ournal o f America n History, 66 (Dece mber , 19 79) , 548-565; a nd Bodnar , Sim on , W eber , Lives o f th eir Own : Black s, Italians, and Poles in Piusburgh , 1900- 1960 (Urbana, Ill. , 1982). " For a more compl ete di scussion, ee Borchert, Alley Life in W ashing ton ( Urbana , Ill. , 1980) . For a d iscussion of alleys else wh ere, see 223-37 , 3 12- 17. " Ibid . , 1-56 . ' 6 C u yahoga C ount y Treasure r's Depa rtm ent T ax Duplica tes , I 894- 1923 . C uyahoga Count y Archi ves; M a rgare t M anor Bu tle r, Th e Lakewood tory ( ew York , 1949); 228 ; " City Plays Vital R ole," newspa per clipping-source unkn ow n , M ay 5, 1955 . Lakewood Historical Society; " ati onal Carbon C om pany," C leveland Plain D ealer , September 10, 19 77 . The neighbo rhood has been kn own by a se ri es of names; Bird's Nes t and Bird T own deri ve from th e predominance of stree t with bi rd na me . Other na mes suggest how th e neighborh ood has bee n viewed by outsid er : T he Settl ement, th e Village , " Dago Forum , " C a rbon T own , " Little Slova ki a," a nd th e Carbon Distri ct. John Fedor , "Ju st Loo k at th e Stree t Signs to Find Bird T own ," Lakewood L edger , Dece mber 14, 1967; Butler, Lakewood Story, 188, 228-29; Butler, R om ance in Lakewood Streets (C leve la nd , 1962), 41 ; C ynthi a A. Rud e r, " Th e Imprint of C ultura l V alues on Birdtow n , La kewood, Ohio, " un publi shed typesc ript , M ay 1, 1978. Lakewood Hi stori cal Society. " C uyahoga Count y Au d ito r's T ax M aps , Cuyahoga Coun ty Adm inistrat ion Bu ild ing. Vol. 35-C it y of La kewood. 1890- 1982. " Fed or , " Just Loo k a t th e tree t igns " R eco rd s of th e Distri ct of Colu mb ia , Reco rd Grou p 35 1. Na ti onal Archi ves. Boa rd of C hi ldren ' s Guardi ans, C hildren 's History , I ll : I 129, I 162 , 1392; IV: 158 1. See also Bo rchert , " Survivin g th e C it y: Persistence a nd C ha nge in Bl ac k Folkways of Life in a N ew Environment ," pa per prese nt ed a t th e Associa ti on for th e Stud y of Afro-Ameri ca n Life a nd Hi sto ry, O ctober 2 1- 24, 1982, Baltim ore, M a ryla nd, 8. '° 31 Federal Population Ce nsus Schedul es, 1880, W ashin gto n , D .C., R eco rd Group 29 . ati onal Archi ves; a nd Com missioner of th e Di trict of Colum bia , Ann ual R ep orc -1897 (W as hin gto n , 1897), 195-202. Fed eral Popul ati on C ensus ched ul es, 19 I 0 , La kewood, Ohio. at ional Archives . See also Fed eral Popula ti on Ce nsus Sched ul es, 1900 , Lakewood, Ohio . ational Ar- SLOVAKIA 35 chi ves. The less precise category "country of origin" makes it impossible to know , oth er than Hun ga ry, where migra nts came from. The 1910 ce nsus clea rs this matter up through more precise desi gnati on ; in this case 70 perce nt listed th emselves as " Hunga rian Slovaks" rath er th a n merely" Hun gary," as in 1900 . "Language" also permit s more precise determination . " While J osef Barton has co ncluded that Slovak migration to C leveland was from more gene rall y dispersed areas in Slovakia, migrating more by district than personal or village chains, oth er studies report considerably more personal co ntacts in the migrati on process, both generally a mong lovak migra nts and specificall y for Cleveland. Peasa ncs and Strangers , 50-51, 54, 59, 63. Emily Greene Balch reports that nearly 99 percent of Slovaks en terin g the United States in 1907-1908 planned to join relatives or friends . Our Slavic Fellow Citizens (New York , 1910), 433. Al exander repo rts that whi le Slovak mi gran ts to Pittsburgh did mi grate in cha ins either by village, or by th e more loose " district" pattern Ba rton found, th e selecti on of one's res idence in a give n cit y was strongly influenced by fri end s and rela tives . " Th e Immi grant C hurch ," 55, 68. M a rk Stolarik also found "Slovaks in the Un ited States and Canada originall y reside(d) in distinct neighborhoods nea r their parish ch urches . most of these in each co ngregation ha iled from the same cluster of villages in the old country." " Immi grat ion a nd Urbanization, " 40. Stolarik a nd his co-authors of a st ud y of C leveland Slovaks reported simila r findings for th at cit y. Susi Megles, Mark Stolarik, and Martina Tybor, Slovak Americans and th eir Communities of Cleveland (C levela nd , 1979), 132. M ore importa nt for this study, Stolarik's analysis of parish reco rds of one Bird 's Nest church found 68 percent were from the ext reme end of one Slovak county; " nearly ha lf of the group was from . . three neighboring villages . " " Immi grat ion a nd Urbanization, " 41. For other informa ti on on chain mi gra ti on of Bird 's Nest residents, see Mary Towarni cky, " Helping One Another in the New Land: The Old Timers R emem ber," in SS. Cyril and M ethodius Church , Diamond Jubilee, 1903 -1 978 (La kewood, 1978), 67; and Common Pleas Court, Records of Declaration of Intention , Cuyahoga County Archives. Vo ls. 1- 30, Octobe r 10 , 1906-Sep tember 8, 19 13. " Lo renzo] . Greene and Myra Colso n Callis, The Employment of Negroes in th e District of Columbia (Washington, I 930), 65. " Borchert, Alley Life, 166-77. " Fed eral Popu lat ion Ce nsus Schedul es, I 900, 1910, La kewood, Ohio ; U.S . Bureau of th e Ce nsus, Population and H ousing- 1940: Cleveland, Ohio and Adjacent Area (Was hin gto n , 1942), 106. This is not to suggest that co nditions were easy o r wages hi gh. J an Pa nku ch notes that " during the first years their wages barely met their needs .'' Dejin y Clevelandskych a Lakewoodsk ych Slovakov (C leveland, 1930), 24. ' 6 Borchert, Alley Life, 85. " Ibid., l 83. The impact of a lley co nditions can be seen most clearly in co mparison to nati onal statisti cs. In 1910 the death rate for urban whit es was 14.6 per thousand ; for urba n blacks, 24.3. James H. Jones , Bad Blood ( ew York, 198 I), 37 . For street 36 SLOVAKIA dwelling W ashin gtoni an s (whit e and black), the dea th rate per thousand was 17 .56 ; for alley residents it was 30 .09 . Willia m H enry J ones, Th e H ousing of Negroes in W ashington , D.C. (Washington, 1929), 45 . " Borchert , Alley Life, 183 . 39 ' 0 41 Albina M olek, " Builders of the Spirit ," C leveland News, November 18, 1949 ; H oward Whipple Green , Plan es of Living in C uyah oga Co unty: as D epicted by th e Real Prop erty Survey (Cleveland , 1940), 65 . Green, Planes of Living, 58. Federal Population C ensu s Schedul es, 1910, Lakewood , Ohio. " Fed eral Population Census Schedul es, 1880, W as hin gton , D .C. See Borchert , Alley Life , 68. 43 Butler, Lakewood Story, 188. " Federal Populaton Census Schedul es, 19 10 , Lakewood, Ohio. In 1911 , residents of the larger community , led by a prominent member of the Rhodes family , established a clinic in the neighborhood becau se of the seve re health conditions, es peciall y the hi gh infant mortality . " Dispensary," in " History of Lakewood ," C lipping fil e, Lakewood Histo rical Society; a nd Butler , L ak ewood Story, 188-89. 45 Borchert , Alley Life , 69-85. •• It is important to note th a t the household unit , whi ch is usually considered th e base of the urban nei ghborh ood , was only part of a m ore important ex tend ed kin ship network whi ch included fi ctive kin adopted in the count rys ide or city. These ext ra- household units ti e re sidents of the alley together into " cliques" th at m ake up the large r alley communit y. Alley residents were linked together in other ways ; marriage of two alley residents linked two fa mil ies and kin networks together . After so me tim e , it is possible that mos t lon g-term residents in a given alley were linked by kinship to each ot her in multiple ways. 47 Becau se th e alley neighb orh ood/comm unity rema ined an informal inst itut ion with no " reco rd s" of its act ivities, it is ve ry difficult to determin e the full ex tent of neighborhood act ivities and their import . Nevertheless , some as pects do seem to stand out : neighborin g a nd ent erta inin g, a id to the needy, commo n action on com munit y need s, intern al social co nt rol, a nd defense of the neighborhood again st outsiders. 48 For a desc ription of the alley as meeting place , see W as hin gton National lnte1ligencer , Jul y 25, 1865; W ashington Times, Septembe r 11, 1904; Washington S tar , Jun e 6, 1930; W ashin gton D aily N ews, April 15, 1954; Charles W eller , Neglected Neighbors (Philadelphi a, 1909), 17 , 82; Wilbur V . Mallalieu , "A W ashin gton Alley," Survey , 28 (October 19, 19 12), 71; Gladys Sellew, A D eviant Social Situation: A Cou rr (Washin gton , 1938), 17 ; a nd D a ni el D. Swinney, " Alley Dwellings a nd H ousing R eform in the Di stri ct of Columbia " (M .A . th esis, University of C hi cago, 1938) , 141 -42. During the winter , several homes in a give n all ey see m to have se rved as mee ting spots. Dora Bessie Somerville , " A Study of a Group of Negro C hildren Li ving in an Alley C ulture" (M.A. th esis, Cat holic U ni ve rsit y of Ameri ca, 1941 ), 20. These homes usually di spensed liquor , oft en homemade , providing resid ents wit h a social SLOVAKIA 37 ce nt er a nd tenants with a "second in co me . " For a discu ssio n based on a n a nalysis o f histori cal photog raphs , see " Photographs a nd th e Study of th e Pas t, " in Borchert, Alley Life , 291-93; Borche rt , "Analysis of Histo ri cal Photographs," Srudies in Visual Communication, 7 (Fall , 1981 ), 51-56; and Borchert , " Alley Landscapes of Washington, " Landscape , 23 (No. 3, 1979), 6-8. 0 ' Marion M . Ratigan, A Sociological Survey of Disease in Four Alleys in the National Capital (Was hin gton , 1946), 59 ; Mary R edempta Fores tall , "Trend s in Housing, Delinquency, and H ealth in the Central Northwest Area in Washington, D.C." (M.A . th es is , Catholic University of Ame ri ca, 1938), 32; Grace Vawter Bicknell , The Inhabited Alleys o f Washington, D .C. (W ashington , 1912), 31; Well er, Neglected Neighbors, 47 ; Leonise Ruth Aubry, "A mbitions of Youth in a Poo r Economic Status " (M.A. thes is , Catholic University of America, 1938), 3; Sellew, Deviant Social Siruarion, 46, 54; Sommerville, " Study of a Group of Negro Children," 24; Washington Daily News, Augu st 29, 1941; Swinney , "Alley Dwellings and Housin g R efo rm, " 50, 73; Leono r Enriquez Pablo , " The Housing Needs and Social Problems of Residen ts in a Deteriorated Area" (M .S.W. thesis , Catholic University of America , I 953), 56; Board of Children's Guardians , Children's History, I-VII (see especia ll y I:2 33-34 ; II : 657, 667, 801); Washington National R ep ublican , March 24 , 1862 ; a nd Washington Times , September 11, 1904 . " Whil e it is impossible to recreate co nversations between res idents from the ex isting hi sto ri cal records, it is clear from a large body of literatu re in sociology and anthropology that goss ip plays a critical role in the ma intena nce of order as well as the development of a commo n world view. Scholars of black rural and small town life in th e South noted th e importance of goss ip; CharlesJohnson found that "communit y gossi p exercises restraint . . There are limits ... and when th ese limits are reached violators a re treated with unmi stakable group disapproval.'' Shadow of the Plan cation (Chicago, I 94 1), 81, 82. Similarly , H ylan Lewis concluded that " gossip, or th e possibility of gossip " m a kes residents " more careful of th eir behavior." Blackways of Kent (New H ave n , Conn., 1962) , 193. " Those who show signs of group status de via tion . . are subject of a kind of gro up pressure marked by resentment and cri ti cism." Ibid ., 191 . " See Al. L. Epstein , " Gossip , Norms , a nd Social Network," in Social Networks in Urban Situ ations, 117-27. " For example , see Swinney , "Alley Dwellings and H ous in g R efo rm , " 136-37; and Pablo, " H ousin g Needs and Social Problems," 42. " Bo rchert , "U rban Neighborhood a nd Community," 615-18. " Swinney, " Alley Dwellings and H ousin g R eform, " 121 . " Ibid.; W ashington Post , D ece mber 26, 1948; Well er , Neglected Neighbors, 17, 22, 97 ; Mallalieu, " Washington Alley , " 71 ; a nd the R ev . Daniel O'Connell, "The Inhabit ed Alleys of Washington and the Early Social Hi story of One Alley" (M .A. thesis, Ca th oli c University of Ameri ca , 1953) , 110 . It is importa nt to note that attendan ce in the rural South does not seem to have been especially la rge based on Lewi s' findin gs for K ent . Lewis, B/ackways of Kent , 129-30. 38 SLOVAKIA " Borchert, Alley Life, 185-86. 58 Pankuch, Dejiny , 22. " Ibid .; Mary Towarnicky , "Slovak Newcomers to America, " in SS. Cyril and Methodius Church, Diamondjubilee, 1903-1978 (Lakewood, 1978), 66; Towarnicky , " Helping One Another," 67 . 60 Towarnicky, " Helping One Another," 67. 61 The Pleasant Hill Land Company was owned and run by Washington H. Lawrence, the president of the National Carbon Company. It seems clear that Lawrence purchased an extra large parcel ofland from the Case Estate with the intention of developing a residential area for workers . Butler, Lakewood Story, 228; "C ity Plays Vital Role, " "National Carbon Company," Plain Dealer; and G . Frederick Wright, Representative Citizens of Ohio: Memorial-Biographical (Cleveland, 1914) , 181-84. Since the factory was well outside the built-up parts of C leveland, Lawrence may well have considered this development a necessity to attract workers; he must also have planned to make a good return on his investment. The difficulty of the commute from in-city residences to the plant prior to the completion of a street car line in 1898 was incredible . For examples, see "City Plays a Vital Role" and Pankuch , Dejiny, 23. 61 Initially the early buildings were rented to workers; however, the PHLC sold off most of the improved lots within a couple years of construction. Cuyahoga County Treasurer's Tax Duplicates , 1894- 1923. There is some indication that the Na tional Carbon Company (via PHLC) "sold lots to ... immigrants on installments. " Loretta l vany, " 'Birdtown' Became C ity's Ethnic Center," Sun Post , Jun e 30, 1979 . •• Cuyahoga County Auditor's Tax Maps, Cuyahoga County Administration Building. Migrants bought up lots on Plover first because they were cheaper du e to their proximity to th e railroad tracks. Pankuch, Dejiny , 23. R esidents not only bought up land in the neighborhood as soon as they could afford to, they also held on to th e land, passing it on to relatives or selling it with in the community. Paul Wrobel found a sim ila r practice when he did an extensive participant-observation study of a Polish-American parish in D etroit. Our Way: Family, Parish and Neighborhood in a Polish-American Community (Notre Dame, Ind ., 1979), 5. 6 ' City of Lakewood, Building Department, Building Permits , 1900(?)-1982. It is interesting to note that no building permits a ppear to have been taken out by the PHLC, des pite the fact that they clea rl y improved and built on one-fifth of th e lots over the thirt y year period before the last lot was sold ( 1923). Although the city records are incomplete , and use of building permits seems to have been casual in the earl y years, as well as the fact th at many early reco rd s have not survived, it is strange that no PHLC perm its remain in the records. Insurance maps and descriptive sources do confirm the com pany 's activity in th is area prior to 1900. Thomas Flynn, Otto Barthel, R.H. Bunning, and Thomas H assan , Atlas of the Suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio (Philadelphia, 1898), Plate 24; M argaret Butler, R omance in Lakewood's Streets 41; lvany, " 'Birdtown' Became City's Ethnic Center"; and Cynthia A. Rud er , "The Imprint of Cultural Values.'' SLOVAKIA 39 " As Stephan Thernstrom found in Newburyport , however, home ownership came a t a high price : " To cut family co nsumption expenditures to the bone was one such sac rifice. To withdraw the children from school and to put them to work at the age of ten or twelve was another.'' Poverty and Progress: Social Mobility in a Nin eteenth Century City (New York , 1969), 155. 66 Federal Population Census Schedules, 1910, Lakewood , Ohio. 67 Pankuch , D ejin y, 22; Towarnicky, "Slova k Newcomers to America," 66 ; Towarnicky, " H elping One An other," 67; and Ivany, " 'Birdtown' Became City's Ethnic Center . " 68 M egles, Stolarik , and T ybor, Slo vak Americans and their Communities, 132; Sts. Peter and Paul Lutheran Church , Seventy-Fifth Anniversary (Lakewood, 1976), 3; and Towarnicky , " H elping One Another," 67. 6 ' One of the first Slovak employees recalled th at he " ' got a job in the construction of the . factory. After I had worked th ere for a couple days, the boss told me to bring in a couple more men. I asked him how many I should bring; he answered as man y as I could, even a dozen would do, he said . So I called up my brothers: Juraj, and J an, also Jan andJuraj Nemec, A. Chovana and a bunch of others; Michael Urban and A. Goda all got hired. All the Scerbas; J an Scerba, Jan Scerba, Jr. , Adam Scerba, Andrej R yba nik and many others ca me in later.' " Andrej Babej, quoted in Pank uch, Dejin y, 22. ' 0 Alexander, "The Immigrant Church and Community, " 56-57. More importantl y she notes that "at tim es, when firms desperately needed labor, foremen promised jobs to employees' fri end s or relati ves if th ey would send for them." Ibid ., 57. " Ibid ., 57. She also notes that "Slovaks and other immigra nt groups came to rely on a sys tem of personal relationships in order to get jobs. '' Ibid. For more recent discussions of this process, see Ri chard M yer, " Interpersonal R elations in the Building Indu stry," Man , Work , and Society, ed . by Sigmond Nosow and William Form (New York , 1962) and William K ornblum , Blue Collar Community (C hi cago, 1974). " Sts . Pete r and Paul Lutheran Church, Seventy-Fifth Anniversary , 2-3; Megles , Stolarik , and Tybor, Slovak Americans and their Communities , 13 3; Peter M . Glovna, Sr., " Hi story of SS. Cyril and Methodius Pari sh ," in SS. Cyril and Methodius Church , Diamond Jubilee, 33; " Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church, " undat ed news paper clipping in Margaret Butler, " Hi story of Churches" fil e, Lakewood Hi storical Society; " Ukrainian Church Ded ication Is Set ," undated newspaper clipping in Butl er, ' ' Hi sto ry of Churches . ' ' " Stolarik , " Immigration and Urbanization, " 85-97. It is usefu l to note here that three of the first four Slovak churches in the neighborhood still have services in Slovak, althou gh the y have th em in English as well. " Ru de r , " Imprint of Cultural Values" ; Butler, Lakewood Story, 20,7. In a fine stud y of Slova k Cat holi c lead ers' at titud es toward public ed uca ti on , Mark Stolarik found th ey "valued parochial schools above all else worried mu ch m ore about their children 's moral a nd national upbringing th a n about social mobility . . had no u se 40 SLOVAKIA for publi c schools . . (which) ' den a ti onali ze ou r children . ' " " Immi gra ti on , Education, and the Social Mobilit y of Slova ks, 1870- 1930, " in R a nd all M. Mill e r a nd Thomas D . Marzik, ed s., Immigrants and R eligion in Urban America (Phil adelphia, 19 77) , 107 , 106 . Both Ba rton and Stolarik report th a t 60 to 80 percent of Slovak children a ttended parochi al schools. Ba rto n, Peasa nts and Strangers, 145-46; Stola rik , " Immi grati on and Urban ization ," 165-66. Th e public elem ent a ry school in th e Bird ' s Nest had no teachers wh o co uld speak Slovak ; of those children who did att end , few, if any , spoke Engli sh. Rud e r , "Imprint of C ultural V alu es." 75 The 1930 City Directory includes over 75 bu sinesses (17 local groce rs) and 16 profess ionals a nd se rvi ces avai lable to th e neighborh ood run by local res id ent s (or fo rme r resid ent s). C leveland Directory Compan y, C leveland, Ohio C ity Directory- I 930 (C levela nd , 1930). 76 Inspec to r , Building and Loa n Associat io n , 22nd Annual R ep ort far th e Y ea r Ending D ecember 31, 19 12 (Springfi eld , Ohio, 19 13) , 165 . Oro! Buildin g and Loa n Co. The founding preside nt a nd sec re tary both li ved on Plover , while o nl y th e treas ure r li ved outsid e th e immediat e neighborh ood. H e li ved , howeve r , ju st on th e o th e r sid e (north) of Madison Ave nu e, an a rea th a t Slova ks a nd other mi g ra nt s expand ed int o. Panku ch noted that th e Sav ings a nd Loa n wa s in ex ist ence by 1902 , so it may well have been operating to help res idents long before its offi cial cha rt er in 19 11 . D ejin y, 24. 77 Cuyahoga Count y Treasu re r 's Tax Duplica tes a nd Ci ty of La kewood, Building Permits. 78 For a n excellent discu ssion o n th e conflict be twee n "accult u ra ti o ni sts a nd tradition ali sts , " sec Howard F . Stein , " An Ethnohistory of Slova k-Am e ri ca n R eli gio us and Frate rnal Associations: A Study in Cultural M eanin g, Group Identit y, and Soc ial Instituti o ns," Slo va kia, 29 ( 1980-1 98 1) , 53 -101 . 19 Peter Glovna, as quoted in l vany, " ' Birdtown ' Beca me City 's Ethn ic Center ." G lovna's fath e r m oved to the neighborhood in 1893 a nd was a founder of SS. Cyril and M e thodius , whi le hi s son li ved on Plove r for 40 yea rs. D es pite hi s rece nt m ove out of the area, he still maint ains contacts and serves as pa rish hi sto ri a n . Glovna, "H istory of SS . Cyril and M e th odiu s Pa rish. " 0 " R esidents of Birdtown also enjoyed neighborh ood picnics a nd dancing to th e sound s of bands which were se t up on M a gee and M adison Av enu es.' ' l va ny , '' ' Birdt own ' Beca m e C ity's Ethnic Center.' ' 81 Ruder, " Im print of Cultural Valu es," 5. See also l van y , " ' Birdtown ' Beca me C it y's Ethni c Center ," and 1941 survey quoted extensively in Butler , L akewood St an ·, 229. ' " Rud e r, " Imprint of Cultural V alu es," 18. " Al exa nd e r ' s comment cit ed ea rli e r th a t Slovaks ca m e to rely o n a sys te m of pe rsonal relationships in order to get j obs (see not e 70) needs to be put in a la rge con text he re. Social scienti sts have not ed the impo rt a nce of informal groups in a variety of settings from factory, army, stree t co rn e r gang , a nd neighbo rh ood . Fo r exa mpl e , see F.j . R oet hli sberger a nd W.J . Dickson, M an agem ent and th e W orker (Cam bridge , M ass., 1939); Samuel A. Stoffe r , et. al . , Th e America n Soldier: Studies in Social Psvcholog1· SLOVAKIA 41 in W orld W ar II , 2 vols (P rin ceto n , .J ., 1949); Edwa rd Shil s, " Prima ry Groups in th e Am eri can Arm y," in R obert M erton and Paul Laza rsfeld, ed s., Studies in ch e S cope and M ech od ofch e " Th e American Soldier " (Gl enoce, Ill. , 1951) ; W . Ll oyd Warn er and Paul S. Lunt , Th e S ocial Life of a M od ern C ommunicy (New H ave n , C onn . , 1941 ); Willi a m Foote Wh yte, Screet Com er Sociecy (Chicago, 1943); a nd K ornblum , Blue Collar Community. 14 Butler, Lakewood S cory , 228 , 188; C leveland Press , M ay 13 , 1947 ; and Rud er, " Imprint of Cultural V alues," 1, 3, 18 . " An impo rtant pa rt of th e p rocess, of course, invol ved co mpetiti o n for hou sing with oth er groups, a res tri cted housin g m a rket accessible to mi g rant s a nd their work . 16 M a ny form er res ident s of th e neighbo rh ood return a t least once a week fo r religious se rvices on Sunday; m a n y d o so m o re often . See al so Wrobel, Our Wa y. " R obert Park obse rved th at "certain urban neighborhoods suffer from isolation ." "The Ci ty," in Park and Burgess , Th e C it y, 8 . Fo r a different view, see Alfr ed Kazin , A W alk er in ch e C ic y (New Yo rk , 195 1). " The persistence of these a reas, outli vin g in som e cases th e in stituti ons th at ca m e aft er th em , att es ts to th eir vit alit y. " In th e Bird 's Nes t th e co ntinuin g prese nce of churches of eac h ethni c group suggests th e continuin g vit alit y of each group . Fo r other exampl es, see Cybriwsky, " Social Aspec ts of N eighbo rhood C ha nge"; Cybriwsky and D avid Ley, " Urba n Graffiti as T erri tori al M a rkers,'' Annals of ch e A ssociacion of American Geographers, 64 (1974) , 475-505; and K ornblum , Blue Collar Community . Some older studies infer the same conclu sion s: H elen L. Wilson and Eunice W . Smith , " Chicago H ou sin g Conditions, VIII : Am ong th e Slova ks in th e Twenti eth Ward ," America n j ourn al of S ociology, 20 (September , 19 14), 145-69 ; Emil y W. Dinwiddie, H ousing Condicions in Philadelphia (Philadelphi a, 1904); J a net K emp , R epore of ch e T en em enc H ouse Commission o f L ouisville (Loui sville, 1_909); Ulf H a nn erz, S ou/side ( ew Yo rk , 1969) ; and Wh yte, Scree/ Corn er Sociecy. •o Sec C la ud e Fi sc her , Th e Urban Experien ce ( ew Yo rk , 19 76) . In hi s m o re recent stud y, Fi sc her has fo un d th e current cit y '' a m osaic of inten se ethni c wo rld s rather th a n . . a la ndsca pe of ethni c di sintegra tion ." M o reo ver , " urba ni sm - or at least th e co nce ntrati o n of spec ific ethni c g roup s - m o re oft en bolsters th a n brea ks down ethni cit y. As the urbani sm of th e communit y increased , respo nd ent s were m ore likely to be ' ethni cs.' " T o Dwell Am ong Friends, 204 , 206 . " For example , H am tramck is an ex treme case where Polish-Am eri cans developed their ow n co mmunit y o n a m ass ive scale . In 1950 , 70 perce nt of th e 44 ,000 res idents of thi s inde pend ent co mmunit y in D etro it were of Poli sh-Am eri ca n ancestry. Arthur Eva ns W ood , H amcram ck : A S ociological Scudy of a Polish -America n Communicy (New H ave n , Conn ., 1955) , 13-28 . " Fisc her, T o D well Among Friends, 207 . See also Peter R ose, S crangers in Th eir Midsc: Small T own J ews and T h eir Neigh bors (M erri ck , New Yo rk , 1977). " Sec note 23. SLOVAKIA 42 TABLE 1 Bird's Nest Population 1900-1940 Population i900· 1910 .. 429 2,186 1920 ± 4, 145 19.30t 3,729 1940# 3,125 •M a nusc ript Census- Federal Po pul atio n Census Sched ules , 1900 La kewood, O hio . '"Ma nuscript Census-Federal Popula ti o n Census Schedul es, 19 10 Lakewood , O hio . ± Federal Po pulation C ensus Schedules, 1920 Lakewood, O hio for census trac t LW 18. Unfo rtu na tely. the cen· su s tract leaves out one side of one stree t in the neighbo rh ood . tFede ral Po pul ati on C ensus Schedul es , 1930 La kewood, O hio fo r census tract LW1 8. U nfo rtun ately. the cen· sus tract leaves out one side Of one stree t in the neighborhood . #Bu rea u of the Census, Popula tion and H ousing - 1940: Cle,·eland. O hio and Adj acent Arca (Washingto n , 1941), 106. U nfo rtun a tely, the ce nsus trac t leaves out o ne side of one street in 1hc neighborhood . SLOVAKIA 43 TABLE 2 Occupations of Alley Dwellers 1880 Federal Population Census Schedules , 1880 . Washington, D .C. Record Group 29. National Archives Occupations , 1880 • Adult Males (16 or older) Occupacion N % Unski lled Service Semi-skilled Skilled White-collar Proprieto r (and self-employed) Professional Agriculture/Fishing None 1,641 251 318 233 50 112 28 17 124 59 TOTAL 2,774 100 N % 9 12 8 2 4 4 Adule Females (16 or older) Occupacion Unskilled Service Semi-skilled Skilled White-collar Proprietor None (includes "at home ," "keeping house , " and "at school" ) TOTAL 4 1,742 70 6 10 8 49 1, 780 49 3 ,620 100 2 •Th e substanti al numbe rs of a lley d we ll ers in skilled throu gh professi onal ac tivities is th e res ult of a classifica1io n system th at is ma rk edl y diffe re nt fro m the ones ge nerall y used . It was used here to detec t " class" differen ces within the alley po pula ti on . Thu s, ba rbers a re class ified as skilled , while a number of " proprietors " a rc , in fac 1,ju nkmen . V irtu all y all the adult alley po pula ti o n sho uld fall in the unskilled , se rvice, o r semi- skilled a reas. See Bo rchert, Alley Life, 306-08 . SLOVAKIA 44 TABLE 3 Occupations of Residents of the Bird 's Nest 1900 A. Adult Males - 15 yea rs of age or older. Occupation Unskill ed .. . . . . . . .. .. .. .. ........ . . . . ... .. ... .... . Service ............ . .... . ... . . . . .... . .. . .. .. .. . . . Semi-skilled .. . ... . . ... . . . . . . . . Skilled ... . . ... .. .... . . . White-collar Proprietor Professional Agricultural T otal B. Adult W omen - Number Percent 147 92 % 3 2 0 5 0 3 2 0 3 2 160 15 yea rs of age or older . Occupation Number 2 2 Unskilled Service ... Semi- skill ed Skill ed White-colla r Proprietor Agri cultural Percent 50 % 50 % 0 0 0 0 0 T otal 4 100 % TABLE 3 Occupations of Residents of the Bird's Nest 1910 A . Adult M ales - 15 yea rs of age or older. Occupation Number Un skill ed 79 1 Se rvice 19 Semi-skilled . .. .. . . .... .. ... . ...... . .. . ... ... .... . 38 Skill ed ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 White-co ll a r 10 P roprietor 11 P rofessional 1 Agri cul tural To tal 949 Percent 84 % 2 4 8 100 % SLOVAKIA B. Ad u lt Wom en - 45 15 ye ars of age or olde r. Occupation Number 75 Un ski lled ....... . . Service Semi- ski lled Ski lled W hi te-coll ar P ro prieto r Profess io nal Agricultu ral 33 Percent 66 % 29 % 0 4 4 1 0 0 0 11 3 T otal 100 % TABLE 3 Occupations of Residents of the Bird 's Nest 1940 Occupations Number O cc u pa ti ons not repo rt ed U nskilled Service wo rkers D om es ti c se rvi ce wo rkers Opera ti ves a nd kind red wo rkers C ra ft sm en , fo rem en , a nd kindred wo rkers . ... . .... . . . .. . . . C leri cal, sales , and kind red wo rkers . .. . . P ro pri etors, m a nage rs, and offi cials . ... . .. . Se mi -pro fess io nal Pro fess ional T otal Percent 2 184 83 98 17% 8 9 478 44 105 10 9 3 96 29 4 13 1,092 100 % Bu reau of the Ce nsus, Populat ion and Housing - 1940: Cleveland , Ohio and Adjacent A rea (W as hin gton , 1942) , 106 . Ce nsus tract leaves o ut o ne side of one street of neighbo rhood .  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 Migrant Responses to the City: The Neighborhood, Case Studies in Black and White, 1870-1940 Description An account of the resource James and Susan Borchert Slovakia, Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984 pp. 8-45 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Borchert, James, 1941- Borchert, Susan, 1947- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6a5fe5a9fbf3474e5b7d9452af1925f3.pdf 8e833bf6d7fc053aa8f72888ebbe9c31 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 47 The Matica slovenska and Its Relation to the Development of Slovak Literature* Norma L. Rudin sky The distinctively Slavic institution of th e matica can perhaps b e best described as a national library, publishing house, university , scientific institute, acad emy of scholars, and nationalistic missionary society all in one. The earliest examples - the Matica srbska founded in 1826, Matice ceska in 1831, and Mati ce moravska in 1836 - were like the later Matica slovenska, founded in Turciansky Svaty Martin on August 4 , 1863, in playing an important role in literary development. 1 But the Slovak Matica assumed a special significance because of the much more desolate circumstan ces of the Slovaks in Hungary . This difference makes a particularly interesting study not only of the Slavic matica movement but also of the special place of literature in Slovak intellectual hi sto ry . In speaking of the relation of the Matica slovenska to Slovak literature, one has to distinguish between the effect of the actual institute as it existed (from its founding in 1863 to its closure by Magyar authorities in 1875 and since its reopening in 1919) and the effect of the spiritual/ psychological or symboli c nature of the Matica even when it did not exist , i.e ., 1875-1919 , and in a certain sense when it was "onl y" a national library without a membership base, from 195 1 to 1968 . One also has to consider the symbolic meaning whenever a Matica was established outsid e Slovakia , as ha s happened seve ral times . • Thi s is a rev ised ve rsio n of a pa per prese nt ed at th e panel " The M ati ca slove nsk a: 120 Yea rs of Survi va l" spo nso red by the Slova k Studies Associati on durin g th e Fiftee nth Nati onal C onve nti o n of th e Am eri can Association for th e Advan ce m ent of Slavic Studies held in Kan sas C it y, Mi ssouri in O ctober 1983 . �48 SLOVAKIA It is also necessary to distinguish the direct effects of the Matica from its indirect effects, that is , from all its general educational results, such as greater literacy and a higher cultural level that came from activities like publishing almanacs, setting up amateur theatricals, or dignifying folk literature by collecting and reciting it. By all such results the Matica contributed to the development of a social and intellect ual environment in which Slovak literature could arise. Literary works are always a response of an artist to a particular time and place; the general activities of the Matica provided a stimulus to literary talent and helped to secure an audience for that talent. But having mentioned this indirect effect, I shall confine myself to the direct effects of the Matica on Slovak literature, and first to those that occurred while the Matica actually existed. The special relation of the "t\1atica to both language and literature is indicated in the list of presidents and directors. The office of president (predseda), which until 1945 was an honorary position and could be held by two or three people at a time, has had over thirteen occupants; at least four were major writers Qan Francisci, Pavol OrszaghHviezdoslav, Ladislav Novomesky, and Vladimfr Minac - Novomesky having two terms, before and after his prison sentence), and five were literary historians or at least had strong literary interests (Stefan Moyses, Jozef Koza.eek , F.R. Osvald, Jur Janoska, and Marian Blaha). Of the seven directors (spravca), which is the chief administrative position , one was a major writer O. C. Hronsky) and three were major literary historians Qaroslav Vlcek, Jozef Skultety, and Jan Martak , who had two terms). 2 If the secretaries (tajomnfk) are added as major officers, they were all literary figures except Frantisek Hermansky, a lin gui st, and JozefCincik, an artist and art historian: Stefan Krcmery, RudolfKlacko, Hronsky ' Martak, and Stanislav Meciar. l It is hard to see much real effect upon literature from the first Matica, even though one of its functions was to publish and distribute literary works. The major Slovak writers of that tim e were only beginning to write and publish just before the Matica was closed. For example, Hviezdoslav's first poems were published in 1868 but in Skalica , not in Martin, as was also his journal Napred. Svetozar Hurban -Vajansky's first book, a coll ection of poems, came out in 1871 but again in Skalica, not Martin. Elena Mar6thy -Soltesova's first story was published in 1881, and Martin Kukucfn' s first story appeared in 1882 when th e Mati ca �SLOVAKIA 49 was cl osed . In fact , proba bl y the only reall y signifi cant literary work durin g the tim e of the first Matica was the collectio n a nd preservation of folk litera ture, the two-volume collection Sbornfk sloven sk ych n arod- nych piesnf, povestf, prfslovf, p orek adiel, hadok , hier, obycaj ov a povier in 1870 and 1874, the second volum e of which was edited by P avo) Dobsin sky. This work was, of course, ve ry impo rta n t in th e establishm ent of Slovak fo lk literature as well as ethnography. Otherwi se, however , the twelve issu es of the a nnu al publicatio n L etopis M atice slo vensk ej a nd the 44 books published by the M a tica carried so m e li te ra ry hi stor y but prima ril y in rela tion to la n gu age, no t liter a ture. 4 Afte r the M atica was reopened in 19 19, its fi rst offi cial li te rary divisio n was the Lite rary Hi sto r y D ep a rtment (Litera rn ohi sto ri cky odbor MS ), whi ch was form ed o n M ay 11 , 19 22 b y separat in g the hi sto ry of li te ra tu re secti on (hi sto rickoli terarn a sekcia) from the Hi story D epartm ent (Historicky od bo r M S). T he latter ha d bee n establ ished at the second ge ner al asse mbl y of the M at ica in Au gust, 1920 . T he fi rst offi cers of the Literary Hi story D epartme n t we re J a roslav V lcek as pres ide nt , Albert Prazak as vice- preside nt , a nd Stefan Krcm ery as secreta ry, S and they gave the depa rtment its basic to ne for the next decade. T he D epartm en t was enl a rged in Febru a ry, 1925 by adding to it m an y writers from the literary sectio n of th e Art s D ep a rtm e nt (U m elecky odbo r M S), a nd its na m e was ch a n ged to th e Liter a ry a nd Literar y Hi sto ry D ep a rtm ent (Litera rn y a literarn ohi sto ri cky odbor MS) . But the old n am e was taken again the nex t year , a nd it remain ed the Li te ra rnohi sto ricky odbo r 6 until it was ended in 1953, when its work was taken over by several in stitutes, such as the Li te ra rn y archfv M S a n d the In sti tu te of Slovak Liter ature in the Slovak Academy of Sciences (Ustav sloven skej li teratury SA V) in Brat islava . 7 T h is n a m e, in fac t , in d icated its m a in fu nct io n : it collected manu scrip ts b io-b ibli ograp hi es, m emoris , a nd the li ke. 8 O ne of its first act ivit ies was to coll ect a nd pu bli sh Vl ce k 's hi story of Slovak li te ra tu re in 1923, a nd it co ntribu ted to th e S bornfk Ma tice slovensk ej pre j azykospyt, narodopis, dejepis a literarnu historiu , whi ch , howeve r , eve n th ou gh ed ited fi rs t by V lcek, the n by S kul tety, in its first d ecade co n ta in ed m u ch m o re o n ethn ograp hy a nd la n gu age tha n on li te ratu re . 9 Also, m u ch of the work do ne the n de pended upon Czech scholars who - li ke V lce k hi r.1self, Prazak, a nd Flora Kl einsch nitzova - trea ted Slovak li te rat ure as a b ra n ch of Czech li terat ure, whi ch affected their research goals a nd in te rests . �50 SLOVAKIA It has bee n said b y Lubomfr Durovic that althou gh the first Czechoslovak Republic de jure challenged the existence of the Slovak nation by the official theory of the '' Czechoslovak n a tion ,'' it de facto saved th e n a tion by m eans of the great opportunities it provided compared to the Hunga ri a n period . 10 This can be seen very clearly in the ch a n ges that occurred in th e Matica after 1930 when a n ew generat ion of Slovak scholars h ad been trained whose chief interest was in Slovak, not Czech , cu lture and who wanted to co nsider its specificity and its relation to other Slavic cultures, not to Czech culture alone . In 1935 the Sbornfk was divided into specialized pa rts with individu al editors : Ludovft Nova k edited th e la n gu age secti on a nd Stanislav M eciar the lite rary sect ion . The a rrival of su ch a literary schol a r as Andrej Mraz in 1930 m eant , therefore, a cha n ge in em phasis not only from narodopis or et hn ography to literature, but also from bio-bibliographical works to criti cal a nd evalu ative studies and monographs on individual authors, su ch as j a nko Kral' , J a n K alinciak , Samo Chalupka, a nd Ivan Krasko . 11 In add ition , seve ral foreig n Slavists, such as the Ru ssian Dmitri C izevskij an d the Pole Wl ad yslaw Bobek , contributed to the Sbornfk seve ral co mparative studi es rela tin g Slovak literature to th e ge ne ral stream of Slavic literatures a nd in importa n t respects cha n gin g the inte rpreta tion a nd pe riodi zation of Vlcek , which had been follow ed also by Albert Prazak in th e d oze n or m ore wo rks on Slovak li terature h e publi shed in th e M atica in the 1920s a nd after 1932 in th e U ce na spolocnost' Safarikova. In fact , it is inte resting that the first effort to determine a real pe riodization of Slovak literature in itself, not in terms of the peri odization of Czech lite ra ture as Vlcek a nd Prazak h ad don e, was m ade by the P ole Bobek in 193 7; li ttle work was done again on the p eri odizati on of earl y Slovak lite rature until the M a rxist hi stori a ns did it in 1958 in the first volume of the Academy of Sciences literary hi story . i Apa rt from literary history , however , there was really little formal esthetic a n alysis or study of th e theo ry of lite rature. Th e major exce pti on (and it is trul y m ajor) was th e publication in 1939 of the book Vyvin slo vensk eh o versa od skoly Sturo vej by th e Ru ssia n-born forma li st and stru cturali st Mikul as Bakos, who d eveloped a more modern es th etic a n alysis tha n an yone else had done. Accordin g to P avo! Stevcek, it has "remained a book of cardin al importance" to thi s d ay. 13 Th e Sbornfk was not th e on ly literary journ al publi shed by th e M at ica, howeve r . M o re impo rt ant was Sloven sk e pohl'a dy, wh ich has 1 �SLOVAKIA 51 been, and still is, a sort of microcosm of Slovak cultural life since it was founded by JozefMiloslav Hurban in 1846. Hurban 's purpose in starting the periodical was " to apply consistently in Slovak cultural life the principles of science and criticism .'' 14 In the first six years of its existence (1846-52), it reflected the major events of Slovak intellectual life - including Hurban ' s defense of Stur's langu age codification in 1846 . Although halted by the censors and b y finan cial difficulties in 1852, it was resumed in M artin in 1881 and continued with first Vajansky as editor , then Jozef Skultety publishing and editing it until 1919 . In 1921 the M atica started it up again under the editorship of Stefan Krcmery, and it remained a monthly published by the Matica until 1953, when it was taken over b y the Slovak Writers' Union , whose organ it is today . In the Matica period, it was edited by Krcmery until illness forced his ret irem ent in 1932, then Andrej Mraz until 1938, and Stanislav M eciar until 1945; with a few exceptions in that period everyo ne published there: nationalists , internationalists, Catholics, Lutherans, Communists, realists, surrealists, social realists. 15 Unlike the Sbornfk, Slovenske pohl'ady always carried original works of literature - poetry and sto ries - as well as literary history and criticism . Thu s it contributed to the growth of literature itself, not just to literary criticism . Besides these two journals, however , the Literary History D epartm ent supported literature in another way: by republishin g the "classics" in collected editions, includin g all the works ofHviezdoslav, Vajansky, Kukucfn , Timrava, the Stur school , and also contemporary writers, such as janko j esensky , Hronsky , a nd M artin R azu s. 16 Unfortunately, these editions of the classics were not usually prepared accord ing to consistent, modern editorial principles, either in selection and arrange m ent of the m ate rial or in lin guistic and textual stand ards. Skultety , Mraz, and M eciar each followed his own editorial system , and editorial assistants acted even more freely. Numerous living authors complained about their treatm en t, and this was true after World War II as well as during and befo re. 17 Furthermore, the Matica did not always select fo r publication the best current works. It showed no interest in Kukucfn's Mat' vola (1 926-27) , published by G .A. Beza in Trnava, nor did it issue Milo Urban 's Zivy bic (Prague, 1927), which is generally rated as by far the best Slovak novel published in the 1920s. But this can be regarded as a sign of the times: In its early period the Matica could be in co ntact �52 SLOVAKIA with almost everything, but as Slovak opportunities grew geometrically with education and the other new advantages, the Matica and Martin could not hold everything in their own hands, and other literary centers were developing . Bratislava became the major competitor, not only because of the professors at the University, but also because of the newly-established Slovak Academy of Sciences and Arts (Slovenska akademia vied a umenf) in 1942, which eventually developed into the current Slovenska akademia vied. In fact, organizational changes in the Matica also became necessary to meet the increasingly specialized growth of knowledge itself in the second half of the twentieth century. 18 The changes in the Matica that occurred after World War II have to be seen in this context: No organization could continue as the sole cultural and scientific institution, as the arts and social sciences became much too complex to be governed in a single organization, especially an institute far away from the capital city, the chief metropolis, and the seat of the main university system. Major changes would have occurred even without the Communist takeover in 1948 or the Marxist-Leninist theories of internationalism and the leading role of the Party - all of which tended to diminish the importance of the Matica. When the law of 1954 reduced the Matica to the single function of a national library and bibliographic institute, I think the fact that it kept exactly its literary relations - its archival, bibliographic, library, and museum activities - is not at all surprising and indicated its basic function from the beginning . But with this point, we are faced with the symbolic meaning, the psychological/spiritual effect, of the Matica slovenska apart from its physical existence . This brings us to the second kind of effect upon literature the Matica has had . In the extreme Magyar persecution at the time of the Matica's early life, it became a sort of guardian and protector of the Slovak nation, which specifically came to mean the guardian of Slovak self-expression, of literature and language. Historians have recognized and shown how closely the Slovak sense of identity, the sense of self, is tied to language ; Peter Brock, for example, has called the Slovaks a "culturallinguistic nation.' ' 19 The Matica was literally the defender in the battle with Czech linguists over the Pravidla , and in the gathering of signatures of 128 writers - essentially all the practicing writers of the time - on a petition to request revision of the Pravidla, Slovaks were completely united on the language issue. The petition caused such bad feelings on �SLOVAKIA 53 co nfessional and political grounds between ''Czechoslovaks ' ' and "Slovaks" that the Catholic J.C . Hronsky (who had collected the signatures) and the Lutheran Elena Mar6thy-Soltesova published a soothing joint letter in N arodnie novin y. But there was no disagreement on the language issue itself. 20 This need to defend the Slovak la nguage stopped after the period of the Slovak R epublic a nd Czech acceptance of Slovak individuality in the Kosice Program of 1945 , and the linguistic " purism" stopped when it was no longer needed as a defense. 21 Although Slovak language and literature did not still have to be protected as such, the Literarny archfv and the Literarnomuzejne oddelenie were co ntinuing the guardianship of the past, as allowed by the law of 1954 . Such a narrow view of the Matica as guardian, howeve r, is apparently not sufficient to satisfy the Slovak image of the M atica, because demands were made for a change in the liberal 1960s , especially a t the hundred-year jubilee in 1963 . The restrictive law of 1954 was replaced by the law of 1968 , which resto red the Matica's membership base, gave it a biographical department, and made it responsible for cultural relations with foreigners of Slovak ancestry. The insults of Pres ident Antonfn Novotny against the M atica were taken by Slovaks as insults against the whole nation and used by the liberals (Czech as well as Slovak) in 1968-69 both to remove Novotny from office and to improve the status of the Matica . The book published then , Z vole l'udu obnovena, expresses this continuing view of the Matica as a response to the people's need . 22 Clearly, the hi sto rical and the current concept of the Matica includes its ability to propagate (not only to preserve) among Slovaks their sense of identity in their lan guage and literature. This mission can be seen in another way . I have said that one also has to co nsider the psychological effect of the M a tica as a moveable institute that can be established by Slovaks outside Slovakia. This first occurred in 1893 when the "Matica slovenska in America " was founded in Chicago by American Slovaks ce ntered around the R everend Stefan Furd ek 's j ednota and Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky's Slovak V Amerike . It published several works before it dissolved in 1897 , including a literary journal similar to Slovenske pohl'ady. 23 A "Matica slovenska in Yugoslavia" was established in 1932 in Petrovec, near Novi Sad, where a large and compact gro up of Slovaks had lived for two hundred years; it lasted until 1948. The Zahranicna Matica Slovenska , founded by Sta ni slav Meciar a nd J .C. Hronsky after World War II in Argentina , �54 SLOVAKIA with collaborators in the United States and Canada, still exists. In all three examples, the literary activity (both planned and actually carried out) followed the traditional lines ofMatica activity . For example, Meciar collected and published material on Martin Kukucfn while he lived in Chile and also reprinted and analyzed certain works by J .C. Hronsky . 24 Even while the Matica was closed from 187 5 to 1919, it seemed to produce various alternatives to fill its place . For example , the women's organization Zivena was founded in 1869, but it was not closed by Magyar officials since it was just a women's organization, and therefore was presumably insignificant. Its annual meeting occurred in August because it had been founded at the Matica general assembly, so the August m eetings of Zivena became a substitute for the banned August general assembly of the Matica. 2 5 Zivena also developed a publishing program and an almanach , L etopis Zi ven y, to fill the gap left by the closed Matica. This substitution became possible because the Slovak women's movement was primarily an arm of the national movem ent rather than a genuine feminist drive. In part this was true because the Slovak nationalists, such as Ambro Pietor, were instiga tors in founding the women's organization ; they were looking for help in the struggle against Magyar domination. But it was also true because the leader of the women's movement soon became Elena Mar6thy-Soltesova, daughter of a poet of the Stur school, and more of a nationalist herself than a feminist in her own fiction (unlike the fiction of Timrava, which was more nearly feminist). 26 Therefore, I think the work of Zivena can be said to belon g to the Matica tradition . In the same period, but outside Turciansky Sviity M a rtin , other nationalist centers began to develop among Rom a n Catholics, such as the Spolok sv. Vojtecha in Trnava . In addition, K arol Salva's press in Ruzomberok began to compete with the M atica, as did the journal Dennica, ed ited b y T erezia Vansova in Pila . 2 7 In referring to physical effects as opposed to symbolic effects, or maticas abroad and alternative institutions, it is clear that I am co nsidering a movement rather than only the maj or in stitute that movem ent produced . The Matica movement was and is bigger than the institute itself, and in fac t has spread, I think , much farther and deeper in Slovak literary life than the institute itself indicates . For exam ple, one can see evidence of the identification of Slovak selfhood with literature in the theory of comparativistics of Dionyz Durisin in the Institute of �SLOVAKIA 55 Literature of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, and also in the analysis of specifically Slovak elements in lyricized prose by Jan Stevcek of Comenius University . 18 I do not think it is stretching the point too much to say there is something distinctively Slovak about the ambitious attempt of the "Nitra School" of literary theory to utilize and adapt concepts from Czech and Polish structuralism and the Tartu semioticians to create what Edward Mozejko has called "the introduction of a new discipline - the poetics of metatexts . .. a universal metalanguage of art ... the investigation of so-called intersemiotic translation ... a new communicative poetics of literature and art. " 19 To conclude, therefore, the Matica slovenska as an institute resulted from the particular political situation of the Slovaks in Hungary, but it continued and has been periodically renewed because it is a symbol and a symptom of the historical Slovak self-identification with its language and literature. NOTES ' Sta nl ey B. Kimball , " The Serbian Marica - Prototype of Austro-Slav Litera ry Foundat ion s: The First Fifty Yea rs 1826-76 ," East European Quarterly, III (September l 969) , 353-70; Peter H errity, "The R ole of the M a ti ca a nd Similar Societies in the Development of the Slavoni c Literary Languages ,'' Slavon ic and East European R eview, LI Oul y 1973), 368-386 . ' John A. Bert a helped to compile this list; see also his " The Marica slovenska and Its R ole in Slovak Cultural D evelopment, 19 19- 1939" (Ph .D . disse rt a tion , SUNY Bingha mton , l 983). ' " M a ti ca slovenska, " En cyklopedia Slovenska, Vol. III (Bra tislava: SA V , 1979). • Peter Liba, V ydava tel'sk e die/a M a tice slovensk ej 1863-1954 (M artin : M ati ca slovenska , 1962) . ' T omas Winkler , M a rica slovensk a v rok och 1919- 1945: z p roblem ov a dokum entov ustredia MS (Martin: M ati ca slovenska, 1971 ), p . 149. ' Ibid ., p. 150. ' "Literarn ovedn y ustav Slovens kej akademie vied ," Encyklopedia S/ovenska , Vol. III. 8 Winkler, pp. 150-53. ' Ibid, pp. 152-53. �SLOVAKIA 56 10 L ' ubomir Durov ic, "Slovak, " in Th e Slavic Lieerary Languages: Formaeion and Developmene, eds. A .M . Schenker and E. Stankiewicz (New H ave n : Yale Conciliu m on Internati ona l and Area Studies, 1980), p . 222. Owen V. Johnson has shown to what ex tent an education class developed in thi s period in his " The slovak Intelligentsia 19 18- 1938" in Russian and Slavic Hisrory , ed . D .K . Rowney and G.E. Orchard (Columbu s: Slavica Publishers, Inc., 1977), and also in his Ph .D . dissertati on , " Sociocultural a nd National D evelo pment in Slovakia , 1918-1 938: Education and It s Impact" (University of Mi chigan , 1978). 11 Winkler, pp . 153-55. ll 13 Jan Misianik , "Uvodom," D ejin y searsej slo venskej lieerac ury, ed s. J a n Misianik , J ozef Mina rik, Milena Mi chalcova, and Andrej Melichercik , Vol. I (Bratislava: SAV, 1958) , 5-6. The introduction is dated Dece mber 30, 1956. See also Winkler, p . 155. P avo! Stevcek, Coneemporary Slovak Lieeraeure (Bra ti slava: Obzo r, 1980), p . 119 ; Stevcek says Bakos was th e "fou nd er of lit era ry theory ." See also Winkler , p. 156. " Vi ctor K ochol , in D ejin y slovenskej lit eratury: Lieeraeura narodn eho obrodenia , eds . Milan Pisut , K arol R ose nbaum , Victor Kochol, Vol. II (Bratislava: SAY , 1960) , pp . 466-67: "Hurban chcel v slovenskom kulturnom zivote dosled ne upl atn ova t' principy vedec kosti a kritickosti . . . . " 11 Winkler, pp . 157-59. See a lso V ladimir Petrik , "Slovenske pohl'ady 192 2- 1938 , " Slovenske pohl'ady , No. 7 (1964) , 8-14 , and Jozef Bzoch, "Slove nske pohl'ad y 1939- 1944, " Slo venske pohl'ady, o. 8 (1964), 6-9. 1 • See Liba , op . cir. 17 E.G., Iva n Ku sy, ed. , Timra va: Zobran e spisy, II (Bratisl ava: Slovenske vydavatel'stvo krasnej literatury , 1956), 287-88, and es pecially Marianna PridavkovaMinarikova , Textologicke a seylisticke problem y K.ukucinovho die/a (Bratislava: SA V, 1972), pp . 5, 13 , 15, and passim . " In 1935, for exa mpl e, th e lin guist r.udovit Novak argued for chan ges in th e Matica to provide greater finan cial support and to bring scientifi c freedom from political chan ges (Winkler , pp. 29-30 a nd 110- 12) ; in fact, th e J azy koved ny odbor had such ex treme organiza ti onal disagreements amo ng its members (especially Novak and H enri ch Ba rt ek) th a t once ( 1936) Hronsk y wanted to resign a nd later (1941) th e odbor was on th e verge of being di ssolved (see Winkler , pp . 30 a nd 131-32). On SA VU a nd SAV, see Slovenska ak adem ia vied (Bratislava: Vydavatcl'stvo SAV, 1969). " Peter Brock , The Slo,·ak National Awakenin g: An Essay in eh e lnt eJlecr ual Hiseory of Ease General Europe (Toronto a nd Buffalo: Universi ty of T oro nto Press, 1976), p. ix . Brock uses as a motto H ans Kohn's statement: " In Central and Eastern Europe it was the poe t, the phil ologist, and th e hi storian who crea ted th e nati onaliti es. " "' Elena Mar6th y-Soltcsova a nd J .C . H rons ky, " Slm-cnskej ve rej nos ti . Vysvetlenie vo veci podpisov pre navrh slov . spisova tcl'ov ," Narodnie novin y, May 1932 , p. 2. On th e Pra vidla , see Durovic, pp . 222-25 , and Robert Auty, " The R ole of Purism in th e Development of th e Sl avonic Lit erary Languages, " Slavonic R eview , LI Uul y 1973) , 335 -43. �SLOVAKIA 57 " 6urovic, pp . 225-26. " Z vole I'udu obnovena, ed s. Ivan Gegus and Mil os K ovacka (M a rtin : Matica slovenska , 1968 - ac tu all y 1969), pp. 6-9 a nd p assim . Novotnfs petty a nd tas teless behavior is outlin ed here also. " '' Matica slove nska v Amerike '' and '' Matica slovenska v J uh oslav ii ,' ' En cyklopedia Slovenska , Vol. III. On th e American Matica, see also K ons ta ntin C ul en , Slovenske casopisy ,· Amerike (Cleveland: Prva katolicka sloven ska jednota, 1970), pp . 19-21 , 52-53 , 70-71. " Stanislav M ecia r , Kukucfn if.ivy , 2 vols. ( Bu enos Aires: Knizni ca Slobodna Slovenska Kultu ra , 1958 and 1960) - stri ctl y speaking th ese books were no t published by the Matica but within that trad itio n; J. C. Hronsky , Poh ar z bruseneho skla , ed. S. Mcciar (Buenos Aires: Zahranicn a M ati ca Slovenska, 1964), and Na kriinych cescach , cd. S. Meciar (Bu enos Aires: Zahranicna Matica Sloven ska, 1966). " Stefana Yotrubova, Zivena. j ej osudy a praca (Martin: Zivena, 1931) , pp . 22-23; see a lso J a rmil a Tkadleckova-Yantuchova, Zivena-Spolok slovensk ych zien (Bra ti slava : Epocha , 1969). " See th e compariso n in An In cipienc Feminise: Slovak Scories by Timra, ·a , ed it ed and translated by No rm a Leigh Rudinsk y (Columbus: Slavica Publishers, In c. , in prep.). " J a n Tibensky , ed ., Slovensko: Dejiny (Bratislava: Obzor, 197 1), p . 543. " Dionyz Duri sin , Problem y Jic erarn ej komparacistik y (Bratislava: SA V, 1967), and Z dcjin a ce6rie Jicerarn ej kompara cisrik y (Bratislava: SA V , 1970) ; J an Stevcck, Nez badane pr6zy (Bratislava: Slovensky spisova tel' , 197 1), a nd L yrizovan a pr6za (B ra ti slava : Tatran , 1973). " Edwa rd Mozejko, " Survey: Slovak Theory of Litera ry Co mmuni ca ti on : Notes on th e Nitra School of Lit erary Criticism,' ' PTL: A j ourn al for Descripri,·e Poetics and Theory of Lircrarure , 4 (1979) , 37 1-8 4. �� SLOVAKIA 47 The Matica slovenska and Its Relation to the Development of Slovak Literature* Norma L. Rudin sky The distinctively Slavic institution of th e matica can perhaps b e best described as a national library, publishing house, university , scientific institute, acad emy of scholars, and nationalistic missionary society all in one. The earliest examples - the Matica srbska founded in 1826, Matice ceska in 1831, and Mati ce moravska in 1836 - were like the later Matica slovenska, founded in Turciansky Svaty Martin on August 4 , 1863, in playing an important role in literary development. 1 But the Slovak Matica assumed a special significance because of the much more desolate circumstan ces of the Slovaks in Hungary . This difference makes a particularly interesting study not only of the Slavic matica movement but also of the special place of literature in Slovak intellectual hi sto ry . In speaking of the relation of the Matica slovenska to Slovak literature, one has to distinguish between the effect of the actual institute as it existed (from its founding in 1863 to its closure by Magyar authorities in 1875 and since its reopening in 1919) and the effect of the spiritual/ psychological or symboli c nature of the Matica even when it did not exist , i.e ., 1875-1919 , and in a certain sense when it was "onl y" a national library without a membership base, from 195 1 to 1968 . One also has to consider the symbolic meaning whenever a Matica was established outsid e Slovakia , as ha s happened seve ral times . • Thi s is a rev ised ve rsio n of a pa per prese nt ed at th e panel " The M ati ca slove nsk a: 120 Yea rs of Survi va l" spo nso red by the Slova k Studies Associati on durin g th e Fiftee nth Nati onal C onve nti o n of th e Am eri can Association for th e Advan ce m ent of Slavic Studies held in Kan sas C it y, Mi ssouri in O ctober 1983 . �48 SLOVAKIA It is also necessary to distinguish the direct effects of the Matica from its indirect effects, that is , from all its general educational results, such as greater literacy and a higher cultural level that came from activities like publishing almanacs, setting up amateur theatricals, or dignifying folk literature by collecting and reciting it. By all such results the Matica contributed to the development of a social and intellect ual environment in which Slovak literature could arise. Literary works are always a response of an artist to a particular time and place; the general activities of the Matica provided a stimulus to literary talent and helped to secure an audience for that talent. But having mentioned this indirect effect, I shall confine myself to the direct effects of the Matica on Slovak literature, and first to those that occurred while the Matica actually existed. The special relation of the "t\1atica to both language and literature is indicated in the list of presidents and directors. The office of president (predseda), which until 1945 was an honorary position and could be held by two or three people at a time, has had over thirteen occupants; at least four were major writers Qan Francisci, Pavol OrszaghHviezdoslav, Ladislav Novomesky, and Vladimfr Minac - Novomesky having two terms, before and after his prison sentence), and five were literary historians or at least had strong literary interests (Stefan Moyses, Jozef Koza.eek , F.R. Osvald, Jur Janoska, and Marian Blaha). Of the seven directors (spravca), which is the chief administrative position , one was a major writer O. C. Hronsky) and three were major literary historians Qaroslav Vlcek, Jozef Skultety, and Jan Martak , who had two terms). 2 If the secretaries (tajomnfk) are added as major officers, they were all literary figures except Frantisek Hermansky, a lin gui st, and JozefCincik, an artist and art historian: Stefan Krcmery, RudolfKlacko, Hronsky ' Martak, and Stanislav Meciar. l It is hard to see much real effect upon literature from the first Matica, even though one of its functions was to publish and distribute literary works. The major Slovak writers of that tim e were only beginning to write and publish just before the Matica was closed. For example, Hviezdoslav's first poems were published in 1868 but in Skalica , not in Martin, as was also his journal Napred. Svetozar Hurban -Vajansky's first book, a coll ection of poems, came out in 1871 but again in Skalica, not Martin. Elena Mar6thy -Soltesova's first story was published in 1881, and Martin Kukucfn' s first story appeared in 1882 when th e Mati ca �SLOVAKIA 49 was cl osed . In fact , proba bl y the only reall y signifi cant literary work durin g the tim e of the first Matica was the collectio n a nd preservation of folk litera ture, the two-volume collection Sbornfk sloven sk ych n arod- nych piesnf, povestf, prfslovf, p orek adiel, hadok , hier, obycaj ov a povier in 1870 and 1874, the second volum e of which was edited by P avo) Dobsin sky. This work was, of course, ve ry impo rta n t in th e establishm ent of Slovak fo lk literature as well as ethnography. Otherwi se, however , the twelve issu es of the a nnu al publicatio n L etopis M atice slo vensk ej a nd the 44 books published by the M a tica carried so m e li te ra ry hi stor y but prima ril y in rela tion to la n gu age, no t liter a ture. 4 Afte r the M atica was reopened in 19 19, its fi rst offi cial li te rary divisio n was the Lite rary Hi sto r y D ep a rtment (Litera rn ohi sto ri cky odbor MS ), whi ch was form ed o n M ay 11 , 19 22 b y separat in g the hi sto ry of li te ra tu re secti on (hi sto rickoli terarn a sekcia) from the Hi story D epartm ent (Historicky od bo r M S). T he latter ha d bee n establ ished at the second ge ner al asse mbl y of the M at ica in Au gust, 1920 . T he fi rst offi cers of the Literary Hi story D epartme n t we re J a roslav V lcek as pres ide nt , Albert Prazak as vice- preside nt , a nd Stefan Krcm ery as secreta ry, S and they gave the depa rtment its basic to ne for the next decade. T he D epartm en t was enl a rged in Febru a ry, 1925 by adding to it m an y writers from the literary sectio n of th e Art s D ep a rtm e nt (U m elecky odbo r M S), a nd its na m e was ch a n ged to th e Liter a ry a nd Literar y Hi sto ry D ep a rtm ent (Litera rn y a literarn ohi sto ri cky odbor MS) . But the old n am e was taken again the nex t year , a nd it remain ed the Li te ra rnohi sto ricky odbo r 6 until it was ended in 1953, when its work was taken over by several in stitutes, such as the Li te ra rn y archfv M S a n d the In sti tu te of Slovak Liter ature in the Slovak Academy of Sciences (Ustav sloven skej li teratury SA V) in Brat islava . 7 T h is n a m e, in fac t , in d icated its m a in fu nct io n : it collected manu scrip ts b io-b ibli ograp hi es, m emoris , a nd the li ke. 8 O ne of its first act ivit ies was to coll ect a nd pu bli sh Vl ce k 's hi story of Slovak li te ra tu re in 1923, a nd it co ntribu ted to th e S bornfk Ma tice slovensk ej pre j azykospyt, narodopis, dejepis a literarnu historiu , whi ch , howeve r , eve n th ou gh ed ited fi rs t by V lcek, the n by S kul tety, in its first d ecade co n ta in ed m u ch m o re o n ethn ograp hy a nd la n gu age tha n on li te ratu re . 9 Also, m u ch of the work do ne the n de pended upon Czech scholars who - li ke V lce k hi r.1self, Prazak, a nd Flora Kl einsch nitzova - trea ted Slovak li te rat ure as a b ra n ch of Czech li terat ure, whi ch affected their research goals a nd in te rests . �50 SLOVAKIA It has bee n said b y Lubomfr Durovic that althou gh the first Czechoslovak Republic de jure challenged the existence of the Slovak nation by the official theory of the '' Czechoslovak n a tion ,'' it de facto saved th e n a tion by m eans of the great opportunities it provided compared to the Hunga ri a n period . 10 This can be seen very clearly in the ch a n ges that occurred in th e Matica after 1930 when a n ew generat ion of Slovak scholars h ad been trained whose chief interest was in Slovak, not Czech , cu lture and who wanted to co nsider its specificity and its relation to other Slavic cultures, not to Czech culture alone . In 1935 the Sbornfk was divided into specialized pa rts with individu al editors : Ludovft Nova k edited th e la n gu age secti on a nd Stanislav M eciar the lite rary sect ion . The a rrival of su ch a literary schol a r as Andrej Mraz in 1930 m eant , therefore, a cha n ge in em phasis not only from narodopis or et hn ography to literature, but also from bio-bibliographical works to criti cal a nd evalu ative studies and monographs on individual authors, su ch as j a nko Kral' , J a n K alinciak , Samo Chalupka, a nd Ivan Krasko . 11 In add ition , seve ral foreig n Slavists, such as the Ru ssian Dmitri C izevskij an d the Pole Wl ad yslaw Bobek , contributed to the Sbornfk seve ral co mparative studi es rela tin g Slovak literature to th e ge ne ral stream of Slavic literatures a nd in importa n t respects cha n gin g the inte rpreta tion a nd pe riodi zation of Vlcek , which had been follow ed also by Albert Prazak in th e d oze n or m ore wo rks on Slovak li terature h e publi shed in th e M atica in the 1920s a nd after 1932 in th e U ce na spolocnost' Safarikova. In fact , it is inte resting that the first effort to determine a real pe riodization of Slovak literature in itself, not in terms of the peri odization of Czech lite ra ture as Vlcek a nd Prazak h ad don e, was m ade by the P ole Bobek in 193 7; li ttle work was done again on the p eri odizati on of earl y Slovak lite rature until the M a rxist hi stori a ns did it in 1958 in the first volume of the Academy of Sciences literary hi story . i Apa rt from literary history , however , there was really little formal esthetic a n alysis or study of th e theo ry of lite rature. Th e major exce pti on (and it is trul y m ajor) was th e publication in 1939 of the book Vyvin slo vensk eh o versa od skoly Sturo vej by th e Ru ssia n-born forma li st and stru cturali st Mikul as Bakos, who d eveloped a more modern es th etic a n alysis tha n an yone else had done. Accordin g to P avo! Stevcek, it has "remained a book of cardin al importance" to thi s d ay. 13 Th e Sbornfk was not th e on ly literary journ al publi shed by th e M at ica, howeve r . M o re impo rt ant was Sloven sk e pohl'a dy, wh ich has 1 �SLOVAKIA 51 been, and still is, a sort of microcosm of Slovak cultural life since it was founded by JozefMiloslav Hurban in 1846. Hurban 's purpose in starting the periodical was " to apply consistently in Slovak cultural life the principles of science and criticism .'' 14 In the first six years of its existence (1846-52), it reflected the major events of Slovak intellectual life - including Hurban ' s defense of Stur's langu age codification in 1846 . Although halted by the censors and b y finan cial difficulties in 1852, it was resumed in M artin in 1881 and continued with first Vajansky as editor , then Jozef Skultety publishing and editing it until 1919 . In 1921 the M atica started it up again under the editorship of Stefan Krcmery, and it remained a monthly published by the Matica until 1953, when it was taken over b y the Slovak Writers' Union , whose organ it is today . In the Matica period, it was edited by Krcmery until illness forced his ret irem ent in 1932, then Andrej Mraz until 1938, and Stanislav M eciar until 1945; with a few exceptions in that period everyo ne published there: nationalists , internationalists, Catholics, Lutherans, Communists, realists, surrealists, social realists. 15 Unlike the Sbornfk, Slovenske pohl'ady always carried original works of literature - poetry and sto ries - as well as literary history and criticism . Thu s it contributed to the growth of literature itself, not just to literary criticism . Besides these two journals, however , the Literary History D epartm ent supported literature in another way: by republishin g the "classics" in collected editions, includin g all the works ofHviezdoslav, Vajansky, Kukucfn , Timrava, the Stur school , and also contemporary writers, such as janko j esensky , Hronsky , a nd M artin R azu s. 16 Unfortunately, these editions of the classics were not usually prepared accord ing to consistent, modern editorial principles, either in selection and arrange m ent of the m ate rial or in lin guistic and textual stand ards. Skultety , Mraz, and M eciar each followed his own editorial system , and editorial assistants acted even more freely. Numerous living authors complained about their treatm en t, and this was true after World War II as well as during and befo re. 17 Furthermore, the Matica did not always select fo r publication the best current works. It showed no interest in Kukucfn's Mat' vola (1 926-27) , published by G .A. Beza in Trnava, nor did it issue Milo Urban 's Zivy bic (Prague, 1927), which is generally rated as by far the best Slovak novel published in the 1920s. But this can be regarded as a sign of the times: In its early period the Matica could be in co ntact �52 SLOVAKIA with almost everything, but as Slovak opportunities grew geometrically with education and the other new advantages, the Matica and Martin could not hold everything in their own hands, and other literary centers were developing . Bratislava became the major competitor, not only because of the professors at the University, but also because of the newly-established Slovak Academy of Sciences and Arts (Slovenska akademia vied a umenf) in 1942, which eventually developed into the current Slovenska akademia vied. In fact, organizational changes in the Matica also became necessary to meet the increasingly specialized growth of knowledge itself in the second half of the twentieth century. 18 The changes in the Matica that occurred after World War II have to be seen in this context: No organization could continue as the sole cultural and scientific institution, as the arts and social sciences became much too complex to be governed in a single organization, especially an institute far away from the capital city, the chief metropolis, and the seat of the main university system. Major changes would have occurred even without the Communist takeover in 1948 or the Marxist-Leninist theories of internationalism and the leading role of the Party - all of which tended to diminish the importance of the Matica. When the law of 1954 reduced the Matica to the single function of a national library and bibliographic institute, I think the fact that it kept exactly its literary relations - its archival, bibliographic, library, and museum activities - is not at all surprising and indicated its basic function from the beginning . But with this point, we are faced with the symbolic meaning, the psychological/spiritual effect, of the Matica slovenska apart from its physical existence . This brings us to the second kind of effect upon literature the Matica has had . In the extreme Magyar persecution at the time of the Matica's early life, it became a sort of guardian and protector of the Slovak nation, which specifically came to mean the guardian of Slovak self-expression, of literature and language. Historians have recognized and shown how closely the Slovak sense of identity, the sense of self, is tied to language ; Peter Brock, for example, has called the Slovaks a "culturallinguistic nation.' ' 19 The Matica was literally the defender in the battle with Czech linguists over the Pravidla , and in the gathering of signatures of 128 writers - essentially all the practicing writers of the time - on a petition to request revision of the Pravidla, Slovaks were completely united on the language issue. The petition caused such bad feelings on �SLOVAKIA 53 co nfessional and political grounds between ''Czechoslovaks ' ' and "Slovaks" that the Catholic J.C . Hronsky (who had collected the signatures) and the Lutheran Elena Mar6thy-Soltesova published a soothing joint letter in N arodnie novin y. But there was no disagreement on the language issue itself. 20 This need to defend the Slovak la nguage stopped after the period of the Slovak R epublic a nd Czech acceptance of Slovak individuality in the Kosice Program of 1945 , and the linguistic " purism" stopped when it was no longer needed as a defense. 21 Although Slovak language and literature did not still have to be protected as such, the Literarny archfv and the Literarnomuzejne oddelenie were co ntinuing the guardianship of the past, as allowed by the law of 1954 . Such a narrow view of the Matica as guardian, howeve r, is apparently not sufficient to satisfy the Slovak image of the M atica, because demands were made for a change in the liberal 1960s , especially a t the hundred-year jubilee in 1963 . The restrictive law of 1954 was replaced by the law of 1968 , which resto red the Matica's membership base, gave it a biographical department, and made it responsible for cultural relations with foreigners of Slovak ancestry. The insults of Pres ident Antonfn Novotny against the M atica were taken by Slovaks as insults against the whole nation and used by the liberals (Czech as well as Slovak) in 1968-69 both to remove Novotny from office and to improve the status of the Matica . The book published then , Z vole l'udu obnovena, expresses this continuing view of the Matica as a response to the people's need . 22 Clearly, the hi sto rical and the current concept of the Matica includes its ability to propagate (not only to preserve) among Slovaks their sense of identity in their lan guage and literature. This mission can be seen in another way . I have said that one also has to co nsider the psychological effect of the M a tica as a moveable institute that can be established by Slovaks outside Slovakia. This first occurred in 1893 when the "Matica slovenska in America " was founded in Chicago by American Slovaks ce ntered around the R everend Stefan Furd ek 's j ednota and Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky's Slovak V Amerike . It published several works before it dissolved in 1897 , including a literary journal similar to Slovenske pohl'ady. 23 A "Matica slovenska in Yugoslavia" was established in 1932 in Petrovec, near Novi Sad, where a large and compact gro up of Slovaks had lived for two hundred years; it lasted until 1948. The Zahranicna Matica Slovenska , founded by Sta ni slav Meciar a nd J .C. Hronsky after World War II in Argentina , �54 SLOVAKIA with collaborators in the United States and Canada, still exists. In all three examples, the literary activity (both planned and actually carried out) followed the traditional lines ofMatica activity . For example, Meciar collected and published material on Martin Kukucfn while he lived in Chile and also reprinted and analyzed certain works by J .C. Hronsky . 24 Even while the Matica was closed from 187 5 to 1919, it seemed to produce various alternatives to fill its place . For example , the women's organization Zivena was founded in 1869, but it was not closed by Magyar officials since it was just a women's organization, and therefore was presumably insignificant. Its annual meeting occurred in August because it had been founded at the Matica general assembly, so the August m eetings of Zivena became a substitute for the banned August general assembly of the Matica. 2 5 Zivena also developed a publishing program and an almanach , L etopis Zi ven y, to fill the gap left by the closed Matica. This substitution became possible because the Slovak women's movement was primarily an arm of the national movem ent rather than a genuine feminist drive. In part this was true because the Slovak nationalists, such as Ambro Pietor, were instiga tors in founding the women's organization ; they were looking for help in the struggle against Magyar domination. But it was also true because the leader of the women's movement soon became Elena Mar6thy-Soltesova, daughter of a poet of the Stur school, and more of a nationalist herself than a feminist in her own fiction (unlike the fiction of Timrava, which was more nearly feminist). 26 Therefore, I think the work of Zivena can be said to belon g to the Matica tradition . In the same period, but outside Turciansky Sviity M a rtin , other nationalist centers began to develop among Rom a n Catholics, such as the Spolok sv. Vojtecha in Trnava . In addition, K arol Salva's press in Ruzomberok began to compete with the M atica, as did the journal Dennica, ed ited b y T erezia Vansova in Pila . 2 7 In referring to physical effects as opposed to symbolic effects, or maticas abroad and alternative institutions, it is clear that I am co nsidering a movement rather than only the maj or in stitute that movem ent produced . The Matica movement was and is bigger than the institute itself, and in fac t has spread, I think , much farther and deeper in Slovak literary life than the institute itself indicates . For exam ple, one can see evidence of the identification of Slovak selfhood with literature in the theory of comparativistics of Dionyz Durisin in the Institute of �SLOVAKIA 55 Literature of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, and also in the analysis of specifically Slovak elements in lyricized prose by Jan Stevcek of Comenius University . 18 I do not think it is stretching the point too much to say there is something distinctively Slovak about the ambitious attempt of the "Nitra School" of literary theory to utilize and adapt concepts from Czech and Polish structuralism and the Tartu semioticians to create what Edward Mozejko has called "the introduction of a new discipline - the poetics of metatexts . .. a universal metalanguage of art ... the investigation of so-called intersemiotic translation ... a new communicative poetics of literature and art. " 19 To conclude, therefore, the Matica slovenska as an institute resulted from the particular political situation of the Slovaks in Hungary, but it continued and has been periodically renewed because it is a symbol and a symptom of the historical Slovak self-identification with its language and literature. NOTES ' Sta nl ey B. Kimball , " The Serbian Marica - Prototype of Austro-Slav Litera ry Foundat ion s: The First Fifty Yea rs 1826-76 ," East European Quarterly, III (September l 969) , 353-70; Peter H errity, "The R ole of the M a ti ca a nd Similar Societies in the Development of the Slavoni c Literary Languages ,'' Slavon ic and East European R eview, LI Oul y 1973), 368-386 . ' John A. Bert a helped to compile this list; see also his " The Marica slovenska and Its R ole in Slovak Cultural D evelopment, 19 19- 1939" (Ph .D . disse rt a tion , SUNY Bingha mton , l 983). ' " M a ti ca slovenska, " En cyklopedia Slovenska, Vol. III (Bra tislava: SA V , 1979). • Peter Liba, V ydava tel'sk e die/a M a tice slovensk ej 1863-1954 (M artin : M ati ca slovenska , 1962) . ' T omas Winkler , M a rica slovensk a v rok och 1919- 1945: z p roblem ov a dokum entov ustredia MS (Martin: M ati ca slovenska, 1971 ), p . 149. ' Ibid ., p. 150. ' "Literarn ovedn y ustav Slovens kej akademie vied ," Encyklopedia S/ovenska , Vol. III. 8 Winkler, pp. 150-53. ' Ibid, pp. 152-53. �SLOVAKIA 56 10 L ' ubomir Durov ic, "Slovak, " in Th e Slavic Lieerary Languages: Formaeion and Developmene, eds. A .M . Schenker and E. Stankiewicz (New H ave n : Yale Conciliu m on Internati ona l and Area Studies, 1980), p . 222. Owen V. Johnson has shown to what ex tent an education class developed in thi s period in his " The slovak Intelligentsia 19 18- 1938" in Russian and Slavic Hisrory , ed . D .K . Rowney and G.E. Orchard (Columbu s: Slavica Publishers, Inc., 1977), and also in his Ph .D . dissertati on , " Sociocultural a nd National D evelo pment in Slovakia , 1918-1 938: Education and It s Impact" (University of Mi chigan , 1978). 11 Winkler, pp . 153-55. ll 13 Jan Misianik , "Uvodom," D ejin y searsej slo venskej lieerac ury, ed s. J a n Misianik , J ozef Mina rik, Milena Mi chalcova, and Andrej Melichercik , Vol. I (Bratislava: SAV, 1958) , 5-6. The introduction is dated Dece mber 30, 1956. See also Winkler, p . 155. P avo! Stevcek, Coneemporary Slovak Lieeraeure (Bra ti slava: Obzo r, 1980), p . 119 ; Stevcek says Bakos was th e "fou nd er of lit era ry theory ." See also Winkler , p. 156. " Vi ctor K ochol , in D ejin y slovenskej lit eratury: Lieeraeura narodn eho obrodenia , eds . Milan Pisut , K arol R ose nbaum , Victor Kochol, Vol. II (Bratislava: SAY , 1960) , pp . 466-67: "Hurban chcel v slovenskom kulturnom zivote dosled ne upl atn ova t' principy vedec kosti a kritickosti . . . . " 11 Winkler, pp . 157-59. See a lso V ladimir Petrik , "Slovenske pohl'ady 192 2- 1938 , " Slovenske pohl'ady , No. 7 (1964) , 8-14 , and Jozef Bzoch, "Slove nske pohl'ad y 1939- 1944, " Slo venske pohl'ady, o. 8 (1964), 6-9. 1 • See Liba , op . cir. 17 E.G., Iva n Ku sy, ed. , Timra va: Zobran e spisy, II (Bratisl ava: Slovenske vydavatel'stvo krasnej literatury , 1956), 287-88, and es pecially Marianna PridavkovaMinarikova , Textologicke a seylisticke problem y K.ukucinovho die/a (Bratislava: SA V, 1972), pp . 5, 13 , 15, and passim . " In 1935, for exa mpl e, th e lin guist r.udovit Novak argued for chan ges in th e Matica to provide greater finan cial support and to bring scientifi c freedom from political chan ges (Winkler , pp. 29-30 a nd 110- 12) ; in fact, th e J azy koved ny odbor had such ex treme organiza ti onal disagreements amo ng its members (especially Novak and H enri ch Ba rt ek) th a t once ( 1936) Hronsk y wanted to resign a nd later (1941) th e odbor was on th e verge of being di ssolved (see Winkler , pp . 30 a nd 131-32). On SA VU a nd SAV, see Slovenska ak adem ia vied (Bratislava: Vydavatcl'stvo SAV, 1969). " Peter Brock , The Slo,·ak National Awakenin g: An Essay in eh e lnt eJlecr ual Hiseory of Ease General Europe (Toronto a nd Buffalo: Universi ty of T oro nto Press, 1976), p. ix . Brock uses as a motto H ans Kohn's statement: " In Central and Eastern Europe it was the poe t, the phil ologist, and th e hi storian who crea ted th e nati onaliti es. " "' Elena Mar6th y-Soltcsova a nd J .C . H rons ky, " Slm-cnskej ve rej nos ti . Vysvetlenie vo veci podpisov pre navrh slov . spisova tcl'ov ," Narodnie novin y, May 1932 , p. 2. On th e Pra vidla , see Durovic, pp . 222-25 , and Robert Auty, " The R ole of Purism in th e Development of th e Sl avonic Lit erary Languages, " Slavonic R eview , LI Uul y 1973) , 335 -43. �SLOVAKIA 57 " 6urovic, pp . 225-26. " Z vole I'udu obnovena, ed s. Ivan Gegus and Mil os K ovacka (M a rtin : Matica slovenska , 1968 - ac tu all y 1969), pp. 6-9 a nd p assim . Novotnfs petty a nd tas teless behavior is outlin ed here also. " '' Matica slove nska v Amerike '' and '' Matica slovenska v J uh oslav ii ,' ' En cyklopedia Slovenska , Vol. III. On th e American Matica, see also K ons ta ntin C ul en , Slovenske casopisy ,· Amerike (Cleveland: Prva katolicka sloven ska jednota, 1970), pp . 19-21 , 52-53 , 70-71. " Stanislav M ecia r , Kukucfn if.ivy , 2 vols. ( Bu enos Aires: Knizni ca Slobodna Slovenska Kultu ra , 1958 and 1960) - stri ctl y speaking th ese books were no t published by the Matica but within that trad itio n; J. C. Hronsky , Poh ar z bruseneho skla , ed. S. Mcciar (Buenos Aires: Zahranicn a M ati ca Slovenska, 1964), and Na kriinych cescach , cd. S. Meciar (Bu enos Aires: Zahranicna Matica Sloven ska, 1966). " Stefana Yotrubova, Zivena. j ej osudy a praca (Martin: Zivena, 1931) , pp . 22-23; see a lso J a rmil a Tkadleckova-Yantuchova, Zivena-Spolok slovensk ych zien (Bra ti slava : Epocha , 1969). " See th e compariso n in An In cipienc Feminise: Slovak Scories by Timra, ·a , ed it ed and translated by No rm a Leigh Rudinsk y (Columbus: Slavica Publishers, In c. , in prep.). " J a n Tibensky , ed ., Slovensko: Dejiny (Bratislava: Obzor, 197 1), p . 543. " Dionyz Duri sin , Problem y Jic erarn ej komparacistik y (Bratislava: SA V, 1967), and Z dcjin a ce6rie Jicerarn ej kompara cisrik y (Bratislava: SA V , 1970) ; J an Stevcck, Nez badane pr6zy (Bratislava: Slovensky spisova tel' , 197 1), a nd L yrizovan a pr6za (B ra ti slava : Tatran , 1973). " Edwa rd Mozejko, " Survey: Slovak Theory of Litera ry Co mmuni ca ti on : Notes on th e Nitra School of Lit erary Criticism,' ' PTL: A j ourn al for Descripri,·e Poetics and Theory of Lircrarure , 4 (1979) , 37 1-8 4. �� 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 1984, Vol. 31 Description An account of the resource Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984. 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 1984 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 47 The Matica slovenska and Its Relation to the Development of Slovak Literature* Norma L. Rudin sky The distinctively Slavic institution of th e matica can perhaps b e best described as a national library, publishing house, university , scientific institute, acad emy of scholars, and nationalistic missionary society all in one. The earliest examples - the Matica srbska founded in 1826, Matice ceska in 1831, and Mati ce moravska in 1836 - were like the later Matica slovenska, founded in Turciansky Svaty Martin on August 4 , 1863, in playing an important role in literary development. 1 But the Slovak Matica assumed a special significance because of the much more desolate circumstan ces of the Slovaks in Hungary . This difference makes a particularly interesting study not only of the Slavic matica movement but also of the special place of literature in Slovak intellectual hi sto ry . In speaking of the relation of the Matica slovenska to Slovak literature, one has to distinguish between the effect of the actual institute as it existed (from its founding in 1863 to its closure by Magyar authorities in 1875 and since its reopening in 1919) and the effect of the spiritual/ psychological or symboli c nature of the Matica even when it did not exist , i.e ., 1875-1919 , and in a certain sense when it was "onl y" a national library without a membership base, from 195 1 to 1968 . One also has to consider the symbolic meaning whenever a Matica was established outsid e Slovakia , as ha s happened seve ral times . • Thi s is a rev ised ve rsio n of a pa per prese nt ed at th e panel " The M ati ca slove nsk a: 120 Yea rs of Survi va l" spo nso red by the Slova k Studies Associati on durin g th e Fiftee nth Nati onal C onve nti o n of th e Am eri can Association for th e Advan ce m ent of Slavic Studies held in Kan sas C it y, Mi ssouri in O ctober 1983 . 48 SLOVAKIA It is also necessary to distinguish the direct effects of the Matica from its indirect effects, that is , from all its general educational results, such as greater literacy and a higher cultural level that came from activities like publishing almanacs, setting up amateur theatricals, or dignifying folk literature by collecting and reciting it. By all such results the Matica contributed to the development of a social and intellect ual environment in which Slovak literature could arise. Literary works are always a response of an artist to a particular time and place; the general activities of the Matica provided a stimulus to literary talent and helped to secure an audience for that talent. But having mentioned this indirect effect, I shall confine myself to the direct effects of the Matica on Slovak literature, and first to those that occurred while the Matica actually existed. The special relation of the "t\1atica to both language and literature is indicated in the list of presidents and directors. The office of president (predseda), which until 1945 was an honorary position and could be held by two or three people at a time, has had over thirteen occupants; at least four were major writers Qan Francisci, Pavol OrszaghHviezdoslav, Ladislav Novomesky, and Vladimfr Minac - Novomesky having two terms, before and after his prison sentence), and five were literary historians or at least had strong literary interests (Stefan Moyses, Jozef Koza.eek , F.R. Osvald, Jur Janoska, and Marian Blaha). Of the seven directors (spravca), which is the chief administrative position , one was a major writer O. C. Hronsky) and three were major literary historians Qaroslav Vlcek, Jozef Skultety, and Jan Martak , who had two terms). 2 If the secretaries (tajomnfk) are added as major officers, they were all literary figures except Frantisek Hermansky, a lin gui st, and JozefCincik, an artist and art historian: Stefan Krcmery, RudolfKlacko, Hronsky ' Martak, and Stanislav Meciar. l It is hard to see much real effect upon literature from the first Matica, even though one of its functions was to publish and distribute literary works. The major Slovak writers of that tim e were only beginning to write and publish just before the Matica was closed. For example, Hviezdoslav's first poems were published in 1868 but in Skalica , not in Martin, as was also his journal Napred. Svetozar Hurban -Vajansky's first book, a coll ection of poems, came out in 1871 but again in Skalica, not Martin. Elena Mar6thy -Soltesova's first story was published in 1881, and Martin Kukucfn' s first story appeared in 1882 when th e Mati ca SLOVAKIA 49 was cl osed . In fact , proba bl y the only reall y signifi cant literary work durin g the tim e of the first Matica was the collectio n a nd preservation of folk litera ture, the two-volume collection Sbornfk sloven sk ych n arod- nych piesnf, povestf, prfslovf, p orek adiel, hadok , hier, obycaj ov a povier in 1870 and 1874, the second volum e of which was edited by P avo) Dobsin sky. This work was, of course, ve ry impo rta n t in th e establishm ent of Slovak fo lk literature as well as ethnography. Otherwi se, however , the twelve issu es of the a nnu al publicatio n L etopis M atice slo vensk ej a nd the 44 books published by the M a tica carried so m e li te ra ry hi stor y but prima ril y in rela tion to la n gu age, no t liter a ture. 4 Afte r the M atica was reopened in 19 19, its fi rst offi cial li te rary divisio n was the Lite rary Hi sto r y D ep a rtment (Litera rn ohi sto ri cky odbor MS ), whi ch was form ed o n M ay 11 , 19 22 b y separat in g the hi sto ry of li te ra tu re secti on (hi sto rickoli terarn a sekcia) from the Hi story D epartm ent (Historicky od bo r M S). T he latter ha d bee n establ ished at the second ge ner al asse mbl y of the M at ica in Au gust, 1920 . T he fi rst offi cers of the Literary Hi story D epartme n t we re J a roslav V lcek as pres ide nt , Albert Prazak as vice- preside nt , a nd Stefan Krcm ery as secreta ry, S and they gave the depa rtment its basic to ne for the next decade. T he D epartm en t was enl a rged in Febru a ry, 1925 by adding to it m an y writers from the literary sectio n of th e Art s D ep a rtm e nt (U m elecky odbo r M S), a nd its na m e was ch a n ged to th e Liter a ry a nd Literar y Hi sto ry D ep a rtm ent (Litera rn y a literarn ohi sto ri cky odbor MS) . But the old n am e was taken again the nex t year , a nd it remain ed the Li te ra rnohi sto ricky odbo r 6 until it was ended in 1953, when its work was taken over by several in stitutes, such as the Li te ra rn y archfv M S a n d the In sti tu te of Slovak Liter ature in the Slovak Academy of Sciences (Ustav sloven skej li teratury SA V) in Brat islava . 7 T h is n a m e, in fac t , in d icated its m a in fu nct io n : it collected manu scrip ts b io-b ibli ograp hi es, m emoris , a nd the li ke. 8 O ne of its first act ivit ies was to coll ect a nd pu bli sh Vl ce k 's hi story of Slovak li te ra tu re in 1923, a nd it co ntribu ted to th e S bornfk Ma tice slovensk ej pre j azykospyt, narodopis, dejepis a literarnu historiu , whi ch , howeve r , eve n th ou gh ed ited fi rs t by V lcek, the n by S kul tety, in its first d ecade co n ta in ed m u ch m o re o n ethn ograp hy a nd la n gu age tha n on li te ratu re . 9 Also, m u ch of the work do ne the n de pended upon Czech scholars who - li ke V lce k hi r.1self, Prazak, a nd Flora Kl einsch nitzova - trea ted Slovak li te rat ure as a b ra n ch of Czech li terat ure, whi ch affected their research goals a nd in te rests . 50 SLOVAKIA It has bee n said b y Lubomfr Durovic that althou gh the first Czechoslovak Republic de jure challenged the existence of the Slovak nation by the official theory of the '' Czechoslovak n a tion ,'' it de facto saved th e n a tion by m eans of the great opportunities it provided compared to the Hunga ri a n period . 10 This can be seen very clearly in the ch a n ges that occurred in th e Matica after 1930 when a n ew generat ion of Slovak scholars h ad been trained whose chief interest was in Slovak, not Czech , cu lture and who wanted to co nsider its specificity and its relation to other Slavic cultures, not to Czech culture alone . In 1935 the Sbornfk was divided into specialized pa rts with individu al editors : Ludovft Nova k edited th e la n gu age secti on a nd Stanislav M eciar the lite rary sect ion . The a rrival of su ch a literary schol a r as Andrej Mraz in 1930 m eant , therefore, a cha n ge in em phasis not only from narodopis or et hn ography to literature, but also from bio-bibliographical works to criti cal a nd evalu ative studies and monographs on individual authors, su ch as j a nko Kral' , J a n K alinciak , Samo Chalupka, a nd Ivan Krasko . 11 In add ition , seve ral foreig n Slavists, such as the Ru ssian Dmitri C izevskij an d the Pole Wl ad yslaw Bobek , contributed to the Sbornfk seve ral co mparative studi es rela tin g Slovak literature to th e ge ne ral stream of Slavic literatures a nd in importa n t respects cha n gin g the inte rpreta tion a nd pe riodi zation of Vlcek , which had been follow ed also by Albert Prazak in th e d oze n or m ore wo rks on Slovak li terature h e publi shed in th e M atica in the 1920s a nd after 1932 in th e U ce na spolocnost' Safarikova. In fact , it is inte resting that the first effort to determine a real pe riodization of Slovak literature in itself, not in terms of the peri odization of Czech lite ra ture as Vlcek a nd Prazak h ad don e, was m ade by the P ole Bobek in 193 7; li ttle work was done again on the p eri odizati on of earl y Slovak lite rature until the M a rxist hi stori a ns did it in 1958 in the first volume of the Academy of Sciences literary hi story . i Apa rt from literary history , however , there was really little formal esthetic a n alysis or study of th e theo ry of lite rature. Th e major exce pti on (and it is trul y m ajor) was th e publication in 1939 of the book Vyvin slo vensk eh o versa od skoly Sturo vej by th e Ru ssia n-born forma li st and stru cturali st Mikul as Bakos, who d eveloped a more modern es th etic a n alysis tha n an yone else had done. Accordin g to P avo! Stevcek, it has "remained a book of cardin al importance" to thi s d ay. 13 Th e Sbornfk was not th e on ly literary journ al publi shed by th e M at ica, howeve r . M o re impo rt ant was Sloven sk e pohl'a dy, wh ich has 1 SLOVAKIA 51 been, and still is, a sort of microcosm of Slovak cultural life since it was founded by JozefMiloslav Hurban in 1846. Hurban 's purpose in starting the periodical was " to apply consistently in Slovak cultural life the principles of science and criticism .'' 14 In the first six years of its existence (1846-52), it reflected the major events of Slovak intellectual life - including Hurban ' s defense of Stur's langu age codification in 1846 . Although halted by the censors and b y finan cial difficulties in 1852, it was resumed in M artin in 1881 and continued with first Vajansky as editor , then Jozef Skultety publishing and editing it until 1919 . In 1921 the M atica started it up again under the editorship of Stefan Krcmery, and it remained a monthly published by the Matica until 1953, when it was taken over b y the Slovak Writers' Union , whose organ it is today . In the Matica period, it was edited by Krcmery until illness forced his ret irem ent in 1932, then Andrej Mraz until 1938, and Stanislav M eciar until 1945; with a few exceptions in that period everyo ne published there: nationalists , internationalists, Catholics, Lutherans, Communists, realists, surrealists, social realists. 15 Unlike the Sbornfk, Slovenske pohl'ady always carried original works of literature - poetry and sto ries - as well as literary history and criticism . Thu s it contributed to the growth of literature itself, not just to literary criticism . Besides these two journals, however , the Literary History D epartm ent supported literature in another way: by republishin g the "classics" in collected editions, includin g all the works ofHviezdoslav, Vajansky, Kukucfn , Timrava, the Stur school , and also contemporary writers, such as janko j esensky , Hronsky , a nd M artin R azu s. 16 Unfortunately, these editions of the classics were not usually prepared accord ing to consistent, modern editorial principles, either in selection and arrange m ent of the m ate rial or in lin guistic and textual stand ards. Skultety , Mraz, and M eciar each followed his own editorial system , and editorial assistants acted even more freely. Numerous living authors complained about their treatm en t, and this was true after World War II as well as during and befo re. 17 Furthermore, the Matica did not always select fo r publication the best current works. It showed no interest in Kukucfn's Mat' vola (1 926-27) , published by G .A. Beza in Trnava, nor did it issue Milo Urban 's Zivy bic (Prague, 1927), which is generally rated as by far the best Slovak novel published in the 1920s. But this can be regarded as a sign of the times: In its early period the Matica could be in co ntact 52 SLOVAKIA with almost everything, but as Slovak opportunities grew geometrically with education and the other new advantages, the Matica and Martin could not hold everything in their own hands, and other literary centers were developing . Bratislava became the major competitor, not only because of the professors at the University, but also because of the newly-established Slovak Academy of Sciences and Arts (Slovenska akademia vied a umenf) in 1942, which eventually developed into the current Slovenska akademia vied. In fact, organizational changes in the Matica also became necessary to meet the increasingly specialized growth of knowledge itself in the second half of the twentieth century. 18 The changes in the Matica that occurred after World War II have to be seen in this context: No organization could continue as the sole cultural and scientific institution, as the arts and social sciences became much too complex to be governed in a single organization, especially an institute far away from the capital city, the chief metropolis, and the seat of the main university system. Major changes would have occurred even without the Communist takeover in 1948 or the Marxist-Leninist theories of internationalism and the leading role of the Party - all of which tended to diminish the importance of the Matica. When the law of 1954 reduced the Matica to the single function of a national library and bibliographic institute, I think the fact that it kept exactly its literary relations - its archival, bibliographic, library, and museum activities - is not at all surprising and indicated its basic function from the beginning . But with this point, we are faced with the symbolic meaning, the psychological/spiritual effect, of the Matica slovenska apart from its physical existence . This brings us to the second kind of effect upon literature the Matica has had . In the extreme Magyar persecution at the time of the Matica's early life, it became a sort of guardian and protector of the Slovak nation, which specifically came to mean the guardian of Slovak self-expression, of literature and language. Historians have recognized and shown how closely the Slovak sense of identity, the sense of self, is tied to language ; Peter Brock, for example, has called the Slovaks a "culturallinguistic nation.' ' 19 The Matica was literally the defender in the battle with Czech linguists over the Pravidla , and in the gathering of signatures of 128 writers - essentially all the practicing writers of the time - on a petition to request revision of the Pravidla, Slovaks were completely united on the language issue. The petition caused such bad feelings on SLOVAKIA 53 co nfessional and political grounds between ''Czechoslovaks ' ' and "Slovaks" that the Catholic J.C . Hronsky (who had collected the signatures) and the Lutheran Elena Mar6thy-Soltesova published a soothing joint letter in N arodnie novin y. But there was no disagreement on the language issue itself. 20 This need to defend the Slovak la nguage stopped after the period of the Slovak R epublic a nd Czech acceptance of Slovak individuality in the Kosice Program of 1945 , and the linguistic " purism" stopped when it was no longer needed as a defense. 21 Although Slovak language and literature did not still have to be protected as such, the Literarny archfv and the Literarnomuzejne oddelenie were co ntinuing the guardianship of the past, as allowed by the law of 1954 . Such a narrow view of the Matica as guardian, howeve r, is apparently not sufficient to satisfy the Slovak image of the M atica, because demands were made for a change in the liberal 1960s , especially a t the hundred-year jubilee in 1963 . The restrictive law of 1954 was replaced by the law of 1968 , which resto red the Matica's membership base, gave it a biographical department, and made it responsible for cultural relations with foreigners of Slovak ancestry. The insults of Pres ident Antonfn Novotny against the M atica were taken by Slovaks as insults against the whole nation and used by the liberals (Czech as well as Slovak) in 1968-69 both to remove Novotny from office and to improve the status of the Matica . The book published then , Z vole l'udu obnovena, expresses this continuing view of the Matica as a response to the people's need . 22 Clearly, the hi sto rical and the current concept of the Matica includes its ability to propagate (not only to preserve) among Slovaks their sense of identity in their lan guage and literature. This mission can be seen in another way . I have said that one also has to co nsider the psychological effect of the M a tica as a moveable institute that can be established by Slovaks outside Slovakia. This first occurred in 1893 when the "Matica slovenska in America " was founded in Chicago by American Slovaks ce ntered around the R everend Stefan Furd ek 's j ednota and Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky's Slovak V Amerike . It published several works before it dissolved in 1897 , including a literary journal similar to Slovenske pohl'ady. 23 A "Matica slovenska in Yugoslavia" was established in 1932 in Petrovec, near Novi Sad, where a large and compact gro up of Slovaks had lived for two hundred years; it lasted until 1948. The Zahranicna Matica Slovenska , founded by Sta ni slav Meciar a nd J .C. Hronsky after World War II in Argentina , 54 SLOVAKIA with collaborators in the United States and Canada, still exists. In all three examples, the literary activity (both planned and actually carried out) followed the traditional lines ofMatica activity . For example, Meciar collected and published material on Martin Kukucfn while he lived in Chile and also reprinted and analyzed certain works by J .C. Hronsky . 24 Even while the Matica was closed from 187 5 to 1919, it seemed to produce various alternatives to fill its place . For example , the women's organization Zivena was founded in 1869, but it was not closed by Magyar officials since it was just a women's organization, and therefore was presumably insignificant. Its annual meeting occurred in August because it had been founded at the Matica general assembly, so the August m eetings of Zivena became a substitute for the banned August general assembly of the Matica. 2 5 Zivena also developed a publishing program and an almanach , L etopis Zi ven y, to fill the gap left by the closed Matica. This substitution became possible because the Slovak women's movement was primarily an arm of the national movem ent rather than a genuine feminist drive. In part this was true because the Slovak nationalists, such as Ambro Pietor, were instiga tors in founding the women's organization ; they were looking for help in the struggle against Magyar domination. But it was also true because the leader of the women's movement soon became Elena Mar6thy-Soltesova, daughter of a poet of the Stur school, and more of a nationalist herself than a feminist in her own fiction (unlike the fiction of Timrava, which was more nearly feminist). 26 Therefore, I think the work of Zivena can be said to belon g to the Matica tradition . In the same period, but outside Turciansky Sviity M a rtin , other nationalist centers began to develop among Rom a n Catholics, such as the Spolok sv. Vojtecha in Trnava . In addition, K arol Salva's press in Ruzomberok began to compete with the M atica, as did the journal Dennica, ed ited b y T erezia Vansova in Pila . 2 7 In referring to physical effects as opposed to symbolic effects, or maticas abroad and alternative institutions, it is clear that I am co nsidering a movement rather than only the maj or in stitute that movem ent produced . The Matica movement was and is bigger than the institute itself, and in fac t has spread, I think , much farther and deeper in Slovak literary life than the institute itself indicates . For exam ple, one can see evidence of the identification of Slovak selfhood with literature in the theory of comparativistics of Dionyz Durisin in the Institute of SLOVAKIA 55 Literature of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, and also in the analysis of specifically Slovak elements in lyricized prose by Jan Stevcek of Comenius University . 18 I do not think it is stretching the point too much to say there is something distinctively Slovak about the ambitious attempt of the "Nitra School" of literary theory to utilize and adapt concepts from Czech and Polish structuralism and the Tartu semioticians to create what Edward Mozejko has called "the introduction of a new discipline - the poetics of metatexts . .. a universal metalanguage of art ... the investigation of so-called intersemiotic translation ... a new communicative poetics of literature and art. " 19 To conclude, therefore, the Matica slovenska as an institute resulted from the particular political situation of the Slovaks in Hungary, but it continued and has been periodically renewed because it is a symbol and a symptom of the historical Slovak self-identification with its language and literature. NOTES ' Sta nl ey B. Kimball , " The Serbian Marica - Prototype of Austro-Slav Litera ry Foundat ion s: The First Fifty Yea rs 1826-76 ," East European Quarterly, III (September l 969) , 353-70; Peter H errity, "The R ole of the M a ti ca a nd Similar Societies in the Development of the Slavoni c Literary Languages ,'' Slavon ic and East European R eview, LI Oul y 1973), 368-386 . ' John A. Bert a helped to compile this list; see also his " The Marica slovenska and Its R ole in Slovak Cultural D evelopment, 19 19- 1939" (Ph .D . disse rt a tion , SUNY Bingha mton , l 983). ' " M a ti ca slovenska, " En cyklopedia Slovenska, Vol. III (Bra tislava: SA V , 1979). • Peter Liba, V ydava tel'sk e die/a M a tice slovensk ej 1863-1954 (M artin : M ati ca slovenska , 1962) . ' T omas Winkler , M a rica slovensk a v rok och 1919- 1945: z p roblem ov a dokum entov ustredia MS (Martin: M ati ca slovenska, 1971 ), p . 149. ' Ibid ., p. 150. ' "Literarn ovedn y ustav Slovens kej akademie vied ," Encyklopedia S/ovenska , Vol. III. 8 Winkler, pp. 150-53. ' Ibid, pp. 152-53. SLOVAKIA 56 10 L ' ubomir Durov ic, "Slovak, " in Th e Slavic Lieerary Languages: Formaeion and Developmene, eds. A .M . Schenker and E. Stankiewicz (New H ave n : Yale Conciliu m on Internati ona l and Area Studies, 1980), p . 222. Owen V. Johnson has shown to what ex tent an education class developed in thi s period in his " The slovak Intelligentsia 19 18- 1938" in Russian and Slavic Hisrory , ed . D .K . Rowney and G.E. Orchard (Columbu s: Slavica Publishers, Inc., 1977), and also in his Ph .D . dissertati on , " Sociocultural a nd National D evelo pment in Slovakia , 1918-1 938: Education and It s Impact" (University of Mi chigan , 1978). 11 Winkler, pp . 153-55. ll 13 Jan Misianik , "Uvodom," D ejin y searsej slo venskej lieerac ury, ed s. J a n Misianik , J ozef Mina rik, Milena Mi chalcova, and Andrej Melichercik , Vol. I (Bratislava: SAV, 1958) , 5-6. The introduction is dated Dece mber 30, 1956. See also Winkler, p . 155. P avo! Stevcek, Coneemporary Slovak Lieeraeure (Bra ti slava: Obzo r, 1980), p . 119 ; Stevcek says Bakos was th e "fou nd er of lit era ry theory ." See also Winkler , p. 156. " Vi ctor K ochol , in D ejin y slovenskej lit eratury: Lieeraeura narodn eho obrodenia , eds . Milan Pisut , K arol R ose nbaum , Victor Kochol, Vol. II (Bratislava: SAY , 1960) , pp . 466-67: "Hurban chcel v slovenskom kulturnom zivote dosled ne upl atn ova t' principy vedec kosti a kritickosti . . . . " 11 Winkler, pp . 157-59. See a lso V ladimir Petrik , "Slovenske pohl'ady 192 2- 1938 , " Slovenske pohl'ady , No. 7 (1964) , 8-14 , and Jozef Bzoch, "Slove nske pohl'ad y 1939- 1944, " Slo venske pohl'ady, o. 8 (1964), 6-9. 1 • See Liba , op . cir. 17 E.G., Iva n Ku sy, ed. , Timra va: Zobran e spisy, II (Bratisl ava: Slovenske vydavatel'stvo krasnej literatury , 1956), 287-88, and es pecially Marianna PridavkovaMinarikova , Textologicke a seylisticke problem y K.ukucinovho die/a (Bratislava: SA V, 1972), pp . 5, 13 , 15, and passim . " In 1935, for exa mpl e, th e lin guist r.udovit Novak argued for chan ges in th e Matica to provide greater finan cial support and to bring scientifi c freedom from political chan ges (Winkler , pp. 29-30 a nd 110- 12) ; in fact, th e J azy koved ny odbor had such ex treme organiza ti onal disagreements amo ng its members (especially Novak and H enri ch Ba rt ek) th a t once ( 1936) Hronsk y wanted to resign a nd later (1941) th e odbor was on th e verge of being di ssolved (see Winkler , pp . 30 a nd 131-32). On SA VU a nd SAV, see Slovenska ak adem ia vied (Bratislava: Vydavatcl'stvo SAV, 1969). " Peter Brock , The Slo,·ak National Awakenin g: An Essay in eh e lnt eJlecr ual Hiseory of Ease General Europe (Toronto a nd Buffalo: Universi ty of T oro nto Press, 1976), p. ix . Brock uses as a motto H ans Kohn's statement: " In Central and Eastern Europe it was the poe t, the phil ologist, and th e hi storian who crea ted th e nati onaliti es. " "' Elena Mar6th y-Soltcsova a nd J .C . H rons ky, " Slm-cnskej ve rej nos ti . Vysvetlenie vo veci podpisov pre navrh slov . spisova tcl'ov ," Narodnie novin y, May 1932 , p. 2. On th e Pra vidla , see Durovic, pp . 222-25 , and Robert Auty, " The R ole of Purism in th e Development of th e Sl avonic Lit erary Languages, " Slavonic R eview , LI Uul y 1973) , 335 -43. SLOVAKIA 57 " 6urovic, pp . 225-26. " Z vole I'udu obnovena, ed s. Ivan Gegus and Mil os K ovacka (M a rtin : Matica slovenska , 1968 - ac tu all y 1969), pp. 6-9 a nd p assim . Novotnfs petty a nd tas teless behavior is outlin ed here also. " '' Matica slove nska v Amerike '' and '' Matica slovenska v J uh oslav ii ,' ' En cyklopedia Slovenska , Vol. III. On th e American Matica, see also K ons ta ntin C ul en , Slovenske casopisy ,· Amerike (Cleveland: Prva katolicka sloven ska jednota, 1970), pp . 19-21 , 52-53 , 70-71. " Stanislav M ecia r , Kukucfn if.ivy , 2 vols. ( Bu enos Aires: Knizni ca Slobodna Slovenska Kultu ra , 1958 and 1960) - stri ctl y speaking th ese books were no t published by the Matica but within that trad itio n; J. C. Hronsky , Poh ar z bruseneho skla , ed. S. Mcciar (Buenos Aires: Zahranicn a M ati ca Slovenska, 1964), and Na kriinych cescach , cd. S. Meciar (Bu enos Aires: Zahranicna Matica Sloven ska, 1966). " Stefana Yotrubova, Zivena. j ej osudy a praca (Martin: Zivena, 1931) , pp . 22-23; see a lso J a rmil a Tkadleckova-Yantuchova, Zivena-Spolok slovensk ych zien (Bra ti slava : Epocha , 1969). " See th e compariso n in An In cipienc Feminise: Slovak Scories by Timra, ·a , ed it ed and translated by No rm a Leigh Rudinsk y (Columbus: Slavica Publishers, In c. , in prep.). " J a n Tibensky , ed ., Slovensko: Dejiny (Bratislava: Obzor, 197 1), p . 543. " Dionyz Duri sin , Problem y Jic erarn ej komparacistik y (Bratislava: SA V, 1967), and Z dcjin a ce6rie Jicerarn ej kompara cisrik y (Bratislava: SA V , 1970) ; J an Stevcck, Nez badane pr6zy (Bratislava: Slovensky spisova tel' , 197 1), a nd L yrizovan a pr6za (B ra ti slava : Tatran , 1973). " Edwa rd Mozejko, " Survey: Slovak Theory of Litera ry Co mmuni ca ti on : Notes on th e Nitra School of Lit erary Criticism,' ' PTL: A j ourn al for Descripri,·e Poetics and Theory of Lircrarure , 4 (1979) , 37 1-8 4.  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 Matica slovenská and Its Relation to the Development of Slovak Literature Description An account of the resource Norma L. Rudinsky Slovakia, Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984 pp. 47-57 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rudinsky, Norma Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/47653971ccea679e235420b8cd96add1.pdf ddcc5581d104a68b08c9accfa8e408c9 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 59 The Modernization of Slovakia: The Role of Vocational High Schools, 1918-1938 Owen V . Johnson Most of the modern nations and nationalities in Eastern Europe began as cultural movements. Writers and teachers were among their earliest leaders. As these movements grew in size, they turned into political movements , with lawyers playing increasingly important roles. 1 Most of the research on East European national development has focused on these changes . None of these developing nations could long survive, however, without an adequate industrial , commercial, and modern agricultural base. Such development has been the thread of continuity in twentieth-century Eastern Europe behind the facade of radical political change. This article examines the basis of economic change which was laid down in three types of secondary schools in interwar Slovakia, the commercial academies, and the industrial and agricultural high schools. That they were not a top priority of the new Czechoslovak government is indicated by the fact that none was opened until the fall of 1919, nearly a year after the creation of the new Republic , while the first Slovak gymnazium had opened its doors only two weeks after the seizure of power by the new state. The common tie of these three types of schools was that they were more likely to draw their students from the middle schools , in contrast to the gymnazium, which usually admitted students directly from primary schools to its eight-year curriculum. In part this is explained by the fact that these schools attracted a different type of student , on e who was interested not in becoming a lawyer, a doctor , or a teacher - those people went to the gymnazia or the teacher training institutions - but the one who wanted to become an ' ' independent entrepreneur.'' �60 SLOVA KIA Each of th ese schools will b e di scu ssed se parately. Like the o the r vocatio na l seco nda ry schools, the co mm e rcial acad e mies perform ed a du a l fun ction . Their four- year curriculum was des igned partially to prepa re student s to a ssum e respo n sible positio n s in bu sin ess or b a nking offi ces (e.g., two fore ign la n gu ages, incl udin g G erm a n , were in the curriculum) a nd pa rtially to prepa re those students who wished to study a t an institutio n of higher learning . The course was ge n era l, with no provisio n for specializa tio n . 2 G radu a tes we re eli gible to study a t the V ysoka o bchodn a skola (C o mme rcial College) in Pragu e, o r , e ffective 192 4 , a ft er pass in g the supplem entary exam (s) (give n in Slovakia o nly in Bra ti slava) in L a tin a nd philosophical proped eu tika, a t the L a w F aculty in Brno . 3 Beginnin g in 193 4 , they we re also eli gible to a ttend milita ry offi ce r s' school. G radu a tes who did no t go o n for furth e r edu cation h ad the right , a fter o ne year 's practice, to the " indepe nde nt m a n age m e nt of a business. " 4 M os t oft e n , howeve r , they becam e officials in b a nkin g or com me rce, o r gained employ m ent in the sta te bureau cracy. 5 The e ntra nce requirem e nts to these schools we re th e sam e as fo r o ther vocatio na l schools. The prospective a pplicant e ith er ha d to be a t leas t age 14 a nd h ave co mple ted four years a t a realka o r som e kind of gymnazium , o r be a g radu a te of the middl e school, with a pp ro pria te gra des. Preferen ce was give n to a pplicants with bu siness experie nce . 6 T hose pe rso ns who h ad passed the ir gymnazium m aturita una nimou sly or with distinctio n could take a o ne-year post -g rad u a te course a t a co mme rcial acad emy ( o ne su ch course was se t up a t Bra ti slava); those w ho had rece ived a "with m ajo rity" mark would be accepted o nly if there was roo m . Gymnazium gradua tes could al so enter the third year of the co mme rcial acade m y o n a tentat ive bas is, hav in g ho weve r to ta ke seve ra l supple m e nta ry exa m s by Christm as . 7 T he traditio nal Hun gari a n d isd a in fo r co mme rce, a nd he nce, fo r comm ercial edu cati o n , le ft it s imp r int on public a ttitudes toward th e bu siness academies. When the Bra ti slava Commercial Acade m y opened for bu sin ess in th e fall of 19 19, nearly a third of the regul a rl y enro ll ed stude nts we re Czec hs. Czechs were in the majo rit y at the a ttached post-gradu a te co urse. 8 It took time to ove rco me the negat ive attitudes, time for these schools to d em o nstra te the ir wo rth . A s a ch ro nicle r at the K os ice Com m e rcial Acad e m y no ted , the sc hool " ove rco m es the mi stake n trad itio n in the �SLOVAKIA 61 Slovak people that only the hi gh school, specifically the gymnazium and not a commercial school, can insure the Slovak son or daughter a regular functional edu cation .' ' 9 In those early years, it was often necessary to personally con vince the parents of prospective students of the value of the commercial education. One means of persuasion was money in the form of scholarships . In the early years, however, state aid was not very generous, about one grant per school. 10 It appears that the total amount of support rose significantly beginning with the 1928/29 school year. An increasingly important source was the regional Slovak government. Ove rall , government assistance for the commercial academies generally is a carbon copy of the assistance to the gymnazia. The old Hungarian schools operated uninterrupted through the 1918/9 school year. By the following fall, two schools had been closed , at Hume nne and Revuca , for lack of students; the rest were taken over by the state. Because there were no Slovaks qualified to teach in this field, Czechs were brought in to serve as both professors and principals. The old three-year pattern of instruction was continued until the passage of a new law on February 15, 1922, which formally established fouryear academies at Bratislava , Kosice, and Martin . By fall, a fourth academy was opened at Banska Bystrica. The close proximity of the last two named schools soon led to an apparent superfluity of places , and the school at Martin was forced to close , doing so one grade at a time , beginning in 1923/4. 11 The postwar recession and the deindustrialization of Slovakia which accompanied it , coupled with an essentially rural population, were surely the major causes. They discouraged parents who might otherwise have thought of enrolling their children. 12 The recovery which soon followed led to a n ew interest in this type of school , leading to the establishment of an institution at Nitra in 1926/7 - considered a replacement for Martin - and at Trencfn and (once again) Martin in 1927/8 . Job offers were now two or three times higher than the number of graduates . 13 Although the Depression forestalled the establi shm ent of any add itional schools for n early a d ecade, the number of students continued to rise steadily , except for a slight fall occasioned by the com ing of age of the tiny World War I generation. In common with the expansion in the number of gymnazia just before the outbreak of World War II , a commercial academ y was set up at Humen ne in the 1937/8 school year, where there h ad once been a Hungarian school. �62 SLOVAKIA The importance of the gove rnment 's role in fos te rin g commercial education is demonstrated by the fact that all of the commercial academies in Slovakia were state institutio ns. Only two of the approxima tely thirty other school s in the Republic were owned a nd ope rated b y the sta te . The commercial academies had a reputa tion of quality both at home and abroad because they enrolled a highly select group of students chosen from amon g man y a pplicants . The teacher s we re highly qualified , attracted by high pay . Even teachers of general educa tional subj ects earned more th an they would in a gymnazium or a realka. The o nly additional requirem ent was tha t they n eeded to have some minimal knowledge of business. 14 The curriculum was evenly divided between subjects of general instru ction (with a heavy d ose of la n gu ages) and business subj ects. Strictly speakin g, study a t the commercial acad emies did n o t end with a m aturita exam. 15 Even thou gh the examina tion was op tional, m ost stude nts took it b ecau se it was n ecessary for admi ssion to the univer sity , a nd it could m ean a hi gh er pos ition or rate o f pay on m a n y jobs . (It should be n oted tha t a hi gher p rece ntage of commercial acad em y students went on for additional studies tha n did students from the indu strial hi gh schools. y 6 In an effort to encourage students to go into bu siness for them selves upo n gradu a tion rather than takin g up an admini st ration j ob , the comm e rcial acad e mies d evelop ed a p rogram in which studen ts would spend their summers wo rking in various shops . Local banks, district and county gove rnm ents, a nd ch a mber s o f commerce r a ised the m on ey to pay the students for the experien ce. The D epression forced a cutback in the program . Ther e is no ev ide n ce that the program achieved its goal. 17 Like the indu strial high sch ools, the co mmercial acad e mies actu ally we re onl y the a n chor s of la rger edu cation al in sti t utio n s. In all ca ses, there was a two -year bu sin ess sch ool a ttach ed . A cco rdin g to Cve rcko, ' ' Students showed a preference fo r the two-year b usiness schools becau se they prov ided edu cation al oppo rtunities fo r stu d ent s from th e poo rer famili es and fo r youn g wom en w ho d es ired employm e n t in offi ces . ' ' 18 In so m e in stan ces, these bu siness schools, wh en located in pl aces other tha n a t a co mmercial acad em y, the m selves se rved as ce nte rs for sho rter term bu siness cou rses . 19 T he sch ool a t Brat islava was even m ore co mplex becau se it h ad bo th Czechoslovak a nd Hun garia n divisio ns. Published statistics on the commercial acad emies n ormally in cl uded d a ta o n both the acad emies a nd the a tt ach ed sch ools, m a kin g it m ore �SLOVAKIA 63 difficult to study the makeup of the student body of the academies alone. N evertheless, some observati on s can be made , especiall y whe n the published sta tewide statistics a re considered in conjun ction with the a nalysis of the sta tistics from the a nnu al repo rts published by the schools ( also see Fi gure 1 a nd T able 1) . One of the more interesting aspects is the presen ce of a slowly increasing number of women in these schools. This contrasts strongly with th e indu stri al hi gh school s. Whil e the postwa r recession n early wipes out a n initi al fem ale enrollment of b etter tha n ten percent, a gradual improve m ent whi ch began in the mid-twenties continued to the end of the R epublic, so tha t by the 1936/7 school year , more tha n a fifth of the stud ents we re women . The pe rce ntage of wo men gradu a tes , in line with the ge ne ral tre nd , was several percent less. At Nit ra, th e student s we re prima ril y children of white-collar worke rs, teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers, businessmen , and shopkeepers, in other words , the better situ ated elem ents of the society . About on e third of the student s cam e from workin g cl ass famili es. Jo INDUSTRIAL HIGH SCHOOLS Th e indu stri al hi gh school (priem yselna skola), with a fo ur- year curriculum , witnessed a slow developm ent ove r the hi story of the first C zechoslovak R epubli c. A s was the case with vocation al second a ry schools in gen eral , th ere were n ot ve ry man y of th em. Anton Stefa nek, who as R eferent fo r Edu cation in Slova ki a helped established th e school system, reali zed th e n eed for these schools, but recogni zed th e publi c ha d littl e apprec ia tio n fo r th em : It is n ecessary th a t Slovaks understa nd the value of technical , indu stri al a nd commercial schools. Yes, second a ry schools th ere mu st b e, gymnazia a nd realky, but all peopl e cann o t be gentlem e n with te nd er h a nd s.J 1 Al thou gh seve ral of these in stituti o n s h ad peen in ex isten ce durin g Hun gari an rule, they were in the large r cities, where the Slovak presence was sm all. Further , they lacked do rmito ries, m a kin g a tte nd a nce so m ewh a t diffi cult for o th er th a n city res id ents. 21 Three Czechoslovak in d u stri al hi gh schools o pen ed in th e fall of 19 19, with th e fi rs t grad u a tes em ergin g in 1923 . T wo we re in Bra tislava, a m ech a ni cal en gin ee rin g school (s trojnick a) a nd a buildin g or �64 SLOVAKIA civil engineerin g school (stavitel'ska), sharing the same facili ties. Kosice had a dual language engineering school. A chemical high school opened in Banska Stiavnica in 1921 , foll owed by a second buildin g school in Presov in 1931. The final institution to open its doors was the electrotechni cal hi gh school in Banska Byst rica , commen cing operations in the fall of 1936. Study at each institution, partially general a nd partially technical , ended with a maturita examination. The mech a nical e ngineering school was design ed to provide "gen eral and profess ional education , such as needed by managers of smaller engin eering firms or factories with enginee ring systems, or by technical officials.'' The course lasted four years. Applica nts for the school need ed to have co mpl eted four years of gymnazium studies, or middle school plus the one-year supplem entary " naukobeh ." Students with only three years of gym nazium or who h ad completed middle school edu cation with a grade of at leas t "good ," and who cou ld prove they had at least one year of on-the-job experience , cou ld also be admitted. 23 Preference went to those with practi cal experience. An entran ce exam was required. Like the co mmercial academi es, vocat ional schools of shorter duration were attached to each industrial high school. Th e goals of the other types of indu strial high schools were similar - to train the students for skill ed managerial and technical jobs, or for university study; the admission requireme nts were nearly the same , too. Th e civil engin eering hi gh school was designed to provide theoretical and practi cal instruction for future ind ependent owners of construction firm s, especiall y those dealing in concrete, rein forced co ncrete, a nd ca rpentry, as well as for private or state technical offic ials. 14 Graduates were ex pected to be abl e to construct a dwelli ng. The chem ical high school's a im was th e provision of gen eral a nd speciali zed education in combination with practical experience for future factory owners , administrators, and factory offi cials for various chemi cal plants, such as dye-works, printing, bleach or soap pla nts, glassworks, fertili ze r faciliti es, etc. 15 The electrotechni cal school , which had no graduates in its short existence, was also to give both ge neral a nd speciali zed inst ru ction combined with practi cal experie nce, to owners or managers of mach in e or electrotechni cal factories , or ot her factories with machine systems, and for technical offic ials of th e larger private or state engineerin g organizations. 26 The graduates of industrial hi gh schools could , aft er passing a sup- �SLOVAKIA 65 plementary exam, also study a t the technical universiti es, although few did, both because of the exam , a nd becau se, until the fall of 1938, there was no technical university in Slovakia, a fact which also h and icapped th ese schools in the ir efforts to a ttract students. 27 In th e fall of 1934, a transport division was added to the con struction high school in Bratislava , the ex press a im of the change b eing to facilitiate graduate placem ent, particularly in the m edium-sized and small firm s. J8 Th e practical n a ture of the study at the indu strial high schools required that no private students be all owed . Forty applicants were to be admitted each year at each school, except for the chemi cal hi gh school, to whi ch a maximum of thirty were all owed . If an aspirin g student passed th e entran ce examination at a parti cular school , but was not admitted because of lack of sufficient pl aces , he cou ld seek admission elsewhere in the R epublic .J 9 When the schools opened in the fall of 1919 , applicants from Slovakia were few . A call was sent out to the Czech students in the overcrowded industrial hi gh schools of Bohemia and Moravia to come to Slovakia. The re were promises of travel a nd ot her support, anything to help ra ise th e enrollm ent. 3° Of th e 77 students who enroll ed at the two schools in Bratislava , 42 were Slovak and 26 were Czech. 31 Th e total number of students experienced a steady, but slow climb upward because with th e opening of each new sc hool , approximately one cl ass was open ed each year (see Figure 2 and Table 2). In 1925, howeve r, the Ministry of Edu cation an noun ced plans to gradually close th e ch emical high school " because th e prese nt conditions in th e chem ical industry in no way ass ure the stude nts the fulfillm e nt of the amb ition s which lead them to the school.' ' The Ministry of Education (Msano) backed down , however, a nd agreed to co ntinu e to operate the school , provided first yea r enrollment reached 20 stud ents. 3J O verall , th e number of appli cations to all th e schools was mod erate until the mid-thirties, when both the expansion of industry in Slovakia a nd th e immin ent openin g of th e techni cal uni ve rsity led to a n explo sion of inte res t in these schools. At Banska Bystrica, for in sta nce, th e numbe r of appli cat io n s exceed ed th e number of admi ss ion s by 4 or 5 to 1. A simil a r jump in in terest developed in Bra ti slava abo u t the sa m e tim e . Earli er, nea rl y everyo ne who p assed the e ntran ce exam was admitted . (About one-th ird of th e a pplicants fail ed th e tes t.) Alth ough th ere has been no research o n th e subj ect, it is prob able �66 SLOVAKIA that the limited number of these schools was a hindrance in the expansion of the number of students, not only because there was a limited number of places, but also because students from a large part of the more Slovak areas of Slovakia could attend these schools only if they could afford to pay room and board. The schools themselves did not have their own dormitories, although the two Bratislava schools had access to up to 100 places in the city's Secondary School dormitory . 33 The founding of the electrotechnical school at Banska Bystrica provides some fine examples of the government ' s general attitudes toward the need for industrial education in Slovakia. The campaign for the establishment of the school was led by the Banska Bystrica City Council and by the Central Slovak Chamber of Commerce . The latter made the initial move in May 1934, urging the city council to join forces . The Chamber pointed out the lack of this particular kind of education in Slovakia. Two months later, the City Council wrote to the Ministry of Education , stressing how the creation of this school would further the development of Slovakia: The continuing electrification of Slovakia is not yet finish ed ; thus , not only would many jobs in this area await the graduates of the school, but the power-stations in Slovakia have a continuing lack of well-educated Slovaks . 34 The Ministry of Education responded the following spring, expressing doubt that there would be a sufficient number of students with the requisite preparatory education, and suggesting doubt that, in view of the economic crisis , the graduates could be placed. The economic upswing which was even then beginning apparently erased all doubts . The flood of applications had proved Prague wrong , at least on a delayed basis. H With the exception of the chemical high school, very few girls enrolled in the industrial high schools, the total reaching a high of 6 ½ percent in 1929/30 and 1930/1. There is no obvious explanation for the chemical school exception. Information on scholarship aid is too skimpy to make any judgments. AG RI CULTURAL HIGH SCHOOLS The two schools known as higher agricultural schools showed the least change of any of the secondary level institutions in Slovakia dur- �SLOVAKIA 67 ing the interwar Republic. One was the higher agricultural (or farming) school in Kosice, founded on the ruins of a prewar college level Hungarian Academy, and the other the higher forestry school in Banska Stiavnica. There also had been a Forestry Academy there, although its building fell to the industrial high school. Both agricultural schools were administered by the Ministry of Agriculture through an inspector of agricultural instruction in Bratislava, one of six such offices in Czechoslovakia. 36 The school in Kosice was one of more than a dozen higher farming schools in the Republic, that in Banska Stiavnica one of four higher forestry schools (one of three Czechoslovak) in Czechoslovakia. 3 1 Both schools opened in the fall of 1919 and graduated their first classes in the spring of 1923. The faculty consisted almost entirely of Czechs . 3 8 The goal of the Farming School at Kosice was the education of' 'independent agricultural entrepreneurs" as well as officials who could handle agricultural affairs for the government or serve cooperatives in an office capacity. 39 The curriculum sought to make of the student an '' agricultural intelligent who could learn not to limit himself to that which is generally known, but who would also try to look for new ways and methods; in short, that it kindle and nurture in the young man the skill of application and, as much as possible, initiative.' ' 40 Students, of whom 30 were admitted each year, had to be at least 15 years of age, and to have completed either middle school, or the first four years of a gymnazium. In addition, boys and girls who had completed the shorter twoyear peasant school course with distinction could be admitted. Preference was to be given to those from peasant families who would be farming independently. 41 Originally three years in length, the school was converted to four years in 1920/ 1 (Ministry of Agriculture 21308/ 1920). The expanded curriculum permitted an expansion of general education and a deepening of technical subjects, as well as greater emphasis on the practical element of instruction . In addition, new subjects were added to prepare the students better for the modern world, including civics, business, typewriting, the cooperative movement, and milk processing. 42 The program of study ended with the maturita exam. Graduates, after passing supplementary exams , could study at the College of Agriculture, the College of Veterinary Medicine, Commercial Colleges, �68 SLOVAKIA or the Military Academy . A Provincial Institute of Agriculture R esearch was attached to the school. Applicants for the higher forestry high school also needed to be 15 years of age, and have completed the lower four years of a gymnazium , or a middle school plus the one-year continuation course (nauk obeh). Preference was given to sons of forestry employees and workers . No women were allowed. All graduates of secondary schools could pass directly into the second year of the school and, if they passed the required examination, advance directly into the third year of study. 43 The entering class was at first limited to 30 students, a figure later cut to 20. Only in exceptio n al cases were students from Bohemia and Moravia to be admitted. They had to be able to prove that a job would be await in g them upon graduation . 4 4 The goal of the school was to provide education for an efficient forest service and for the admin istration of smaller forest properties or the lumber business and industry and to provide an education correspond in g to the general level of advanced secondary education. The four-year course concluded with maturita exams . Graduates could attend the forestry division of the College of Agriculture after completing suppleme ntary exams in language and mathematical subjects. 4 5 Those who wished to enter state service directly (which was th e rule) were required to pass a state exam in the appropriate field. There is some irony in the generally held assumption that "through the incorporation of agricultural Slovakia, the Czechoslovak Republic has become nearly self-supporting as regards the supply of agricultural produce, " 46 yet so little attent ion was given to developing an advanced system of agricu ltural education in Slovakia. Part of the answer lies in the small size of so many of the land holdings, which would make further education superfluous. Prior to 1918, these two schools, existing on the level of junior colleges, had turned out offic ials and employees to manage the great estates of the Hungarian magnates. In fact, interest in attending the Czechoslovak school does not seem to have been overwhelming. For one thing , social attitudes worked against it. One stu dent remembered first enrollin g at a teacher training institute , then persuading hi s father that employment possibilities after graduat ion from the Farming School wou ld be much better. His mother and sister, however, were appalled by his withdrawal from the teacher training institute, and insisted he go back to it, which he did. 47 The R eferent for Agriculture, �SLOVAKIA 69 Pavel Blaho, had to take special pains to insure that there were enough students at all in the first years. 48 The school in Kosice had particular trouble attracting Slovak students. In 1920/1 , only 7 of 23 first year students were Slovak . 49 In that same year, only 21 of 48 students at Banska Stiavnica had parents living in Slovakia. 50 There were more Czechs than Slovaks in the first forestry graduating class. 51 Further discouraging the establishment of more schools was the argument that Slovaks were eligible to attend similar institutions in the Czech lands. Because these schools were both '' one of a kind'' they drew students from all over Slovakia. For instance, Kosice, in 1929/3 0, had representatives from more than half the counties of Slovakia. 52 This made the provision of housing important. Initially, Kosice had a dormitory for 45 students. It was replaced in the 1923/2 4 school year by the Ministry of Agriculture with a building which housed 120. A temporary dormitory was established at Banska Stiavnica in 1920 within the school itself. 53 However , once the school had reached its full complement of four classes in the fall of 1922 , the need for classrooms forced the dormitory's closing. Between a half and two-thirds of the students received financial aid, the m ajority of which, after 1929 , came from the regional government in Bratislava. Prior to that time , the counties and districts frequently gave support. 54 State aid was channeled through the Ministry of Agriculture . 55 Financial aid on the average was about twice as large for the students in Kosice as in Banska Stiavnica . Total enrollment at the two schools remained constant between 160 and 200 students (see Tables 3 and 4) . Girls were eligible to attend the school in Kosice , but hardly any did . Between 90 and 95 percent of the enrollment consisted of Czech and Slovak students, with a sprinkling of Ruthenians (particularly in the more accessible Kosice), Germans, and Hungarians. The percentage of students who were Catholic initially was very high (88 percent), but by 1925 declined to a level of about 70 percent , at which it remained. The percentage of Lutherans , at first very low, rose to 15-20 percent by 1925. The fact that the Lutheran pe rcentage was slightly higher than in the population as a whole can be attributed largely to the fact that Banska Stiavnica was situated in a more strongly Protestant area. There also were regularly small numbers of Orthodox , Greek Catholic, and Jewish students. Students at both Banska Stiavnica and Kosice te nded to be well a bove the minimum age, with the largest number in the 19-20 year old �70 SLOVAKIA range. Those from agricultural families were in the majority at Kosice and usually in the minority at Banska Stiavnica. In addition, if from agricultural backgrounds those at Kosice were more likely to come from larger landholders. 56 HIGHER COOPERATIVE AG RI CULTURAL SCHOOL An additional specialized school, the Higher Cooperative Agricultural School, a private institution , was opened in Bratislava in the fall of 1936. The goal of the school's four-semester course was to provide ''professional theoretical and practical preparation or development in cooperative consciousness and education for capable cooperative officials and functionaries for Slovakia, as well as for friends of the cooperative idea. " 57 Prior to the opening of the Slovak school, the cooperative officials had been drawn from the graduates of the commercial academies and agricultural schools, as well as from officials of financial institutions . The Central Cooperative Council ran a similar school in Prague, but it was not able to accept all applicants from Slovakia. Stipends for students from Slovakia had been made available on the basis of reciprocity , i.e., service in Slovakia. The Bratislava branch of the Cooperative Council lacked funds as well as a building to start its own school. When the latter problem was solved, the former became available. 58 Three groups were eligible for admission. The majority were to have completed a high school education, with preference given to graduates of the higher agricultural school in Kosice and the commercial academies, as well as those who had cooperative experience. A second group was drawn from those who had completed with success at least the first four years of high school or middle school, and who had also successfully completed agricultural or business school and had at least two years of cooperative experience . This group required entrance exams. A third group, persons not citizens of Czechoslovakia, could be admitted in special cases. The total from the second and third groups was not to exceed 8 places in the class of 24 . 59 In the two years the school was in operation, about half of the 22 students were age 23 and older; they came from many different districts across Slovakia . From a religious standpoint, the Lutherans were over-represented (see Table 5), with 35 percent the first year and 45 percent the second year. The parents of about two-thirds of the students �SLOVAKIA 71 had agricultural occupations. There is n o reference to the sex of the stude nts, although it can b e presumed that all were m en . 60 CONCLUSION It is un avoidable that some of the information presen ted in this article represents what might be called " microhistory ." In it are catalogued various beginnings and small changes . It is b ecause these changes have previously not been recorded in an organized fashion that certain processes of n ational d evelopment in twentieth-century Slovakia have not been properly understood. It is generally recognized that too few students in developing countries study mathematics or the scientific professions. 61 In many ways, Slovakia was an undeveloped country . Consideration mu st be given , however, to priorities in national form ation . Given the necessity of creating an intelligentsia within a national grouping, the most immediate and most important con cern is for an intelligentsia which will be visible to the public. Slovak-speaking lawye rs to ha ndle legal and administrative affairs, Slovak-speaking doctors to minister to the public, and Slovak-speaking teachers to teach Slovak culture were far m ore important a t the outset than the development of a technical intelligentsia for developin g a Slovak n ation al consciousn ess . Certainly the opportunities in the interwar republic to employ the skills gained in the vocational high schools were rather limited for a variety of reasons related to the formation of a n ew state-system in Eastern Europe . The lack of a n adequately trained agricultural , comme rcial, and industri al intelligentsia became painfully visible during the shortlived existence of the Slovak state ( 1939-1945). But , if it were not for the modest accompli shments in this field by the so-called bourgeois republic , the rapid growth begun in the Slovak state and continued in the renewed postwar Czechoslovak R epublic would n ot h ave been so dramatic . NOTES ' Th is peri od iza tion is outl in ed, a mong others, by Sta nl ey Z . Pech , " Ri ght, Left , and C entre in Eastern Europe 1869-1 940 : A cross-N ational Profile," C an adian journal of History , V ol. 16 , No. 2 ( 198 1), pp . 23 7-262. �72 SLOVAKIA ' For the cu rri culum of the commercial academy, see Vestnfk Ministerstva skolstvf a narodnf osvety (Msano), 13, No. 5 ( 15 May 1931), 18 1. 3 Vestnfk Msano , 6, No. 3 ( 15 M arch 1924), 100. Philosophical propedeutike consisted of a" . .. sy nthesis of knowledge from all subjects; acquaintance with the principal methods of philosophic solutions of problems. Thorough realization of the laws of intellec tual life and appreciation of th e major qu estions and tasks of philosophy. Survey of the intellec tual development of hum an ity." Vojtech Andie, "A Comparative Study of Education in Czechoslovakia for th e Periods of 1918 to 1938 and 1948 to 1953" (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation , New York University , 1954) , p . 128. • Ida Zubacka, "Prfspevok k dejinam strednych odbornych skol v Nitre v rokoch 1918- 1938," Zbornfk Pedagogick ej fakulty v Nitre, 2 1 (1973)-Spolocenske ved ydejepis-zemepis, p. 104. 1 " Strucny informacnf pi'ehled o skolstvf narodnfm , sti'ednfm a odbornem , " Vestnfk Msano , 6, No. 5 ( 15 May 1924), 273-4. 6 Antonin Bohac, "Padesat let ceskoslovenskeho skolstvf ," Pedagogika, 18, No. 5 ( 1968), 675. ' Vestnfk Msano, 7, No. 6 ( 15 Jun e 1925), 183-4. 8 Eduard Weis, "Zprava stat isti cka o skolstvf v Bratisl ave na pocatku sk. r . 1919/20 a srovnanf dat o skolach eleme ntarnfch s kon ce m sk. r. 1918/ 19, 16 December 191 9. Fond 7 Minister s plnou moci pre Slovensku (M/pm), Statny ustredny archfv Slovenskej socialistickej republiky (SUA SSR) Bra ti slava. • Yea rl y R eport, K osice Obchodna Akademia 1919/2 0-20/ 1, p. 6. ' 0 Vestnfk Msano , 6, No . 12 ( 15 D ece mber 1924), 592-3. '' J . Fuksa et al. , eds. , Almanach obchodnfho skolstvf ceskos/ovenske republiky 1918- 1928 (Prague : Statnf nakladatelst vf, 1938), p. 23 . " The i upan of Spis doubted hi s population 's " understanding for th e practical ed ucation of (its) youth ." His comments cited by M / pm as one of th e reasons to deny commercial academy to K ezmarok-M/ pm 14634/2 1 Adm . III of 20 October 192 1 in Spisska zupa 691/1921 in Statny archfv-Levoca. The principal in K osice had no doubts th at the population in that city did not value a commercial edu ca tion. Yearly R eport, 19 19/20-20/ 1, p . 36 . 13 Yearly R eport, Brat islava OA 1928/9, p. 15. 14 Bohac , "Padesat let, " p . 678. 11 Ibid ., p . 675. 16 Ibid. 11 Yea rl y R eport , Banska Bystri ca OA 1927 /8 , p. 7; 1928/9, p. 20; 193 1/ 2, p. 9; and 1932 /3, p. 11. " Sister M. Joan Cvercko , " Schools of Slova ki a: Histori cal Study of Secondary Technical-Vocational Education 1918-1 948" (Unpublished M .A. thesis, The Catholic University of America, 1972), p. 62. �SLOVAKIA 19 ' 0 73 Fuksa, Almanach , pp . 125-4 7, describes in detail the various combinations of schools as th ey were in 1928. Zubacka, " Prfspevok," p. 105. " Literarny archiv Matice slovenskej (LAMS) 42 VIII 23, "Priemyselne a odborne skoly v r. 1919/ 1920, " p. 10. " Yearly Report, Bratislava Priemyselna skola 1919/20, p. 11. " H. J a nus , " Sedemdesiat' rokov priemyselnej skoly v Bratislave ," Jednotna skola, 26, No. 2 (February 1974), 181. " Yea rly Report , Bratislava Priemyselna skola 1919/ 20, p. 1. " Julius Bartak , Vyvin Jesnickeho skolstva na Slovensku v ramci hospodarskych pomerov (Bratislava: Lesnfcka a dreva rska ustredna, 1942), p. 303. ,. Yea rl y R eport , Banska Bystri ca Statna odborna skola 1936/7, p . 3. " Bohac , "Padesat let ," p. 675. According to " Strucny ," pp . 260-1 , no supplementary exam was required; a successful maturitant could study in th e technical or mining colleges in th e sam e field he had done his high school work ; according to Anton Benda , "Statn a cs!. priemyselna skola s mad'arskymi pobockami V Kosiciach, " in A .S. Zitavsky, Pamiitnik slovensk eho skolstva za ucinkovania Prezidenta T.G. Masaryk a (Bratislava: V yd avatel'stvo pamii.tnika Slovenskeho skolstva, (1936-7), V ol. I , p. 177 , "at leas t one" a year from his school went on for uni versity level study. " J a nus, "Sedemd esiat'," p. 182. Similar reasoning und erlay the creation of a post-gradu ate electrotechni cal course at Bra tisl ava in 1931/2, although the course seems only to have existed fo r a year. Yearl y R eport, Bratislava Priem yselna skola 1930/ 1, pp . 24-5 and 193 1/2, p. 25. " " Strucny," pp. 260-1. '° K om ensky, 46 , No. 24 (30 August 1919), 7. " LAMS 42 VIII 23 , " Priemyselne a odborne skoly v r. 1919/ 1920," p. 12. " Pohron ska zupa 3851/1925-SA-Banska Bys tri ca. " J. Smetana, "Statn a cs!. pri emyselna skola v Bratislave," in Zitavsky , Pamacnik , V ol. I , p. 163. " Brigita Simonova et. al. , Minulost', sucasnost', buducnost ': Jubilejny alman ach k 50. vyrociu sloven sk ej cechnick ej skoly v B anskej B ys trici (Banska Bystrica : Stredoslove nske vyd avatel'stvo , 1967) , pp. 34-5. " Ibid ., pp . I 04-7. " Edvard R eich , " V yvoj ze medelskeho skol stvf s hledi ska celostatniho, " in R eich & Vaclav Skoda , eds., Zem edelska osveta V R. C.S. (Prague: Ministerstvo skolstvi a narodni osvety, mini sterstvo ze m edelstvf a ze msky ufad , 1931), pp. 10- 12. " Th ere was so me va ri a nce: The tot al of ag ricultural schools fluctu ated between 13 and I 6 ( of whi ch I 0-12 were Czechoslovak). " r,udovft H am as, " V ychova pol'nohospodarov v rokoch neslobod y- 1938- 1945 na �74 SLOVAKIA Slovensku," Cykl. vytisk. KPU, Bratislava, as quoted in Zdenek Cernohorsky , Dejiny zemedelskeho skolstvi v Ceskoslovensku (Prague: SPN, 1980), pp. 5-1 . 39 ' 0 Jozef Babanek, Zemedel'ske skolstvo dl'a stavu roku 1927 (Bratislava: Slovenska knihtlaciaren, 1928), p. 30. Yearly Report, Kosice Vyssia hospodarska skola 1919-1929 and 1920/30, p. 5. " Eudovft Hamas, Z dejin pol'nohospodarskeho skolstva (Bratislava: SPN, 1967), p. 22 . " Ceskoslovenska statistika, Vol. 2, p . 11 • . 0 Bartik , V}'vin, p. 291. 44 Ibid., 290; and Ceskoslovenska Statistika, Vol. 2, p. ts• . " Babanek, Zemedel'ske, p. 60 . •• Vladislav Brdlik, "Agriculture," in Jozef Gruber, Czechoslovakia: A Survey of Economic and Social Conditions (New York: The Macmillan Co. , 1924), p. 28. " Vladimir Medek, "Krfdla do zivota," in Hudzovic , Sto rokov, p. 147. " See Yearly Report of Kosice Vyssia hospodarska skola 1919-1929 and 1929/30, p. 25. Perhaps the most seductive means was financial. In 1920/ 1, 26 students at Kosice received grants totalling 24,920 Kc . No other such school received more than eight grants . In the same year, 18 stipends and grants worth 15,900 Kc were awarded to Banska Stiavnica forestry students. The other three such schools in the Republic together had only 14 grants for 4900 Kc. Further evidence of Blaho ' s influence is that same year, nearly half of the students in Kosice were from his home country at the other end of Slovakia . The largest number of students at Banska Stiavnica were also from Nitra County. Ceskoslovenska statistika, Vol. 2, Tables V, VII. " Referent for Education to principals of all secondary schools in Slovakia, c. 30.927 / II of 8 June 1921-copy in Prievidza G, Spisy, Carton 1, Okresny archfv-Prievidza. '° Ceskoslovenska statistika, Vol. 2, Table IV. " Zelmfra Miillerova, "Lesnfcke knifoice na Slovensku , " Kniznicny zbornik , 1971, p. 182. The proportion of Slovaks increased only gradually . " Yearly Report, Kosice Vyssia hospodarska skola 1919-1929 and 1929/ 30 , pp. 74-6. " Students went on strike in December 1919 to force the establishment of the dormitory. Styridsat' rokov Lesnickej technickej skoly v Banskej Stiavnici 1919-1959 (Bratislava: Poverenfctvo Podohospodarstva, 1959), p. 15. " Archival records testify that the two schools actively solicited this aid . For example, see their letters to Podtatranska County. Podtatranska zupa c. 28405/ 1923, 33123/1924, and 4939/1925 Adm If-SA-Bytca. " Students were eligible for the coveted Pa.Iffy awards . These are described by Ivan Derer, "Spachala prvnf republika temei' genocidu Slovaku? " Literarni listy , I , No. 15 (6 June 1968), p. 4. 16 The place of agricultural education in Czechoslovak history is described extensivel y in Cernohorsky, Dejiny zemedelskeho . Most of his material is drawn from official sources . �SLOVAKIA 75 " Yearly R eport, Bratislava Vyssia zemedelska skola druzstevna 1936/7, p . 27. 51 Fedor Houdek, "Zahajovacia re(: pri otvoreni Vyssej zemedelskej skoly druzstevnej v Bratislave 1. okt6bra 1936," in Yearly Report , Bratislava Vyssia zemedelska skola druzstevna 1936/7, pp . 11 -13. " Yearl y R eport , Bratislava Vyssia zemedelska skola druzstevna 1936/7, pp . 27-8. 60 See the school 's yearly reports 1936/7 & 1937/8. 61 W . Arthur Lewis , The University in Less-Developed Countries (New York: International Council for Educational D evelopment , 1974), p . 17 . �19 19/20 z E :, .n ......, 0 '- g "Cl ,,, 'i:..., 500 1000 Figure 1 - 1929/30 Commercial Academy Enrollment Yea r 1937 /8 Women students Total students t""' ► ...... ► ~ < 0 r:.n --.J 0-, �SLOVAKIA T able 1 - 77 Com mercial Academies To tal Students 1919/20 1920/ 1 192 1/2 1922 /3 1923/4 1924/5 1925/6 1926/7 Rrati sl..n·a 146 I 74 150 134 133 so 93 103 124 63 33 134 105 I 19 17 132 18 112 103 151 78 130 Ran skil Rys1rica KuSin· T. S,·. !'vl anin 36 40 64 74 I 15 124 40 Nitra TrcnCin TOTAL u f wh ich womc- n Pcrccn1agc Stude n ts in sen ior dass o f which womc-n 222 31 13 .96 3 12 32 10 .26 0 0 Nationali1y Czcl·hos lu,·ak 346 367 21 6 .07 38 10 .35 24 40 343(93 . 5) Czec h Slova k German Jewi sh H ungarian Poli sh 17 74 392 68 17 .35 71 8 2 324(93.6) 370 SI 13 . 78 IO 7 375 58 15 .47 411 52 12 .65 88 9 372(61.69) 35(5 .80) 105(17 .41) 9( 1.49) 69( 11.44) 13(2 . 16) O th er Czec hoslov aks at H ungarian Schools Religion Roman Cathol ic Greek Cat holi c Czech Rn·thrcn Lu1 hcran Reform ed Onhodux Jewish Czec hosh),·ak Other Prott·s1an1 s Nunt· 208(60 . I ) 3 3 54(27 .69) 73(2 1. 1) 22( 11 .28) 35 I 119(61.03) 18 Parental Occupation Agrinilturt· lndu slry·ov,:n busim·ss Free Pruft: ss ions/ lnt elligcn sia S1att· Em plo yt·cs Comrnern· 'v\lorkcrs 97( 15 .23) Pl ace of Res idence Cum mut c Live with parent s or relatives in tuw n Li ve with guardians Birthplace City of School Other Slu,·akia 13(9 .49) 78(56 .93 ) Foreign Bcihemia '.\1orav ia/ Silcsia 4(2.92) 25( 18 .25) I 7( 12 .41 ) 94(30 . 13) 14(4 .49) 139(44 .55) 36( 11. 54 ) 29(9 .29) 384(58.45) �78 SLOVAKIA Table 1 - Commercial Academies 1927/8 1928/9 1929/30 1930/1 193 1/2 193 2/3 1933/4 1934/5 1935/6 1936/7 169 122 125 39 75 49 579 82 14 . 16 178 109 134 67 107 84 679 97 14 .29 188 122 133 94 125 118 780 121 15.51 202 132 133 119 125 155 866 137 15.8 1 228 147 136 124 127 150 912 160 17.54 22 1 150 140 123 136 154 924 177 19. 16 204 20 1 134 140 194 152 164 131 141 882 159 18 .03 909 163 17 .93 937 187 19.96 182 I 73 171 147 146 155 1024 224 21.88 193 31 185 27 185 36 214 32 205 32 190 35 867(92 .5) 23 32 193 7/8 221 205 973(95 .0) l061(76 .33) 10 1(7.27) 178( 12.81) 17 19( 1. 37) 28 4 8(0.58) 905(65.06) l04( 15.83) 7(1.07) 12(1.83) (includi ng Uniatc) I 10( 16 .74) 18(2 . 74) 18(2 . 74) 22(3 .35) 215( 15.46) 23( 1. 65) 16(1.15) 143( 10 .28) 53(3 .8 1) 36(2 .59) 111(17 .43 ) 16(2 .51) 204(32 .03) 145( 11.9 1) 6(0.49) 408(33 .53) 235( 19.31) 291(23 .91) 132(10.85) 180(28.26) 29(4.55) 604(52. 16) 264(22 .80) 290(25 .04) �"' E ..:J " :i z ... 0 3 ......"' "" i:: 1920/ 1 400 600 Figure 2 - 1929/30 Industrial High School Enrollment Year 1937 /8 Women students Total students t"" IC -..J > < > :,,:: 0 Ul �SLOVAKIA 80 Table 2 Total Students Brati slava- m ech. eng. -civil eng. Kos ice- m ech. eng. Ban ska Stiavnica-chemi cal Prefov-civil en g. TOTAL of which wome n• Student s in sen ior cl ass of whi ch wom en Nationality Czechoslovak Ru ss ian/ Ru th en ian/ U kra ini a n Hun ga ri a n G erm a n J ew ish Oth er Industrial High Schools 1919/20 1920/1 45 32 41 81 68 86 1921/2 1922/3 1923 /4 1924 / 5 1925/6 117 53 11 6 JO 118 235 3 296 2 52 131 79 136 27 128 88 130 52 126 105 144 79 11 2 120 138 82 373 2 398 454 11 55 0 452 75 I 211 3 270 2 4 16 4 18 Religion R oma n Ca tholic Greek Ca tholi c Czech Brethren Lutheran R eform ed Orthodox J ewish None • alm ost a ll women stu died a t Ba n skcl St iav ni ca 178 4 I 42 2 2 42 25 346 3 14 2 7 �SLOVAKIA Table 2 - 81 Industrial High Schools 1926/7 1927/8 1928/9 1929/30 1930/1 1931/2 1932/3 1933/4 1934/5 1935/6 1936/7 ll7 104 138 88 117 114 l 29 110 120 117 133 106 121 113 136 123 129 126 150 134 447 7 470 12 476 24 493 32 539 35 11 2 7 123 l 26 157 130 26 562 29 11 2 12 137 116 155 128 60 596 21 138 6 142 93 151 131 98 144 135 99 147 108 595 19 134 4 599 5 139 3 600 16 166 6 Ill 132 88 133 118 93 583 567 3 552 4 5 4 �82 SLOVAKIA Table 3 - Agricultural High Schools 1919/20 1920/1 1921/2 1922/3 1923/4 1924/5 1925/6 K o~ice- Agricultu ral School Banska StiavnicaForestry High School TOTAL of which women No. in senior class Nationality Czechoslovak Ru ssian/Ruthenian/U krainia n G erm an Hun garian J ewi sh Bul garian Unknown Other Religion Rom an Cathol ic Greek Catholic Czech Brethren Luthera n Reformed Orthodox J ew ish Czechoslovak Other None Fees Paid in Fall Fee W a iver Half Waiver 25 45 68 96 100 107 109 48 93 0 0 77 145 0 0 98 194 95 195 0 85 192 84 193 2 87 139 2 3 2 2 3 184 3 2 4 183 2 4 4 180 5 2 2 178 5 6 3 82 8 2 128 11 157 4 1 22 1 3 151 3 2 26 149 3 2 26 140 4 1 32 5 6 3 6 2 3 4 1 2 125 67 3 114 68 10 134 54 5 2 5 7 2 �SLOV AKIA Table 3 - 83 Agricultural High Schools 1926/7 1927/8 1928/9 1929/30 1930/ 1 1931/2 1932/3 1933/4 1934/5 1935/6 1936/7 96 94 105 104 108 104 107 108 112 72 67 161 0 71 176 0 73 177 0 81 189 0 80 184 0 77 184 84 192 85 197 42 45 168 155 3 3 167 4 3 2 77 85 199 192 2 35 190 2 183 2 3 3 132 8 130 7 13 1 5 137 7 127 9 37 37 37 6 6 I 33 2 3 4 2 45 5 6 34 2 2 5 4 4 2 162 5 3 2 7 4 4 11 3 3 114 2 120 3 124 4 31 25 34 5 9 2 7 9 10 6 4 3 3 107 57 4 109 50 2 178 2 114 176 2 3 2 147 3 2 5 176 5 2 4 I 115 I 41 196 2 5 2 I 2 5 88 21 83 105 5 89 �SLOVAKIA 84 Table 4 - Agricultural High Schools 1922/3 1921/2 K Socioeconomic Data BS K 1924/5 1923 / 4 BS K BS K BS Parental Occupation Owners u f land : JOO+ hc<:1arcs 20- 100 hcnan·s 5-20 hcnan:s k-ss than 5 h1.•1.·tarcs 8 22 15 18 3 16 3 19 12 18 14 II 12 13 7 46 Agriniltural or forc s,ry 1.· mplu y1.-c ur wor ke r offi c ia l Non-agricultural 25 14 15 31 II 36 14 16 49 9 41 14 50 52 Age - 16 17- 18 19-20 281 27 5' 2 1-22 6 81 3I 21 13 23 & abm-c 2 17 33 31 24 36 15 10 25 Scholarships S1atc-No. / V alm· Region al-Nu./Val uc 27/26,800 I 517,900 37/38,485 9/ 10,830 17 /8 ,900 9/ 4 ,629 Distri<·1- No ./ Va lu c Othcr-Nu ./ Va lu c (Values in KCs) 16/13 ,000 7/9,500 8/4,900 9/6, .1 00 29/ 39,800 18/17,400 Total Studcn1s rccei \' in g grant s No./Va lu c BS - Ban sk- a Stia\'nit·a K - K o~ in· - age 15 1 - ages 16- 18 54/ 54,215 27 / 18.829 9 33 38 12 8 65/ 41.81 0 27 29 16 18 23/15,900 8 33 40 17 9 7 1/ 37 ,600 24 29 20 10 34/15,580 �85 SLOVAKIA Table 4 - 1926/7 1925 /6 K BS K II 12 26 II 14 20 13 8 4 II 45 14 46 4 32 16 35 19 19 13 34 28 17 4 4 36 48 17 4 Agricultural High Schools - Socioeconomic Data 1927/8 BS K 1936/7 193516 BS K BS K 12 6 9 18 25 15 13 9 10 26 40 6 8 22 34 II 7 9 36 4 19 9 9 32 I 37 20 24 14 6 8 33 30 22 22 4 25 31 10 19 44 23 6 8/3, 100 4 /2 , 500 25/12 ,350 9/3,000 6 6 6 2 23 20 23 4/3,000 21700 55/33, 150 2017,790 53/30.750 13/11,650 58/27,400 2/5,200 36/16,050 8/5,500 BS 30 17 7 47 30 39 I7 22 27 27 14 17 6/4,200 15/ 12,700 10/3,350 1/962 5/2,300 7/4,200 1/500 32121,212 13/7 ,000 �86 SLOVAKIA Table 5 Higher Cooperative Agricultural School 1936/7 Total Students : 22 (all male); all graduated Nationality : 20 Czechoslovak, 2 Hungarian Age: I 17-18 , 5 19-20, 5 21-2, 5 23 & above Fees: 17 waived , 5 part waived Family O ccupations: 3 owners of 20-100 hectares, 10 owners of 5-20 hec tares, 2 agricultural or forest ry employees and workers , 7 non agricultural Scholarships: 3 from regional government totalling 4,000 Kc 16 others totalling 26,000 Kc � SLOVAKIA 59 The Modernization of Slovakia: The Role of Vocational High Schools, 1918-1938 Owen V . Johnson Most of the modern nations and nationalities in Eastern Europe began as cultural movements. Writers and teachers were among their earliest leaders. As these movements grew in size, they turned into political movements , with lawyers playing increasingly important roles. 1 Most of the research on East European national development has focused on these changes . None of these developing nations could long survive, however, without an adequate industrial , commercial, and modern agricultural base. Such development has been the thread of continuity in twentieth-century Eastern Europe behind the facade of radical political change. This article examines the basis of economic change which was laid down in three types of secondary schools in interwar Slovakia, the commercial academies, and the industrial and agricultural high schools. That they were not a top priority of the new Czechoslovak government is indicated by the fact that none was opened until the fall of 1919, nearly a year after the creation of the new Republic , while the first Slovak gymnazium had opened its doors only two weeks after the seizure of power by the new state. The common tie of these three types of schools was that they were more likely to draw their students from the middle schools , in contrast to the gymnazium, which usually admitted students directly from primary schools to its eight-year curriculum. In part this is explained by the fact that these schools attracted a different type of student , on e who was interested not in becoming a lawyer, a doctor , or a teacher - those people went to the gymnazia or the teacher training institutions - but the one who wanted to become an ' ' independent entrepreneur.'' �60 SLOVA KIA Each of th ese schools will b e di scu ssed se parately. Like the o the r vocatio na l seco nda ry schools, the co mm e rcial acad e mies perform ed a du a l fun ction . Their four- year curriculum was des igned partially to prepa re student s to a ssum e respo n sible positio n s in bu sin ess or b a nking offi ces (e.g., two fore ign la n gu ages, incl udin g G erm a n , were in the curriculum) a nd pa rtially to prepa re those students who wished to study a t an institutio n of higher learning . The course was ge n era l, with no provisio n for specializa tio n . 2 G radu a tes we re eli gible to study a t the V ysoka o bchodn a skola (C o mme rcial College) in Pragu e, o r , e ffective 192 4 , a ft er pass in g the supplem entary exam (s) (give n in Slovakia o nly in Bra ti slava) in L a tin a nd philosophical proped eu tika, a t the L a w F aculty in Brno . 3 Beginnin g in 193 4 , they we re also eli gible to a ttend milita ry offi ce r s' school. G radu a tes who did no t go o n for furth e r edu cation h ad the right , a fter o ne year 's practice, to the " indepe nde nt m a n age m e nt of a business. " 4 M os t oft e n , howeve r , they becam e officials in b a nkin g or com me rce, o r gained employ m ent in the sta te bureau cracy. 5 The e ntra nce requirem e nts to these schools we re th e sam e as fo r o ther vocatio na l schools. The prospective a pplicant e ith er ha d to be a t leas t age 14 a nd h ave co mple ted four years a t a realka o r som e kind of gymnazium , o r be a g radu a te of the middl e school, with a pp ro pria te gra des. Preferen ce was give n to a pplicants with bu siness experie nce . 6 T hose pe rso ns who h ad passed the ir gymnazium m aturita una nimou sly or with distinctio n could take a o ne-year post -g rad u a te course a t a co mme rcial acad emy ( o ne su ch course was se t up a t Bra ti slava); those w ho had rece ived a "with m ajo rity" mark would be accepted o nly if there was roo m . Gymnazium gradua tes could al so enter the third year of the co mme rcial acade m y o n a tentat ive bas is, hav in g ho weve r to ta ke seve ra l supple m e nta ry exa m s by Christm as . 7 T he traditio nal Hun gari a n d isd a in fo r co mme rce, a nd he nce, fo r comm ercial edu cati o n , le ft it s imp r int on public a ttitudes toward th e bu siness academies. When the Bra ti slava Commercial Acade m y opened for bu sin ess in th e fall of 19 19, nearly a third of the regul a rl y enro ll ed stude nts we re Czec hs. Czechs were in the majo rit y at the a ttached post-gradu a te co urse. 8 It took time to ove rco me the negat ive attitudes, time for these schools to d em o nstra te the ir wo rth . A s a ch ro nicle r at the K os ice Com m e rcial Acad e m y no ted , the sc hool " ove rco m es the mi stake n trad itio n in the �SLOVAKIA 61 Slovak people that only the hi gh school, specifically the gymnazium and not a commercial school, can insure the Slovak son or daughter a regular functional edu cation .' ' 9 In those early years, it was often necessary to personally con vince the parents of prospective students of the value of the commercial education. One means of persuasion was money in the form of scholarships . In the early years, however, state aid was not very generous, about one grant per school. 10 It appears that the total amount of support rose significantly beginning with the 1928/29 school year. An increasingly important source was the regional Slovak government. Ove rall , government assistance for the commercial academies generally is a carbon copy of the assistance to the gymnazia. The old Hungarian schools operated uninterrupted through the 1918/9 school year. By the following fall, two schools had been closed , at Hume nne and Revuca , for lack of students; the rest were taken over by the state. Because there were no Slovaks qualified to teach in this field, Czechs were brought in to serve as both professors and principals. The old three-year pattern of instruction was continued until the passage of a new law on February 15, 1922, which formally established fouryear academies at Bratislava , Kosice, and Martin . By fall, a fourth academy was opened at Banska Bystrica. The close proximity of the last two named schools soon led to an apparent superfluity of places , and the school at Martin was forced to close , doing so one grade at a time , beginning in 1923/4. 11 The postwar recession and the deindustrialization of Slovakia which accompanied it , coupled with an essentially rural population, were surely the major causes. They discouraged parents who might otherwise have thought of enrolling their children. 12 The recovery which soon followed led to a n ew interest in this type of school , leading to the establishment of an institution at Nitra in 1926/7 - considered a replacement for Martin - and at Trencfn and (once again) Martin in 1927/8 . Job offers were now two or three times higher than the number of graduates . 13 Although the Depression forestalled the establi shm ent of any add itional schools for n early a d ecade, the number of students continued to rise steadily , except for a slight fall occasioned by the com ing of age of the tiny World War I generation. In common with the expansion in the number of gymnazia just before the outbreak of World War II , a commercial academ y was set up at Humen ne in the 1937/8 school year, where there h ad once been a Hungarian school. �62 SLOVAKIA The importance of the gove rnment 's role in fos te rin g commercial education is demonstrated by the fact that all of the commercial academies in Slovakia were state institutio ns. Only two of the approxima tely thirty other school s in the Republic were owned a nd ope rated b y the sta te . The commercial academies had a reputa tion of quality both at home and abroad because they enrolled a highly select group of students chosen from amon g man y a pplicants . The teacher s we re highly qualified , attracted by high pay . Even teachers of general educa tional subj ects earned more th an they would in a gymnazium or a realka. The o nly additional requirem ent was tha t they n eeded to have some minimal knowledge of business. 14 The curriculum was evenly divided between subjects of general instru ction (with a heavy d ose of la n gu ages) and business subj ects. Strictly speakin g, study a t the commercial acad emies did n o t end with a m aturita exam. 15 Even thou gh the examina tion was op tional, m ost stude nts took it b ecau se it was n ecessary for admi ssion to the univer sity , a nd it could m ean a hi gh er pos ition or rate o f pay on m a n y jobs . (It should be n oted tha t a hi gher p rece ntage of commercial acad em y students went on for additional studies tha n did students from the indu strial hi gh schools. y 6 In an effort to encourage students to go into bu siness for them selves upo n gradu a tion rather than takin g up an admini st ration j ob , the comm e rcial acad e mies d evelop ed a p rogram in which studen ts would spend their summers wo rking in various shops . Local banks, district and county gove rnm ents, a nd ch a mber s o f commerce r a ised the m on ey to pay the students for the experien ce. The D epression forced a cutback in the program . Ther e is no ev ide n ce that the program achieved its goal. 17 Like the indu strial high sch ools, the co mmercial acad e mies actu ally we re onl y the a n chor s of la rger edu cation al in sti t utio n s. In all ca ses, there was a two -year bu sin ess sch ool a ttach ed . A cco rdin g to Cve rcko, ' ' Students showed a preference fo r the two-year b usiness schools becau se they prov ided edu cation al oppo rtunities fo r stu d ent s from th e poo rer famili es and fo r youn g wom en w ho d es ired employm e n t in offi ces . ' ' 18 In so m e in stan ces, these bu siness schools, wh en located in pl aces other tha n a t a co mmercial acad em y, the m selves se rved as ce nte rs for sho rter term bu siness cou rses . 19 T he sch ool a t Brat islava was even m ore co mplex becau se it h ad bo th Czechoslovak a nd Hun garia n divisio ns. Published statistics on the commercial acad emies n ormally in cl uded d a ta o n both the acad emies a nd the a tt ach ed sch ools, m a kin g it m ore �SLOVAKIA 63 difficult to study the makeup of the student body of the academies alone. N evertheless, some observati on s can be made , especiall y whe n the published sta tewide statistics a re considered in conjun ction with the a nalysis of the sta tistics from the a nnu al repo rts published by the schools ( also see Fi gure 1 a nd T able 1) . One of the more interesting aspects is the presen ce of a slowly increasing number of women in these schools. This contrasts strongly with th e indu stri al hi gh school s. Whil e the postwa r recession n early wipes out a n initi al fem ale enrollment of b etter tha n ten percent, a gradual improve m ent whi ch began in the mid-twenties continued to the end of the R epublic, so tha t by the 1936/7 school year , more tha n a fifth of the stud ents we re women . The pe rce ntage of wo men gradu a tes , in line with the ge ne ral tre nd , was several percent less. At Nit ra, th e student s we re prima ril y children of white-collar worke rs, teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers, businessmen , and shopkeepers, in other words , the better situ ated elem ents of the society . About on e third of the student s cam e from workin g cl ass famili es. Jo INDUSTRIAL HIGH SCHOOLS Th e indu stri al hi gh school (priem yselna skola), with a fo ur- year curriculum , witnessed a slow developm ent ove r the hi story of the first C zechoslovak R epubli c. A s was the case with vocation al second a ry schools in gen eral , th ere were n ot ve ry man y of th em. Anton Stefa nek, who as R eferent fo r Edu cation in Slova ki a helped established th e school system, reali zed th e n eed for these schools, but recogni zed th e publi c ha d littl e apprec ia tio n fo r th em : It is n ecessary th a t Slovaks understa nd the value of technical , indu stri al a nd commercial schools. Yes, second a ry schools th ere mu st b e, gymnazia a nd realky, but all peopl e cann o t be gentlem e n with te nd er h a nd s.J 1 Al thou gh seve ral of these in stituti o n s h ad peen in ex isten ce durin g Hun gari an rule, they were in the large r cities, where the Slovak presence was sm all. Further , they lacked do rmito ries, m a kin g a tte nd a nce so m ewh a t diffi cult for o th er th a n city res id ents. 21 Three Czechoslovak in d u stri al hi gh schools o pen ed in th e fall of 19 19, with th e fi rs t grad u a tes em ergin g in 1923 . T wo we re in Bra tislava, a m ech a ni cal en gin ee rin g school (s trojnick a) a nd a buildin g or �64 SLOVAKIA civil engineerin g school (stavitel'ska), sharing the same facili ties. Kosice had a dual language engineering school. A chemical high school opened in Banska Stiavnica in 1921 , foll owed by a second buildin g school in Presov in 1931. The final institution to open its doors was the electrotechni cal hi gh school in Banska Byst rica , commen cing operations in the fall of 1936. Study at each institution, partially general a nd partially technical , ended with a maturita examination. The mech a nical e ngineering school was design ed to provide "gen eral and profess ional education , such as needed by managers of smaller engin eering firms or factories with enginee ring systems, or by technical officials.'' The course lasted four years. Applica nts for the school need ed to have co mpl eted four years of gymnazium studies, or middle school plus the one-year supplem entary " naukobeh ." Students with only three years of gym nazium or who h ad completed middle school edu cation with a grade of at leas t "good ," and who cou ld prove they had at least one year of on-the-job experience , cou ld also be admitted. 23 Preference went to those with practi cal experience. An entran ce exam was required. Like the co mmercial academi es, vocat ional schools of shorter duration were attached to each industrial high school. Th e goals of the other types of indu strial high schools were similar - to train the students for skill ed managerial and technical jobs, or for university study; the admission requireme nts were nearly the same , too. Th e civil engin eering hi gh school was designed to provide theoretical and practi cal instruction for future ind ependent owners of construction firm s, especiall y those dealing in concrete, rein forced co ncrete, a nd ca rpentry, as well as for private or state technical offic ials. 14 Graduates were ex pected to be abl e to construct a dwelli ng. The chem ical high school's a im was th e provision of gen eral a nd speciali zed education in combination with practical experience for future factory owners , administrators, and factory offi cials for various chemi cal plants, such as dye-works, printing, bleach or soap pla nts, glassworks, fertili ze r faciliti es, etc. 15 The electrotechni cal school , which had no graduates in its short existence, was also to give both ge neral a nd speciali zed inst ru ction combined with practi cal experie nce, to owners or managers of mach in e or electrotechni cal factories , or ot her factories with machine systems, and for technical offic ials of th e larger private or state engineerin g organizations. 26 The graduates of industrial hi gh schools could , aft er passing a sup- �SLOVAKIA 65 plementary exam, also study a t the technical universiti es, although few did, both because of the exam , a nd becau se, until the fall of 1938, there was no technical university in Slovakia, a fact which also h and icapped th ese schools in the ir efforts to a ttract students. 27 In th e fall of 1934, a transport division was added to the con struction high school in Bratislava , the ex press a im of the change b eing to facilitiate graduate placem ent, particularly in the m edium-sized and small firm s. J8 Th e practical n a ture of the study at the indu strial high schools required that no private students be all owed . Forty applicants were to be admitted each year at each school, except for the chemi cal hi gh school, to whi ch a maximum of thirty were all owed . If an aspirin g student passed th e entran ce examination at a parti cular school , but was not admitted because of lack of sufficient pl aces , he cou ld seek admission elsewhere in the R epublic .J 9 When the schools opened in the fall of 1919 , applicants from Slovakia were few . A call was sent out to the Czech students in the overcrowded industrial hi gh schools of Bohemia and Moravia to come to Slovakia. The re were promises of travel a nd ot her support, anything to help ra ise th e enrollm ent. 3° Of th e 77 students who enroll ed at the two schools in Bratislava , 42 were Slovak and 26 were Czech. 31 Th e total number of students experienced a steady, but slow climb upward because with th e opening of each new sc hool , approximately one cl ass was open ed each year (see Figure 2 and Table 2). In 1925, howeve r, the Ministry of Edu cation an noun ced plans to gradually close th e ch emical high school " because th e prese nt conditions in th e chem ical industry in no way ass ure the stude nts the fulfillm e nt of the amb ition s which lead them to the school.' ' The Ministry of Education (Msano) backed down , however, a nd agreed to co ntinu e to operate the school , provided first yea r enrollment reached 20 stud ents. 3J O verall , th e number of appli cations to all th e schools was mod erate until the mid-thirties, when both the expansion of industry in Slovakia a nd th e immin ent openin g of th e techni cal uni ve rsity led to a n explo sion of inte res t in these schools. At Banska Bystrica, for in sta nce, th e numbe r of appli cat io n s exceed ed th e number of admi ss ion s by 4 or 5 to 1. A simil a r jump in in terest developed in Bra ti slava abo u t the sa m e tim e . Earli er, nea rl y everyo ne who p assed the e ntran ce exam was admitted . (About one-th ird of th e a pplicants fail ed th e tes t.) Alth ough th ere has been no research o n th e subj ect, it is prob able �66 SLOVAKIA that the limited number of these schools was a hindrance in the expansion of the number of students, not only because there was a limited number of places, but also because students from a large part of the more Slovak areas of Slovakia could attend these schools only if they could afford to pay room and board. The schools themselves did not have their own dormitories, although the two Bratislava schools had access to up to 100 places in the city's Secondary School dormitory . 33 The founding of the electrotechnical school at Banska Bystrica provides some fine examples of the government ' s general attitudes toward the need for industrial education in Slovakia. The campaign for the establishment of the school was led by the Banska Bystrica City Council and by the Central Slovak Chamber of Commerce . The latter made the initial move in May 1934, urging the city council to join forces . The Chamber pointed out the lack of this particular kind of education in Slovakia. Two months later, the City Council wrote to the Ministry of Education , stressing how the creation of this school would further the development of Slovakia: The continuing electrification of Slovakia is not yet finish ed ; thus , not only would many jobs in this area await the graduates of the school, but the power-stations in Slovakia have a continuing lack of well-educated Slovaks . 34 The Ministry of Education responded the following spring, expressing doubt that there would be a sufficient number of students with the requisite preparatory education, and suggesting doubt that, in view of the economic crisis , the graduates could be placed. The economic upswing which was even then beginning apparently erased all doubts . The flood of applications had proved Prague wrong , at least on a delayed basis. H With the exception of the chemical high school, very few girls enrolled in the industrial high schools, the total reaching a high of 6 ½ percent in 1929/30 and 1930/1. There is no obvious explanation for the chemical school exception. Information on scholarship aid is too skimpy to make any judgments. AG RI CULTURAL HIGH SCHOOLS The two schools known as higher agricultural schools showed the least change of any of the secondary level institutions in Slovakia dur- �SLOVAKIA 67 ing the interwar Republic. One was the higher agricultural (or farming) school in Kosice, founded on the ruins of a prewar college level Hungarian Academy, and the other the higher forestry school in Banska Stiavnica. There also had been a Forestry Academy there, although its building fell to the industrial high school. Both agricultural schools were administered by the Ministry of Agriculture through an inspector of agricultural instruction in Bratislava, one of six such offices in Czechoslovakia. 36 The school in Kosice was one of more than a dozen higher farming schools in the Republic, that in Banska Stiavnica one of four higher forestry schools (one of three Czechoslovak) in Czechoslovakia. 3 1 Both schools opened in the fall of 1919 and graduated their first classes in the spring of 1923. The faculty consisted almost entirely of Czechs . 3 8 The goal of the Farming School at Kosice was the education of' 'independent agricultural entrepreneurs" as well as officials who could handle agricultural affairs for the government or serve cooperatives in an office capacity. 39 The curriculum sought to make of the student an '' agricultural intelligent who could learn not to limit himself to that which is generally known, but who would also try to look for new ways and methods; in short, that it kindle and nurture in the young man the skill of application and, as much as possible, initiative.' ' 40 Students, of whom 30 were admitted each year, had to be at least 15 years of age, and to have completed either middle school, or the first four years of a gymnazium. In addition, boys and girls who had completed the shorter twoyear peasant school course with distinction could be admitted. Preference was to be given to those from peasant families who would be farming independently. 41 Originally three years in length, the school was converted to four years in 1920/ 1 (Ministry of Agriculture 21308/ 1920). The expanded curriculum permitted an expansion of general education and a deepening of technical subjects, as well as greater emphasis on the practical element of instruction . In addition, new subjects were added to prepare the students better for the modern world, including civics, business, typewriting, the cooperative movement, and milk processing. 42 The program of study ended with the maturita exam. Graduates, after passing supplementary exams , could study at the College of Agriculture, the College of Veterinary Medicine, Commercial Colleges, �68 SLOVAKIA or the Military Academy . A Provincial Institute of Agriculture R esearch was attached to the school. Applicants for the higher forestry high school also needed to be 15 years of age, and have completed the lower four years of a gymnazium , or a middle school plus the one-year continuation course (nauk obeh). Preference was given to sons of forestry employees and workers . No women were allowed. All graduates of secondary schools could pass directly into the second year of the school and, if they passed the required examination, advance directly into the third year of study. 43 The entering class was at first limited to 30 students, a figure later cut to 20. Only in exceptio n al cases were students from Bohemia and Moravia to be admitted. They had to be able to prove that a job would be await in g them upon graduation . 4 4 The goal of the school was to provide education for an efficient forest service and for the admin istration of smaller forest properties or the lumber business and industry and to provide an education correspond in g to the general level of advanced secondary education. The four-year course concluded with maturita exams . Graduates could attend the forestry division of the College of Agriculture after completing suppleme ntary exams in language and mathematical subjects. 4 5 Those who wished to enter state service directly (which was th e rule) were required to pass a state exam in the appropriate field. There is some irony in the generally held assumption that "through the incorporation of agricultural Slovakia, the Czechoslovak Republic has become nearly self-supporting as regards the supply of agricultural produce, " 46 yet so little attent ion was given to developing an advanced system of agricu ltural education in Slovakia. Part of the answer lies in the small size of so many of the land holdings, which would make further education superfluous. Prior to 1918, these two schools, existing on the level of junior colleges, had turned out offic ials and employees to manage the great estates of the Hungarian magnates. In fact, interest in attending the Czechoslovak school does not seem to have been overwhelming. For one thing , social attitudes worked against it. One stu dent remembered first enrollin g at a teacher training institute , then persuading hi s father that employment possibilities after graduat ion from the Farming School wou ld be much better. His mother and sister, however, were appalled by his withdrawal from the teacher training institute, and insisted he go back to it, which he did. 47 The R eferent for Agriculture, �SLOVAKIA 69 Pavel Blaho, had to take special pains to insure that there were enough students at all in the first years. 48 The school in Kosice had particular trouble attracting Slovak students. In 1920/1 , only 7 of 23 first year students were Slovak . 49 In that same year, only 21 of 48 students at Banska Stiavnica had parents living in Slovakia. 50 There were more Czechs than Slovaks in the first forestry graduating class. 51 Further discouraging the establishment of more schools was the argument that Slovaks were eligible to attend similar institutions in the Czech lands. Because these schools were both '' one of a kind'' they drew students from all over Slovakia. For instance, Kosice, in 1929/3 0, had representatives from more than half the counties of Slovakia. 52 This made the provision of housing important. Initially, Kosice had a dormitory for 45 students. It was replaced in the 1923/2 4 school year by the Ministry of Agriculture with a building which housed 120. A temporary dormitory was established at Banska Stiavnica in 1920 within the school itself. 53 However , once the school had reached its full complement of four classes in the fall of 1922 , the need for classrooms forced the dormitory's closing. Between a half and two-thirds of the students received financial aid, the m ajority of which, after 1929 , came from the regional government in Bratislava. Prior to that time , the counties and districts frequently gave support. 54 State aid was channeled through the Ministry of Agriculture . 55 Financial aid on the average was about twice as large for the students in Kosice as in Banska Stiavnica . Total enrollment at the two schools remained constant between 160 and 200 students (see Tables 3 and 4) . Girls were eligible to attend the school in Kosice , but hardly any did . Between 90 and 95 percent of the enrollment consisted of Czech and Slovak students, with a sprinkling of Ruthenians (particularly in the more accessible Kosice), Germans, and Hungarians. The percentage of students who were Catholic initially was very high (88 percent), but by 1925 declined to a level of about 70 percent , at which it remained. The percentage of Lutherans , at first very low, rose to 15-20 percent by 1925. The fact that the Lutheran pe rcentage was slightly higher than in the population as a whole can be attributed largely to the fact that Banska Stiavnica was situated in a more strongly Protestant area. There also were regularly small numbers of Orthodox , Greek Catholic, and Jewish students. Students at both Banska Stiavnica and Kosice te nded to be well a bove the minimum age, with the largest number in the 19-20 year old �70 SLOVAKIA range. Those from agricultural families were in the majority at Kosice and usually in the minority at Banska Stiavnica. In addition, if from agricultural backgrounds those at Kosice were more likely to come from larger landholders. 56 HIGHER COOPERATIVE AG RI CULTURAL SCHOOL An additional specialized school, the Higher Cooperative Agricultural School, a private institution , was opened in Bratislava in the fall of 1936. The goal of the school's four-semester course was to provide ''professional theoretical and practical preparation or development in cooperative consciousness and education for capable cooperative officials and functionaries for Slovakia, as well as for friends of the cooperative idea. " 57 Prior to the opening of the Slovak school, the cooperative officials had been drawn from the graduates of the commercial academies and agricultural schools, as well as from officials of financial institutions . The Central Cooperative Council ran a similar school in Prague, but it was not able to accept all applicants from Slovakia. Stipends for students from Slovakia had been made available on the basis of reciprocity , i.e., service in Slovakia. The Bratislava branch of the Cooperative Council lacked funds as well as a building to start its own school. When the latter problem was solved, the former became available. 58 Three groups were eligible for admission. The majority were to have completed a high school education, with preference given to graduates of the higher agricultural school in Kosice and the commercial academies, as well as those who had cooperative experience. A second group was drawn from those who had completed with success at least the first four years of high school or middle school, and who had also successfully completed agricultural or business school and had at least two years of cooperative experience . This group required entrance exams. A third group, persons not citizens of Czechoslovakia, could be admitted in special cases. The total from the second and third groups was not to exceed 8 places in the class of 24 . 59 In the two years the school was in operation, about half of the 22 students were age 23 and older; they came from many different districts across Slovakia . From a religious standpoint, the Lutherans were over-represented (see Table 5), with 35 percent the first year and 45 percent the second year. The parents of about two-thirds of the students �SLOVAKIA 71 had agricultural occupations. There is n o reference to the sex of the stude nts, although it can b e presumed that all were m en . 60 CONCLUSION It is un avoidable that some of the information presen ted in this article represents what might be called " microhistory ." In it are catalogued various beginnings and small changes . It is b ecause these changes have previously not been recorded in an organized fashion that certain processes of n ational d evelopment in twentieth-century Slovakia have not been properly understood. It is generally recognized that too few students in developing countries study mathematics or the scientific professions. 61 In many ways, Slovakia was an undeveloped country . Consideration mu st be given , however, to priorities in national form ation . Given the necessity of creating an intelligentsia within a national grouping, the most immediate and most important con cern is for an intelligentsia which will be visible to the public. Slovak-speaking lawye rs to ha ndle legal and administrative affairs, Slovak-speaking doctors to minister to the public, and Slovak-speaking teachers to teach Slovak culture were far m ore important a t the outset than the development of a technical intelligentsia for developin g a Slovak n ation al consciousn ess . Certainly the opportunities in the interwar republic to employ the skills gained in the vocational high schools were rather limited for a variety of reasons related to the formation of a n ew state-system in Eastern Europe . The lack of a n adequately trained agricultural , comme rcial, and industri al intelligentsia became painfully visible during the shortlived existence of the Slovak state ( 1939-1945). But , if it were not for the modest accompli shments in this field by the so-called bourgeois republic , the rapid growth begun in the Slovak state and continued in the renewed postwar Czechoslovak R epublic would n ot h ave been so dramatic . NOTES ' Th is peri od iza tion is outl in ed, a mong others, by Sta nl ey Z . Pech , " Ri ght, Left , and C entre in Eastern Europe 1869-1 940 : A cross-N ational Profile," C an adian journal of History , V ol. 16 , No. 2 ( 198 1), pp . 23 7-262. �72 SLOVAKIA ' For the cu rri culum of the commercial academy, see Vestnfk Ministerstva skolstvf a narodnf osvety (Msano), 13, No. 5 ( 15 May 1931), 18 1. 3 Vestnfk Msano , 6, No. 3 ( 15 M arch 1924), 100. Philosophical propedeutike consisted of a" . .. sy nthesis of knowledge from all subjects; acquaintance with the principal methods of philosophic solutions of problems. Thorough realization of the laws of intellec tual life and appreciation of th e major qu estions and tasks of philosophy. Survey of the intellec tual development of hum an ity." Vojtech Andie, "A Comparative Study of Education in Czechoslovakia for th e Periods of 1918 to 1938 and 1948 to 1953" (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation , New York University , 1954) , p . 128. • Ida Zubacka, "Prfspevok k dejinam strednych odbornych skol v Nitre v rokoch 1918- 1938," Zbornfk Pedagogick ej fakulty v Nitre, 2 1 (1973)-Spolocenske ved ydejepis-zemepis, p. 104. 1 " Strucny informacnf pi'ehled o skolstvf narodnfm , sti'ednfm a odbornem , " Vestnfk Msano , 6, No. 5 ( 15 May 1924), 273-4. 6 Antonin Bohac, "Padesat let ceskoslovenskeho skolstvf ," Pedagogika, 18, No. 5 ( 1968), 675. ' Vestnfk Msano, 7, No. 6 ( 15 Jun e 1925), 183-4. 8 Eduard Weis, "Zprava stat isti cka o skolstvf v Bratisl ave na pocatku sk. r . 1919/20 a srovnanf dat o skolach eleme ntarnfch s kon ce m sk. r. 1918/ 19, 16 December 191 9. Fond 7 Minister s plnou moci pre Slovensku (M/pm), Statny ustredny archfv Slovenskej socialistickej republiky (SUA SSR) Bra ti slava. • Yea rl y R eport, K osice Obchodna Akademia 1919/2 0-20/ 1, p. 6. ' 0 Vestnfk Msano , 6, No . 12 ( 15 D ece mber 1924), 592-3. '' J . Fuksa et al. , eds. , Almanach obchodnfho skolstvf ceskos/ovenske republiky 1918- 1928 (Prague : Statnf nakladatelst vf, 1938), p. 23 . " The i upan of Spis doubted hi s population 's " understanding for th e practical ed ucation of (its) youth ." His comments cited by M / pm as one of th e reasons to deny commercial academy to K ezmarok-M/ pm 14634/2 1 Adm . III of 20 October 192 1 in Spisska zupa 691/1921 in Statny archfv-Levoca. The principal in K osice had no doubts th at the population in that city did not value a commercial edu ca tion. Yearly R eport, 19 19/20-20/ 1, p . 36 . 13 Yearly R eport, Brat islava OA 1928/9, p. 15. 14 Bohac , "Padesat let, " p . 678. 11 Ibid ., p . 675. 16 Ibid. 11 Yea rl y R eport , Banska Bystri ca OA 1927 /8 , p. 7; 1928/9, p. 20; 193 1/ 2, p. 9; and 1932 /3, p. 11. " Sister M. Joan Cvercko , " Schools of Slova ki a: Histori cal Study of Secondary Technical-Vocational Education 1918-1 948" (Unpublished M .A. thesis, The Catholic University of America, 1972), p. 62. �SLOVAKIA 19 ' 0 73 Fuksa, Almanach , pp . 125-4 7, describes in detail the various combinations of schools as th ey were in 1928. Zubacka, " Prfspevok," p. 105. " Literarny archiv Matice slovenskej (LAMS) 42 VIII 23, "Priemyselne a odborne skoly v r. 1919/ 1920, " p. 10. " Yearly Report, Bratislava Priemyselna skola 1919/20, p. 11. " H. J a nus , " Sedemdesiat' rokov priemyselnej skoly v Bratislave ," Jednotna skola, 26, No. 2 (February 1974), 181. " Yea rly Report , Bratislava Priemyselna skola 1919/ 20, p. 1. " Julius Bartak , Vyvin Jesnickeho skolstva na Slovensku v ramci hospodarskych pomerov (Bratislava: Lesnfcka a dreva rska ustredna, 1942), p. 303. ,. Yea rl y R eport , Banska Bystri ca Statna odborna skola 1936/7, p . 3. " Bohac , "Padesat let ," p. 675. According to " Strucny ," pp . 260-1 , no supplementary exam was required; a successful maturitant could study in th e technical or mining colleges in th e sam e field he had done his high school work ; according to Anton Benda , "Statn a cs!. priemyselna skola s mad'arskymi pobockami V Kosiciach, " in A .S. Zitavsky, Pamiitnik slovensk eho skolstva za ucinkovania Prezidenta T.G. Masaryk a (Bratislava: V yd avatel'stvo pamii.tnika Slovenskeho skolstva, (1936-7), V ol. I , p. 177 , "at leas t one" a year from his school went on for uni versity level study. " J a nus, "Sedemd esiat'," p. 182. Similar reasoning und erlay the creation of a post-gradu ate electrotechni cal course at Bra tisl ava in 1931/2, although the course seems only to have existed fo r a year. Yearl y R eport, Bratislava Priem yselna skola 1930/ 1, pp . 24-5 and 193 1/2, p. 25. " " Strucny," pp. 260-1. '° K om ensky, 46 , No. 24 (30 August 1919), 7. " LAMS 42 VIII 23 , " Priemyselne a odborne skoly v r. 1919/ 1920," p. 12. " Pohron ska zupa 3851/1925-SA-Banska Bys tri ca. " J. Smetana, "Statn a cs!. pri emyselna skola v Bratislave," in Zitavsky , Pamacnik , V ol. I , p. 163. " Brigita Simonova et. al. , Minulost', sucasnost', buducnost ': Jubilejny alman ach k 50. vyrociu sloven sk ej cechnick ej skoly v B anskej B ys trici (Banska Bystrica : Stredoslove nske vyd avatel'stvo , 1967) , pp. 34-5. " Ibid ., pp . I 04-7. " Edvard R eich , " V yvoj ze medelskeho skol stvf s hledi ska celostatniho, " in R eich & Vaclav Skoda , eds., Zem edelska osveta V R. C.S. (Prague: Ministerstvo skolstvi a narodni osvety, mini sterstvo ze m edelstvf a ze msky ufad , 1931), pp. 10- 12. " Th ere was so me va ri a nce: The tot al of ag ricultural schools fluctu ated between 13 and I 6 ( of whi ch I 0-12 were Czechoslovak). " r,udovft H am as, " V ychova pol'nohospodarov v rokoch neslobod y- 1938- 1945 na �74 SLOVAKIA Slovensku," Cykl. vytisk. KPU, Bratislava, as quoted in Zdenek Cernohorsky , Dejiny zemedelskeho skolstvi v Ceskoslovensku (Prague: SPN, 1980), pp. 5-1 . 39 ' 0 Jozef Babanek, Zemedel'ske skolstvo dl'a stavu roku 1927 (Bratislava: Slovenska knihtlaciaren, 1928), p. 30. Yearly Report, Kosice Vyssia hospodarska skola 1919-1929 and 1920/30, p. 5. " Eudovft Hamas, Z dejin pol'nohospodarskeho skolstva (Bratislava: SPN, 1967), p. 22 . " Ceskoslovenska statistika, Vol. 2, p . 11 • . 0 Bartik , V}'vin, p. 291. 44 Ibid., 290; and Ceskoslovenska Statistika, Vol. 2, p. ts• . " Babanek, Zemedel'ske, p. 60 . •• Vladislav Brdlik, "Agriculture," in Jozef Gruber, Czechoslovakia: A Survey of Economic and Social Conditions (New York: The Macmillan Co. , 1924), p. 28. " Vladimir Medek, "Krfdla do zivota," in Hudzovic , Sto rokov, p. 147. " See Yearly Report of Kosice Vyssia hospodarska skola 1919-1929 and 1929/30, p. 25. Perhaps the most seductive means was financial. In 1920/ 1, 26 students at Kosice received grants totalling 24,920 Kc . No other such school received more than eight grants . In the same year, 18 stipends and grants worth 15,900 Kc were awarded to Banska Stiavnica forestry students. The other three such schools in the Republic together had only 14 grants for 4900 Kc. Further evidence of Blaho ' s influence is that same year, nearly half of the students in Kosice were from his home country at the other end of Slovakia . The largest number of students at Banska Stiavnica were also from Nitra County. Ceskoslovenska statistika, Vol. 2, Tables V, VII. " Referent for Education to principals of all secondary schools in Slovakia, c. 30.927 / II of 8 June 1921-copy in Prievidza G, Spisy, Carton 1, Okresny archfv-Prievidza. '° Ceskoslovenska statistika, Vol. 2, Table IV. " Zelmfra Miillerova, "Lesnfcke knifoice na Slovensku , " Kniznicny zbornik , 1971, p. 182. The proportion of Slovaks increased only gradually . " Yearly Report, Kosice Vyssia hospodarska skola 1919-1929 and 1929/ 30 , pp. 74-6. " Students went on strike in December 1919 to force the establishment of the dormitory. Styridsat' rokov Lesnickej technickej skoly v Banskej Stiavnici 1919-1959 (Bratislava: Poverenfctvo Podohospodarstva, 1959), p. 15. " Archival records testify that the two schools actively solicited this aid . For example, see their letters to Podtatranska County. Podtatranska zupa c. 28405/ 1923, 33123/1924, and 4939/1925 Adm If-SA-Bytca. " Students were eligible for the coveted Pa.Iffy awards . These are described by Ivan Derer, "Spachala prvnf republika temei' genocidu Slovaku? " Literarni listy , I , No. 15 (6 June 1968), p. 4. 16 The place of agricultural education in Czechoslovak history is described extensivel y in Cernohorsky, Dejiny zemedelskeho . Most of his material is drawn from official sources . �SLOVAKIA 75 " Yearly R eport, Bratislava Vyssia zemedelska skola druzstevna 1936/7, p . 27. 51 Fedor Houdek, "Zahajovacia re(: pri otvoreni Vyssej zemedelskej skoly druzstevnej v Bratislave 1. okt6bra 1936," in Yearly Report , Bratislava Vyssia zemedelska skola druzstevna 1936/7, pp . 11 -13. " Yearl y R eport , Bratislava Vyssia zemedelska skola druzstevna 1936/7, pp . 27-8. 60 See the school 's yearly reports 1936/7 & 1937/8. 61 W . Arthur Lewis , The University in Less-Developed Countries (New York: International Council for Educational D evelopment , 1974), p . 17 . �19 19/20 z E :, .n ......, 0 '- g "Cl ,,, 'i:..., 500 1000 Figure 1 - 1929/30 Commercial Academy Enrollment Yea r 1937 /8 Women students Total students t""' ► ...... ► ~ < 0 r:.n --.J 0-, �SLOVAKIA T able 1 - 77 Com mercial Academies To tal Students 1919/20 1920/ 1 192 1/2 1922 /3 1923/4 1924/5 1925/6 1926/7 Rrati sl..n·a 146 I 74 150 134 133 so 93 103 124 63 33 134 105 I 19 17 132 18 112 103 151 78 130 Ran skil Rys1rica KuSin· T. S,·. !'vl anin 36 40 64 74 I 15 124 40 Nitra TrcnCin TOTAL u f wh ich womc- n Pcrccn1agc Stude n ts in sen ior dass o f which womc-n 222 31 13 .96 3 12 32 10 .26 0 0 Nationali1y Czcl·hos lu,·ak 346 367 21 6 .07 38 10 .35 24 40 343(93 . 5) Czec h Slova k German Jewi sh H ungarian Poli sh 17 74 392 68 17 .35 71 8 2 324(93.6) 370 SI 13 . 78 IO 7 375 58 15 .47 411 52 12 .65 88 9 372(61.69) 35(5 .80) 105(17 .41) 9( 1.49) 69( 11.44) 13(2 . 16) O th er Czec hoslov aks at H ungarian Schools Religion Roman Cathol ic Greek Cat holi c Czech Rn·thrcn Lu1 hcran Reform ed Onhodux Jewish Czec hosh),·ak Other Prott·s1an1 s Nunt· 208(60 . I ) 3 3 54(27 .69) 73(2 1. 1) 22( 11 .28) 35 I 119(61.03) 18 Parental Occupation Agrinilturt· lndu slry·ov,:n busim·ss Free Pruft: ss ions/ lnt elligcn sia S1att· Em plo yt·cs Comrnern· 'v\lorkcrs 97( 15 .23) Pl ace of Res idence Cum mut c Live with parent s or relatives in tuw n Li ve with guardians Birthplace City of School Other Slu,·akia 13(9 .49) 78(56 .93 ) Foreign Bcihemia '.\1orav ia/ Silcsia 4(2.92) 25( 18 .25) I 7( 12 .41 ) 94(30 . 13) 14(4 .49) 139(44 .55) 36( 11. 54 ) 29(9 .29) 384(58.45) �78 SLOVAKIA Table 1 - Commercial Academies 1927/8 1928/9 1929/30 1930/1 193 1/2 193 2/3 1933/4 1934/5 1935/6 1936/7 169 122 125 39 75 49 579 82 14 . 16 178 109 134 67 107 84 679 97 14 .29 188 122 133 94 125 118 780 121 15.51 202 132 133 119 125 155 866 137 15.8 1 228 147 136 124 127 150 912 160 17.54 22 1 150 140 123 136 154 924 177 19. 16 204 20 1 134 140 194 152 164 131 141 882 159 18 .03 909 163 17 .93 937 187 19.96 182 I 73 171 147 146 155 1024 224 21.88 193 31 185 27 185 36 214 32 205 32 190 35 867(92 .5) 23 32 193 7/8 221 205 973(95 .0) l061(76 .33) 10 1(7.27) 178( 12.81) 17 19( 1. 37) 28 4 8(0.58) 905(65.06) l04( 15.83) 7(1.07) 12(1.83) (includi ng Uniatc) I 10( 16 .74) 18(2 . 74) 18(2 . 74) 22(3 .35) 215( 15.46) 23( 1. 65) 16(1.15) 143( 10 .28) 53(3 .8 1) 36(2 .59) 111(17 .43 ) 16(2 .51) 204(32 .03) 145( 11.9 1) 6(0.49) 408(33 .53) 235( 19.31) 291(23 .91) 132(10.85) 180(28.26) 29(4.55) 604(52. 16) 264(22 .80) 290(25 .04) �"' E ..:J " :i z ... 0 3 ......"' "" i:: 1920/ 1 400 600 Figure 2 - 1929/30 Industrial High School Enrollment Year 1937 /8 Women students Total students t"" IC -..J > < > :,,:: 0 Ul �SLOVAKIA 80 Table 2 Total Students Brati slava- m ech. eng. -civil eng. Kos ice- m ech. eng. Ban ska Stiavnica-chemi cal Prefov-civil en g. TOTAL of which wome n• Student s in sen ior cl ass of whi ch wom en Nationality Czechoslovak Ru ss ian/ Ru th en ian/ U kra ini a n Hun ga ri a n G erm a n J ew ish Oth er Industrial High Schools 1919/20 1920/1 45 32 41 81 68 86 1921/2 1922/3 1923 /4 1924 / 5 1925/6 117 53 11 6 JO 118 235 3 296 2 52 131 79 136 27 128 88 130 52 126 105 144 79 11 2 120 138 82 373 2 398 454 11 55 0 452 75 I 211 3 270 2 4 16 4 18 Religion R oma n Ca tholic Greek Ca tholi c Czech Brethren Lutheran R eform ed Orthodox J ewish None • alm ost a ll women stu died a t Ba n skcl St iav ni ca 178 4 I 42 2 2 42 25 346 3 14 2 7 �SLOVAKIA Table 2 - 81 Industrial High Schools 1926/7 1927/8 1928/9 1929/30 1930/1 1931/2 1932/3 1933/4 1934/5 1935/6 1936/7 ll7 104 138 88 117 114 l 29 110 120 117 133 106 121 113 136 123 129 126 150 134 447 7 470 12 476 24 493 32 539 35 11 2 7 123 l 26 157 130 26 562 29 11 2 12 137 116 155 128 60 596 21 138 6 142 93 151 131 98 144 135 99 147 108 595 19 134 4 599 5 139 3 600 16 166 6 Ill 132 88 133 118 93 583 567 3 552 4 5 4 �82 SLOVAKIA Table 3 - Agricultural High Schools 1919/20 1920/1 1921/2 1922/3 1923/4 1924/5 1925/6 K o~ice- Agricultu ral School Banska StiavnicaForestry High School TOTAL of which women No. in senior class Nationality Czechoslovak Ru ssian/Ruthenian/U krainia n G erm an Hun garian J ewi sh Bul garian Unknown Other Religion Rom an Cathol ic Greek Catholic Czech Brethren Luthera n Reformed Orthodox J ew ish Czechoslovak Other None Fees Paid in Fall Fee W a iver Half Waiver 25 45 68 96 100 107 109 48 93 0 0 77 145 0 0 98 194 95 195 0 85 192 84 193 2 87 139 2 3 2 2 3 184 3 2 4 183 2 4 4 180 5 2 2 178 5 6 3 82 8 2 128 11 157 4 1 22 1 3 151 3 2 26 149 3 2 26 140 4 1 32 5 6 3 6 2 3 4 1 2 125 67 3 114 68 10 134 54 5 2 5 7 2 �SLOV AKIA Table 3 - 83 Agricultural High Schools 1926/7 1927/8 1928/9 1929/30 1930/ 1 1931/2 1932/3 1933/4 1934/5 1935/6 1936/7 96 94 105 104 108 104 107 108 112 72 67 161 0 71 176 0 73 177 0 81 189 0 80 184 0 77 184 84 192 85 197 42 45 168 155 3 3 167 4 3 2 77 85 199 192 2 35 190 2 183 2 3 3 132 8 130 7 13 1 5 137 7 127 9 37 37 37 6 6 I 33 2 3 4 2 45 5 6 34 2 2 5 4 4 2 162 5 3 2 7 4 4 11 3 3 114 2 120 3 124 4 31 25 34 5 9 2 7 9 10 6 4 3 3 107 57 4 109 50 2 178 2 114 176 2 3 2 147 3 2 5 176 5 2 4 I 115 I 41 196 2 5 2 I 2 5 88 21 83 105 5 89 �SLOVAKIA 84 Table 4 - Agricultural High Schools 1922/3 1921/2 K Socioeconomic Data BS K 1924/5 1923 / 4 BS K BS K BS Parental Occupation Owners u f land : JOO+ hc<:1arcs 20- 100 hcnan·s 5-20 hcnan:s k-ss than 5 h1.•1.·tarcs 8 22 15 18 3 16 3 19 12 18 14 II 12 13 7 46 Agriniltural or forc s,ry 1.· mplu y1.-c ur wor ke r offi c ia l Non-agricultural 25 14 15 31 II 36 14 16 49 9 41 14 50 52 Age - 16 17- 18 19-20 281 27 5' 2 1-22 6 81 3I 21 13 23 & abm-c 2 17 33 31 24 36 15 10 25 Scholarships S1atc-No. / V alm· Region al-Nu./Val uc 27/26,800 I 517,900 37/38,485 9/ 10,830 17 /8 ,900 9/ 4 ,629 Distri<·1- No ./ Va lu c Othcr-Nu ./ Va lu c (Values in KCs) 16/13 ,000 7/9,500 8/4,900 9/6, .1 00 29/ 39,800 18/17,400 Total Studcn1s rccei \' in g grant s No./Va lu c BS - Ban sk- a Stia\'nit·a K - K o~ in· - age 15 1 - ages 16- 18 54/ 54,215 27 / 18.829 9 33 38 12 8 65/ 41.81 0 27 29 16 18 23/15,900 8 33 40 17 9 7 1/ 37 ,600 24 29 20 10 34/15,580 �85 SLOVAKIA Table 4 - 1926/7 1925 /6 K BS K II 12 26 II 14 20 13 8 4 II 45 14 46 4 32 16 35 19 19 13 34 28 17 4 4 36 48 17 4 Agricultural High Schools - Socioeconomic Data 1927/8 BS K 1936/7 193516 BS K BS K 12 6 9 18 25 15 13 9 10 26 40 6 8 22 34 II 7 9 36 4 19 9 9 32 I 37 20 24 14 6 8 33 30 22 22 4 25 31 10 19 44 23 6 8/3, 100 4 /2 , 500 25/12 ,350 9/3,000 6 6 6 2 23 20 23 4/3,000 21700 55/33, 150 2017,790 53/30.750 13/11,650 58/27,400 2/5,200 36/16,050 8/5,500 BS 30 17 7 47 30 39 I7 22 27 27 14 17 6/4,200 15/ 12,700 10/3,350 1/962 5/2,300 7/4,200 1/500 32121,212 13/7 ,000 �86 SLOVAKIA Table 5 Higher Cooperative Agricultural School 1936/7 Total Students : 22 (all male); all graduated Nationality : 20 Czechoslovak, 2 Hungarian Age: I 17-18 , 5 19-20, 5 21-2, 5 23 & above Fees: 17 waived , 5 part waived Family O ccupations: 3 owners of 20-100 hectares, 10 owners of 5-20 hec tares, 2 agricultural or forest ry employees and workers , 7 non agricultural Scholarships: 3 from regional government totalling 4,000 Kc 16 others totalling 26,000 Kc � 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 1984, Vol. 31 Description An account of the resource Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984. 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 1984 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 59 The Modernization of Slovakia: The Role of Vocational High Schools, 1918-1938 Owen V . Johnson Most of the modern nations and nationalities in Eastern Europe began as cultural movements. Writers and teachers were among their earliest leaders. As these movements grew in size, they turned into political movements , with lawyers playing increasingly important roles. 1 Most of the research on East European national development has focused on these changes . None of these developing nations could long survive, however, without an adequate industrial , commercial, and modern agricultural base. Such development has been the thread of continuity in twentieth-century Eastern Europe behind the facade of radical political change. This article examines the basis of economic change which was laid down in three types of secondary schools in interwar Slovakia, the commercial academies, and the industrial and agricultural high schools. That they were not a top priority of the new Czechoslovak government is indicated by the fact that none was opened until the fall of 1919, nearly a year after the creation of the new Republic , while the first Slovak gymnazium had opened its doors only two weeks after the seizure of power by the new state. The common tie of these three types of schools was that they were more likely to draw their students from the middle schools , in contrast to the gymnazium, which usually admitted students directly from primary schools to its eight-year curriculum. In part this is explained by the fact that these schools attracted a different type of student , on e who was interested not in becoming a lawyer, a doctor , or a teacher - those people went to the gymnazia or the teacher training institutions - but the one who wanted to become an ' ' independent entrepreneur.'' 60 SLOVA KIA Each of th ese schools will b e di scu ssed se parately. Like the o the r vocatio na l seco nda ry schools, the co mm e rcial acad e mies perform ed a du a l fun ction . Their four- year curriculum was des igned partially to prepa re student s to a ssum e respo n sible positio n s in bu sin ess or b a nking offi ces (e.g., two fore ign la n gu ages, incl udin g G erm a n , were in the curriculum) a nd pa rtially to prepa re those students who wished to study a t an institutio n of higher learning . The course was ge n era l, with no provisio n for specializa tio n . 2 G radu a tes we re eli gible to study a t the V ysoka o bchodn a skola (C o mme rcial College) in Pragu e, o r , e ffective 192 4 , a ft er pass in g the supplem entary exam (s) (give n in Slovakia o nly in Bra ti slava) in L a tin a nd philosophical proped eu tika, a t the L a w F aculty in Brno . 3 Beginnin g in 193 4 , they we re also eli gible to a ttend milita ry offi ce r s' school. G radu a tes who did no t go o n for furth e r edu cation h ad the right , a fter o ne year 's practice, to the " indepe nde nt m a n age m e nt of a business. " 4 M os t oft e n , howeve r , they becam e officials in b a nkin g or com me rce, o r gained employ m ent in the sta te bureau cracy. 5 The e ntra nce requirem e nts to these schools we re th e sam e as fo r o ther vocatio na l schools. The prospective a pplicant e ith er ha d to be a t leas t age 14 a nd h ave co mple ted four years a t a realka o r som e kind of gymnazium , o r be a g radu a te of the middl e school, with a pp ro pria te gra des. Preferen ce was give n to a pplicants with bu siness experie nce . 6 T hose pe rso ns who h ad passed the ir gymnazium m aturita una nimou sly or with distinctio n could take a o ne-year post -g rad u a te course a t a co mme rcial acad emy ( o ne su ch course was se t up a t Bra ti slava); those w ho had rece ived a "with m ajo rity" mark would be accepted o nly if there was roo m . Gymnazium gradua tes could al so enter the third year of the co mme rcial acade m y o n a tentat ive bas is, hav in g ho weve r to ta ke seve ra l supple m e nta ry exa m s by Christm as . 7 T he traditio nal Hun gari a n d isd a in fo r co mme rce, a nd he nce, fo r comm ercial edu cati o n , le ft it s imp r int on public a ttitudes toward th e bu siness academies. When the Bra ti slava Commercial Acade m y opened for bu sin ess in th e fall of 19 19, nearly a third of the regul a rl y enro ll ed stude nts we re Czec hs. Czechs were in the majo rit y at the a ttached post-gradu a te co urse. 8 It took time to ove rco me the negat ive attitudes, time for these schools to d em o nstra te the ir wo rth . A s a ch ro nicle r at the K os ice Com m e rcial Acad e m y no ted , the sc hool " ove rco m es the mi stake n trad itio n in the SLOVAKIA 61 Slovak people that only the hi gh school, specifically the gymnazium and not a commercial school, can insure the Slovak son or daughter a regular functional edu cation .' ' 9 In those early years, it was often necessary to personally con vince the parents of prospective students of the value of the commercial education. One means of persuasion was money in the form of scholarships . In the early years, however, state aid was not very generous, about one grant per school. 10 It appears that the total amount of support rose significantly beginning with the 1928/29 school year. An increasingly important source was the regional Slovak government. Ove rall , government assistance for the commercial academies generally is a carbon copy of the assistance to the gymnazia. The old Hungarian schools operated uninterrupted through the 1918/9 school year. By the following fall, two schools had been closed , at Hume nne and Revuca , for lack of students; the rest were taken over by the state. Because there were no Slovaks qualified to teach in this field, Czechs were brought in to serve as both professors and principals. The old three-year pattern of instruction was continued until the passage of a new law on February 15, 1922, which formally established fouryear academies at Bratislava , Kosice, and Martin . By fall, a fourth academy was opened at Banska Bystrica. The close proximity of the last two named schools soon led to an apparent superfluity of places , and the school at Martin was forced to close , doing so one grade at a time , beginning in 1923/4. 11 The postwar recession and the deindustrialization of Slovakia which accompanied it , coupled with an essentially rural population, were surely the major causes. They discouraged parents who might otherwise have thought of enrolling their children. 12 The recovery which soon followed led to a n ew interest in this type of school , leading to the establishment of an institution at Nitra in 1926/7 - considered a replacement for Martin - and at Trencfn and (once again) Martin in 1927/8 . Job offers were now two or three times higher than the number of graduates . 13 Although the Depression forestalled the establi shm ent of any add itional schools for n early a d ecade, the number of students continued to rise steadily , except for a slight fall occasioned by the com ing of age of the tiny World War I generation. In common with the expansion in the number of gymnazia just before the outbreak of World War II , a commercial academ y was set up at Humen ne in the 1937/8 school year, where there h ad once been a Hungarian school. 62 SLOVAKIA The importance of the gove rnment 's role in fos te rin g commercial education is demonstrated by the fact that all of the commercial academies in Slovakia were state institutio ns. Only two of the approxima tely thirty other school s in the Republic were owned a nd ope rated b y the sta te . The commercial academies had a reputa tion of quality both at home and abroad because they enrolled a highly select group of students chosen from amon g man y a pplicants . The teacher s we re highly qualified , attracted by high pay . Even teachers of general educa tional subj ects earned more th an they would in a gymnazium or a realka. The o nly additional requirem ent was tha t they n eeded to have some minimal knowledge of business. 14 The curriculum was evenly divided between subjects of general instru ction (with a heavy d ose of la n gu ages) and business subj ects. Strictly speakin g, study a t the commercial acad emies did n o t end with a m aturita exam. 15 Even thou gh the examina tion was op tional, m ost stude nts took it b ecau se it was n ecessary for admi ssion to the univer sity , a nd it could m ean a hi gh er pos ition or rate o f pay on m a n y jobs . (It should be n oted tha t a hi gher p rece ntage of commercial acad em y students went on for additional studies tha n did students from the indu strial hi gh schools. y 6 In an effort to encourage students to go into bu siness for them selves upo n gradu a tion rather than takin g up an admini st ration j ob , the comm e rcial acad e mies d evelop ed a p rogram in which studen ts would spend their summers wo rking in various shops . Local banks, district and county gove rnm ents, a nd ch a mber s o f commerce r a ised the m on ey to pay the students for the experien ce. The D epression forced a cutback in the program . Ther e is no ev ide n ce that the program achieved its goal. 17 Like the indu strial high sch ools, the co mmercial acad e mies actu ally we re onl y the a n chor s of la rger edu cation al in sti t utio n s. In all ca ses, there was a two -year bu sin ess sch ool a ttach ed . A cco rdin g to Cve rcko, ' ' Students showed a preference fo r the two-year b usiness schools becau se they prov ided edu cation al oppo rtunities fo r stu d ent s from th e poo rer famili es and fo r youn g wom en w ho d es ired employm e n t in offi ces . ' ' 18 In so m e in stan ces, these bu siness schools, wh en located in pl aces other tha n a t a co mmercial acad em y, the m selves se rved as ce nte rs for sho rter term bu siness cou rses . 19 T he sch ool a t Brat islava was even m ore co mplex becau se it h ad bo th Czechoslovak a nd Hun garia n divisio ns. Published statistics on the commercial acad emies n ormally in cl uded d a ta o n both the acad emies a nd the a tt ach ed sch ools, m a kin g it m ore SLOVAKIA 63 difficult to study the makeup of the student body of the academies alone. N evertheless, some observati on s can be made , especiall y whe n the published sta tewide statistics a re considered in conjun ction with the a nalysis of the sta tistics from the a nnu al repo rts published by the schools ( also see Fi gure 1 a nd T able 1) . One of the more interesting aspects is the presen ce of a slowly increasing number of women in these schools. This contrasts strongly with th e indu stri al hi gh school s. Whil e the postwa r recession n early wipes out a n initi al fem ale enrollment of b etter tha n ten percent, a gradual improve m ent whi ch began in the mid-twenties continued to the end of the R epublic, so tha t by the 1936/7 school year , more tha n a fifth of the stud ents we re women . The pe rce ntage of wo men gradu a tes , in line with the ge ne ral tre nd , was several percent less. At Nit ra, th e student s we re prima ril y children of white-collar worke rs, teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers, businessmen , and shopkeepers, in other words , the better situ ated elem ents of the society . About on e third of the student s cam e from workin g cl ass famili es. Jo INDUSTRIAL HIGH SCHOOLS Th e indu stri al hi gh school (priem yselna skola), with a fo ur- year curriculum , witnessed a slow developm ent ove r the hi story of the first C zechoslovak R epubli c. A s was the case with vocation al second a ry schools in gen eral , th ere were n ot ve ry man y of th em. Anton Stefa nek, who as R eferent fo r Edu cation in Slova ki a helped established th e school system, reali zed th e n eed for these schools, but recogni zed th e publi c ha d littl e apprec ia tio n fo r th em : It is n ecessary th a t Slovaks understa nd the value of technical , indu stri al a nd commercial schools. Yes, second a ry schools th ere mu st b e, gymnazia a nd realky, but all peopl e cann o t be gentlem e n with te nd er h a nd s.J 1 Al thou gh seve ral of these in stituti o n s h ad peen in ex isten ce durin g Hun gari an rule, they were in the large r cities, where the Slovak presence was sm all. Further , they lacked do rmito ries, m a kin g a tte nd a nce so m ewh a t diffi cult for o th er th a n city res id ents. 21 Three Czechoslovak in d u stri al hi gh schools o pen ed in th e fall of 19 19, with th e fi rs t grad u a tes em ergin g in 1923 . T wo we re in Bra tislava, a m ech a ni cal en gin ee rin g school (s trojnick a) a nd a buildin g or 64 SLOVAKIA civil engineerin g school (stavitel'ska), sharing the same facili ties. Kosice had a dual language engineering school. A chemical high school opened in Banska Stiavnica in 1921 , foll owed by a second buildin g school in Presov in 1931. The final institution to open its doors was the electrotechni cal hi gh school in Banska Byst rica , commen cing operations in the fall of 1936. Study at each institution, partially general a nd partially technical , ended with a maturita examination. The mech a nical e ngineering school was design ed to provide "gen eral and profess ional education , such as needed by managers of smaller engin eering firms or factories with enginee ring systems, or by technical officials.'' The course lasted four years. Applica nts for the school need ed to have co mpl eted four years of gymnazium studies, or middle school plus the one-year supplem entary " naukobeh ." Students with only three years of gym nazium or who h ad completed middle school edu cation with a grade of at leas t "good ," and who cou ld prove they had at least one year of on-the-job experience , cou ld also be admitted. 23 Preference went to those with practi cal experience. An entran ce exam was required. Like the co mmercial academi es, vocat ional schools of shorter duration were attached to each industrial high school. Th e goals of the other types of indu strial high schools were similar - to train the students for skill ed managerial and technical jobs, or for university study; the admission requireme nts were nearly the same , too. Th e civil engin eering hi gh school was designed to provide theoretical and practi cal instruction for future ind ependent owners of construction firm s, especiall y those dealing in concrete, rein forced co ncrete, a nd ca rpentry, as well as for private or state technical offic ials. 14 Graduates were ex pected to be abl e to construct a dwelli ng. The chem ical high school's a im was th e provision of gen eral a nd speciali zed education in combination with practical experience for future factory owners , administrators, and factory offi cials for various chemi cal plants, such as dye-works, printing, bleach or soap pla nts, glassworks, fertili ze r faciliti es, etc. 15 The electrotechni cal school , which had no graduates in its short existence, was also to give both ge neral a nd speciali zed inst ru ction combined with practi cal experie nce, to owners or managers of mach in e or electrotechni cal factories , or ot her factories with machine systems, and for technical offic ials of th e larger private or state engineerin g organizations. 26 The graduates of industrial hi gh schools could , aft er passing a sup- SLOVAKIA 65 plementary exam, also study a t the technical universiti es, although few did, both because of the exam , a nd becau se, until the fall of 1938, there was no technical university in Slovakia, a fact which also h and icapped th ese schools in the ir efforts to a ttract students. 27 In th e fall of 1934, a transport division was added to the con struction high school in Bratislava , the ex press a im of the change b eing to facilitiate graduate placem ent, particularly in the m edium-sized and small firm s. J8 Th e practical n a ture of the study at the indu strial high schools required that no private students be all owed . Forty applicants were to be admitted each year at each school, except for the chemi cal hi gh school, to whi ch a maximum of thirty were all owed . If an aspirin g student passed th e entran ce examination at a parti cular school , but was not admitted because of lack of sufficient pl aces , he cou ld seek admission elsewhere in the R epublic .J 9 When the schools opened in the fall of 1919 , applicants from Slovakia were few . A call was sent out to the Czech students in the overcrowded industrial hi gh schools of Bohemia and Moravia to come to Slovakia. The re were promises of travel a nd ot her support, anything to help ra ise th e enrollm ent. 3° Of th e 77 students who enroll ed at the two schools in Bratislava , 42 were Slovak and 26 were Czech. 31 Th e total number of students experienced a steady, but slow climb upward because with th e opening of each new sc hool , approximately one cl ass was open ed each year (see Figure 2 and Table 2). In 1925, howeve r, the Ministry of Edu cation an noun ced plans to gradually close th e ch emical high school " because th e prese nt conditions in th e chem ical industry in no way ass ure the stude nts the fulfillm e nt of the amb ition s which lead them to the school.' ' The Ministry of Education (Msano) backed down , however, a nd agreed to co ntinu e to operate the school , provided first yea r enrollment reached 20 stud ents. 3J O verall , th e number of appli cations to all th e schools was mod erate until the mid-thirties, when both the expansion of industry in Slovakia a nd th e immin ent openin g of th e techni cal uni ve rsity led to a n explo sion of inte res t in these schools. At Banska Bystrica, for in sta nce, th e numbe r of appli cat io n s exceed ed th e number of admi ss ion s by 4 or 5 to 1. A simil a r jump in in terest developed in Bra ti slava abo u t the sa m e tim e . Earli er, nea rl y everyo ne who p assed the e ntran ce exam was admitted . (About one-th ird of th e a pplicants fail ed th e tes t.) Alth ough th ere has been no research o n th e subj ect, it is prob able 66 SLOVAKIA that the limited number of these schools was a hindrance in the expansion of the number of students, not only because there was a limited number of places, but also because students from a large part of the more Slovak areas of Slovakia could attend these schools only if they could afford to pay room and board. The schools themselves did not have their own dormitories, although the two Bratislava schools had access to up to 100 places in the city's Secondary School dormitory . 33 The founding of the electrotechnical school at Banska Bystrica provides some fine examples of the government ' s general attitudes toward the need for industrial education in Slovakia. The campaign for the establishment of the school was led by the Banska Bystrica City Council and by the Central Slovak Chamber of Commerce . The latter made the initial move in May 1934, urging the city council to join forces . The Chamber pointed out the lack of this particular kind of education in Slovakia. Two months later, the City Council wrote to the Ministry of Education , stressing how the creation of this school would further the development of Slovakia: The continuing electrification of Slovakia is not yet finish ed ; thus , not only would many jobs in this area await the graduates of the school, but the power-stations in Slovakia have a continuing lack of well-educated Slovaks . 34 The Ministry of Education responded the following spring, expressing doubt that there would be a sufficient number of students with the requisite preparatory education, and suggesting doubt that, in view of the economic crisis , the graduates could be placed. The economic upswing which was even then beginning apparently erased all doubts . The flood of applications had proved Prague wrong , at least on a delayed basis. H With the exception of the chemical high school, very few girls enrolled in the industrial high schools, the total reaching a high of 6 ½ percent in 1929/30 and 1930/1. There is no obvious explanation for the chemical school exception. Information on scholarship aid is too skimpy to make any judgments. AG RI CULTURAL HIGH SCHOOLS The two schools known as higher agricultural schools showed the least change of any of the secondary level institutions in Slovakia dur- SLOVAKIA 67 ing the interwar Republic. One was the higher agricultural (or farming) school in Kosice, founded on the ruins of a prewar college level Hungarian Academy, and the other the higher forestry school in Banska Stiavnica. There also had been a Forestry Academy there, although its building fell to the industrial high school. Both agricultural schools were administered by the Ministry of Agriculture through an inspector of agricultural instruction in Bratislava, one of six such offices in Czechoslovakia. 36 The school in Kosice was one of more than a dozen higher farming schools in the Republic, that in Banska Stiavnica one of four higher forestry schools (one of three Czechoslovak) in Czechoslovakia. 3 1 Both schools opened in the fall of 1919 and graduated their first classes in the spring of 1923. The faculty consisted almost entirely of Czechs . 3 8 The goal of the Farming School at Kosice was the education of' 'independent agricultural entrepreneurs" as well as officials who could handle agricultural affairs for the government or serve cooperatives in an office capacity. 39 The curriculum sought to make of the student an '' agricultural intelligent who could learn not to limit himself to that which is generally known, but who would also try to look for new ways and methods; in short, that it kindle and nurture in the young man the skill of application and, as much as possible, initiative.' ' 40 Students, of whom 30 were admitted each year, had to be at least 15 years of age, and to have completed either middle school, or the first four years of a gymnazium. In addition, boys and girls who had completed the shorter twoyear peasant school course with distinction could be admitted. Preference was to be given to those from peasant families who would be farming independently. 41 Originally three years in length, the school was converted to four years in 1920/ 1 (Ministry of Agriculture 21308/ 1920). The expanded curriculum permitted an expansion of general education and a deepening of technical subjects, as well as greater emphasis on the practical element of instruction . In addition, new subjects were added to prepare the students better for the modern world, including civics, business, typewriting, the cooperative movement, and milk processing. 42 The program of study ended with the maturita exam. Graduates, after passing supplementary exams , could study at the College of Agriculture, the College of Veterinary Medicine, Commercial Colleges, 68 SLOVAKIA or the Military Academy . A Provincial Institute of Agriculture R esearch was attached to the school. Applicants for the higher forestry high school also needed to be 15 years of age, and have completed the lower four years of a gymnazium , or a middle school plus the one-year continuation course (nauk obeh). Preference was given to sons of forestry employees and workers . No women were allowed. All graduates of secondary schools could pass directly into the second year of the school and, if they passed the required examination, advance directly into the third year of study. 43 The entering class was at first limited to 30 students, a figure later cut to 20. Only in exceptio n al cases were students from Bohemia and Moravia to be admitted. They had to be able to prove that a job would be await in g them upon graduation . 4 4 The goal of the school was to provide education for an efficient forest service and for the admin istration of smaller forest properties or the lumber business and industry and to provide an education correspond in g to the general level of advanced secondary education. The four-year course concluded with maturita exams . Graduates could attend the forestry division of the College of Agriculture after completing suppleme ntary exams in language and mathematical subjects. 4 5 Those who wished to enter state service directly (which was th e rule) were required to pass a state exam in the appropriate field. There is some irony in the generally held assumption that "through the incorporation of agricultural Slovakia, the Czechoslovak Republic has become nearly self-supporting as regards the supply of agricultural produce, " 46 yet so little attent ion was given to developing an advanced system of agricu ltural education in Slovakia. Part of the answer lies in the small size of so many of the land holdings, which would make further education superfluous. Prior to 1918, these two schools, existing on the level of junior colleges, had turned out offic ials and employees to manage the great estates of the Hungarian magnates. In fact, interest in attending the Czechoslovak school does not seem to have been overwhelming. For one thing , social attitudes worked against it. One stu dent remembered first enrollin g at a teacher training institute , then persuading hi s father that employment possibilities after graduat ion from the Farming School wou ld be much better. His mother and sister, however, were appalled by his withdrawal from the teacher training institute, and insisted he go back to it, which he did. 47 The R eferent for Agriculture, SLOVAKIA 69 Pavel Blaho, had to take special pains to insure that there were enough students at all in the first years. 48 The school in Kosice had particular trouble attracting Slovak students. In 1920/1 , only 7 of 23 first year students were Slovak . 49 In that same year, only 21 of 48 students at Banska Stiavnica had parents living in Slovakia. 50 There were more Czechs than Slovaks in the first forestry graduating class. 51 Further discouraging the establishment of more schools was the argument that Slovaks were eligible to attend similar institutions in the Czech lands. Because these schools were both '' one of a kind'' they drew students from all over Slovakia. For instance, Kosice, in 1929/3 0, had representatives from more than half the counties of Slovakia. 52 This made the provision of housing important. Initially, Kosice had a dormitory for 45 students. It was replaced in the 1923/2 4 school year by the Ministry of Agriculture with a building which housed 120. A temporary dormitory was established at Banska Stiavnica in 1920 within the school itself. 53 However , once the school had reached its full complement of four classes in the fall of 1922 , the need for classrooms forced the dormitory's closing. Between a half and two-thirds of the students received financial aid, the m ajority of which, after 1929 , came from the regional government in Bratislava. Prior to that time , the counties and districts frequently gave support. 54 State aid was channeled through the Ministry of Agriculture . 55 Financial aid on the average was about twice as large for the students in Kosice as in Banska Stiavnica . Total enrollment at the two schools remained constant between 160 and 200 students (see Tables 3 and 4) . Girls were eligible to attend the school in Kosice , but hardly any did . Between 90 and 95 percent of the enrollment consisted of Czech and Slovak students, with a sprinkling of Ruthenians (particularly in the more accessible Kosice), Germans, and Hungarians. The percentage of students who were Catholic initially was very high (88 percent), but by 1925 declined to a level of about 70 percent , at which it remained. The percentage of Lutherans , at first very low, rose to 15-20 percent by 1925. The fact that the Lutheran pe rcentage was slightly higher than in the population as a whole can be attributed largely to the fact that Banska Stiavnica was situated in a more strongly Protestant area. There also were regularly small numbers of Orthodox , Greek Catholic, and Jewish students. Students at both Banska Stiavnica and Kosice te nded to be well a bove the minimum age, with the largest number in the 19-20 year old 70 SLOVAKIA range. Those from agricultural families were in the majority at Kosice and usually in the minority at Banska Stiavnica. In addition, if from agricultural backgrounds those at Kosice were more likely to come from larger landholders. 56 HIGHER COOPERATIVE AG RI CULTURAL SCHOOL An additional specialized school, the Higher Cooperative Agricultural School, a private institution , was opened in Bratislava in the fall of 1936. The goal of the school's four-semester course was to provide ''professional theoretical and practical preparation or development in cooperative consciousness and education for capable cooperative officials and functionaries for Slovakia, as well as for friends of the cooperative idea. " 57 Prior to the opening of the Slovak school, the cooperative officials had been drawn from the graduates of the commercial academies and agricultural schools, as well as from officials of financial institutions . The Central Cooperative Council ran a similar school in Prague, but it was not able to accept all applicants from Slovakia. Stipends for students from Slovakia had been made available on the basis of reciprocity , i.e., service in Slovakia. The Bratislava branch of the Cooperative Council lacked funds as well as a building to start its own school. When the latter problem was solved, the former became available. 58 Three groups were eligible for admission. The majority were to have completed a high school education, with preference given to graduates of the higher agricultural school in Kosice and the commercial academies, as well as those who had cooperative experience. A second group was drawn from those who had completed with success at least the first four years of high school or middle school, and who had also successfully completed agricultural or business school and had at least two years of cooperative experience . This group required entrance exams. A third group, persons not citizens of Czechoslovakia, could be admitted in special cases. The total from the second and third groups was not to exceed 8 places in the class of 24 . 59 In the two years the school was in operation, about half of the 22 students were age 23 and older; they came from many different districts across Slovakia . From a religious standpoint, the Lutherans were over-represented (see Table 5), with 35 percent the first year and 45 percent the second year. The parents of about two-thirds of the students SLOVAKIA 71 had agricultural occupations. There is n o reference to the sex of the stude nts, although it can b e presumed that all were m en . 60 CONCLUSION It is un avoidable that some of the information presen ted in this article represents what might be called " microhistory ." In it are catalogued various beginnings and small changes . It is b ecause these changes have previously not been recorded in an organized fashion that certain processes of n ational d evelopment in twentieth-century Slovakia have not been properly understood. It is generally recognized that too few students in developing countries study mathematics or the scientific professions. 61 In many ways, Slovakia was an undeveloped country . Consideration mu st be given , however, to priorities in national form ation . Given the necessity of creating an intelligentsia within a national grouping, the most immediate and most important con cern is for an intelligentsia which will be visible to the public. Slovak-speaking lawye rs to ha ndle legal and administrative affairs, Slovak-speaking doctors to minister to the public, and Slovak-speaking teachers to teach Slovak culture were far m ore important a t the outset than the development of a technical intelligentsia for developin g a Slovak n ation al consciousn ess . Certainly the opportunities in the interwar republic to employ the skills gained in the vocational high schools were rather limited for a variety of reasons related to the formation of a n ew state-system in Eastern Europe . The lack of a n adequately trained agricultural , comme rcial, and industri al intelligentsia became painfully visible during the shortlived existence of the Slovak state ( 1939-1945). But , if it were not for the modest accompli shments in this field by the so-called bourgeois republic , the rapid growth begun in the Slovak state and continued in the renewed postwar Czechoslovak R epublic would n ot h ave been so dramatic . NOTES ' Th is peri od iza tion is outl in ed, a mong others, by Sta nl ey Z . Pech , " Ri ght, Left , and C entre in Eastern Europe 1869-1 940 : A cross-N ational Profile," C an adian journal of History , V ol. 16 , No. 2 ( 198 1), pp . 23 7-262. 72 SLOVAKIA ' For the cu rri culum of the commercial academy, see Vestnfk Ministerstva skolstvf a narodnf osvety (Msano), 13, No. 5 ( 15 May 1931), 18 1. 3 Vestnfk Msano , 6, No. 3 ( 15 M arch 1924), 100. Philosophical propedeutike consisted of a" . .. sy nthesis of knowledge from all subjects; acquaintance with the principal methods of philosophic solutions of problems. Thorough realization of the laws of intellec tual life and appreciation of th e major qu estions and tasks of philosophy. Survey of the intellec tual development of hum an ity." Vojtech Andie, "A Comparative Study of Education in Czechoslovakia for th e Periods of 1918 to 1938 and 1948 to 1953" (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation , New York University , 1954) , p . 128. • Ida Zubacka, "Prfspevok k dejinam strednych odbornych skol v Nitre v rokoch 1918- 1938," Zbornfk Pedagogick ej fakulty v Nitre, 2 1 (1973)-Spolocenske ved ydejepis-zemepis, p. 104. 1 " Strucny informacnf pi'ehled o skolstvf narodnfm , sti'ednfm a odbornem , " Vestnfk Msano , 6, No. 5 ( 15 May 1924), 273-4. 6 Antonin Bohac, "Padesat let ceskoslovenskeho skolstvf ," Pedagogika, 18, No. 5 ( 1968), 675. ' Vestnfk Msano, 7, No. 6 ( 15 Jun e 1925), 183-4. 8 Eduard Weis, "Zprava stat isti cka o skolstvf v Bratisl ave na pocatku sk. r . 1919/20 a srovnanf dat o skolach eleme ntarnfch s kon ce m sk. r. 1918/ 19, 16 December 191 9. Fond 7 Minister s plnou moci pre Slovensku (M/pm), Statny ustredny archfv Slovenskej socialistickej republiky (SUA SSR) Bra ti slava. • Yea rl y R eport, K osice Obchodna Akademia 1919/2 0-20/ 1, p. 6. ' 0 Vestnfk Msano , 6, No . 12 ( 15 D ece mber 1924), 592-3. '' J . Fuksa et al. , eds. , Almanach obchodnfho skolstvf ceskos/ovenske republiky 1918- 1928 (Prague : Statnf nakladatelst vf, 1938), p. 23 . " The i upan of Spis doubted hi s population 's " understanding for th e practical ed ucation of (its) youth ." His comments cited by M / pm as one of th e reasons to deny commercial academy to K ezmarok-M/ pm 14634/2 1 Adm . III of 20 October 192 1 in Spisska zupa 691/1921 in Statny archfv-Levoca. The principal in K osice had no doubts th at the population in that city did not value a commercial edu ca tion. Yearly R eport, 19 19/20-20/ 1, p . 36 . 13 Yearly R eport, Brat islava OA 1928/9, p. 15. 14 Bohac , "Padesat let, " p . 678. 11 Ibid ., p . 675. 16 Ibid. 11 Yea rl y R eport , Banska Bystri ca OA 1927 /8 , p. 7; 1928/9, p. 20; 193 1/ 2, p. 9; and 1932 /3, p. 11. " Sister M. Joan Cvercko , " Schools of Slova ki a: Histori cal Study of Secondary Technical-Vocational Education 1918-1 948" (Unpublished M .A. thesis, The Catholic University of America, 1972), p. 62. SLOVAKIA 19 ' 0 73 Fuksa, Almanach , pp . 125-4 7, describes in detail the various combinations of schools as th ey were in 1928. Zubacka, " Prfspevok," p. 105. " Literarny archiv Matice slovenskej (LAMS) 42 VIII 23, "Priemyselne a odborne skoly v r. 1919/ 1920, " p. 10. " Yearly Report, Bratislava Priemyselna skola 1919/20, p. 11. " H. J a nus , " Sedemdesiat' rokov priemyselnej skoly v Bratislave ," Jednotna skola, 26, No. 2 (February 1974), 181. " Yea rly Report , Bratislava Priemyselna skola 1919/ 20, p. 1. " Julius Bartak , Vyvin Jesnickeho skolstva na Slovensku v ramci hospodarskych pomerov (Bratislava: Lesnfcka a dreva rska ustredna, 1942), p. 303. ,. Yea rl y R eport , Banska Bystri ca Statna odborna skola 1936/7, p . 3. " Bohac , "Padesat let ," p. 675. According to " Strucny ," pp . 260-1 , no supplementary exam was required; a successful maturitant could study in th e technical or mining colleges in th e sam e field he had done his high school work ; according to Anton Benda , "Statn a cs!. priemyselna skola s mad'arskymi pobockami V Kosiciach, " in A .S. Zitavsky, Pamiitnik slovensk eho skolstva za ucinkovania Prezidenta T.G. Masaryk a (Bratislava: V yd avatel'stvo pamii.tnika Slovenskeho skolstva, (1936-7), V ol. I , p. 177 , "at leas t one" a year from his school went on for uni versity level study. " J a nus, "Sedemd esiat'," p. 182. Similar reasoning und erlay the creation of a post-gradu ate electrotechni cal course at Bra tisl ava in 1931/2, although the course seems only to have existed fo r a year. Yearl y R eport, Bratislava Priem yselna skola 1930/ 1, pp . 24-5 and 193 1/2, p. 25. " " Strucny," pp. 260-1. '° K om ensky, 46 , No. 24 (30 August 1919), 7. " LAMS 42 VIII 23 , " Priemyselne a odborne skoly v r. 1919/ 1920," p. 12. " Pohron ska zupa 3851/1925-SA-Banska Bys tri ca. " J. Smetana, "Statn a cs!. pri emyselna skola v Bratislave," in Zitavsky , Pamacnik , V ol. I , p. 163. " Brigita Simonova et. al. , Minulost', sucasnost', buducnost ': Jubilejny alman ach k 50. vyrociu sloven sk ej cechnick ej skoly v B anskej B ys trici (Banska Bystrica : Stredoslove nske vyd avatel'stvo , 1967) , pp. 34-5. " Ibid ., pp . I 04-7. " Edvard R eich , " V yvoj ze medelskeho skol stvf s hledi ska celostatniho, " in R eich & Vaclav Skoda , eds., Zem edelska osveta V R. C.S. (Prague: Ministerstvo skolstvi a narodni osvety, mini sterstvo ze m edelstvf a ze msky ufad , 1931), pp. 10- 12. " Th ere was so me va ri a nce: The tot al of ag ricultural schools fluctu ated between 13 and I 6 ( of whi ch I 0-12 were Czechoslovak). " r,udovft H am as, " V ychova pol'nohospodarov v rokoch neslobod y- 1938- 1945 na 74 SLOVAKIA Slovensku," Cykl. vytisk. KPU, Bratislava, as quoted in Zdenek Cernohorsky , Dejiny zemedelskeho skolstvi v Ceskoslovensku (Prague: SPN, 1980), pp. 5-1 . 39 ' 0 Jozef Babanek, Zemedel'ske skolstvo dl'a stavu roku 1927 (Bratislava: Slovenska knihtlaciaren, 1928), p. 30. Yearly Report, Kosice Vyssia hospodarska skola 1919-1929 and 1920/30, p. 5. " Eudovft Hamas, Z dejin pol'nohospodarskeho skolstva (Bratislava: SPN, 1967), p. 22 . " Ceskoslovenska statistika, Vol. 2, p . 11 • . 0 Bartik , V}'vin, p. 291. 44 Ibid., 290; and Ceskoslovenska Statistika, Vol. 2, p. ts• . " Babanek, Zemedel'ske, p. 60 . •• Vladislav Brdlik, "Agriculture," in Jozef Gruber, Czechoslovakia: A Survey of Economic and Social Conditions (New York: The Macmillan Co. , 1924), p. 28. " Vladimir Medek, "Krfdla do zivota," in Hudzovic , Sto rokov, p. 147. " See Yearly Report of Kosice Vyssia hospodarska skola 1919-1929 and 1929/30, p. 25. Perhaps the most seductive means was financial. In 1920/ 1, 26 students at Kosice received grants totalling 24,920 Kc . No other such school received more than eight grants . In the same year, 18 stipends and grants worth 15,900 Kc were awarded to Banska Stiavnica forestry students. The other three such schools in the Republic together had only 14 grants for 4900 Kc. Further evidence of Blaho ' s influence is that same year, nearly half of the students in Kosice were from his home country at the other end of Slovakia . The largest number of students at Banska Stiavnica were also from Nitra County. Ceskoslovenska statistika, Vol. 2, Tables V, VII. " Referent for Education to principals of all secondary schools in Slovakia, c. 30.927 / II of 8 June 1921-copy in Prievidza G, Spisy, Carton 1, Okresny archfv-Prievidza. '° Ceskoslovenska statistika, Vol. 2, Table IV. " Zelmfra Miillerova, "Lesnfcke knifoice na Slovensku , " Kniznicny zbornik , 1971, p. 182. The proportion of Slovaks increased only gradually . " Yearly Report, Kosice Vyssia hospodarska skola 1919-1929 and 1929/ 30 , pp. 74-6. " Students went on strike in December 1919 to force the establishment of the dormitory. Styridsat' rokov Lesnickej technickej skoly v Banskej Stiavnici 1919-1959 (Bratislava: Poverenfctvo Podohospodarstva, 1959), p. 15. " Archival records testify that the two schools actively solicited this aid . For example, see their letters to Podtatranska County. Podtatranska zupa c. 28405/ 1923, 33123/1924, and 4939/1925 Adm If-SA-Bytca. " Students were eligible for the coveted Pa.Iffy awards . These are described by Ivan Derer, "Spachala prvnf republika temei' genocidu Slovaku? " Literarni listy , I , No. 15 (6 June 1968), p. 4. 16 The place of agricultural education in Czechoslovak history is described extensivel y in Cernohorsky, Dejiny zemedelskeho . Most of his material is drawn from official sources . SLOVAKIA 75 " Yearly R eport, Bratislava Vyssia zemedelska skola druzstevna 1936/7, p . 27. 51 Fedor Houdek, "Zahajovacia re(: pri otvoreni Vyssej zemedelskej skoly druzstevnej v Bratislave 1. okt6bra 1936," in Yearly Report , Bratislava Vyssia zemedelska skola druzstevna 1936/7, pp . 11 -13. " Yearl y R eport , Bratislava Vyssia zemedelska skola druzstevna 1936/7, pp . 27-8. 60 See the school 's yearly reports 1936/7 & 1937/8. 61 W . Arthur Lewis , The University in Less-Developed Countries (New York: International Council for Educational D evelopment , 1974), p . 17 . 19 19/20 z E :, .n ......, 0 '- g "Cl ,,, 'i:..., 500 1000 Figure 1 - 1929/30 Commercial Academy Enrollment Yea r 1937 /8 Women students Total students t""' ► ...... ► ~ < 0 r:.n --.J 0-, SLOVAKIA T able 1 - 77 Com mercial Academies To tal Students 1919/20 1920/ 1 192 1/2 1922 /3 1923/4 1924/5 1925/6 1926/7 Rrati sl..n·a 146 I 74 150 134 133 so 93 103 124 63 33 134 105 I 19 17 132 18 112 103 151 78 130 Ran skil Rys1rica KuSin· T. S,·. !'vl anin 36 40 64 74 I 15 124 40 Nitra TrcnCin TOTAL u f wh ich womc- n Pcrccn1agc Stude n ts in sen ior dass o f which womc-n 222 31 13 .96 3 12 32 10 .26 0 0 Nationali1y Czcl·hos lu,·ak 346 367 21 6 .07 38 10 .35 24 40 343(93 . 5) Czec h Slova k German Jewi sh H ungarian Poli sh 17 74 392 68 17 .35 71 8 2 324(93.6) 370 SI 13 . 78 IO 7 375 58 15 .47 411 52 12 .65 88 9 372(61.69) 35(5 .80) 105(17 .41) 9( 1.49) 69( 11.44) 13(2 . 16) O th er Czec hoslov aks at H ungarian Schools Religion Roman Cathol ic Greek Cat holi c Czech Rn·thrcn Lu1 hcran Reform ed Onhodux Jewish Czec hosh),·ak Other Prott·s1an1 s Nunt· 208(60 . I ) 3 3 54(27 .69) 73(2 1. 1) 22( 11 .28) 35 I 119(61.03) 18 Parental Occupation Agrinilturt· lndu slry·ov,:n busim·ss Free Pruft: ss ions/ lnt elligcn sia S1att· Em plo yt·cs Comrnern· 'v\lorkcrs 97( 15 .23) Pl ace of Res idence Cum mut c Live with parent s or relatives in tuw n Li ve with guardians Birthplace City of School Other Slu,·akia 13(9 .49) 78(56 .93 ) Foreign Bcihemia '.\1orav ia/ Silcsia 4(2.92) 25( 18 .25) I 7( 12 .41 ) 94(30 . 13) 14(4 .49) 139(44 .55) 36( 11. 54 ) 29(9 .29) 384(58.45) 78 SLOVAKIA Table 1 - Commercial Academies 1927/8 1928/9 1929/30 1930/1 193 1/2 193 2/3 1933/4 1934/5 1935/6 1936/7 169 122 125 39 75 49 579 82 14 . 16 178 109 134 67 107 84 679 97 14 .29 188 122 133 94 125 118 780 121 15.51 202 132 133 119 125 155 866 137 15.8 1 228 147 136 124 127 150 912 160 17.54 22 1 150 140 123 136 154 924 177 19. 16 204 20 1 134 140 194 152 164 131 141 882 159 18 .03 909 163 17 .93 937 187 19.96 182 I 73 171 147 146 155 1024 224 21.88 193 31 185 27 185 36 214 32 205 32 190 35 867(92 .5) 23 32 193 7/8 221 205 973(95 .0) l061(76 .33) 10 1(7.27) 178( 12.81) 17 19( 1. 37) 28 4 8(0.58) 905(65.06) l04( 15.83) 7(1.07) 12(1.83) (includi ng Uniatc) I 10( 16 .74) 18(2 . 74) 18(2 . 74) 22(3 .35) 215( 15.46) 23( 1. 65) 16(1.15) 143( 10 .28) 53(3 .8 1) 36(2 .59) 111(17 .43 ) 16(2 .51) 204(32 .03) 145( 11.9 1) 6(0.49) 408(33 .53) 235( 19.31) 291(23 .91) 132(10.85) 180(28.26) 29(4.55) 604(52. 16) 264(22 .80) 290(25 .04) "' E ..:J " :i z ... 0 3 ......"' "" i:: 1920/ 1 400 600 Figure 2 - 1929/30 Industrial High School Enrollment Year 1937 /8 Women students Total students t"" IC -..J > < > :,,:: 0 Ul SLOVAKIA 80 Table 2 Total Students Brati slava- m ech. eng. -civil eng. Kos ice- m ech. eng. Ban ska Stiavnica-chemi cal Prefov-civil en g. TOTAL of which wome n• Student s in sen ior cl ass of whi ch wom en Nationality Czechoslovak Ru ss ian/ Ru th en ian/ U kra ini a n Hun ga ri a n G erm a n J ew ish Oth er Industrial High Schools 1919/20 1920/1 45 32 41 81 68 86 1921/2 1922/3 1923 /4 1924 / 5 1925/6 117 53 11 6 JO 118 235 3 296 2 52 131 79 136 27 128 88 130 52 126 105 144 79 11 2 120 138 82 373 2 398 454 11 55 0 452 75 I 211 3 270 2 4 16 4 18 Religion R oma n Ca tholic Greek Ca tholi c Czech Brethren Lutheran R eform ed Orthodox J ewish None • alm ost a ll women stu died a t Ba n skcl St iav ni ca 178 4 I 42 2 2 42 25 346 3 14 2 7 SLOVAKIA Table 2 - 81 Industrial High Schools 1926/7 1927/8 1928/9 1929/30 1930/1 1931/2 1932/3 1933/4 1934/5 1935/6 1936/7 ll7 104 138 88 117 114 l 29 110 120 117 133 106 121 113 136 123 129 126 150 134 447 7 470 12 476 24 493 32 539 35 11 2 7 123 l 26 157 130 26 562 29 11 2 12 137 116 155 128 60 596 21 138 6 142 93 151 131 98 144 135 99 147 108 595 19 134 4 599 5 139 3 600 16 166 6 Ill 132 88 133 118 93 583 567 3 552 4 5 4 82 SLOVAKIA Table 3 - Agricultural High Schools 1919/20 1920/1 1921/2 1922/3 1923/4 1924/5 1925/6 K o~ice- Agricultu ral School Banska StiavnicaForestry High School TOTAL of which women No. in senior class Nationality Czechoslovak Ru ssian/Ruthenian/U krainia n G erm an Hun garian J ewi sh Bul garian Unknown Other Religion Rom an Cathol ic Greek Catholic Czech Brethren Luthera n Reformed Orthodox J ew ish Czechoslovak Other None Fees Paid in Fall Fee W a iver Half Waiver 25 45 68 96 100 107 109 48 93 0 0 77 145 0 0 98 194 95 195 0 85 192 84 193 2 87 139 2 3 2 2 3 184 3 2 4 183 2 4 4 180 5 2 2 178 5 6 3 82 8 2 128 11 157 4 1 22 1 3 151 3 2 26 149 3 2 26 140 4 1 32 5 6 3 6 2 3 4 1 2 125 67 3 114 68 10 134 54 5 2 5 7 2 SLOV AKIA Table 3 - 83 Agricultural High Schools 1926/7 1927/8 1928/9 1929/30 1930/ 1 1931/2 1932/3 1933/4 1934/5 1935/6 1936/7 96 94 105 104 108 104 107 108 112 72 67 161 0 71 176 0 73 177 0 81 189 0 80 184 0 77 184 84 192 85 197 42 45 168 155 3 3 167 4 3 2 77 85 199 192 2 35 190 2 183 2 3 3 132 8 130 7 13 1 5 137 7 127 9 37 37 37 6 6 I 33 2 3 4 2 45 5 6 34 2 2 5 4 4 2 162 5 3 2 7 4 4 11 3 3 114 2 120 3 124 4 31 25 34 5 9 2 7 9 10 6 4 3 3 107 57 4 109 50 2 178 2 114 176 2 3 2 147 3 2 5 176 5 2 4 I 115 I 41 196 2 5 2 I 2 5 88 21 83 105 5 89 SLOVAKIA 84 Table 4 - Agricultural High Schools 1922/3 1921/2 K Socioeconomic Data BS K 1924/5 1923 / 4 BS K BS K BS Parental Occupation Owners u f land : JOO+ hc<:1arcs 20- 100 hcnan·s 5-20 hcnan:s k-ss than 5 h1.•1.·tarcs 8 22 15 18 3 16 3 19 12 18 14 II 12 13 7 46 Agriniltural or forc s,ry 1.· mplu y1.-c ur wor ke r offi c ia l Non-agricultural 25 14 15 31 II 36 14 16 49 9 41 14 50 52 Age - 16 17- 18 19-20 281 27 5' 2 1-22 6 81 3I 21 13 23 & abm-c 2 17 33 31 24 36 15 10 25 Scholarships S1atc-No. / V alm· Region al-Nu./Val uc 27/26,800 I 517,900 37/38,485 9/ 10,830 17 /8 ,900 9/ 4 ,629 Distri<·1- No ./ Va lu c Othcr-Nu ./ Va lu c (Values in KCs) 16/13 ,000 7/9,500 8/4,900 9/6, .1 00 29/ 39,800 18/17,400 Total Studcn1s rccei \' in g grant s No./Va lu c BS - Ban sk- a Stia\'nit·a K - K o~ in· - age 15 1 - ages 16- 18 54/ 54,215 27 / 18.829 9 33 38 12 8 65/ 41.81 0 27 29 16 18 23/15,900 8 33 40 17 9 7 1/ 37 ,600 24 29 20 10 34/15,580 85 SLOVAKIA Table 4 - 1926/7 1925 /6 K BS K II 12 26 II 14 20 13 8 4 II 45 14 46 4 32 16 35 19 19 13 34 28 17 4 4 36 48 17 4 Agricultural High Schools - Socioeconomic Data 1927/8 BS K 1936/7 193516 BS K BS K 12 6 9 18 25 15 13 9 10 26 40 6 8 22 34 II 7 9 36 4 19 9 9 32 I 37 20 24 14 6 8 33 30 22 22 4 25 31 10 19 44 23 6 8/3, 100 4 /2 , 500 25/12 ,350 9/3,000 6 6 6 2 23 20 23 4/3,000 21700 55/33, 150 2017,790 53/30.750 13/11,650 58/27,400 2/5,200 36/16,050 8/5,500 BS 30 17 7 47 30 39 I7 22 27 27 14 17 6/4,200 15/ 12,700 10/3,350 1/962 5/2,300 7/4,200 1/500 32121,212 13/7 ,000 86 SLOVAKIA Table 5 Higher Cooperative Agricultural School 1936/7 Total Students : 22 (all male); all graduated Nationality : 20 Czechoslovak, 2 Hungarian Age: I 17-18 , 5 19-20, 5 21-2, 5 23 & above Fees: 17 waived , 5 part waived Family O ccupations: 3 owners of 20-100 hectares, 10 owners of 5-20 hec tares, 2 agricultural or forest ry employees and workers , 7 non agricultural Scholarships: 3 from regional government totalling 4,000 Kc 16 others totalling 26,000 Kc  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 Modernization of Slovakia: The Role of Vocational High Schools, 1918-1938 Description An account of the resource Owen V. Johnson Slovakia, Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984 pp. 59-86 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 1984 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/8db2a792fb292ff3053ab1e8cca1b257.pdf e05652a9ced880bbf4115561a359e20f PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 87 Excerpt from In Due Season Paul Wilkes "Is ... is he home? Pan Vlasek?" '' No, no, in the field,'' Dusan replied impatiently, stuffing two huge loaves of bread into a sack . "Stara?" "Yes, yes. Matka moja, what you girls won't do ; you are the third one today.'' ''Oh,'' she breathed, as if by her late arrival she might already have lost out. "I won't stay long. I have a heap of washing to do. So high I can't even see over the top of it.' ' "They are good to you, those Magyars?" "Oh yes, Pan Vlasek. When they have roast, we have roast. And as many potatoes as you can eat." "So you are happy up there on the hill?" "For now." "And?" '' Someday I want to live again in the valley in my own house and raise children; eight, ten, maybe an even dozen . I do not want a fancy life. " "For such a family you need a strong back and a wealthy husband . " "Just one who works hard, Pan Vlasek. I already know the one. And I am strong, stronger than the other girls. I will make a good wife.'' "You children. So eager to grow up . If you only knew . Well, Kubo will be back soon and he should not find you here. He is not used to the ways of females . " Dusan put on his hat and tossed the bag to his shoulder. "By the way," he said, lowering his voice, "is it true what they do up there ; the drinking, the sins of the flesh , all that?" "My parents tell me little , but in the morning, cleaning up the great hall, there are signs, Pan Vlasek," she said, lowering her eyes in shame. �88 SLOVAKIA ''Terrible , awful,'' Dusan said, and passing through the d oor added , "and worse yet not be able to a fford it. Good lu ck, girl." The old woman was sitting on a b ench in the corner of the room, lost in the shadows beneath the holy pictures. A s the rosary bead s slipped throu gh her fingers , her wrinkled lips m oved quickly, giving off the sound of something sizzling, like w et wood add ed to a hot fire. Step b y step Zu zka Tavelcako va a pproach ed he r , lookin g for som e sign that the woman kn ew she was there. She h a d grown in the years she'd lived with he r family in the castle of Count Szepesy a nd was indeed n ot only stron ger but considerably larger than other girls of her age, which was fifteen . H er shoulders were broad , he r hands , already red and calloused from hours of scrubbing clothes a nd peeling vege ta bl es and h auling wood to the many fireplaces , were so able that even her older broth er s would call upon Zuzka when they needed to pull a balking cow into a stall or when the last sacks of fl our h ad to be stacked near the crossp iece of the hu ge sypanec. But , as much as God ha d blessed her with a n abundan ce of good h ealth a nd strength , H e had not bee n so gen erou s with he r appearance. H er forehead was too large, and a certain puffiness above her eyes m ade h er appear to be con sta ntly scowlin g. Although her mouth was full a nd well formed, her upper lip had a tendency to pu sh up the skin b eneath her nose, the force of which formed two d eep lines that curled ben eath her ch eeks . Zuzka Tavelcakova was a good-natured , ch eerful girl in her heart a nd in her actio n s, but her face did not represent her justly. " I have brought a forint, P ani Micekova," Zuzka said softly, bendin g at the knee in a quick curtsy before the old woman . The old woman ' s eyes did not open; her lip s moved more quickly, as if she would h ave to be furt her coaxed from her religious reverie. "Teta? " she said with greatest respect. " Y ou are the o nly one who can help .'' " Did yo u d o exactly as I told yo u ? " the old woman snapped, continuing w ith her rosary as she awaited the suppli can t's reply. " Oh, yes, everyth in g," Zuzka said excitedly. She began her reci ta tion, graspin g first he r sm allest fin ger, holdin g it tightly as she savored h er exact ness, her fervidness, as she un abash edly displayed her girl ish hope . "Last night, in the moonlight , the brightest moonlight - I waited - I picked zemezlce by the river. I picked a nd I picked until my zajda was filled. �SLOVAKIA 89 "A littl e is all tha t is n eed ed ." She dismissed h e r exuberance . " I didn ' t want to take chances; I didn ' t think it would hurt." '' Then ?'' She grasped the n ext finger . " Then I went to the fi eld of konope wi th the other girls and I rolled and rolled . Each of us put a stick with a different-colored ribbon in the ground so we would know wh ere we h ad been .'' She ra n her h ands over the front of her apron . '' The konope sta nd s straight ... well , almost straight , thi s m ornin g." " Better tha t it is n ot perfect; tha t would m ean you m a rry in a year. T oo youn g ." " And we all m ad e wreath s with branches of the willow , a nd when we threw them in the rive r , pani , mine was the first to reach th e great rock . The first!" '' So you will m a rry first , but n ot n ext year. '' She grasped h er fourth fin ge r , but h er h ands soon slid toge ther , locked in their own praye r. " I knelt befo re the Virgin a nd p romised that if she heard m y plea I would n ot let Kubo tou ch a n ythin g more tha n m y a rm until we we re m a n a nd wife. I vowed it, teta, under p ain of m ortal sin 1 " The old wom an ' s eyes fli ckered open , glistenin g in their d a rk sockets. Zu zka could not look into those eyes; sh e peered down , intentl y foll owin g a ha irline crack in the dirt floo r. " You mu st swear it again , Zu zka, swear tha t n o impure thou ghts will co m e into your mind. T h a t if Kubo so mu ch as tou ches you a bove here," she said , layin g h er gna rl ed h a nd on the opposite elbow , "you will sla p him as if he we re the d evil him self. '' " Oh , I do swear it! Unde r pa in of th e etern al fi res of hell 1" " You h ave th ose la r ge breas ts." The old wom a n n odded gravely towa rd Zu zka's blouse. " The boys will wa n t to touch them; even him ." " T eta, I have dedicated them to the Virgin ; they a re hers, n ot his," she said , takin g in h er breath a nd pullin g he r ves t ti ghtly against her body. " Oh , I a m so rry they h ave grown so." " I don ' t know wh y you want the b oy a nyh ow ," the old wom a n said . '' H e is neither b ig nor clever.'' " I am stron g," a n d Zu zka's vo ice becam e so ft e r , th at of a m other spea kin g to her in fa nt , "and h e is kind a nd ge ntl e, n ot like the other boys ." T he to ne aga in was firm. " And I can pu sh him , help him to be a m a n , sta nd up ." �90 SLOVAKIA The old woman's hands, the rosary still entwined in her fingers, disappeared beneath her threadbare shawl. Zuzka stood still, her heart pounding, her breath escaping from her mouth in a series of sharp, moist gasps. "Please, God, please . . . " she whispered. ''Through . . . the . .. Christ . . . bring . . . '' Zuzka leaned forward, straining to hear, but she could only understand a few words as they rasped forth from deep in the old woman's throat. '' . . . drawn to . . . let his . . . Holy Ghost, Amen.'' Zuzka took a step forward, the forint in hand. "From the drippings at Our Lady's altar. The most blessed wax at Our Lady's feet, ' ' the old woman said with a certain pride of craftsmanship . But when she saw the hand stretched out to her with the coin, her own hand snapped shut. "So, little foolish girl, you think you can buy this? Pay the bosorka and laugh to your friends about the old fool? You have your nerve!'' "No, no, teta," Zuzka pleaded. "I know that. Look. I place the coin here, on the bench. I do not give it to you. No, nothing this sacred can be bought.'' "Leave no doubt about it." The hand opened again. Squarely in the middle of the old woman's palm lay the figure of a man, no bigger than a thumball, fashioned from pale yellow beeswax. When Kubo returned from the fields he found the house empty, the ashes in the fireplace cool. He splashed water on his face, neck , and arms and dressed hurriedly, silently cursing the hundreds of tiny shoots that had virtually sprung up overnight among the potato plants. His father had drummed into his head the old saying, ''Cut the weed today and spare the plant tomorrow , " and Kubo, whose main task at this time of the year was weeding, sometimes had to be prodded to maintain his vigilance against the tiny green enemies that sapped the nourishment of the crops . But not on that day, for Kubo wanted to impress upon his father how responsible, how serious he was about work. Although his family left early Kubo remained behind and made sure that the field was clean, the soil broken with his hoe to receive whatever rain might fall. Kubo shoved his blouse into the clean white woolen britches with the thick black embroidery and reached up to the shelf above the bed �SLOVAKIA 91 to take down his ciapka. He looked at the foolish little brimless pillbox , the two silken ribbons that trailed behind . A boy' s cap. A child's. As he plopped it on the back of his head, the dismal thought came to his mind that it could still be on his head when St. John 's Day came next year. By the time Kubo arrived, out of breath from his run , the pasture to the north of the village was already filled with people, and the Feast of St. John 's had begun. The cows, Gizela among them, grazed peacefully in the afternoon light, with wreaths of daisies over their horns, which Anna and the girls her age had made. The older, unmarried girls had woven a long chain of daisies and took turns flinging it up into the tall oak . It was an important ritual, for the number of branches the chain covered would be the years each maiden would have to wait for marriage . Up to a certain age, young girls threw the chain of daisies with all their might, but the older maidens, like Justina Marusakova, now twenty-three, whose half-closed eyes and stuttering, dull speech had failed to attract a spouse, aimed for a single low branch and prayed that the superstition bore truth . Everyone got a turn , even Zuzka's oldest sister , Dorota, who was past forty but whose brain had remained that of a child's. As Kubo walked by the group of girls, Zuzka eagerly took the chain of daisies in her large hands and puffed out the chest she had sworn hours before would not be violated. But marriage and carnal thoughts were the farthest things from his mind , and he did not look as the daisies and her prayers fluttered toward heaven . He went directly to the huge , square stack of neatly cut logs and bent his head back to take in the dozens of small fir trees that had been placed on top. As the sun set on this, the longest day of the year, the day of Jana, the pagan god who was Christianized into the good St. John , the dry wood would burst into flame and the yearly pageant would be performed. At its end, Kubo well knew, a brave few, who up to this night had been called boys and treated as such, would henceforth walk the village streets as men. Kubo gulped and stooped down, stretching the muscles of his legs . Off to the side of the huge stack the V adasz brothers and other boys just a year or two younger than Kubo were playing a game he had played many times himself. And even with some of them . One boy would bend down and another would leap upon him like a frog , and be carried for �92 SLOVAKIA as long a di stance as youn g legs could hold up . Still other boys were imitating the cows grazin g, complete with mooin g sounds . The young C ernetsky boy had borrowed the d a isy wreath from their cow , Sargula , and the other boys cla pped with glee at the silly sigh t. " Kubo, come , com e , " they called to him , but Kubo acted as if he could not hear them. H e threw his shoulders back, strainin g his bod y to be as tall as he possibly could , and walked to a spot near the tables of food and drink where his fa ther was sta ndin g, hi s pipe in ha nd , talkin g to som e men . '' This is m y Kubo ,'' Du san said to a short m an wh o wore a long ostrich feather in his hat, " the best weed puller south of the High T atras. M eet P an Bozek and hi s boy P avel, " he said, m otionin g to a boy a bout Kubo's age . On th e boy's head was a ha t and feather similar to his father 's, a nd he nodded withou t say in g a word. It was another humilia tin g reminder. " W e were ju st talking a bout the first m arket in Bard ejov," Du san said. '' P an Bozek is a great landowner in M ala M aca and plans to sell mu ch . " " N o, no, not a great landowner ," P an Bozek said . " Ju st a simple peasant like yourself, blessed with a few m eters of God's precious earth , who works hi s fool head off. '' '' For yourself, a nd if a neighbor need s a hand ... '' ' ' ... well , thi s is our way, it is nothing to b rag .. . '' ' ' .. . D o you hear of su ch things from those who have gone to A m erika? Answe r m e tha t one.' ' Du san j abbed at the space in fron t of P an Bozek 's nose. " They all work for them selves, neve r help a friend to ha rvest or give a loaf of b read to one who need s it. You , Pan Bozek , are a fine exam pie to put in the face of all those vypasen f A m ericania. T ake notice of this m an , Kubo.'' " L ast year we took three wagonload s of wheat and l'an to Bardej ov and sold everything," Pavel said , putting his hands on his hips. " Our horse d anced all the way hom e.'' " Ju st forin ts and crowns to bring hom e," Du san said . "A ligh t load ." " W ell . .. " P a n Bozek said , tryin g to a ppear modest. " I have neve r seen you at the m arket," Pavel said to Kubo . " M y boy is not yet ready," Dusan said before Kubo could answer. " There is no hurry. Som e d ay . . . Now , som e p alenka, m y fri end , and �SLOVAKIA 93 some of the fine kolace from the village o f Zbudza. You boys run off a nd play. '' A s the sun linge red capri ciou sly in the sky, P avel a nd Kubo w alked a mon g the revelers , drank the sweet berry juices and a te hu ge hunks of the la mb tha t Banfk had brought only to h ave so m e villagers refuse to to uch it , calling it a "guilt offering." Whe n the two boys came close to the group of young girls who had started to d a n ce with each othe r , Eta Min arovicova and Julia Vadaszova looked toward Kubo , but he knew it was for a n introdu ction to the h a ndsom e stra nge r a nd not for him self. R egardless, Kubo was more inte res ted in P avel's stories of the market a t Bardejov, of the hu ge wheels of cheese that the shepherds m ad e, of the m agnifice nt church th a t could hold all the people from five la rge vill ages. Pavel did n ot do it in the boastful fashion of Fra nko Hruscak , who made boys just a year o r two younger than him self feel like mere b a bies because they had never been to Bardejov and he had . P avel talked quietly , directly, but almost reli giou sly about the la nd t hat hi s fa mil y owned in M ala Maca, a nd how som ed ay, as the eldest son , it would be hi s. " And I will h ave more each year ," he said with suren ess in hi s voice. "There is no thing I love more than work. " H e add ed with a smile, " And a little slivovica n ow and then when m y fa the r doesn't fini sh hi s gla ss. All these p eople going to Amerika! Hah , m y father is right , yours too . Wh at cou ld be a b etter life than we have?" As Kubo tried not to loo k envious, P avel went on to tell him that he was coming hom e late r a nd la ter a t ni ght , and so m et imes his parents were a lready in bed , so he slept in the barn . Kubo had slept in the barn o fte n o n hot summ er ni ghts , but th e idea of slee pin g there a fter spe ndin g a ni ght in the foothills, sm okin g cigarettes with hi s friends, or after makin g wolf call s a t a girl' s window, was a forbidden pleasure so swee t he co uld not believe it would ever ha ppen . " Who ' s that?" P a vel motioned . " The little o ne? M y sister, Anna. Why? " " I' ve n eve r seen ha ir like he rs ; stra n ge color. " '' Baby h a ir , just a streak . '' " H ow old is she a n yhow ?" P avel said , hi s eyes n o t leav ing Anna until she disappeared into the crowd that h ad gathered a round the stack of wood. '' Almost eleve n .'' �94 SLOVAKIA "Skinny legs." ''I guess. She's a dreamer.'' '' AAAHHHH ! '' The sound echoed over the meadow to the tall junipers, sending a flock of bluejays into the purple night air. "AAAHHHH!" It rumbled down the slope to where the river Laborec wound its way through the thickets ofreeds. "AAAHHHH!" the chorus of voices breathed as the flames licked at the neatly stacked logs and suddenly burst skyward in a mammoth orange ball as the sap-filled branches, the needles and cones of the fur trees caught fire . Kubo's throat went dry. Pavel put his arm over the shoulder of the boy he'd met just a short time before. "Not yet . It will die down. There is time to be a man." Other boys, some Kubo's age, like Franko Hruscak andjozefKralik also stood around the fire, carefully eyeing the flames and casting sidelong glances to see if anyone was ready to try . Cyril Gasparovic was also there, a frail boy already three years older than Kubo, who had never danced or jumped over the fire and whose mother was known to be making a novena to the Blessed Lady . The firs burned off quickly, leaving shimmering red skeletons, but flames from the logs were still at least as high as the top of his head as Kubo walked a slow circle around the fire, eyeing it with the intensity and dread of a baca faced with a hungry wolf. It was a delicate issue, one, down through the centuries that the tradition had been practiced, that required the judgment only a mature man would have . There was a point, just one point, when the flames receded enough to be traversed but when a boy could be seriously burned or, as the story was told of the arrogant richtar 's son many years ago, killed . There would always be one person who knew that point, took the chance, and the others who followed would go through life remembering his bravery and bemoaning their lack of it. It was sometimes better to wait until the next St. John ' s Day rather than risk the humiliation of being one of the last, the least brave . For as the fire died down , even the tiny boys of the village would jump over the embers in childish practice for the day some years away when they would risk painful burns to gain their manhood. The gypsy band struck up the first tunes, and it was mostly the older people, singing and clapping their hands, who began to flatten the thick grass with their dancing feet . The rest of the people from Zbud- �SLOVAKIA 95 za, those with young sons and those from Mala Maca and V el'ka Maca who had made a pilgrimage for the feast days stayed close to that fire, talking among themselves, waiting, but making no reference to the drama that was building moment by moment. Kubo had made a complete circle, and finally he stood before his father, his arms at his sides, like a soldier in ranks. "Otec," he said, using the formal address, "will you please hold my ciapka?" Dusan looked over his son's shoulder to the leaping yellow and red flames of the fire. He squinted so that he could see it better. Then he extended his hand without saying a word, either of encouragement or caution, and took the hat from his son, placing it under his arm. One by one, the people moved to the side, clearing a path. Except for a low, haunting gypsy love song and the crackling of dry wood, the meadow was quiet, and nothing stood between Kubo Vlasek and the state he so desired, nothing but the fire that had purged and proven men of Zbudza for countless generations. His heart pounding, his mouth full of cotton, Kubo made the sign of the cross. His first steps were almost his undoing as his krpce slipped on grass, moist from spilled beer. But then he lengthened his stride and by the time he had reached the edge of the crowd, he was running as fast as he could. Logs tumbled together at the fire's core and a huge tongue of flame leaped out, but it was too late . Kubo 's krpce had left the ground. "AAAHHHH," the sound - a cheer, a moan - rose up from the lips of men and women and children as a form, black against the bright flames, seemed to hang in the air. The gypsy band stopped in mid-song . "AAAHHHH ! " Women crossed themselves and men's lips tightened . The mouths of small children gaped open . "AAAAAAHHHHHH !" The fire crackled angrily, spitting hot sparks into the cool night air. Dusan fingered the ciapka beneath his arm, then grasped it firmly . His son stood before him, eyebrows vanished from his pink face, his hair a mass of tiny burnt and frizzy curls, one leg of his while trousers browned , like the top of a loaf of bread. Dusan could smell the hair , the cloth, the flesh that had passed through the St. John's fire . He extended the ciapka to his son , looking at it , turning it in his hand . "Perhaps a bit too small, Kubo . I think in Bardejov they might �96 SLOVAKIA have some bigge r ones ; more like . . " Whateve r words follow ed were lost in the deafening accolade rendered to J a kub Vlasek . After hi s awesome display of b ravery, Kubo could seemingl y d o nothing wrong as the sun set and the evenin g of dancin g began in earnest. His krpce kicked hi gh in the a ir but la nd ed with a feather's li ghtness so close to the fl asks of vino a nd borovicka th a t gasps were heard from the young girls who stood in a group eyeing the b oys who would somed ay be th eir hu sbands . Even Eta Min arovicova a nd Julia Vad aszova, b y far the pretti es t a nd most choosy girls in Zbudza on feas t days in th e pas t acted as if Kubo Vl ase k had some co n tagious disease, co uld n ot kee p their eyes off him . Their hands behind th eir backs, th eir hips swayin g ge ntly to the musi c, they waited, as did all their girl fri ends, for the m ost impor tant d a nce in the li fe of eve ry b oy who jumped ove r the fire on St. J ohn 's D ay. The gy psies kn ew it. Their gold tee th fl ashin g beneath bl ack mu staches, they would tease with th e first ba rs of a popula r tun e . But the n they would break into a nothe r so n g th at onl y the boys cou ld dan ce to, a nd display their prowess st ill more, d elay in g th e mom ent when the eager young girls and the proud young boys would have a dance together. The b a nd stru ck up a d a nce don e entirely on one foot. Boys shoved and j ostl ed, feinted a nd du cked , a nd th e less agil e we re se n t sprawling into th e grass . And , a t the da n ce's e nd , the re was ju st one who h ad not resorted to u sin g hi s oth er foot , who had not bee n kn ocked ove r. Kubo Vl asek twirl ed a round on the b all of hi s foot, with a n agilit y eve n his fath er had to applaud. Th e gypse husle pl aye r kept Kubo dan cin g , in creas in g the beat , but Ku bo, lost in the ecstasy of th e m agic ni ght , would not lose hi s bal a nce. Hi s mind was already in Ba rdej ov, hi s head already cove red in a fin e n ew hat. H e could feel the jin gle of co ins in hi s pocket , straw und er hi s b ack in th e b a rn. Th e bea t cha n ged so su b tl y that Kubo was not even awa re o f it. H e kept twirlin g a nd twirlin g. It was alread y pitch d a rk , but logs had bee n h eaped on th e fire, a nd as Kubo 's eyes, fogged with pe rspiration , took in the blur of faces standin g aro und the dan cin g a rea, fl ashes of color sta rted swirlin g a bout him , in th e opposite d irection . Lik e great red a nd yell ow and gree n eels sw immin g in a shall ow strea m , the o rnate p arta stream in g dow n from th e braided heads of th e un married �SLOVAKIA 97 girls shimmered in the fire's light , each offerin g the ni ght 's h ero th e m a iden of his choosin g. All the rituals h e h ad prepared for , jumping over the fire, the o n elegged dan ce, but Kubo Vlasek had not , up to that very moment, decided whi ch girl would have the h onor of hi s first dan ce as a man . H e twirled faster a nd became dizzie r in hi s deliciou s mom ent of triumph , in his hour of indecision . The parta flutte red by, the tip s flickering a t his nose. The gypsy band picked up the beat. Faster and faster. His a rm reached out to the fl ashing colors. And it was soundly m et. " Oh , thank you , I would be m ost honored ." The vill agers applauded still louder while Kubo 's frie nds hooted a nd whistled . And Zu zka Tavelcakova, her great eyebrows arched over a huge smile, her free arm s swin ging in wild exultation , her huge breasts threatening release from the rest of h er body, d a n ced about the circle. She held on to Kubo tightly a nd , as they n eared the fire, reached into her apron pocket a nd withdrew a clenched fist , with which she bl essed herself. Then th e h a nd fl ew o pe n - and a small obj ect disappeared into th e flam es. Around, around h e twirled Zuzka until finally the gypsy playing the cymbal ran th e soft felt hammers from the low notes to the high, signaling the n ext dan ce would begin . But , befor e they could launch into it , several pa irs of ha nds reached out to Kubo , and sudde nl y he was be ing ho isted into th e a ir. ' ']eden! " " D va! 1 " " Tri 11 ! " And with th e third toss the loud est chee r - fu eled b y boro vicka and bee r and tradition - rippl ed across the m eadow and down to the ri ver whe re a fl ock of tin y doves bolted from the reed s a nd fl ew towa rd th e d a rkne ss of th e hu ge junipe rs . '' Y AAA Y AA AAA Y AAAAAAAAA 1 ' ' " And now th e new m a n bu ys th e nex t bottle of pa.lenka," Mlad en shouted at Kubo, whose wet, sin ged ha ir was bein g tou sled by hi s young fri e nd s, whose ha nd s were be in g pressed with ha nd sh akes . One ha ndsh a ke was stronge r , lo n ger than the others, a nd as Kubo blink ed through the sweat a nd ash in hi s eyes, he co uld see th at it was hi s fat he r who stood befo re him. Whe n at least he was released , Kubo had a k orun ak in hi s ha nd . �98 SLOVAKIA " You a re a m an , m y son , a nd you will from thi s day be pa id wages," Du san said, talkin g slowing so as not to slur hi s words. " You will inherit the land , you will care for this fam ily ... but now, first things first. Buy the palenka!" The fire died down and was fed with fresh logs. Boys sneaked off with girls and nuzzled in the darkness. The gypsy band played and drank and played still more . The old woman , Micekova, nodded without sayin g a word when Zuzka's mother said that her d au ghter a nd the young Vlasek boy made a fine couple. The young teacher danced with some of the v ill age women, but only when they asked him . And a small boy, whose emerald eyes glistened when the flame s rose, stood a top the hill in the shadow of the giant lindens , his thumb s locked in hi s belt. When it came time to return home, Kubo eventually found his father lyin g on the ground , a n empty bottle in his ha nd, his head propped against the thick exposed roots of an oak tree, hi s eyes barely visible through sm all slits. H e motioned for hi s son to sit b y him . " I have only a year , perhaps two in this vale of tears, " Dusan began, we ighing each word somberly and pattin g hi s so n on the knee. "You mu st rem ain stron g, my so n , my only son , and believe in what is right and decent , what has bee n ha nded down from generation to generation. " His eyes fli ckered open wider. " Father , why this talk? You a re healthy; you will live to be one hundred ." " Place your hand on my heart." '' Father ?'' " Your ha nd ." Kubo did as he was told. Dusan pressed the boy's hand onto the fa ncy embroidery of hi s shirt , now soaked with sweat and borovicka, stain ed wi th berry wines and grease from the lamb, tainted as it was. '' R epeat afte r me . . . " I .. . Ku bo Vlasek ... vow on m y father's heart ... on the day I became a man ... to love this land . . . never to turn from it ... To listen to God and not the foo lish tal es of the world outs ide ... To care for children and a nimals ... because each co m es from God ever to strike my woman without good reason ... To kee p this sac red pledge ... as pledged on my father's heart ... that the cursed word 'Amerika ' wi ll never ... never . . . be heard in the house ... �SLOVAKIA 99 our esteem ed Milos Vlasek built . .. with his bare hands ... years and years ago.'' Dusan ' s voice became lower and lower as if he were ready to cry. " Do you promise all this my son, unde r pain of mortal sin, eternal damnation and the fires of hell ?" "I do, Father ," Kubo said evenly, " I promise this before God ." "Good ." Dusan slumped back onto the roots . " Now, fetch the wagon. Your father is too tired to be walking this night." �� SLOVAKIA 87 Excerpt from In Due Season Paul Wilkes "Is ... is he home? Pan Vlasek?" '' No, no, in the field,'' Dusan replied impatiently, stuffing two huge loaves of bread into a sack . "Stara?" "Yes, yes. Matka moja, what you girls won't do ; you are the third one today.'' ''Oh,'' she breathed, as if by her late arrival she might already have lost out. "I won't stay long. I have a heap of washing to do. So high I can't even see over the top of it.' ' "They are good to you, those Magyars?" "Oh yes, Pan Vlasek. When they have roast, we have roast. And as many potatoes as you can eat." "So you are happy up there on the hill?" "For now." "And?" '' Someday I want to live again in the valley in my own house and raise children; eight, ten, maybe an even dozen . I do not want a fancy life. " "For such a family you need a strong back and a wealthy husband . " "Just one who works hard, Pan Vlasek. I already know the one. And I am strong, stronger than the other girls. I will make a good wife.'' "You children. So eager to grow up . If you only knew . Well, Kubo will be back soon and he should not find you here. He is not used to the ways of females . " Dusan put on his hat and tossed the bag to his shoulder. "By the way," he said, lowering his voice, "is it true what they do up there ; the drinking, the sins of the flesh , all that?" "My parents tell me little , but in the morning, cleaning up the great hall, there are signs, Pan Vlasek," she said, lowering her eyes in shame. �88 SLOVAKIA ''Terrible , awful,'' Dusan said, and passing through the d oor added , "and worse yet not be able to a fford it. Good lu ck, girl." The old woman was sitting on a b ench in the corner of the room, lost in the shadows beneath the holy pictures. A s the rosary bead s slipped throu gh her fingers , her wrinkled lips m oved quickly, giving off the sound of something sizzling, like w et wood add ed to a hot fire. Step b y step Zu zka Tavelcako va a pproach ed he r , lookin g for som e sign that the woman kn ew she was there. She h a d grown in the years she'd lived with he r family in the castle of Count Szepesy a nd was indeed n ot only stron ger but considerably larger than other girls of her age, which was fifteen . H er shoulders were broad , he r hands , already red and calloused from hours of scrubbing clothes a nd peeling vege ta bl es and h auling wood to the many fireplaces , were so able that even her older broth er s would call upon Zuzka when they needed to pull a balking cow into a stall or when the last sacks of fl our h ad to be stacked near the crossp iece of the hu ge sypanec. But , as much as God ha d blessed her with a n abundan ce of good h ealth a nd strength , H e had not bee n so gen erou s with he r appearance. H er forehead was too large, and a certain puffiness above her eyes m ade h er appear to be con sta ntly scowlin g. Although her mouth was full a nd well formed, her upper lip had a tendency to pu sh up the skin b eneath her nose, the force of which formed two d eep lines that curled ben eath her ch eeks . Zuzka Tavelcakova was a good-natured , ch eerful girl in her heart a nd in her actio n s, but her face did not represent her justly. " I have brought a forint, P ani Micekova," Zuzka said softly, bendin g at the knee in a quick curtsy before the old woman . The old woman ' s eyes did not open; her lip s moved more quickly, as if she would h ave to be furt her coaxed from her religious reverie. "Teta? " she said with greatest respect. " Y ou are the o nly one who can help .'' " Did yo u d o exactly as I told yo u ? " the old woman snapped, continuing w ith her rosary as she awaited the suppli can t's reply. " Oh, yes, everyth in g," Zuzka said excitedly. She began her reci ta tion, graspin g first he r sm allest fin ger, holdin g it tightly as she savored h er exact ness, her fervidness, as she un abash edly displayed her girl ish hope . "Last night, in the moonlight , the brightest moonlight - I waited - I picked zemezlce by the river. I picked a nd I picked until my zajda was filled. �SLOVAKIA 89 "A littl e is all tha t is n eed ed ." She dismissed h e r exuberance . " I didn ' t want to take chances; I didn ' t think it would hurt." '' Then ?'' She grasped the n ext finger . " Then I went to the fi eld of konope wi th the other girls and I rolled and rolled . Each of us put a stick with a different-colored ribbon in the ground so we would know wh ere we h ad been .'' She ra n her h ands over the front of her apron . '' The konope sta nd s straight ... well , almost straight , thi s m ornin g." " Better tha t it is n ot perfect; tha t would m ean you m a rry in a year. T oo youn g ." " And we all m ad e wreath s with branches of the willow , a nd when we threw them in the rive r , pani , mine was the first to reach th e great rock . The first!" '' So you will m a rry first , but n ot n ext year. '' She grasped h er fourth fin ge r , but h er h ands soon slid toge ther , locked in their own praye r. " I knelt befo re the Virgin a nd p romised that if she heard m y plea I would n ot let Kubo tou ch a n ythin g more tha n m y a rm until we we re m a n a nd wife. I vowed it, teta, under p ain of m ortal sin 1 " The old wom an ' s eyes fli ckered open , glistenin g in their d a rk sockets. Zu zka could not look into those eyes; sh e peered down , intentl y foll owin g a ha irline crack in the dirt floo r. " You mu st swear it again , Zu zka, swear tha t n o impure thou ghts will co m e into your mind. T h a t if Kubo so mu ch as tou ches you a bove here," she said , layin g h er gna rl ed h a nd on the opposite elbow , "you will sla p him as if he we re the d evil him self. '' " Oh , I do swear it! Unde r pa in of th e etern al fi res of hell 1" " You h ave th ose la r ge breas ts." The old wom a n n odded gravely towa rd Zu zka's blouse. " The boys will wa n t to touch them; even him ." " T eta, I have dedicated them to the Virgin ; they a re hers, n ot his," she said , takin g in h er breath a nd pullin g he r ves t ti ghtly against her body. " Oh , I a m so rry they h ave grown so." " I don ' t know wh y you want the b oy a nyh ow ," the old wom a n said . '' H e is neither b ig nor clever.'' " I am stron g," a n d Zu zka's vo ice becam e so ft e r , th at of a m other spea kin g to her in fa nt , "and h e is kind a nd ge ntl e, n ot like the other boys ." T he to ne aga in was firm. " And I can pu sh him , help him to be a m a n , sta nd up ." �90 SLOVAKIA The old woman's hands, the rosary still entwined in her fingers, disappeared beneath her threadbare shawl. Zuzka stood still, her heart pounding, her breath escaping from her mouth in a series of sharp, moist gasps. "Please, God, please . . . " she whispered. ''Through . . . the . .. Christ . . . bring . . . '' Zuzka leaned forward, straining to hear, but she could only understand a few words as they rasped forth from deep in the old woman's throat. '' . . . drawn to . . . let his . . . Holy Ghost, Amen.'' Zuzka took a step forward, the forint in hand. "From the drippings at Our Lady's altar. The most blessed wax at Our Lady's feet, ' ' the old woman said with a certain pride of craftsmanship . But when she saw the hand stretched out to her with the coin, her own hand snapped shut. "So, little foolish girl, you think you can buy this? Pay the bosorka and laugh to your friends about the old fool? You have your nerve!'' "No, no, teta," Zuzka pleaded. "I know that. Look. I place the coin here, on the bench. I do not give it to you. No, nothing this sacred can be bought.'' "Leave no doubt about it." The hand opened again. Squarely in the middle of the old woman's palm lay the figure of a man, no bigger than a thumball, fashioned from pale yellow beeswax. When Kubo returned from the fields he found the house empty, the ashes in the fireplace cool. He splashed water on his face, neck , and arms and dressed hurriedly, silently cursing the hundreds of tiny shoots that had virtually sprung up overnight among the potato plants. His father had drummed into his head the old saying, ''Cut the weed today and spare the plant tomorrow , " and Kubo, whose main task at this time of the year was weeding, sometimes had to be prodded to maintain his vigilance against the tiny green enemies that sapped the nourishment of the crops . But not on that day, for Kubo wanted to impress upon his father how responsible, how serious he was about work. Although his family left early Kubo remained behind and made sure that the field was clean, the soil broken with his hoe to receive whatever rain might fall. Kubo shoved his blouse into the clean white woolen britches with the thick black embroidery and reached up to the shelf above the bed �SLOVAKIA 91 to take down his ciapka. He looked at the foolish little brimless pillbox , the two silken ribbons that trailed behind . A boy' s cap. A child's. As he plopped it on the back of his head, the dismal thought came to his mind that it could still be on his head when St. John 's Day came next year. By the time Kubo arrived, out of breath from his run , the pasture to the north of the village was already filled with people, and the Feast of St. John 's had begun. The cows, Gizela among them, grazed peacefully in the afternoon light, with wreaths of daisies over their horns, which Anna and the girls her age had made. The older, unmarried girls had woven a long chain of daisies and took turns flinging it up into the tall oak . It was an important ritual, for the number of branches the chain covered would be the years each maiden would have to wait for marriage . Up to a certain age, young girls threw the chain of daisies with all their might, but the older maidens, like Justina Marusakova, now twenty-three, whose half-closed eyes and stuttering, dull speech had failed to attract a spouse, aimed for a single low branch and prayed that the superstition bore truth . Everyone got a turn , even Zuzka's oldest sister , Dorota, who was past forty but whose brain had remained that of a child's. As Kubo walked by the group of girls, Zuzka eagerly took the chain of daisies in her large hands and puffed out the chest she had sworn hours before would not be violated. But marriage and carnal thoughts were the farthest things from his mind , and he did not look as the daisies and her prayers fluttered toward heaven . He went directly to the huge , square stack of neatly cut logs and bent his head back to take in the dozens of small fir trees that had been placed on top. As the sun set on this, the longest day of the year, the day of Jana, the pagan god who was Christianized into the good St. John , the dry wood would burst into flame and the yearly pageant would be performed. At its end, Kubo well knew, a brave few, who up to this night had been called boys and treated as such, would henceforth walk the village streets as men. Kubo gulped and stooped down, stretching the muscles of his legs . Off to the side of the huge stack the V adasz brothers and other boys just a year or two younger than Kubo were playing a game he had played many times himself. And even with some of them . One boy would bend down and another would leap upon him like a frog , and be carried for �92 SLOVAKIA as long a di stance as youn g legs could hold up . Still other boys were imitating the cows grazin g, complete with mooin g sounds . The young C ernetsky boy had borrowed the d a isy wreath from their cow , Sargula , and the other boys cla pped with glee at the silly sigh t. " Kubo, come , com e , " they called to him , but Kubo acted as if he could not hear them. H e threw his shoulders back, strainin g his bod y to be as tall as he possibly could , and walked to a spot near the tables of food and drink where his fa ther was sta ndin g, hi s pipe in ha nd , talkin g to som e men . '' This is m y Kubo ,'' Du san said to a short m an wh o wore a long ostrich feather in his hat, " the best weed puller south of the High T atras. M eet P an Bozek and hi s boy P avel, " he said, m otionin g to a boy a bout Kubo's age . On th e boy's head was a ha t and feather similar to his father 's, a nd he nodded withou t say in g a word. It was another humilia tin g reminder. " W e were ju st talking a bout the first m arket in Bard ejov," Du san said. '' P an Bozek is a great landowner in M ala M aca and plans to sell mu ch . " " N o, no, not a great landowner ," P an Bozek said . " Ju st a simple peasant like yourself, blessed with a few m eters of God's precious earth , who works hi s fool head off. '' '' For yourself, a nd if a neighbor need s a hand ... '' ' ' ... well , thi s is our way, it is nothing to b rag .. . '' ' ' .. . D o you hear of su ch things from those who have gone to A m erika? Answe r m e tha t one.' ' Du san j abbed at the space in fron t of P an Bozek 's nose. " They all work for them selves, neve r help a friend to ha rvest or give a loaf of b read to one who need s it. You , Pan Bozek , are a fine exam pie to put in the face of all those vypasen f A m ericania. T ake notice of this m an , Kubo.'' " L ast year we took three wagonload s of wheat and l'an to Bardej ov and sold everything," Pavel said , putting his hands on his hips. " Our horse d anced all the way hom e.'' " Ju st forin ts and crowns to bring hom e," Du san said . "A ligh t load ." " W ell . .. " P a n Bozek said , tryin g to a ppear modest. " I have neve r seen you at the m arket," Pavel said to Kubo . " M y boy is not yet ready," Dusan said before Kubo could answer. " There is no hurry. Som e d ay . . . Now , som e p alenka, m y fri end , and �SLOVAKIA 93 some of the fine kolace from the village o f Zbudza. You boys run off a nd play. '' A s the sun linge red capri ciou sly in the sky, P avel a nd Kubo w alked a mon g the revelers , drank the sweet berry juices and a te hu ge hunks of the la mb tha t Banfk had brought only to h ave so m e villagers refuse to to uch it , calling it a "guilt offering." Whe n the two boys came close to the group of young girls who had started to d a n ce with each othe r , Eta Min arovicova and Julia Vadaszova looked toward Kubo , but he knew it was for a n introdu ction to the h a ndsom e stra nge r a nd not for him self. R egardless, Kubo was more inte res ted in P avel's stories of the market a t Bardejov, of the hu ge wheels of cheese that the shepherds m ad e, of the m agnifice nt church th a t could hold all the people from five la rge vill ages. Pavel did n ot do it in the boastful fashion of Fra nko Hruscak , who made boys just a year o r two younger than him self feel like mere b a bies because they had never been to Bardejov and he had . P avel talked quietly , directly, but almost reli giou sly about the la nd t hat hi s fa mil y owned in M ala Maca, a nd how som ed ay, as the eldest son , it would be hi s. " And I will h ave more each year ," he said with suren ess in hi s voice. "There is no thing I love more than work. " H e add ed with a smile, " And a little slivovica n ow and then when m y fa the r doesn't fini sh hi s gla ss. All these p eople going to Amerika! Hah , m y father is right , yours too . Wh at cou ld be a b etter life than we have?" As Kubo tried not to loo k envious, P avel went on to tell him that he was coming hom e late r a nd la ter a t ni ght , and so m et imes his parents were a lready in bed , so he slept in the barn . Kubo had slept in the barn o fte n o n hot summ er ni ghts , but th e idea of slee pin g there a fter spe ndin g a ni ght in the foothills, sm okin g cigarettes with hi s friends, or after makin g wolf call s a t a girl' s window, was a forbidden pleasure so swee t he co uld not believe it would ever ha ppen . " Who ' s that?" P a vel motioned . " The little o ne? M y sister, Anna. Why? " " I' ve n eve r seen ha ir like he rs ; stra n ge color. " '' Baby h a ir , just a streak . '' " H ow old is she a n yhow ?" P avel said , hi s eyes n o t leav ing Anna until she disappeared into the crowd that h ad gathered a round the stack of wood. '' Almost eleve n .'' �94 SLOVAKIA "Skinny legs." ''I guess. She's a dreamer.'' '' AAAHHHH ! '' The sound echoed over the meadow to the tall junipers, sending a flock of bluejays into the purple night air. "AAAHHHH!" It rumbled down the slope to where the river Laborec wound its way through the thickets ofreeds. "AAAHHHH!" the chorus of voices breathed as the flames licked at the neatly stacked logs and suddenly burst skyward in a mammoth orange ball as the sap-filled branches, the needles and cones of the fur trees caught fire . Kubo's throat went dry. Pavel put his arm over the shoulder of the boy he'd met just a short time before. "Not yet . It will die down. There is time to be a man." Other boys, some Kubo's age, like Franko Hruscak andjozefKralik also stood around the fire, carefully eyeing the flames and casting sidelong glances to see if anyone was ready to try . Cyril Gasparovic was also there, a frail boy already three years older than Kubo, who had never danced or jumped over the fire and whose mother was known to be making a novena to the Blessed Lady . The firs burned off quickly, leaving shimmering red skeletons, but flames from the logs were still at least as high as the top of his head as Kubo walked a slow circle around the fire, eyeing it with the intensity and dread of a baca faced with a hungry wolf. It was a delicate issue, one, down through the centuries that the tradition had been practiced, that required the judgment only a mature man would have . There was a point, just one point, when the flames receded enough to be traversed but when a boy could be seriously burned or, as the story was told of the arrogant richtar 's son many years ago, killed . There would always be one person who knew that point, took the chance, and the others who followed would go through life remembering his bravery and bemoaning their lack of it. It was sometimes better to wait until the next St. John ' s Day rather than risk the humiliation of being one of the last, the least brave . For as the fire died down , even the tiny boys of the village would jump over the embers in childish practice for the day some years away when they would risk painful burns to gain their manhood. The gypsy band struck up the first tunes, and it was mostly the older people, singing and clapping their hands, who began to flatten the thick grass with their dancing feet . The rest of the people from Zbud- �SLOVAKIA 95 za, those with young sons and those from Mala Maca and V el'ka Maca who had made a pilgrimage for the feast days stayed close to that fire, talking among themselves, waiting, but making no reference to the drama that was building moment by moment. Kubo had made a complete circle, and finally he stood before his father, his arms at his sides, like a soldier in ranks. "Otec," he said, using the formal address, "will you please hold my ciapka?" Dusan looked over his son's shoulder to the leaping yellow and red flames of the fire. He squinted so that he could see it better. Then he extended his hand without saying a word, either of encouragement or caution, and took the hat from his son, placing it under his arm. One by one, the people moved to the side, clearing a path. Except for a low, haunting gypsy love song and the crackling of dry wood, the meadow was quiet, and nothing stood between Kubo Vlasek and the state he so desired, nothing but the fire that had purged and proven men of Zbudza for countless generations. His heart pounding, his mouth full of cotton, Kubo made the sign of the cross. His first steps were almost his undoing as his krpce slipped on grass, moist from spilled beer. But then he lengthened his stride and by the time he had reached the edge of the crowd, he was running as fast as he could. Logs tumbled together at the fire's core and a huge tongue of flame leaped out, but it was too late . Kubo 's krpce had left the ground. "AAAHHHH," the sound - a cheer, a moan - rose up from the lips of men and women and children as a form, black against the bright flames, seemed to hang in the air. The gypsy band stopped in mid-song . "AAAHHHH ! " Women crossed themselves and men's lips tightened . The mouths of small children gaped open . "AAAAAAHHHHHH !" The fire crackled angrily, spitting hot sparks into the cool night air. Dusan fingered the ciapka beneath his arm, then grasped it firmly . His son stood before him, eyebrows vanished from his pink face, his hair a mass of tiny burnt and frizzy curls, one leg of his while trousers browned , like the top of a loaf of bread. Dusan could smell the hair , the cloth, the flesh that had passed through the St. John's fire . He extended the ciapka to his son , looking at it , turning it in his hand . "Perhaps a bit too small, Kubo . I think in Bardejov they might �96 SLOVAKIA have some bigge r ones ; more like . . " Whateve r words follow ed were lost in the deafening accolade rendered to J a kub Vlasek . After hi s awesome display of b ravery, Kubo could seemingl y d o nothing wrong as the sun set and the evenin g of dancin g began in earnest. His krpce kicked hi gh in the a ir but la nd ed with a feather's li ghtness so close to the fl asks of vino a nd borovicka th a t gasps were heard from the young girls who stood in a group eyeing the b oys who would somed ay be th eir hu sbands . Even Eta Min arovicova a nd Julia Vad aszova, b y far the pretti es t a nd most choosy girls in Zbudza on feas t days in th e pas t acted as if Kubo Vl ase k had some co n tagious disease, co uld n ot kee p their eyes off him . Their hands behind th eir backs, th eir hips swayin g ge ntly to the musi c, they waited, as did all their girl fri ends, for the m ost impor tant d a nce in the li fe of eve ry b oy who jumped ove r the fire on St. J ohn 's D ay. The gy psies kn ew it. Their gold tee th fl ashin g beneath bl ack mu staches, they would tease with th e first ba rs of a popula r tun e . But the n they would break into a nothe r so n g th at onl y the boys cou ld dan ce to, a nd display their prowess st ill more, d elay in g th e mom ent when the eager young girls and the proud young boys would have a dance together. The b a nd stru ck up a d a nce don e entirely on one foot. Boys shoved and j ostl ed, feinted a nd du cked , a nd th e less agil e we re se n t sprawling into th e grass . And , a t the da n ce's e nd , the re was ju st one who h ad not resorted to u sin g hi s oth er foot , who had not bee n kn ocked ove r. Kubo Vl asek twirl ed a round on the b all of hi s foot, with a n agilit y eve n his fath er had to applaud. Th e gypse husle pl aye r kept Kubo dan cin g , in creas in g the beat , but Ku bo, lost in the ecstasy of th e m agic ni ght , would not lose hi s bal a nce. Hi s mind was already in Ba rdej ov, hi s head already cove red in a fin e n ew hat. H e could feel the jin gle of co ins in hi s pocket , straw und er hi s b ack in th e b a rn. Th e bea t cha n ged so su b tl y that Kubo was not even awa re o f it. H e kept twirlin g a nd twirlin g. It was alread y pitch d a rk , but logs had bee n h eaped on th e fire, a nd as Kubo 's eyes, fogged with pe rspiration , took in the blur of faces standin g aro und the dan cin g a rea, fl ashes of color sta rted swirlin g a bout him , in th e opposite d irection . Lik e great red a nd yell ow and gree n eels sw immin g in a shall ow strea m , the o rnate p arta stream in g dow n from th e braided heads of th e un married �SLOVAKIA 97 girls shimmered in the fire's light , each offerin g the ni ght 's h ero th e m a iden of his choosin g. All the rituals h e h ad prepared for , jumping over the fire, the o n elegged dan ce, but Kubo Vlasek had not , up to that very moment, decided whi ch girl would have the h onor of hi s first dan ce as a man . H e twirled faster a nd became dizzie r in hi s deliciou s mom ent of triumph , in his hour of indecision . The parta flutte red by, the tip s flickering a t his nose. The gypsy band picked up the beat. Faster and faster. His a rm reached out to the fl ashing colors. And it was soundly m et. " Oh , thank you , I would be m ost honored ." The vill agers applauded still louder while Kubo 's frie nds hooted a nd whistled . And Zu zka Tavelcakova, her great eyebrows arched over a huge smile, her free arm s swin ging in wild exultation , her huge breasts threatening release from the rest of h er body, d a n ced about the circle. She held on to Kubo tightly a nd , as they n eared the fire, reached into her apron pocket a nd withdrew a clenched fist , with which she bl essed herself. Then th e h a nd fl ew o pe n - and a small obj ect disappeared into th e flam es. Around, around h e twirled Zuzka until finally the gypsy playing the cymbal ran th e soft felt hammers from the low notes to the high, signaling the n ext dan ce would begin . But , befor e they could launch into it , several pa irs of ha nds reached out to Kubo , and sudde nl y he was be ing ho isted into th e a ir. ' ']eden! " " D va! 1 " " Tri 11 ! " And with th e third toss the loud est chee r - fu eled b y boro vicka and bee r and tradition - rippl ed across the m eadow and down to the ri ver whe re a fl ock of tin y doves bolted from the reed s a nd fl ew towa rd th e d a rkne ss of th e hu ge junipe rs . '' Y AAA Y AA AAA Y AAAAAAAAA 1 ' ' " And now th e new m a n bu ys th e nex t bottle of pa.lenka," Mlad en shouted at Kubo, whose wet, sin ged ha ir was bein g tou sled by hi s young fri e nd s, whose ha nd s were be in g pressed with ha nd sh akes . One ha ndsh a ke was stronge r , lo n ger than the others, a nd as Kubo blink ed through the sweat a nd ash in hi s eyes, he co uld see th at it was hi s fat he r who stood befo re him. Whe n at least he was released , Kubo had a k orun ak in hi s ha nd . �98 SLOVAKIA " You a re a m an , m y son , a nd you will from thi s day be pa id wages," Du san said, talkin g slowing so as not to slur hi s words. " You will inherit the land , you will care for this fam ily ... but now, first things first. Buy the palenka!" The fire died down and was fed with fresh logs. Boys sneaked off with girls and nuzzled in the darkness. The gypsy band played and drank and played still more . The old woman , Micekova, nodded without sayin g a word when Zuzka's mother said that her d au ghter a nd the young Vlasek boy made a fine couple. The young teacher danced with some of the v ill age women, but only when they asked him . And a small boy, whose emerald eyes glistened when the flame s rose, stood a top the hill in the shadow of the giant lindens , his thumb s locked in hi s belt. When it came time to return home, Kubo eventually found his father lyin g on the ground , a n empty bottle in his ha nd, his head propped against the thick exposed roots of an oak tree, hi s eyes barely visible through sm all slits. H e motioned for hi s son to sit b y him . " I have only a year , perhaps two in this vale of tears, " Dusan began, we ighing each word somberly and pattin g hi s so n on the knee. "You mu st rem ain stron g, my so n , my only son , and believe in what is right and decent , what has bee n ha nded down from generation to generation. " His eyes fli ckered open wider. " Father , why this talk? You a re healthy; you will live to be one hundred ." " Place your hand on my heart." '' Father ?'' " Your ha nd ." Kubo did as he was told. Dusan pressed the boy's hand onto the fa ncy embroidery of hi s shirt , now soaked with sweat and borovicka, stain ed wi th berry wines and grease from the lamb, tainted as it was. '' R epeat afte r me . . . " I .. . Ku bo Vlasek ... vow on m y father's heart ... on the day I became a man ... to love this land . . . never to turn from it ... To listen to God and not the foo lish tal es of the world outs ide ... To care for children and a nimals ... because each co m es from God ever to strike my woman without good reason ... To kee p this sac red pledge ... as pledged on my father's heart ... that the cursed word 'Amerika ' wi ll never ... never . . . be heard in the house ... �SLOVAKIA 99 our esteem ed Milos Vlasek built . .. with his bare hands ... years and years ago.'' Dusan ' s voice became lower and lower as if he were ready to cry. " Do you promise all this my son, unde r pain of mortal sin, eternal damnation and the fires of hell ?" "I do, Father ," Kubo said evenly, " I promise this before God ." "Good ." Dusan slumped back onto the roots . " Now, fetch the wagon. Your father is too tired to be walking this night." �� 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 1984, Vol. 31 Description An account of the resource Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984. 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 1984 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 87 Excerpt from In Due Season Paul Wilkes "Is ... is he home? Pan Vlasek?" '' No, no, in the field,'' Dusan replied impatiently, stuffing two huge loaves of bread into a sack . "Stara?" "Yes, yes. Matka moja, what you girls won't do ; you are the third one today.'' ''Oh,'' she breathed, as if by her late arrival she might already have lost out. "I won't stay long. I have a heap of washing to do. So high I can't even see over the top of it.' ' "They are good to you, those Magyars?" "Oh yes, Pan Vlasek. When they have roast, we have roast. And as many potatoes as you can eat." "So you are happy up there on the hill?" "For now." "And?" '' Someday I want to live again in the valley in my own house and raise children; eight, ten, maybe an even dozen . I do not want a fancy life. " "For such a family you need a strong back and a wealthy husband . " "Just one who works hard, Pan Vlasek. I already know the one. And I am strong, stronger than the other girls. I will make a good wife.'' "You children. So eager to grow up . If you only knew . Well, Kubo will be back soon and he should not find you here. He is not used to the ways of females . " Dusan put on his hat and tossed the bag to his shoulder. "By the way," he said, lowering his voice, "is it true what they do up there ; the drinking, the sins of the flesh , all that?" "My parents tell me little , but in the morning, cleaning up the great hall, there are signs, Pan Vlasek," she said, lowering her eyes in shame. 88 SLOVAKIA ''Terrible , awful,'' Dusan said, and passing through the d oor added , "and worse yet not be able to a fford it. Good lu ck, girl." The old woman was sitting on a b ench in the corner of the room, lost in the shadows beneath the holy pictures. A s the rosary bead s slipped throu gh her fingers , her wrinkled lips m oved quickly, giving off the sound of something sizzling, like w et wood add ed to a hot fire. Step b y step Zu zka Tavelcako va a pproach ed he r , lookin g for som e sign that the woman kn ew she was there. She h a d grown in the years she'd lived with he r family in the castle of Count Szepesy a nd was indeed n ot only stron ger but considerably larger than other girls of her age, which was fifteen . H er shoulders were broad , he r hands , already red and calloused from hours of scrubbing clothes a nd peeling vege ta bl es and h auling wood to the many fireplaces , were so able that even her older broth er s would call upon Zuzka when they needed to pull a balking cow into a stall or when the last sacks of fl our h ad to be stacked near the crossp iece of the hu ge sypanec. But , as much as God ha d blessed her with a n abundan ce of good h ealth a nd strength , H e had not bee n so gen erou s with he r appearance. H er forehead was too large, and a certain puffiness above her eyes m ade h er appear to be con sta ntly scowlin g. Although her mouth was full a nd well formed, her upper lip had a tendency to pu sh up the skin b eneath her nose, the force of which formed two d eep lines that curled ben eath her ch eeks . Zuzka Tavelcakova was a good-natured , ch eerful girl in her heart a nd in her actio n s, but her face did not represent her justly. " I have brought a forint, P ani Micekova," Zuzka said softly, bendin g at the knee in a quick curtsy before the old woman . The old woman ' s eyes did not open; her lip s moved more quickly, as if she would h ave to be furt her coaxed from her religious reverie. "Teta? " she said with greatest respect. " Y ou are the o nly one who can help .'' " Did yo u d o exactly as I told yo u ? " the old woman snapped, continuing w ith her rosary as she awaited the suppli can t's reply. " Oh, yes, everyth in g," Zuzka said excitedly. She began her reci ta tion, graspin g first he r sm allest fin ger, holdin g it tightly as she savored h er exact ness, her fervidness, as she un abash edly displayed her girl ish hope . "Last night, in the moonlight , the brightest moonlight - I waited - I picked zemezlce by the river. I picked a nd I picked until my zajda was filled. SLOVAKIA 89 "A littl e is all tha t is n eed ed ." She dismissed h e r exuberance . " I didn ' t want to take chances; I didn ' t think it would hurt." '' Then ?'' She grasped the n ext finger . " Then I went to the fi eld of konope wi th the other girls and I rolled and rolled . Each of us put a stick with a different-colored ribbon in the ground so we would know wh ere we h ad been .'' She ra n her h ands over the front of her apron . '' The konope sta nd s straight ... well , almost straight , thi s m ornin g." " Better tha t it is n ot perfect; tha t would m ean you m a rry in a year. T oo youn g ." " And we all m ad e wreath s with branches of the willow , a nd when we threw them in the rive r , pani , mine was the first to reach th e great rock . The first!" '' So you will m a rry first , but n ot n ext year. '' She grasped h er fourth fin ge r , but h er h ands soon slid toge ther , locked in their own praye r. " I knelt befo re the Virgin a nd p romised that if she heard m y plea I would n ot let Kubo tou ch a n ythin g more tha n m y a rm until we we re m a n a nd wife. I vowed it, teta, under p ain of m ortal sin 1 " The old wom an ' s eyes fli ckered open , glistenin g in their d a rk sockets. Zu zka could not look into those eyes; sh e peered down , intentl y foll owin g a ha irline crack in the dirt floo r. " You mu st swear it again , Zu zka, swear tha t n o impure thou ghts will co m e into your mind. T h a t if Kubo so mu ch as tou ches you a bove here," she said , layin g h er gna rl ed h a nd on the opposite elbow , "you will sla p him as if he we re the d evil him self. '' " Oh , I do swear it! Unde r pa in of th e etern al fi res of hell 1" " You h ave th ose la r ge breas ts." The old wom a n n odded gravely towa rd Zu zka's blouse. " The boys will wa n t to touch them; even him ." " T eta, I have dedicated them to the Virgin ; they a re hers, n ot his," she said , takin g in h er breath a nd pullin g he r ves t ti ghtly against her body. " Oh , I a m so rry they h ave grown so." " I don ' t know wh y you want the b oy a nyh ow ," the old wom a n said . '' H e is neither b ig nor clever.'' " I am stron g," a n d Zu zka's vo ice becam e so ft e r , th at of a m other spea kin g to her in fa nt , "and h e is kind a nd ge ntl e, n ot like the other boys ." T he to ne aga in was firm. " And I can pu sh him , help him to be a m a n , sta nd up ." 90 SLOVAKIA The old woman's hands, the rosary still entwined in her fingers, disappeared beneath her threadbare shawl. Zuzka stood still, her heart pounding, her breath escaping from her mouth in a series of sharp, moist gasps. "Please, God, please . . . " she whispered. ''Through . . . the . .. Christ . . . bring . . . '' Zuzka leaned forward, straining to hear, but she could only understand a few words as they rasped forth from deep in the old woman's throat. '' . . . drawn to . . . let his . . . Holy Ghost, Amen.'' Zuzka took a step forward, the forint in hand. "From the drippings at Our Lady's altar. The most blessed wax at Our Lady's feet, ' ' the old woman said with a certain pride of craftsmanship . But when she saw the hand stretched out to her with the coin, her own hand snapped shut. "So, little foolish girl, you think you can buy this? Pay the bosorka and laugh to your friends about the old fool? You have your nerve!'' "No, no, teta," Zuzka pleaded. "I know that. Look. I place the coin here, on the bench. I do not give it to you. No, nothing this sacred can be bought.'' "Leave no doubt about it." The hand opened again. Squarely in the middle of the old woman's palm lay the figure of a man, no bigger than a thumball, fashioned from pale yellow beeswax. When Kubo returned from the fields he found the house empty, the ashes in the fireplace cool. He splashed water on his face, neck , and arms and dressed hurriedly, silently cursing the hundreds of tiny shoots that had virtually sprung up overnight among the potato plants. His father had drummed into his head the old saying, ''Cut the weed today and spare the plant tomorrow , " and Kubo, whose main task at this time of the year was weeding, sometimes had to be prodded to maintain his vigilance against the tiny green enemies that sapped the nourishment of the crops . But not on that day, for Kubo wanted to impress upon his father how responsible, how serious he was about work. Although his family left early Kubo remained behind and made sure that the field was clean, the soil broken with his hoe to receive whatever rain might fall. Kubo shoved his blouse into the clean white woolen britches with the thick black embroidery and reached up to the shelf above the bed SLOVAKIA 91 to take down his ciapka. He looked at the foolish little brimless pillbox , the two silken ribbons that trailed behind . A boy' s cap. A child's. As he plopped it on the back of his head, the dismal thought came to his mind that it could still be on his head when St. John 's Day came next year. By the time Kubo arrived, out of breath from his run , the pasture to the north of the village was already filled with people, and the Feast of St. John 's had begun. The cows, Gizela among them, grazed peacefully in the afternoon light, with wreaths of daisies over their horns, which Anna and the girls her age had made. The older, unmarried girls had woven a long chain of daisies and took turns flinging it up into the tall oak . It was an important ritual, for the number of branches the chain covered would be the years each maiden would have to wait for marriage . Up to a certain age, young girls threw the chain of daisies with all their might, but the older maidens, like Justina Marusakova, now twenty-three, whose half-closed eyes and stuttering, dull speech had failed to attract a spouse, aimed for a single low branch and prayed that the superstition bore truth . Everyone got a turn , even Zuzka's oldest sister , Dorota, who was past forty but whose brain had remained that of a child's. As Kubo walked by the group of girls, Zuzka eagerly took the chain of daisies in her large hands and puffed out the chest she had sworn hours before would not be violated. But marriage and carnal thoughts were the farthest things from his mind , and he did not look as the daisies and her prayers fluttered toward heaven . He went directly to the huge , square stack of neatly cut logs and bent his head back to take in the dozens of small fir trees that had been placed on top. As the sun set on this, the longest day of the year, the day of Jana, the pagan god who was Christianized into the good St. John , the dry wood would burst into flame and the yearly pageant would be performed. At its end, Kubo well knew, a brave few, who up to this night had been called boys and treated as such, would henceforth walk the village streets as men. Kubo gulped and stooped down, stretching the muscles of his legs . Off to the side of the huge stack the V adasz brothers and other boys just a year or two younger than Kubo were playing a game he had played many times himself. And even with some of them . One boy would bend down and another would leap upon him like a frog , and be carried for 92 SLOVAKIA as long a di stance as youn g legs could hold up . Still other boys were imitating the cows grazin g, complete with mooin g sounds . The young C ernetsky boy had borrowed the d a isy wreath from their cow , Sargula , and the other boys cla pped with glee at the silly sigh t. " Kubo, come , com e , " they called to him , but Kubo acted as if he could not hear them. H e threw his shoulders back, strainin g his bod y to be as tall as he possibly could , and walked to a spot near the tables of food and drink where his fa ther was sta ndin g, hi s pipe in ha nd , talkin g to som e men . '' This is m y Kubo ,'' Du san said to a short m an wh o wore a long ostrich feather in his hat, " the best weed puller south of the High T atras. M eet P an Bozek and hi s boy P avel, " he said, m otionin g to a boy a bout Kubo's age . On th e boy's head was a ha t and feather similar to his father 's, a nd he nodded withou t say in g a word. It was another humilia tin g reminder. " W e were ju st talking a bout the first m arket in Bard ejov," Du san said. '' P an Bozek is a great landowner in M ala M aca and plans to sell mu ch . " " N o, no, not a great landowner ," P an Bozek said . " Ju st a simple peasant like yourself, blessed with a few m eters of God's precious earth , who works hi s fool head off. '' '' For yourself, a nd if a neighbor need s a hand ... '' ' ' ... well , thi s is our way, it is nothing to b rag .. . '' ' ' .. . D o you hear of su ch things from those who have gone to A m erika? Answe r m e tha t one.' ' Du san j abbed at the space in fron t of P an Bozek 's nose. " They all work for them selves, neve r help a friend to ha rvest or give a loaf of b read to one who need s it. You , Pan Bozek , are a fine exam pie to put in the face of all those vypasen f A m ericania. T ake notice of this m an , Kubo.'' " L ast year we took three wagonload s of wheat and l'an to Bardej ov and sold everything," Pavel said , putting his hands on his hips. " Our horse d anced all the way hom e.'' " Ju st forin ts and crowns to bring hom e," Du san said . "A ligh t load ." " W ell . .. " P a n Bozek said , tryin g to a ppear modest. " I have neve r seen you at the m arket," Pavel said to Kubo . " M y boy is not yet ready," Dusan said before Kubo could answer. " There is no hurry. Som e d ay . . . Now , som e p alenka, m y fri end , and SLOVAKIA 93 some of the fine kolace from the village o f Zbudza. You boys run off a nd play. '' A s the sun linge red capri ciou sly in the sky, P avel a nd Kubo w alked a mon g the revelers , drank the sweet berry juices and a te hu ge hunks of the la mb tha t Banfk had brought only to h ave so m e villagers refuse to to uch it , calling it a "guilt offering." Whe n the two boys came close to the group of young girls who had started to d a n ce with each othe r , Eta Min arovicova and Julia Vadaszova looked toward Kubo , but he knew it was for a n introdu ction to the h a ndsom e stra nge r a nd not for him self. R egardless, Kubo was more inte res ted in P avel's stories of the market a t Bardejov, of the hu ge wheels of cheese that the shepherds m ad e, of the m agnifice nt church th a t could hold all the people from five la rge vill ages. Pavel did n ot do it in the boastful fashion of Fra nko Hruscak , who made boys just a year o r two younger than him self feel like mere b a bies because they had never been to Bardejov and he had . P avel talked quietly , directly, but almost reli giou sly about the la nd t hat hi s fa mil y owned in M ala Maca, a nd how som ed ay, as the eldest son , it would be hi s. " And I will h ave more each year ," he said with suren ess in hi s voice. "There is no thing I love more than work. " H e add ed with a smile, " And a little slivovica n ow and then when m y fa the r doesn't fini sh hi s gla ss. All these p eople going to Amerika! Hah , m y father is right , yours too . Wh at cou ld be a b etter life than we have?" As Kubo tried not to loo k envious, P avel went on to tell him that he was coming hom e late r a nd la ter a t ni ght , and so m et imes his parents were a lready in bed , so he slept in the barn . Kubo had slept in the barn o fte n o n hot summ er ni ghts , but th e idea of slee pin g there a fter spe ndin g a ni ght in the foothills, sm okin g cigarettes with hi s friends, or after makin g wolf call s a t a girl' s window, was a forbidden pleasure so swee t he co uld not believe it would ever ha ppen . " Who ' s that?" P a vel motioned . " The little o ne? M y sister, Anna. Why? " " I' ve n eve r seen ha ir like he rs ; stra n ge color. " '' Baby h a ir , just a streak . '' " H ow old is she a n yhow ?" P avel said , hi s eyes n o t leav ing Anna until she disappeared into the crowd that h ad gathered a round the stack of wood. '' Almost eleve n .'' 94 SLOVAKIA "Skinny legs." ''I guess. She's a dreamer.'' '' AAAHHHH ! '' The sound echoed over the meadow to the tall junipers, sending a flock of bluejays into the purple night air. "AAAHHHH!" It rumbled down the slope to where the river Laborec wound its way through the thickets ofreeds. "AAAHHHH!" the chorus of voices breathed as the flames licked at the neatly stacked logs and suddenly burst skyward in a mammoth orange ball as the sap-filled branches, the needles and cones of the fur trees caught fire . Kubo's throat went dry. Pavel put his arm over the shoulder of the boy he'd met just a short time before. "Not yet . It will die down. There is time to be a man." Other boys, some Kubo's age, like Franko Hruscak andjozefKralik also stood around the fire, carefully eyeing the flames and casting sidelong glances to see if anyone was ready to try . Cyril Gasparovic was also there, a frail boy already three years older than Kubo, who had never danced or jumped over the fire and whose mother was known to be making a novena to the Blessed Lady . The firs burned off quickly, leaving shimmering red skeletons, but flames from the logs were still at least as high as the top of his head as Kubo walked a slow circle around the fire, eyeing it with the intensity and dread of a baca faced with a hungry wolf. It was a delicate issue, one, down through the centuries that the tradition had been practiced, that required the judgment only a mature man would have . There was a point, just one point, when the flames receded enough to be traversed but when a boy could be seriously burned or, as the story was told of the arrogant richtar 's son many years ago, killed . There would always be one person who knew that point, took the chance, and the others who followed would go through life remembering his bravery and bemoaning their lack of it. It was sometimes better to wait until the next St. John ' s Day rather than risk the humiliation of being one of the last, the least brave . For as the fire died down , even the tiny boys of the village would jump over the embers in childish practice for the day some years away when they would risk painful burns to gain their manhood. The gypsy band struck up the first tunes, and it was mostly the older people, singing and clapping their hands, who began to flatten the thick grass with their dancing feet . The rest of the people from Zbud- SLOVAKIA 95 za, those with young sons and those from Mala Maca and V el'ka Maca who had made a pilgrimage for the feast days stayed close to that fire, talking among themselves, waiting, but making no reference to the drama that was building moment by moment. Kubo had made a complete circle, and finally he stood before his father, his arms at his sides, like a soldier in ranks. "Otec," he said, using the formal address, "will you please hold my ciapka?" Dusan looked over his son's shoulder to the leaping yellow and red flames of the fire. He squinted so that he could see it better. Then he extended his hand without saying a word, either of encouragement or caution, and took the hat from his son, placing it under his arm. One by one, the people moved to the side, clearing a path. Except for a low, haunting gypsy love song and the crackling of dry wood, the meadow was quiet, and nothing stood between Kubo Vlasek and the state he so desired, nothing but the fire that had purged and proven men of Zbudza for countless generations. His heart pounding, his mouth full of cotton, Kubo made the sign of the cross. His first steps were almost his undoing as his krpce slipped on grass, moist from spilled beer. But then he lengthened his stride and by the time he had reached the edge of the crowd, he was running as fast as he could. Logs tumbled together at the fire's core and a huge tongue of flame leaped out, but it was too late . Kubo 's krpce had left the ground. "AAAHHHH," the sound - a cheer, a moan - rose up from the lips of men and women and children as a form, black against the bright flames, seemed to hang in the air. The gypsy band stopped in mid-song . "AAAHHHH ! " Women crossed themselves and men's lips tightened . The mouths of small children gaped open . "AAAAAAHHHHHH !" The fire crackled angrily, spitting hot sparks into the cool night air. Dusan fingered the ciapka beneath his arm, then grasped it firmly . His son stood before him, eyebrows vanished from his pink face, his hair a mass of tiny burnt and frizzy curls, one leg of his while trousers browned , like the top of a loaf of bread. Dusan could smell the hair , the cloth, the flesh that had passed through the St. John's fire . He extended the ciapka to his son , looking at it , turning it in his hand . "Perhaps a bit too small, Kubo . I think in Bardejov they might 96 SLOVAKIA have some bigge r ones ; more like . . " Whateve r words follow ed were lost in the deafening accolade rendered to J a kub Vlasek . After hi s awesome display of b ravery, Kubo could seemingl y d o nothing wrong as the sun set and the evenin g of dancin g began in earnest. His krpce kicked hi gh in the a ir but la nd ed with a feather's li ghtness so close to the fl asks of vino a nd borovicka th a t gasps were heard from the young girls who stood in a group eyeing the b oys who would somed ay be th eir hu sbands . Even Eta Min arovicova a nd Julia Vad aszova, b y far the pretti es t a nd most choosy girls in Zbudza on feas t days in th e pas t acted as if Kubo Vl ase k had some co n tagious disease, co uld n ot kee p their eyes off him . Their hands behind th eir backs, th eir hips swayin g ge ntly to the musi c, they waited, as did all their girl fri ends, for the m ost impor tant d a nce in the li fe of eve ry b oy who jumped ove r the fire on St. J ohn 's D ay. The gy psies kn ew it. Their gold tee th fl ashin g beneath bl ack mu staches, they would tease with th e first ba rs of a popula r tun e . But the n they would break into a nothe r so n g th at onl y the boys cou ld dan ce to, a nd display their prowess st ill more, d elay in g th e mom ent when the eager young girls and the proud young boys would have a dance together. The b a nd stru ck up a d a nce don e entirely on one foot. Boys shoved and j ostl ed, feinted a nd du cked , a nd th e less agil e we re se n t sprawling into th e grass . And , a t the da n ce's e nd , the re was ju st one who h ad not resorted to u sin g hi s oth er foot , who had not bee n kn ocked ove r. Kubo Vl asek twirl ed a round on the b all of hi s foot, with a n agilit y eve n his fath er had to applaud. Th e gypse husle pl aye r kept Kubo dan cin g , in creas in g the beat , but Ku bo, lost in the ecstasy of th e m agic ni ght , would not lose hi s bal a nce. Hi s mind was already in Ba rdej ov, hi s head already cove red in a fin e n ew hat. H e could feel the jin gle of co ins in hi s pocket , straw und er hi s b ack in th e b a rn. Th e bea t cha n ged so su b tl y that Kubo was not even awa re o f it. H e kept twirlin g a nd twirlin g. It was alread y pitch d a rk , but logs had bee n h eaped on th e fire, a nd as Kubo 's eyes, fogged with pe rspiration , took in the blur of faces standin g aro und the dan cin g a rea, fl ashes of color sta rted swirlin g a bout him , in th e opposite d irection . Lik e great red a nd yell ow and gree n eels sw immin g in a shall ow strea m , the o rnate p arta stream in g dow n from th e braided heads of th e un married SLOVAKIA 97 girls shimmered in the fire's light , each offerin g the ni ght 's h ero th e m a iden of his choosin g. All the rituals h e h ad prepared for , jumping over the fire, the o n elegged dan ce, but Kubo Vlasek had not , up to that very moment, decided whi ch girl would have the h onor of hi s first dan ce as a man . H e twirled faster a nd became dizzie r in hi s deliciou s mom ent of triumph , in his hour of indecision . The parta flutte red by, the tip s flickering a t his nose. The gypsy band picked up the beat. Faster and faster. His a rm reached out to the fl ashing colors. And it was soundly m et. " Oh , thank you , I would be m ost honored ." The vill agers applauded still louder while Kubo 's frie nds hooted a nd whistled . And Zu zka Tavelcakova, her great eyebrows arched over a huge smile, her free arm s swin ging in wild exultation , her huge breasts threatening release from the rest of h er body, d a n ced about the circle. She held on to Kubo tightly a nd , as they n eared the fire, reached into her apron pocket a nd withdrew a clenched fist , with which she bl essed herself. Then th e h a nd fl ew o pe n - and a small obj ect disappeared into th e flam es. Around, around h e twirled Zuzka until finally the gypsy playing the cymbal ran th e soft felt hammers from the low notes to the high, signaling the n ext dan ce would begin . But , befor e they could launch into it , several pa irs of ha nds reached out to Kubo , and sudde nl y he was be ing ho isted into th e a ir. ' ']eden! " " D va! 1 " " Tri 11 ! " And with th e third toss the loud est chee r - fu eled b y boro vicka and bee r and tradition - rippl ed across the m eadow and down to the ri ver whe re a fl ock of tin y doves bolted from the reed s a nd fl ew towa rd th e d a rkne ss of th e hu ge junipe rs . '' Y AAA Y AA AAA Y AAAAAAAAA 1 ' ' " And now th e new m a n bu ys th e nex t bottle of pa.lenka," Mlad en shouted at Kubo, whose wet, sin ged ha ir was bein g tou sled by hi s young fri e nd s, whose ha nd s were be in g pressed with ha nd sh akes . One ha ndsh a ke was stronge r , lo n ger than the others, a nd as Kubo blink ed through the sweat a nd ash in hi s eyes, he co uld see th at it was hi s fat he r who stood befo re him. Whe n at least he was released , Kubo had a k orun ak in hi s ha nd . 98 SLOVAKIA " You a re a m an , m y son , a nd you will from thi s day be pa id wages," Du san said, talkin g slowing so as not to slur hi s words. " You will inherit the land , you will care for this fam ily ... but now, first things first. Buy the palenka!" The fire died down and was fed with fresh logs. Boys sneaked off with girls and nuzzled in the darkness. The gypsy band played and drank and played still more . The old woman , Micekova, nodded without sayin g a word when Zuzka's mother said that her d au ghter a nd the young Vlasek boy made a fine couple. The young teacher danced with some of the v ill age women, but only when they asked him . And a small boy, whose emerald eyes glistened when the flame s rose, stood a top the hill in the shadow of the giant lindens , his thumb s locked in hi s belt. When it came time to return home, Kubo eventually found his father lyin g on the ground , a n empty bottle in his ha nd, his head propped against the thick exposed roots of an oak tree, hi s eyes barely visible through sm all slits. H e motioned for hi s son to sit b y him . " I have only a year , perhaps two in this vale of tears, " Dusan began, we ighing each word somberly and pattin g hi s so n on the knee. "You mu st rem ain stron g, my so n , my only son , and believe in what is right and decent , what has bee n ha nded down from generation to generation. " His eyes fli ckered open wider. " Father , why this talk? You a re healthy; you will live to be one hundred ." " Place your hand on my heart." '' Father ?'' " Your ha nd ." Kubo did as he was told. Dusan pressed the boy's hand onto the fa ncy embroidery of hi s shirt , now soaked with sweat and borovicka, stain ed wi th berry wines and grease from the lamb, tainted as it was. '' R epeat afte r me . . . " I .. . Ku bo Vlasek ... vow on m y father's heart ... on the day I became a man ... to love this land . . . never to turn from it ... To listen to God and not the foo lish tal es of the world outs ide ... To care for children and a nimals ... because each co m es from God ever to strike my woman without good reason ... To kee p this sac red pledge ... as pledged on my father's heart ... that the cursed word 'Amerika ' wi ll never ... never . . . be heard in the house ... SLOVAKIA 99 our esteem ed Milos Vlasek built . .. with his bare hands ... years and years ago.'' Dusan ' s voice became lower and lower as if he were ready to cry. " Do you promise all this my son, unde r pain of mortal sin, eternal damnation and the fires of hell ?" "I do, Father ," Kubo said evenly, " I promise this before God ." "Good ." Dusan slumped back onto the roots . " Now, fetch the wagon. Your father is too tired to be walking this night."  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 Excerpt from "In Due Season" Description An account of the resource Paul Wilkes Slovakia, Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984 pp. 87-99 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilkes, Paul, 1938- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/7dc170348b1d1a6659e0e439571dabde.pdf f9c3aa85e2df22ad286ed5861f4ee185 PDF Text Text SLOVA KIA 101 My Grandfather's Silence Patricia Ondek Laurence* Before m y current academic interest in Slovaks and their view of work - gleaned from books - arose, there was " Dzedo ," my grandfather. H e died fourteen years ago, leaving only other people 's stories about him . Joseph P ancurak was a m an possessed with a quality that often characterizes immigrant Slovaks with their ability to shrug, to live to themselves; he offered little ancestral help with words, preferring to reap hi s life in silence . This stoical ability was not passed on to m e , and my eager questions about life in Slovakia and Pennsylvania in the first half of this century were m et with a stubborn silence. Or, the splat of tobacco juice in the spittoon near hi s favorite wicker chair which he used to ward off still the miner's thirst' and now the curious new-world children . " Butz tzicho," " be quiet , " he invariably said . But how could I learn from what had largely been a silent tradition ? Silent becau se of the distance between a grandfather and a granddau ghter who could barely speak each other's languages; silent because , by the time I had grown to articulate my own questions about m y grandparents' lives , they were too tired to answer with anything but a sigh and " ah, jaj, jaj, Maticka, " " Mother of God"; silent becau se of a tradition of quiet suffering more exp ressive of its endurance than articulate of compla int. From others, I had heard stories about my grandfather , who, they say, was a teller of tales when youn g. From them, I learned about his enterprisin g, inventive, and colorful ways. Never having spent a day in school, D zedo would always make a point of "rem emberin g, " and • I would like to th a nk my moth er , Ann Pancurak Ondek of Sa nj ose, California ; m y uncle, George Pence r of Palm Springs, C aliforni a; a nd m y aunt , M ary Pancurak Stetts of Linden , New J ersey, for telling me stories about m y gra ndfather. �102 SLOVAKIA would tell stories to his " krajania ," close friends and relatives, for hours . Uncle George remembers : Here is one thing Dad had . Something he had that we don't. We'd say, "Dad, tell us a story," and he would settle down with his pipe and tell us the most beautiful story. He could go on and on and fit the story to the occasion. A story about a mule giving a farmer a problem, or he would sing us a song about the neighborhood cat: "Oh, don't get married, who's going to catch our mice . ... '' Dzedo would tell them of Ruska Nova Yes, Slovakia, where he lived on a farm and worked in the forests, logging for the squire of the town, to earn money toward the yearned-for trip to America. Starting out across central Europe at the age of twenty-three in 1905 with John Hrobak, they walked three days and nights (fortified by a slab of bacon and a bottle of whiskey) through hills and mountains to escape the Austrian draft. Dzedo wore out a pair of new shoes, only to miss the boat from Hamburg, Germany, to America. A few weeks later, he found passage on another ship, and arrived, finally, in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, a booming town with a population of 18,000, the heart of the anthracite coal region. Here he went to work in the Reading Coal Company mines - hazardous and strenuous work in 1906. During these years, Dzedo lived with a bruised , lacerated back earned as he crawled through narrow mining spaces, a back that ''Baba,'' my grandmother, would bathe each day as he sat in a wooden tub in the basement , a back that "never seemed to heal ." Dzedo earned $5.50 a day . He also worked part-time for a butcher, Mr . Gablik, who was crushed to death one day while loosening a log on a large timber pile . Purchase of the butcher business enabled Dzedo to escape the mines and "miner' s asthma," now called black lung disease, which, along with mining accidents, killed most of his mining friends before they were fifty . Always enterprising, he expanded the business in a short time by delivering meat to the outlying patches of houses in Gilberton, Maze! , and Frankfurt with a horse and buggy. Business flourished . One day his temper flared when a woman questioned the price and quality ofa slab of meat. Dzedo raised his large butcher's knife , slashed open a one-hundred pound sack of flour standing nearby, and created �SLOVAKIA 103 a cloud of dust and fear which sent the women customers flying. That made his prices stick. His business continued to expand, and his family grew . But tragedy struck. His young wife, Anna , had a heart condition and was rushed off to Ashland Hospital where she died a few weeks later. After a home wake - the deceased was packed in ice and placed on view in the home parlor for rel atives and fri ends - and a decent interval of time , Dzedo, according to Eastern European custom, married his wife's sister, Ilona . She cared for his two sons, George and Joe, and bore him nine children in her lifetime . Aunt Mary always says, " Boze moj!," "oh, my God!" "Dzedo had ideas and was always handy with machines ." When he could afford it , about 1916, he bought a Model-T Ford. He loved cars and would . proudly ride to church on Sundays in a carefully ironed , starched white shirt with his growing family beside him . But one d ay when putting gasoline in his Model-T , under the front seat, the car caught fire and all of the upholstery was burned. Instead of rebuilding the car , Dzedo decided to put a butcher wagon fram e over the chassis , and inventively converted the car into a butcher truck for his business and retired his horses to pasture . My mother says, " There wasn't anything that he couldn't do ." The day before the christening of my Aunt Mary in 1914, Baba told Dzedo that a larger table was needed for the specially prepared foods and the forty expected guests. That night Dzedo made a twenty-foot table , which was fill ed the next day with klobasy and ham from the butcher shop , and m y grandmother's piroh y, halusky, and kolace the u sual Slovak generosity with food. But in 1919 during a miner's strike when people seldom paid in cash , my grandfather overexte nded credit to cu stom ers in the butcher shop; he lost everythin g. Next, Dzedo bought a fifteen-acre farm in Locu st Valley, P ennsylvan ia, which had no barn and no running water. Uncle G eo rge rem embers this period from 191 9- 1925 v ividly a nd d esc ribes Dzedo as a master craftsman who rebu ilt the barn: H e was a master with hi s ha nd s, a nd could take a log, a tree, a nd with a double bit ax , just mark it a nd what we call hew it , a nd cut one sid e as if he cut it with a saw - th at's how accurate he was. �104 SLOVAKIA Dzedo was a patient man . One d ay when my grandfather and my Uncle George ("Jurko") were taking some timber to the saw mill to be cut into boards, the horse trailed off the road. The wheel of the wagon broke, and all the timber fell into a ditch . Uncle George, then eight years old , was upset , but my grandfather patiently explained that they would pick some of the timber and carry it to the mill and pick up the rest over the next few days . Dzedo told his son, in his broken English, " R emember, Jurko , through your lifetime you have many days like this. " After the barn was rebuilt , Dzedo bought two horses from Kayser 's Brewery and taught them how to plow. H e set up a small forge in the basement of the house, and made chains for the horses ' halters which were attached to the plow. Using the same forge, he also repaired a used furnace he found and installed pipes to heat the house for his family and pipes to irrigate his crops. Harvesting wheat, rye, and hay, and tending his cherry trees , he successfully built up the farm, but then , as the Depression approached, he was forced from his farm into industry. He returned to the mines and took part in the organization of the unions outside of Mahanoy City with Mr. Maholage. D zedo stayed until the late 1930s when most of the mines closed because the nation began using gas and oil for fuel. Then, looking for new work, he moved to New Jersey, and there, at the age of sixty-eight, became the last smithy in Linden , something he h ad always wanted to be . He forged horseshoes for fire, sanitation , and police department horses : a new trade for this logger, farmer, inventor , butcher, miner , union organizer, and now father of eleven n ew-world children . As a child , I remember trailing after Dzedo, somehow always watching him from behind . H e would enter Baba's warm kitchen , heated by the large cast-iron stove, where the chicken soup with the homem ade noodles and the piroh y were steaming. I see him stamping his feet from the cold , the cuffs of his baggy pants dragging; I hear the splat of tobacco in the spittoon near the door. H e reaches out to take the shot of whiskey and then the glass of beer that Ba ba hands him . Then he looks at me and says gruffly, " Dones moje susi," "get me my slippers," a phrase that my mother has duly taught m e sin ce D zedo had scolded her for not teachin g m e Slovak. I bring hi s slippers. H e si ts down in his wicker ch air and takes out his handkerchi ef. H e twi sts it and makes it jump for m e. It 's a rabbit . H e teaches me to watch his silent hands. �SLOVAKIA 105 NOTE Grandfather was a coal miner , and chewing a quid of tobacco was a habit in the mines and at home . Because of the amount of coal dust in the air in the mines, miners had dusty throats and were always thirsty: Chewing tobacco helped them to clear their throats, salivate, and expectorate . �� SLOVA KIA 101 My Grandfather's Silence Patricia Ondek Laurence* Before m y current academic interest in Slovaks and their view of work - gleaned from books - arose, there was " Dzedo ," my grandfather. H e died fourteen years ago, leaving only other people 's stories about him . Joseph P ancurak was a m an possessed with a quality that often characterizes immigrant Slovaks with their ability to shrug, to live to themselves; he offered little ancestral help with words, preferring to reap hi s life in silence . This stoical ability was not passed on to m e , and my eager questions about life in Slovakia and Pennsylvania in the first half of this century were m et with a stubborn silence. Or, the splat of tobacco juice in the spittoon near hi s favorite wicker chair which he used to ward off still the miner's thirst' and now the curious new-world children . " Butz tzicho," " be quiet , " he invariably said . But how could I learn from what had largely been a silent tradition ? Silent becau se of the distance between a grandfather and a granddau ghter who could barely speak each other's languages; silent because , by the time I had grown to articulate my own questions about m y grandparents' lives , they were too tired to answer with anything but a sigh and " ah, jaj, jaj, Maticka, " " Mother of God"; silent becau se of a tradition of quiet suffering more exp ressive of its endurance than articulate of compla int. From others, I had heard stories about my grandfather , who, they say, was a teller of tales when youn g. From them, I learned about his enterprisin g, inventive, and colorful ways. Never having spent a day in school, D zedo would always make a point of "rem emberin g, " and • I would like to th a nk my moth er , Ann Pancurak Ondek of Sa nj ose, California ; m y uncle, George Pence r of Palm Springs, C aliforni a; a nd m y aunt , M ary Pancurak Stetts of Linden , New J ersey, for telling me stories about m y gra ndfather. �102 SLOVAKIA would tell stories to his " krajania ," close friends and relatives, for hours . Uncle George remembers : Here is one thing Dad had . Something he had that we don't. We'd say, "Dad, tell us a story," and he would settle down with his pipe and tell us the most beautiful story. He could go on and on and fit the story to the occasion. A story about a mule giving a farmer a problem, or he would sing us a song about the neighborhood cat: "Oh, don't get married, who's going to catch our mice . ... '' Dzedo would tell them of Ruska Nova Yes, Slovakia, where he lived on a farm and worked in the forests, logging for the squire of the town, to earn money toward the yearned-for trip to America. Starting out across central Europe at the age of twenty-three in 1905 with John Hrobak, they walked three days and nights (fortified by a slab of bacon and a bottle of whiskey) through hills and mountains to escape the Austrian draft. Dzedo wore out a pair of new shoes, only to miss the boat from Hamburg, Germany, to America. A few weeks later, he found passage on another ship, and arrived, finally, in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, a booming town with a population of 18,000, the heart of the anthracite coal region. Here he went to work in the Reading Coal Company mines - hazardous and strenuous work in 1906. During these years, Dzedo lived with a bruised , lacerated back earned as he crawled through narrow mining spaces, a back that ''Baba,'' my grandmother, would bathe each day as he sat in a wooden tub in the basement , a back that "never seemed to heal ." Dzedo earned $5.50 a day . He also worked part-time for a butcher, Mr . Gablik, who was crushed to death one day while loosening a log on a large timber pile . Purchase of the butcher business enabled Dzedo to escape the mines and "miner' s asthma," now called black lung disease, which, along with mining accidents, killed most of his mining friends before they were fifty . Always enterprising, he expanded the business in a short time by delivering meat to the outlying patches of houses in Gilberton, Maze! , and Frankfurt with a horse and buggy. Business flourished . One day his temper flared when a woman questioned the price and quality ofa slab of meat. Dzedo raised his large butcher's knife , slashed open a one-hundred pound sack of flour standing nearby, and created �SLOVAKIA 103 a cloud of dust and fear which sent the women customers flying. That made his prices stick. His business continued to expand, and his family grew . But tragedy struck. His young wife, Anna , had a heart condition and was rushed off to Ashland Hospital where she died a few weeks later. After a home wake - the deceased was packed in ice and placed on view in the home parlor for rel atives and fri ends - and a decent interval of time , Dzedo, according to Eastern European custom, married his wife's sister, Ilona . She cared for his two sons, George and Joe, and bore him nine children in her lifetime . Aunt Mary always says, " Boze moj!," "oh, my God!" "Dzedo had ideas and was always handy with machines ." When he could afford it , about 1916, he bought a Model-T Ford. He loved cars and would . proudly ride to church on Sundays in a carefully ironed , starched white shirt with his growing family beside him . But one d ay when putting gasoline in his Model-T , under the front seat, the car caught fire and all of the upholstery was burned. Instead of rebuilding the car , Dzedo decided to put a butcher wagon fram e over the chassis , and inventively converted the car into a butcher truck for his business and retired his horses to pasture . My mother says, " There wasn't anything that he couldn't do ." The day before the christening of my Aunt Mary in 1914, Baba told Dzedo that a larger table was needed for the specially prepared foods and the forty expected guests. That night Dzedo made a twenty-foot table , which was fill ed the next day with klobasy and ham from the butcher shop , and m y grandmother's piroh y, halusky, and kolace the u sual Slovak generosity with food. But in 1919 during a miner's strike when people seldom paid in cash , my grandfather overexte nded credit to cu stom ers in the butcher shop; he lost everythin g. Next, Dzedo bought a fifteen-acre farm in Locu st Valley, P ennsylvan ia, which had no barn and no running water. Uncle G eo rge rem embers this period from 191 9- 1925 v ividly a nd d esc ribes Dzedo as a master craftsman who rebu ilt the barn: H e was a master with hi s ha nd s, a nd could take a log, a tree, a nd with a double bit ax , just mark it a nd what we call hew it , a nd cut one sid e as if he cut it with a saw - th at's how accurate he was. �104 SLOVAKIA Dzedo was a patient man . One d ay when my grandfather and my Uncle George ("Jurko") were taking some timber to the saw mill to be cut into boards, the horse trailed off the road. The wheel of the wagon broke, and all the timber fell into a ditch . Uncle George, then eight years old , was upset , but my grandfather patiently explained that they would pick some of the timber and carry it to the mill and pick up the rest over the next few days . Dzedo told his son, in his broken English, " R emember, Jurko , through your lifetime you have many days like this. " After the barn was rebuilt , Dzedo bought two horses from Kayser 's Brewery and taught them how to plow. H e set up a small forge in the basement of the house, and made chains for the horses ' halters which were attached to the plow. Using the same forge, he also repaired a used furnace he found and installed pipes to heat the house for his family and pipes to irrigate his crops. Harvesting wheat, rye, and hay, and tending his cherry trees , he successfully built up the farm, but then , as the Depression approached, he was forced from his farm into industry. He returned to the mines and took part in the organization of the unions outside of Mahanoy City with Mr. Maholage. D zedo stayed until the late 1930s when most of the mines closed because the nation began using gas and oil for fuel. Then, looking for new work, he moved to New Jersey, and there, at the age of sixty-eight, became the last smithy in Linden , something he h ad always wanted to be . He forged horseshoes for fire, sanitation , and police department horses : a new trade for this logger, farmer, inventor , butcher, miner , union organizer, and now father of eleven n ew-world children . As a child , I remember trailing after Dzedo, somehow always watching him from behind . H e would enter Baba's warm kitchen , heated by the large cast-iron stove, where the chicken soup with the homem ade noodles and the piroh y were steaming. I see him stamping his feet from the cold , the cuffs of his baggy pants dragging; I hear the splat of tobacco in the spittoon near the door. H e reaches out to take the shot of whiskey and then the glass of beer that Ba ba hands him . Then he looks at me and says gruffly, " Dones moje susi," "get me my slippers," a phrase that my mother has duly taught m e sin ce D zedo had scolded her for not teachin g m e Slovak. I bring hi s slippers. H e si ts down in his wicker ch air and takes out his handkerchi ef. H e twi sts it and makes it jump for m e. It 's a rabbit . H e teaches me to watch his silent hands. �SLOVAKIA 105 NOTE Grandfather was a coal miner , and chewing a quid of tobacco was a habit in the mines and at home . Because of the amount of coal dust in the air in the mines, miners had dusty throats and were always thirsty: Chewing tobacco helped them to clear their throats, salivate, and expectorate . �� 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 1984, Vol. 31 Description An account of the resource Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984. 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 1984 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 SLOVA KIA 101 My Grandfather's Silence Patricia Ondek Laurence* Before m y current academic interest in Slovaks and their view of work - gleaned from books - arose, there was " Dzedo ," my grandfather. H e died fourteen years ago, leaving only other people 's stories about him . Joseph P ancurak was a m an possessed with a quality that often characterizes immigrant Slovaks with their ability to shrug, to live to themselves; he offered little ancestral help with words, preferring to reap hi s life in silence . This stoical ability was not passed on to m e , and my eager questions about life in Slovakia and Pennsylvania in the first half of this century were m et with a stubborn silence. Or, the splat of tobacco juice in the spittoon near hi s favorite wicker chair which he used to ward off still the miner's thirst' and now the curious new-world children . " Butz tzicho," " be quiet , " he invariably said . But how could I learn from what had largely been a silent tradition ? Silent becau se of the distance between a grandfather and a granddau ghter who could barely speak each other's languages; silent because , by the time I had grown to articulate my own questions about m y grandparents' lives , they were too tired to answer with anything but a sigh and " ah, jaj, jaj, Maticka, " " Mother of God"; silent becau se of a tradition of quiet suffering more exp ressive of its endurance than articulate of compla int. From others, I had heard stories about my grandfather , who, they say, was a teller of tales when youn g. From them, I learned about his enterprisin g, inventive, and colorful ways. Never having spent a day in school, D zedo would always make a point of "rem emberin g, " and • I would like to th a nk my moth er , Ann Pancurak Ondek of Sa nj ose, California ; m y uncle, George Pence r of Palm Springs, C aliforni a; a nd m y aunt , M ary Pancurak Stetts of Linden , New J ersey, for telling me stories about m y gra ndfather. 102 SLOVAKIA would tell stories to his " krajania ," close friends and relatives, for hours . Uncle George remembers : Here is one thing Dad had . Something he had that we don't. We'd say, "Dad, tell us a story," and he would settle down with his pipe and tell us the most beautiful story. He could go on and on and fit the story to the occasion. A story about a mule giving a farmer a problem, or he would sing us a song about the neighborhood cat: "Oh, don't get married, who's going to catch our mice . ... '' Dzedo would tell them of Ruska Nova Yes, Slovakia, where he lived on a farm and worked in the forests, logging for the squire of the town, to earn money toward the yearned-for trip to America. Starting out across central Europe at the age of twenty-three in 1905 with John Hrobak, they walked three days and nights (fortified by a slab of bacon and a bottle of whiskey) through hills and mountains to escape the Austrian draft. Dzedo wore out a pair of new shoes, only to miss the boat from Hamburg, Germany, to America. A few weeks later, he found passage on another ship, and arrived, finally, in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, a booming town with a population of 18,000, the heart of the anthracite coal region. Here he went to work in the Reading Coal Company mines - hazardous and strenuous work in 1906. During these years, Dzedo lived with a bruised , lacerated back earned as he crawled through narrow mining spaces, a back that ''Baba,'' my grandmother, would bathe each day as he sat in a wooden tub in the basement , a back that "never seemed to heal ." Dzedo earned $5.50 a day . He also worked part-time for a butcher, Mr . Gablik, who was crushed to death one day while loosening a log on a large timber pile . Purchase of the butcher business enabled Dzedo to escape the mines and "miner' s asthma," now called black lung disease, which, along with mining accidents, killed most of his mining friends before they were fifty . Always enterprising, he expanded the business in a short time by delivering meat to the outlying patches of houses in Gilberton, Maze! , and Frankfurt with a horse and buggy. Business flourished . One day his temper flared when a woman questioned the price and quality ofa slab of meat. Dzedo raised his large butcher's knife , slashed open a one-hundred pound sack of flour standing nearby, and created SLOVAKIA 103 a cloud of dust and fear which sent the women customers flying. That made his prices stick. His business continued to expand, and his family grew . But tragedy struck. His young wife, Anna , had a heart condition and was rushed off to Ashland Hospital where she died a few weeks later. After a home wake - the deceased was packed in ice and placed on view in the home parlor for rel atives and fri ends - and a decent interval of time , Dzedo, according to Eastern European custom, married his wife's sister, Ilona . She cared for his two sons, George and Joe, and bore him nine children in her lifetime . Aunt Mary always says, " Boze moj!," "oh, my God!" "Dzedo had ideas and was always handy with machines ." When he could afford it , about 1916, he bought a Model-T Ford. He loved cars and would . proudly ride to church on Sundays in a carefully ironed , starched white shirt with his growing family beside him . But one d ay when putting gasoline in his Model-T , under the front seat, the car caught fire and all of the upholstery was burned. Instead of rebuilding the car , Dzedo decided to put a butcher wagon fram e over the chassis , and inventively converted the car into a butcher truck for his business and retired his horses to pasture . My mother says, " There wasn't anything that he couldn't do ." The day before the christening of my Aunt Mary in 1914, Baba told Dzedo that a larger table was needed for the specially prepared foods and the forty expected guests. That night Dzedo made a twenty-foot table , which was fill ed the next day with klobasy and ham from the butcher shop , and m y grandmother's piroh y, halusky, and kolace the u sual Slovak generosity with food. But in 1919 during a miner's strike when people seldom paid in cash , my grandfather overexte nded credit to cu stom ers in the butcher shop; he lost everythin g. Next, Dzedo bought a fifteen-acre farm in Locu st Valley, P ennsylvan ia, which had no barn and no running water. Uncle G eo rge rem embers this period from 191 9- 1925 v ividly a nd d esc ribes Dzedo as a master craftsman who rebu ilt the barn: H e was a master with hi s ha nd s, a nd could take a log, a tree, a nd with a double bit ax , just mark it a nd what we call hew it , a nd cut one sid e as if he cut it with a saw - th at's how accurate he was. 104 SLOVAKIA Dzedo was a patient man . One d ay when my grandfather and my Uncle George ("Jurko") were taking some timber to the saw mill to be cut into boards, the horse trailed off the road. The wheel of the wagon broke, and all the timber fell into a ditch . Uncle George, then eight years old , was upset , but my grandfather patiently explained that they would pick some of the timber and carry it to the mill and pick up the rest over the next few days . Dzedo told his son, in his broken English, " R emember, Jurko , through your lifetime you have many days like this. " After the barn was rebuilt , Dzedo bought two horses from Kayser 's Brewery and taught them how to plow. H e set up a small forge in the basement of the house, and made chains for the horses ' halters which were attached to the plow. Using the same forge, he also repaired a used furnace he found and installed pipes to heat the house for his family and pipes to irrigate his crops. Harvesting wheat, rye, and hay, and tending his cherry trees , he successfully built up the farm, but then , as the Depression approached, he was forced from his farm into industry. He returned to the mines and took part in the organization of the unions outside of Mahanoy City with Mr. Maholage. D zedo stayed until the late 1930s when most of the mines closed because the nation began using gas and oil for fuel. Then, looking for new work, he moved to New Jersey, and there, at the age of sixty-eight, became the last smithy in Linden , something he h ad always wanted to be . He forged horseshoes for fire, sanitation , and police department horses : a new trade for this logger, farmer, inventor , butcher, miner , union organizer, and now father of eleven n ew-world children . As a child , I remember trailing after Dzedo, somehow always watching him from behind . H e would enter Baba's warm kitchen , heated by the large cast-iron stove, where the chicken soup with the homem ade noodles and the piroh y were steaming. I see him stamping his feet from the cold , the cuffs of his baggy pants dragging; I hear the splat of tobacco in the spittoon near the door. H e reaches out to take the shot of whiskey and then the glass of beer that Ba ba hands him . Then he looks at me and says gruffly, " Dones moje susi," "get me my slippers," a phrase that my mother has duly taught m e sin ce D zedo had scolded her for not teachin g m e Slovak. I bring hi s slippers. H e si ts down in his wicker ch air and takes out his handkerchi ef. H e twi sts it and makes it jump for m e. It 's a rabbit . H e teaches me to watch his silent hands. SLOVAKIA 105 NOTE Grandfather was a coal miner , and chewing a quid of tobacco was a habit in the mines and at home . Because of the amount of coal dust in the air in the mines, miners had dusty throats and were always thirsty: Chewing tobacco helped them to clear their throats, salivate, and expectorate .  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 My Grandfather's Silence Description An account of the resource Patricia Ondek Laurence Slovakia, Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984 pp. 101-105 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Laurence, Patricia Ondek, 1942- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/cb665c54899f47f05f37ef860ea5effe.pdf 6eb41d4c74957911d3a1dacb3983faae PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 107 Broken Line Carol Towarnicky The day she found out her great-grandmother had died was the day she found out her great-grandmother had lived. It was when her father came from Chevy, and he always came home at exactly quarterto-four. She and her little brother Jeffie were watching '' American Bandstand . " Ali the girls in the sixth grade watched it , and Frankie Avalon was supposed to be on. Her mother was upstairs somewhere . When she and Jeffie had come home from school , they had found two slices of rye bread and a stick of butter on the kitchen table. The butter was hard. Jackie could hear her father stomping snow off his shoes. Daddy never wore rubbers, like fathers in her readers in school, but there were so many differences between her father and those in the books that she had long ago stopped wondering about them. The fathers in the readers wore suits and ties, and when they came home they put their briefcases on the table. Sometimes, on television, they had a drink. A martini . But Daddy wore gray pants and a gray suit, and he had this metal lunchbox that looked like a small black barn. Her mother spent a lot of time cooking chicken and ham for it. Daddy hated sandwiches. Sometimes Jackie would ask for peanut butter and jelly for lunch , but they always had soup and meat. When her father came home from work, the first thing he always did was wash his hands with cleanser. He would scrape under his nails with a nail file and wash again. But his hands never seemed really clean . Sometimes, like the day before her First Holy Communion, he washed and washed, and they looked better . But for everyday, he just did his best and let it go. But this day , Daddy did not stop to wash his hands. When he came into the living room, a strange expression was on his face, like the time Jackie had run into the street and you could hear the brakes screech all over the neighborhood, and Daddy had spanked her for the only time . "Where's your mother?" Jackie pointed upstairs. �SLOVAKIA "Hey, Marge," he called loudly, "you sick or something?" There was a muffled reply and a wail. Baby Janet was up. Her mother came down the steps quickly, without the baby. She had her coat on, which was strange because she usually kept it with the others in the downstairs closet. Her coat wouldn't button all the way. They were going to have a new baby around Valentine 's Day , and Jackie hoped it would be a boy. " My grandmother died," Mommy said softly . "Your grandmother? The one in the old country?" Mommy talked almost without opening her mouth. "Ktoru inu Babku mam? Mama dostala dnes dopis." Standing on the third stair from the bottom, Mommy looked much bigger than Daddy . Upstairs , Janet began to rock the crib. "You going over there?" "Well, Ma's real upset," her mother said. "She keeps saying that she should have known, that she should have felt it or something. She says she knew when her father died, but she didn't know when her mother died , I don't know.'' When Mommy got to the bottom step, Daddy put his arm around her shoulder and she leaned against him. "You want a ride?" "No, I don't want to bundle them up for just a block . Just fix them supper, okay? I couldn't do anything after Ma called." Daddy's voice was gentle . "Listen, tell your mom I'm sorry . " They stood at the front door . Mommy's hand was on the knob. "What did she die of?" Daddy asked. "Myslim, ze mala rakovinu ." Jackie hated it when her parents talked Slovak. Most of the grownups started talking it when they didn't want kids to hear. First Mommy would talk in English, and then, right in the middle, she would talk in Slovak . They always talked to Baba in Slovak, of course, because Baba didn't speak English very well at all. Baba had come to America with Mommy and Uncle John a long time ago from Slovakia, which was part of Czechoslovakia and behind the Iron Curtain. Right around Russia, which had Sputnik. Jackie had wanted to learn Slovak, so that she could really talk to Baba, but Daddy had said that it would be better to learn English good first. "Do you want people to think you're a D .P. ?" �SLOVAKIA 109 D.P. 's were funny-looking people who didn't talk right. Sometimes the little girls cried in school. They had gold earrings in their ears, even in the first grade. Jackie's friend Sandy said that they used needles to poke the holes. Daddy ' s mother had come to Cleveland from Slovakia, too, but she was dead now . Daddy knew Slovak , and French from the war, and Polish and Ukrainian and Russian because of all the people in his old neighborhood . He even spoke Jewish a little. But it made him mad that some people didn't speak English. He would make fun of Mister Hudak and Mister Zahradnik ; sometimes he would even make fun of Baba. " Been in this country how long," he would say to Mommy, "twentyfive years, and still can't speak the language." Daddy opened the refrigerator . He pulled out some wonderful big hot dogs, strung together like the beads on a necklace. Daddy never bought hot dogs in plastic packages. " How about hot dogs and pork and beans? Whaddya think?" " Oh, but Daddy it's Friday," Jackie said. "You know we can't eat meat on Friday . It's a mortal sin." Her father sighed . "Well, I guess we'll just have to have some Sister Imelde eggs.'' Daddy didn ' t eat meat on Fridays ever since the time in the second grade when he had been eating ham and Jackie had cried that Sister Imelde said that anybody who ate meat on Friday was going to hell and she didn't want Daddy to go to hell. But he always called it Sister Imelde eggs or Sister Imelde fish . It made Jackie feel funny, because she didn't know whether it was a sin to make fun of Sister Imelde and she couldn't ask anybody about it. When Jackie and Jeffie set the table, they put extra, smaller forks on the left side of the salad , and Jackie poured the milk for their tea into a small pitcher . Daddy had shown them the new way after he started being a handyman on Saturdays at Doctor Elliott's house, which was across from Lake Erie. Daddy and Mommy sometimes laughed at Doctor Elliott , who helped Mommy have babies but paid Daddy to put together hi s little boy's bicycle. Doctor Elliott's little boy's name was Carter. The eggs tasted different when they were scrambled by themselves with butter. She liked them better with little bits of bacon . " Daddy, why didn't Mommy's Baba come to America, too?" " Mommy's Baba?" �110 SLOVAKIA '' You know, the one who died.'' " C ' mon Jeffie, let's finish those eggs. Only two more bites." Jackie pushed her empty plate away. "I mean, why didn ' t she just come here to live with everybody else?" Her father sighed. "I don't know, honey . Maybe she was just too old. Maybe she didn't want to move ." "Do you think they have Requiem Masses in Slovakia like we have?" They sang Requiem Masses when the sixth grade was in choir. Jackie liked it. It gave her shivers. Re-e-qui-em Ae-e-te-e-e-er-na-am. Jeffie swallowed his eggs with a grimace . "Are they gonna put her in a coffin and bury her ?" "Now, let's now worry about that," Daddy said as he got up and nearly tripped on the way to the refrigerator. "How about some peaches for dessert?' ' Jackie felt that something had to be said . "I would never go real far away from you and Mommy , and I would never go to another country to live . I think America is the best country in the world ." Daddy smiled. "Here we are, nice cold peaches. My favorite." Jeffie speared an entire peach half with his fork and nibbled on it as if it were an ice cream bar. "What was her name?" he asked. "Her first name? I don't really know. It was probably Margaret. That's Baba's name and your mother's name. Margaret. That's probably it." * * * Since the pear tree fell down in the tornado last summer, Jackie could see the stars through her bedroom window much easier . She could tell Big Dipper and Orion 's Belt. "But you don't understand?" Her mother 's voice carried down the hall."She was my grandmother and I didn't know her. She lived a whole life and I lived a whole life and we didn't know each other. I can't even remember what she looked like. Ma never had a picture. All I remember was that she had a white babushka and a black apron. That's all. Johnny says he remembers her eyes. Brown eyes, like mine." "Listen, Marge, lots of people grow up not knowin g their grandmothe rs. She could have died when you were three, it would be the same.'' " But she didn 't die . Don 't you see? She was th ere all the time." �111 SLOVAKIA * * * In the morning , Mommy said they couldn't turn on cartoons. " You and J effi e a nd I are going to eight o'clock Mass, and we are going to pray for Baba 's mother , my Baba, who died. She lived in Slovakia, in Europe." " Right near Russia , where they've got Sputnik," Jackie toldJeffie . J effi e buttoned his jacket , but when he finished he had a button hole left over on top and a button left over on the bottom. Mommy bent down to redo it. " Do they have kids in Slo-vak-i-a?" " W ell , sure they do . Sure they have kids. Some of them are your cousins , just like Monica and Ricky." Jackie pulled on her left boot . " Do the little girls have earrings?" Mommy's lower lip seemed to move a little . " I don't know ," she said, and put on her gloves. Only old Mister Hudak had shoveled his walk this early. Mommy held on to Jeffie's hand and steadied herself on Jackie 's shoulder.Jackie wondered if it was snowing on top of her cousins in Slovakia, and if it looked the same, piled precariously on the bare trees. �� SLOVAKIA 107 Broken Line Carol Towarnicky The day she found out her great-grandmother had died was the day she found out her great-grandmother had lived. It was when her father came from Chevy, and he always came home at exactly quarterto-four. She and her little brother Jeffie were watching '' American Bandstand . " Ali the girls in the sixth grade watched it , and Frankie Avalon was supposed to be on. Her mother was upstairs somewhere . When she and Jeffie had come home from school , they had found two slices of rye bread and a stick of butter on the kitchen table. The butter was hard. Jackie could hear her father stomping snow off his shoes. Daddy never wore rubbers, like fathers in her readers in school, but there were so many differences between her father and those in the books that she had long ago stopped wondering about them. The fathers in the readers wore suits and ties, and when they came home they put their briefcases on the table. Sometimes, on television, they had a drink. A martini . But Daddy wore gray pants and a gray suit, and he had this metal lunchbox that looked like a small black barn. Her mother spent a lot of time cooking chicken and ham for it. Daddy hated sandwiches. Sometimes Jackie would ask for peanut butter and jelly for lunch , but they always had soup and meat. When her father came home from work, the first thing he always did was wash his hands with cleanser. He would scrape under his nails with a nail file and wash again. But his hands never seemed really clean . Sometimes, like the day before her First Holy Communion, he washed and washed, and they looked better . But for everyday, he just did his best and let it go. But this day , Daddy did not stop to wash his hands. When he came into the living room, a strange expression was on his face, like the time Jackie had run into the street and you could hear the brakes screech all over the neighborhood, and Daddy had spanked her for the only time . "Where's your mother?" Jackie pointed upstairs. �SLOVAKIA "Hey, Marge," he called loudly, "you sick or something?" There was a muffled reply and a wail. Baby Janet was up. Her mother came down the steps quickly, without the baby. She had her coat on, which was strange because she usually kept it with the others in the downstairs closet. Her coat wouldn't button all the way. They were going to have a new baby around Valentine 's Day , and Jackie hoped it would be a boy. " My grandmother died," Mommy said softly . "Your grandmother? The one in the old country?" Mommy talked almost without opening her mouth. "Ktoru inu Babku mam? Mama dostala dnes dopis." Standing on the third stair from the bottom, Mommy looked much bigger than Daddy . Upstairs , Janet began to rock the crib. "You going over there?" "Well, Ma's real upset," her mother said. "She keeps saying that she should have known, that she should have felt it or something. She says she knew when her father died, but she didn't know when her mother died , I don't know.'' When Mommy got to the bottom step, Daddy put his arm around her shoulder and she leaned against him. "You want a ride?" "No, I don't want to bundle them up for just a block . Just fix them supper, okay? I couldn't do anything after Ma called." Daddy's voice was gentle . "Listen, tell your mom I'm sorry . " They stood at the front door . Mommy's hand was on the knob. "What did she die of?" Daddy asked. "Myslim, ze mala rakovinu ." Jackie hated it when her parents talked Slovak. Most of the grownups started talking it when they didn't want kids to hear. First Mommy would talk in English, and then, right in the middle, she would talk in Slovak . They always talked to Baba in Slovak, of course, because Baba didn't speak English very well at all. Baba had come to America with Mommy and Uncle John a long time ago from Slovakia, which was part of Czechoslovakia and behind the Iron Curtain. Right around Russia, which had Sputnik. Jackie had wanted to learn Slovak, so that she could really talk to Baba, but Daddy had said that it would be better to learn English good first. "Do you want people to think you're a D .P. ?" �SLOVAKIA 109 D.P. 's were funny-looking people who didn't talk right. Sometimes the little girls cried in school. They had gold earrings in their ears, even in the first grade. Jackie's friend Sandy said that they used needles to poke the holes. Daddy ' s mother had come to Cleveland from Slovakia, too, but she was dead now . Daddy knew Slovak , and French from the war, and Polish and Ukrainian and Russian because of all the people in his old neighborhood . He even spoke Jewish a little. But it made him mad that some people didn't speak English. He would make fun of Mister Hudak and Mister Zahradnik ; sometimes he would even make fun of Baba. " Been in this country how long," he would say to Mommy, "twentyfive years, and still can't speak the language." Daddy opened the refrigerator . He pulled out some wonderful big hot dogs, strung together like the beads on a necklace. Daddy never bought hot dogs in plastic packages. " How about hot dogs and pork and beans? Whaddya think?" " Oh, but Daddy it's Friday," Jackie said. "You know we can't eat meat on Friday . It's a mortal sin." Her father sighed . "Well, I guess we'll just have to have some Sister Imelde eggs.'' Daddy didn ' t eat meat on Fridays ever since the time in the second grade when he had been eating ham and Jackie had cried that Sister Imelde said that anybody who ate meat on Friday was going to hell and she didn't want Daddy to go to hell. But he always called it Sister Imelde eggs or Sister Imelde fish . It made Jackie feel funny, because she didn't know whether it was a sin to make fun of Sister Imelde and she couldn't ask anybody about it. When Jackie and Jeffie set the table, they put extra, smaller forks on the left side of the salad , and Jackie poured the milk for their tea into a small pitcher . Daddy had shown them the new way after he started being a handyman on Saturdays at Doctor Elliott's house, which was across from Lake Erie. Daddy and Mommy sometimes laughed at Doctor Elliott , who helped Mommy have babies but paid Daddy to put together hi s little boy's bicycle. Doctor Elliott's little boy's name was Carter. The eggs tasted different when they were scrambled by themselves with butter. She liked them better with little bits of bacon . " Daddy, why didn't Mommy's Baba come to America, too?" " Mommy's Baba?" �110 SLOVAKIA '' You know, the one who died.'' " C ' mon Jeffie, let's finish those eggs. Only two more bites." Jackie pushed her empty plate away. "I mean, why didn ' t she just come here to live with everybody else?" Her father sighed. "I don't know, honey . Maybe she was just too old. Maybe she didn't want to move ." "Do you think they have Requiem Masses in Slovakia like we have?" They sang Requiem Masses when the sixth grade was in choir. Jackie liked it. It gave her shivers. Re-e-qui-em Ae-e-te-e-e-er-na-am. Jeffie swallowed his eggs with a grimace . "Are they gonna put her in a coffin and bury her ?" "Now, let's now worry about that," Daddy said as he got up and nearly tripped on the way to the refrigerator. "How about some peaches for dessert?' ' Jackie felt that something had to be said . "I would never go real far away from you and Mommy , and I would never go to another country to live . I think America is the best country in the world ." Daddy smiled. "Here we are, nice cold peaches. My favorite." Jeffie speared an entire peach half with his fork and nibbled on it as if it were an ice cream bar. "What was her name?" he asked. "Her first name? I don't really know. It was probably Margaret. That's Baba's name and your mother's name. Margaret. That's probably it." * * * Since the pear tree fell down in the tornado last summer, Jackie could see the stars through her bedroom window much easier . She could tell Big Dipper and Orion 's Belt. "But you don't understand?" Her mother 's voice carried down the hall."She was my grandmother and I didn't know her. She lived a whole life and I lived a whole life and we didn't know each other. I can't even remember what she looked like. Ma never had a picture. All I remember was that she had a white babushka and a black apron. That's all. Johnny says he remembers her eyes. Brown eyes, like mine." "Listen, Marge, lots of people grow up not knowin g their grandmothe rs. She could have died when you were three, it would be the same.'' " But she didn 't die . Don 't you see? She was th ere all the time." �111 SLOVAKIA * * * In the morning , Mommy said they couldn't turn on cartoons. " You and J effi e a nd I are going to eight o'clock Mass, and we are going to pray for Baba 's mother , my Baba, who died. She lived in Slovakia, in Europe." " Right near Russia , where they've got Sputnik," Jackie toldJeffie . J effi e buttoned his jacket , but when he finished he had a button hole left over on top and a button left over on the bottom. Mommy bent down to redo it. " Do they have kids in Slo-vak-i-a?" " W ell , sure they do . Sure they have kids. Some of them are your cousins , just like Monica and Ricky." Jackie pulled on her left boot . " Do the little girls have earrings?" Mommy's lower lip seemed to move a little . " I don't know ," she said, and put on her gloves. Only old Mister Hudak had shoveled his walk this early. Mommy held on to Jeffie's hand and steadied herself on Jackie 's shoulder.Jackie wondered if it was snowing on top of her cousins in Slovakia, and if it looked the same, piled precariously on the bare trees. �� 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 1984, Vol. 31 Description An account of the resource Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984. 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 1984 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 107 Broken Line Carol Towarnicky The day she found out her great-grandmother had died was the day she found out her great-grandmother had lived. It was when her father came from Chevy, and he always came home at exactly quarterto-four. She and her little brother Jeffie were watching '' American Bandstand . " Ali the girls in the sixth grade watched it , and Frankie Avalon was supposed to be on. Her mother was upstairs somewhere . When she and Jeffie had come home from school , they had found two slices of rye bread and a stick of butter on the kitchen table. The butter was hard. Jackie could hear her father stomping snow off his shoes. Daddy never wore rubbers, like fathers in her readers in school, but there were so many differences between her father and those in the books that she had long ago stopped wondering about them. The fathers in the readers wore suits and ties, and when they came home they put their briefcases on the table. Sometimes, on television, they had a drink. A martini . But Daddy wore gray pants and a gray suit, and he had this metal lunchbox that looked like a small black barn. Her mother spent a lot of time cooking chicken and ham for it. Daddy hated sandwiches. Sometimes Jackie would ask for peanut butter and jelly for lunch , but they always had soup and meat. When her father came home from work, the first thing he always did was wash his hands with cleanser. He would scrape under his nails with a nail file and wash again. But his hands never seemed really clean . Sometimes, like the day before her First Holy Communion, he washed and washed, and they looked better . But for everyday, he just did his best and let it go. But this day , Daddy did not stop to wash his hands. When he came into the living room, a strange expression was on his face, like the time Jackie had run into the street and you could hear the brakes screech all over the neighborhood, and Daddy had spanked her for the only time . "Where's your mother?" Jackie pointed upstairs. SLOVAKIA "Hey, Marge," he called loudly, "you sick or something?" There was a muffled reply and a wail. Baby Janet was up. Her mother came down the steps quickly, without the baby. She had her coat on, which was strange because she usually kept it with the others in the downstairs closet. Her coat wouldn't button all the way. They were going to have a new baby around Valentine 's Day , and Jackie hoped it would be a boy. " My grandmother died," Mommy said softly . "Your grandmother? The one in the old country?" Mommy talked almost without opening her mouth. "Ktoru inu Babku mam? Mama dostala dnes dopis." Standing on the third stair from the bottom, Mommy looked much bigger than Daddy . Upstairs , Janet began to rock the crib. "You going over there?" "Well, Ma's real upset," her mother said. "She keeps saying that she should have known, that she should have felt it or something. She says she knew when her father died, but she didn't know when her mother died , I don't know.'' When Mommy got to the bottom step, Daddy put his arm around her shoulder and she leaned against him. "You want a ride?" "No, I don't want to bundle them up for just a block . Just fix them supper, okay? I couldn't do anything after Ma called." Daddy's voice was gentle . "Listen, tell your mom I'm sorry . " They stood at the front door . Mommy's hand was on the knob. "What did she die of?" Daddy asked. "Myslim, ze mala rakovinu ." Jackie hated it when her parents talked Slovak. Most of the grownups started talking it when they didn't want kids to hear. First Mommy would talk in English, and then, right in the middle, she would talk in Slovak . They always talked to Baba in Slovak, of course, because Baba didn't speak English very well at all. Baba had come to America with Mommy and Uncle John a long time ago from Slovakia, which was part of Czechoslovakia and behind the Iron Curtain. Right around Russia, which had Sputnik. Jackie had wanted to learn Slovak, so that she could really talk to Baba, but Daddy had said that it would be better to learn English good first. "Do you want people to think you're a D .P. ?" SLOVAKIA 109 D.P. 's were funny-looking people who didn't talk right. Sometimes the little girls cried in school. They had gold earrings in their ears, even in the first grade. Jackie's friend Sandy said that they used needles to poke the holes. Daddy ' s mother had come to Cleveland from Slovakia, too, but she was dead now . Daddy knew Slovak , and French from the war, and Polish and Ukrainian and Russian because of all the people in his old neighborhood . He even spoke Jewish a little. But it made him mad that some people didn't speak English. He would make fun of Mister Hudak and Mister Zahradnik ; sometimes he would even make fun of Baba. " Been in this country how long," he would say to Mommy, "twentyfive years, and still can't speak the language." Daddy opened the refrigerator . He pulled out some wonderful big hot dogs, strung together like the beads on a necklace. Daddy never bought hot dogs in plastic packages. " How about hot dogs and pork and beans? Whaddya think?" " Oh, but Daddy it's Friday," Jackie said. "You know we can't eat meat on Friday . It's a mortal sin." Her father sighed . "Well, I guess we'll just have to have some Sister Imelde eggs.'' Daddy didn ' t eat meat on Fridays ever since the time in the second grade when he had been eating ham and Jackie had cried that Sister Imelde said that anybody who ate meat on Friday was going to hell and she didn't want Daddy to go to hell. But he always called it Sister Imelde eggs or Sister Imelde fish . It made Jackie feel funny, because she didn't know whether it was a sin to make fun of Sister Imelde and she couldn't ask anybody about it. When Jackie and Jeffie set the table, they put extra, smaller forks on the left side of the salad , and Jackie poured the milk for their tea into a small pitcher . Daddy had shown them the new way after he started being a handyman on Saturdays at Doctor Elliott's house, which was across from Lake Erie. Daddy and Mommy sometimes laughed at Doctor Elliott , who helped Mommy have babies but paid Daddy to put together hi s little boy's bicycle. Doctor Elliott's little boy's name was Carter. The eggs tasted different when they were scrambled by themselves with butter. She liked them better with little bits of bacon . " Daddy, why didn't Mommy's Baba come to America, too?" " Mommy's Baba?" 110 SLOVAKIA '' You know, the one who died.'' " C ' mon Jeffie, let's finish those eggs. Only two more bites." Jackie pushed her empty plate away. "I mean, why didn ' t she just come here to live with everybody else?" Her father sighed. "I don't know, honey . Maybe she was just too old. Maybe she didn't want to move ." "Do you think they have Requiem Masses in Slovakia like we have?" They sang Requiem Masses when the sixth grade was in choir. Jackie liked it. It gave her shivers. Re-e-qui-em Ae-e-te-e-e-er-na-am. Jeffie swallowed his eggs with a grimace . "Are they gonna put her in a coffin and bury her ?" "Now, let's now worry about that," Daddy said as he got up and nearly tripped on the way to the refrigerator. "How about some peaches for dessert?' ' Jackie felt that something had to be said . "I would never go real far away from you and Mommy , and I would never go to another country to live . I think America is the best country in the world ." Daddy smiled. "Here we are, nice cold peaches. My favorite." Jeffie speared an entire peach half with his fork and nibbled on it as if it were an ice cream bar. "What was her name?" he asked. "Her first name? I don't really know. It was probably Margaret. That's Baba's name and your mother's name. Margaret. That's probably it." * * * Since the pear tree fell down in the tornado last summer, Jackie could see the stars through her bedroom window much easier . She could tell Big Dipper and Orion 's Belt. "But you don't understand?" Her mother 's voice carried down the hall."She was my grandmother and I didn't know her. She lived a whole life and I lived a whole life and we didn't know each other. I can't even remember what she looked like. Ma never had a picture. All I remember was that she had a white babushka and a black apron. That's all. Johnny says he remembers her eyes. Brown eyes, like mine." "Listen, Marge, lots of people grow up not knowin g their grandmothe rs. She could have died when you were three, it would be the same.'' " But she didn 't die . Don 't you see? She was th ere all the time." 111 SLOVAKIA * * * In the morning , Mommy said they couldn't turn on cartoons. " You and J effi e a nd I are going to eight o'clock Mass, and we are going to pray for Baba 's mother , my Baba, who died. She lived in Slovakia, in Europe." " Right near Russia , where they've got Sputnik," Jackie toldJeffie . J effi e buttoned his jacket , but when he finished he had a button hole left over on top and a button left over on the bottom. Mommy bent down to redo it. " Do they have kids in Slo-vak-i-a?" " W ell , sure they do . Sure they have kids. Some of them are your cousins , just like Monica and Ricky." Jackie pulled on her left boot . " Do the little girls have earrings?" Mommy's lower lip seemed to move a little . " I don't know ," she said, and put on her gloves. Only old Mister Hudak had shoveled his walk this early. Mommy held on to Jeffie's hand and steadied herself on Jackie 's shoulder.Jackie wondered if it was snowing on top of her cousins in Slovakia, and if it looked the same, piled precariously on the bare trees.  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 Broken Line Description An account of the resource Carol Towarnicky Slovakia, Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984 pp. 107-111 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Towarnicky, Carol Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/f4534c5c55ca7eeded195ef90f4bd3eb.pdf d8cb7f8c71034ded72ea4f91239ea526 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 11 3 Review Article THEODORIC J . ZUBEK , O.F.M. AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM Eva Slavkovska. " Vzt'ah statu k cirkvam v prvych rokoch vystavby socializmu na Slovensku ," Historick y casopis, XXX, 2 (1982), 223-49. In her article Eva Slavkovska attempts to give a comple te account of the mo st important events in the worsening relations between the Czechoslovak government and the Catholic Church in Slovakia during the two critical years following the Communist coup d'etat of February 1948 . She b ases he r work most! y on the official records of the Slovak Commissariat for Schools, Sciences, and Arts prese rved in the Central State Archives of the Slovak Socialist Republic. Furthermore, she quotes from the works of seve ral Communist authors who wrote about the same subject matter , as well as articles from the so-called Catholic press, which soon after the coup was subjected to complete Communist control. As a result , her evaluation of the religious situation in Slovakia is one-sided and biased by he r Communist perception . Slavkovska begins h er article with a falsely precon ce ived idea tha t the deep reli giou s co nvictions of the Slovak people stemmed from econom ic, social, a nd cultural backwardness , supported in great part b y the Catholic hie rarchy a nd the tradition al political clericalism which until the Communist ta keover in 1948 affected Slova k Catholics. Although quite frequently Slavkovska looks back to the years before the Comm uni st coup d'e tat in February , 1948, she n eglects to m ention that immed iately after the war ( 1945) the Catholic Church suffered much more in Slovakia than it did in Bohemia and Moravia (Czech territories). Wh ereas in the Czech lands Catholi cs were represe nted b y th eir own politi cal party (Msgr. J a n Sramek's Czech P eople's P arty), Slovak Catholi cs were branded as "cle ri co -fascists" a nd h ad no political representation. The decrees of the Slovak National Council, which was dominated by Communists, h ad the aut hority of law in th e territory �114 SLOVAKIA of Slovakia . By these decrees all Catholic schools, publications , and societies were suppressed immediately after the war, while during the same period their counterparts in Bohemia and Moravia remained untouched. Only the elections of May 25, 1946 (the last free elections) brought some relief to Slovak Catholics. In April, 1946, the representatives of Slovak Catholics who had showed some opposition to Dr. Jozef Tiso's regime and were acceptable in the new political situation made an agreement with the representatives of the Slovak Democratic Party, previously completely dominated by Lutherans. With the help of Slovak Catholics, the Democratic Party won in Slovakia 62 % of the votes, while the Communist Party of Slovakia received less than half of that amount (30 % ). As a result of these elections, Slovak Catholics gained some political influence . Several of their periodical publications and some of the strictly religious societies were restored . But no Catholic schools, except the nine theologates, were allowed. It was only after the Communist takeover that the restrictions against the Catholic Church were conducted on a national basis and applied in the same way to Catholics in the whole country. Not surprisingly, Slavkovska omits these important facts and distinctions. She then proceeds by chronologically describing protracted and frustrating negotiations between the government and Church representatives. The bishops asked for a guarantee of freedom in the admin istration of the dioceses and parishes, for the preservation of the remaining Catholic schools in Bohemia and Moravia and for their restoration in Slovakia , for the existence of a free Catholic press and religious societies - rights that graduall y had been restricted after the Communist coup d'etat. The government pressed the bishops for a public proclamation of their loyalty to the new regime , for a renewal of their loyalty oath to the Communist government, and for influencing pries ts and Catholic people in promoting a pro-governm ent spirit. At thi s stage the Catholic bishops of the Czech territories a nd Slovakia acted together for the defense of the basic rights of the Catholic Church. The State-Church negotiations ended in failure in March , 1949 . Slavkovska blames the bishops for this failure, accusing them of a n un yieldin g a nd insin cere stand toward the Communist regime. Actually, the Communist regime was interes ted only in subjugating the Church and not in a ny workable agreement. While the nego ti a tions were still �SLOVAKIA 11 5 going on, the Central Action Committee of the National Front in Prague and its branches throughout the whole country , together with other government agencies, systematically en croach ed ever m o re d eeply on the rights of the Church . In 1949 , under various pretex ts , the regime suppressed several monasteries and convents, confiscated man y church buildings , and imprisoned a number of Catholic priests, both diocesan and religious , and Catholic laymen . Secret agents spied on all Catholic priests and members of religious orders and congregations . On the basis of h er research , Slavkovska - perhaps unwittingly - gives an interesting report on this matter. She states that this surveillance of the priests by the state agencies resulted in putting the priests into four categories: reliable to the regime (13.21 % ); those with a positive stand toward the regime , but not unequivocally (15.65 % ); apolitical (28 .65%); and unreliable (42.41 %). According to Slavkovska, the Communist agents worked with the reliable priests and tried to influence those in the second a nd third categories . The main part of the article is devoted to the so-called P eople's Catholic Action . Since the pontificate of Pius XI Catholic Action was an important m eans used by the Church to activate the faithful toward a deeper Christian life and to help priests bring Christian principles into family life and the whole of society . There was a well-organized Catholic Action in the Slovak dioceses and parishes under the supervision of the bishops and priests . In their effort to destroy the Church organization in Czechoslovakia, the Communist agencies attempted to alienate the priests from their bishops and the lay people from the uncompromising pries ts . Since Catholic Action was basically a laymen' s organization, the Communists con voked on June 10 , 1949 a meeting of n ominally Catholic lay people and several " reliable" priests in Pragu e. They establish ed their own '' P eople's Catholic A ct ion.' ' I ts purported aim was to promote moral life in the family , support constru ct ive efforts of the Czechoslovak governm ent , prevent the persecuti on of priests loyal to the re gim e by their bishops , a nd elimin ate all foreign interfe ren ce in the Church m a tters of Czechoslovakia. In this vein they issu ed a M a nifesto which was publi shed in all n ewspap ers and b roadcast on the state radio . An inten sive campa ign for the signin g of the M a nifesto was cond u cted throughout the whole country. The bishops of Czechoslovakia were still able secretl y �116 SLOVAKIA to meet and to issue a pastoral letter warning the people of the schismatic character of this spurious organization . On June 20, 1949, the Holy Office in Rome published a declaration by which all organizers and active members of the schismatic "Catholic Action" were automatically penalized with the highest ecclesiastical censure ( excommunication reserved in a special way to the Holy See). Despite the frantic efforts of the Communist regime to win supporters for this anti-Church campaign, the "Catholic Action" movement soon became a complete fiasco . It caused a great turmoil throughout the whole country and in Slovakia strikes in several factories and confrontations with the state police . The Communist government had to retreat. It even called on the maligned bishops to send a letter to the faithful to calm them down and exhort them to return to their work. Slavkovska describes in detail the organizational structure of the "Catholic Action" and various meetings of its organizers, but fails to mention that almost from the beginning it was only a paper organization doomed to an early demise. Still, the Communist government was not ready and willing to stop its efforts to subjugate the Church. With the failure of its ''Catholic Action" it took a new approach in this direction. It decided to legalize its attempts to enslave the Church . In a Communist country the parliament is a rubber-stamp assembly which can be counted on to pass all legislation unanimously put before it by the Communist Party. On October 14, 1949 , the Czechoslovak parliament enacted two laws which put the Church under the complete control of the state: Law No . 217/1949, which set up a State Agency for Ecclesiastical Affairs, and Law No. 218/1949 on the economic safeguarding of churches and religious bodies by the state. The State Agency for Ecclesiastical Affairs (and in Slovakia the Slovak Agency for Ecclesiastical Affairs) took control over all religious activities in the country. The second law gave the government all buildings of the churches and religious denominations and the exclusive right to grant ( or take away) licenses to clergymen for performing their ministry after they had taken an oath of loyalty to the government, and to pay them salaries according to their rank, seniority, and efficiency. The bishops first vehemently protested against this legalized enslavement of the Church. In the chaotic situation resulting from this new situation , they finally permitted their priests to take the prescribed oath with the mental reservation that they did not intend thereby to act against �SLOVAKIA 117 the laws of God, the Church, and the legitimate ecclesiastical authorities. In that sense, several bishops in March and April of 1950 also took the oath of loyalty. In that year ( 1950) of crude pressure on and persecution of the Church, the Communists rapidly proceeded in their efforts completely to subjugate the Church . They imprisoned or interned on trumped-up charges, or without any charges, several bishops Uosef Beran, Stepan Trochta, Jan Vojtassak, Stanislav Zela, Stefan Barnas, Michal Buzalka, Pavel Gojdic, and Basil Hopko). In public trials in the national courts they condemned to long prison terms Bishops V ojtassak, Gojdic, Buzalka, and Zela. Several representatives of larger religious orders and prominent prelates of Czechoslovakia were also publicly tried and condemned during this reign of terror. Still others were imprisoned and tried secretly. In the same year all monasteries, convents, and houses of religious orders and congregations were suppressed, and their members were confined to concentration houses . The Greek Catholic diocese of Presov was fraudulently and forcibly taken over by Orthodox bishops .The legitimate bishops of the diocese, Pavel Gojdic and Basil Hopko, were imprisoned, and Greek Catholic priests, loyal to Rome, were dispersed throughout the country as manual workers. Meanwhile, the Communists intensively worked on priests who showed an inclination to collaborate with the regime. First they established the organization of so-called patriotic priests , which later changed its name to ''Peace Movement of the Catholic Priests .'' In the dioceses whose bishops were imprisoned they forced the elections of vicars capitular as heads of the dioceses. The remaining bishops were confined to their residences and were under the surveillance of government agents who controlled all the activities of ligitimate ordinaries. Priestcollaborators intruded into the administration of the dioceses as vicars general, chancellors, and similar high officials. Slavkovska hardly mentions these rude encroachments on the administration and the life of the Catholic Church in Slovakia. But she does try to justify all these cruel interferences of the Communist regime in the very structure of the Catholic Church and in the field of human rights of the Catholic clergy and people. In her evaluation, there was no persecution of the Church, only legitimate steps for eliminating political clericalism in Slovakia. She praises the anti-Church laws of 1949 because they granted adequate financial remuneration to the priests for �118 SLOVAKIA their work as state employees . Furthermore, she wantonly states that all these provisions were welcomed by the "lower clergy" and the Catholic people. Slavkovska does not realize, or does not want to admit, that the governmental mingling with the innermost Church affairs and the erection of the pro-Communist priestly organizations, established under government pressure and protected by it, brought about the grossest form of caesaropapism, incomparably more destructive to the Church than the purported political clericalism during the previous regimes. In her article Slavkovska does not go as far as to the late sixties, to the Dubcek era. As soon as the cruel pressure on the Church was lifted in 1968, the Catholics, led by their remaining bishops and priests loyal to the Church, publicly denounced the persecution of the past decades and demanded abolition of all the previous abuses against the Church. They were supported even by many high ranking Communists of that era (Ladislav Holdos, Daniel Okali, Erika Kadlecova, and others). They achieved the restoration of the Greek Catholic diocese of Presov, the only seemingly permanent correction of the anti-Church abuses of the early fifties. Unfortunately , the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August, 1968 , and Husak 's process of so-called normalization destroyed all other rights which the Church had regained during the short-lived period of the "Prague-Spring." � SLOVAKIA 11 3 Review Article THEODORIC J . ZUBEK , O.F.M. AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM Eva Slavkovska. " Vzt'ah statu k cirkvam v prvych rokoch vystavby socializmu na Slovensku ," Historick y casopis, XXX, 2 (1982), 223-49. In her article Eva Slavkovska attempts to give a comple te account of the mo st important events in the worsening relations between the Czechoslovak government and the Catholic Church in Slovakia during the two critical years following the Communist coup d'etat of February 1948 . She b ases he r work most! y on the official records of the Slovak Commissariat for Schools, Sciences, and Arts prese rved in the Central State Archives of the Slovak Socialist Republic. Furthermore, she quotes from the works of seve ral Communist authors who wrote about the same subject matter , as well as articles from the so-called Catholic press, which soon after the coup was subjected to complete Communist control. As a result , her evaluation of the religious situation in Slovakia is one-sided and biased by he r Communist perception . Slavkovska begins h er article with a falsely precon ce ived idea tha t the deep reli giou s co nvictions of the Slovak people stemmed from econom ic, social, a nd cultural backwardness , supported in great part b y the Catholic hie rarchy a nd the tradition al political clericalism which until the Communist ta keover in 1948 affected Slova k Catholics. Although quite frequently Slavkovska looks back to the years before the Comm uni st coup d'e tat in February , 1948, she n eglects to m ention that immed iately after the war ( 1945) the Catholic Church suffered much more in Slovakia than it did in Bohemia and Moravia (Czech territories). Wh ereas in the Czech lands Catholi cs were represe nted b y th eir own politi cal party (Msgr. J a n Sramek's Czech P eople's P arty), Slovak Catholi cs were branded as "cle ri co -fascists" a nd h ad no political representation. The decrees of the Slovak National Council, which was dominated by Communists, h ad the aut hority of law in th e territory �114 SLOVAKIA of Slovakia . By these decrees all Catholic schools, publications , and societies were suppressed immediately after the war, while during the same period their counterparts in Bohemia and Moravia remained untouched. Only the elections of May 25, 1946 (the last free elections) brought some relief to Slovak Catholics. In April, 1946, the representatives of Slovak Catholics who had showed some opposition to Dr. Jozef Tiso's regime and were acceptable in the new political situation made an agreement with the representatives of the Slovak Democratic Party, previously completely dominated by Lutherans. With the help of Slovak Catholics, the Democratic Party won in Slovakia 62 % of the votes, while the Communist Party of Slovakia received less than half of that amount (30 % ). As a result of these elections, Slovak Catholics gained some political influence . Several of their periodical publications and some of the strictly religious societies were restored . But no Catholic schools, except the nine theologates, were allowed. It was only after the Communist takeover that the restrictions against the Catholic Church were conducted on a national basis and applied in the same way to Catholics in the whole country. Not surprisingly, Slavkovska omits these important facts and distinctions. She then proceeds by chronologically describing protracted and frustrating negotiations between the government and Church representatives. The bishops asked for a guarantee of freedom in the admin istration of the dioceses and parishes, for the preservation of the remaining Catholic schools in Bohemia and Moravia and for their restoration in Slovakia , for the existence of a free Catholic press and religious societies - rights that graduall y had been restricted after the Communist coup d'etat. The government pressed the bishops for a public proclamation of their loyalty to the new regime , for a renewal of their loyalty oath to the Communist government, and for influencing pries ts and Catholic people in promoting a pro-governm ent spirit. At thi s stage the Catholic bishops of the Czech territories a nd Slovakia acted together for the defense of the basic rights of the Catholic Church. The State-Church negotiations ended in failure in March , 1949 . Slavkovska blames the bishops for this failure, accusing them of a n un yieldin g a nd insin cere stand toward the Communist regime. Actually, the Communist regime was interes ted only in subjugating the Church and not in a ny workable agreement. While the nego ti a tions were still �SLOVAKIA 11 5 going on, the Central Action Committee of the National Front in Prague and its branches throughout the whole country , together with other government agencies, systematically en croach ed ever m o re d eeply on the rights of the Church . In 1949 , under various pretex ts , the regime suppressed several monasteries and convents, confiscated man y church buildings , and imprisoned a number of Catholic priests, both diocesan and religious , and Catholic laymen . Secret agents spied on all Catholic priests and members of religious orders and congregations . On the basis of h er research , Slavkovska - perhaps unwittingly - gives an interesting report on this matter. She states that this surveillance of the priests by the state agencies resulted in putting the priests into four categories: reliable to the regime (13.21 % ); those with a positive stand toward the regime , but not unequivocally (15.65 % ); apolitical (28 .65%); and unreliable (42.41 %). According to Slavkovska, the Communist agents worked with the reliable priests and tried to influence those in the second a nd third categories . The main part of the article is devoted to the so-called P eople's Catholic Action . Since the pontificate of Pius XI Catholic Action was an important m eans used by the Church to activate the faithful toward a deeper Christian life and to help priests bring Christian principles into family life and the whole of society . There was a well-organized Catholic Action in the Slovak dioceses and parishes under the supervision of the bishops and priests . In their effort to destroy the Church organization in Czechoslovakia, the Communist agencies attempted to alienate the priests from their bishops and the lay people from the uncompromising pries ts . Since Catholic Action was basically a laymen' s organization, the Communists con voked on June 10 , 1949 a meeting of n ominally Catholic lay people and several " reliable" priests in Pragu e. They establish ed their own '' P eople's Catholic A ct ion.' ' I ts purported aim was to promote moral life in the family , support constru ct ive efforts of the Czechoslovak governm ent , prevent the persecuti on of priests loyal to the re gim e by their bishops , a nd elimin ate all foreign interfe ren ce in the Church m a tters of Czechoslovakia. In this vein they issu ed a M a nifesto which was publi shed in all n ewspap ers and b roadcast on the state radio . An inten sive campa ign for the signin g of the M a nifesto was cond u cted throughout the whole country. The bishops of Czechoslovakia were still able secretl y �116 SLOVAKIA to meet and to issue a pastoral letter warning the people of the schismatic character of this spurious organization . On June 20, 1949, the Holy Office in Rome published a declaration by which all organizers and active members of the schismatic "Catholic Action" were automatically penalized with the highest ecclesiastical censure ( excommunication reserved in a special way to the Holy See). Despite the frantic efforts of the Communist regime to win supporters for this anti-Church campaign, the "Catholic Action" movement soon became a complete fiasco . It caused a great turmoil throughout the whole country and in Slovakia strikes in several factories and confrontations with the state police . The Communist government had to retreat. It even called on the maligned bishops to send a letter to the faithful to calm them down and exhort them to return to their work. Slavkovska describes in detail the organizational structure of the "Catholic Action" and various meetings of its organizers, but fails to mention that almost from the beginning it was only a paper organization doomed to an early demise. Still, the Communist government was not ready and willing to stop its efforts to subjugate the Church. With the failure of its ''Catholic Action" it took a new approach in this direction. It decided to legalize its attempts to enslave the Church . In a Communist country the parliament is a rubber-stamp assembly which can be counted on to pass all legislation unanimously put before it by the Communist Party. On October 14, 1949 , the Czechoslovak parliament enacted two laws which put the Church under the complete control of the state: Law No . 217/1949, which set up a State Agency for Ecclesiastical Affairs, and Law No. 218/1949 on the economic safeguarding of churches and religious bodies by the state. The State Agency for Ecclesiastical Affairs (and in Slovakia the Slovak Agency for Ecclesiastical Affairs) took control over all religious activities in the country. The second law gave the government all buildings of the churches and religious denominations and the exclusive right to grant ( or take away) licenses to clergymen for performing their ministry after they had taken an oath of loyalty to the government, and to pay them salaries according to their rank, seniority, and efficiency. The bishops first vehemently protested against this legalized enslavement of the Church. In the chaotic situation resulting from this new situation , they finally permitted their priests to take the prescribed oath with the mental reservation that they did not intend thereby to act against �SLOVAKIA 117 the laws of God, the Church, and the legitimate ecclesiastical authorities. In that sense, several bishops in March and April of 1950 also took the oath of loyalty. In that year ( 1950) of crude pressure on and persecution of the Church, the Communists rapidly proceeded in their efforts completely to subjugate the Church . They imprisoned or interned on trumped-up charges, or without any charges, several bishops Uosef Beran, Stepan Trochta, Jan Vojtassak, Stanislav Zela, Stefan Barnas, Michal Buzalka, Pavel Gojdic, and Basil Hopko). In public trials in the national courts they condemned to long prison terms Bishops V ojtassak, Gojdic, Buzalka, and Zela. Several representatives of larger religious orders and prominent prelates of Czechoslovakia were also publicly tried and condemned during this reign of terror. Still others were imprisoned and tried secretly. In the same year all monasteries, convents, and houses of religious orders and congregations were suppressed, and their members were confined to concentration houses . The Greek Catholic diocese of Presov was fraudulently and forcibly taken over by Orthodox bishops .The legitimate bishops of the diocese, Pavel Gojdic and Basil Hopko, were imprisoned, and Greek Catholic priests, loyal to Rome, were dispersed throughout the country as manual workers. Meanwhile, the Communists intensively worked on priests who showed an inclination to collaborate with the regime. First they established the organization of so-called patriotic priests , which later changed its name to ''Peace Movement of the Catholic Priests .'' In the dioceses whose bishops were imprisoned they forced the elections of vicars capitular as heads of the dioceses. The remaining bishops were confined to their residences and were under the surveillance of government agents who controlled all the activities of ligitimate ordinaries. Priestcollaborators intruded into the administration of the dioceses as vicars general, chancellors, and similar high officials. Slavkovska hardly mentions these rude encroachments on the administration and the life of the Catholic Church in Slovakia. But she does try to justify all these cruel interferences of the Communist regime in the very structure of the Catholic Church and in the field of human rights of the Catholic clergy and people. In her evaluation, there was no persecution of the Church, only legitimate steps for eliminating political clericalism in Slovakia. She praises the anti-Church laws of 1949 because they granted adequate financial remuneration to the priests for �118 SLOVAKIA their work as state employees . Furthermore, she wantonly states that all these provisions were welcomed by the "lower clergy" and the Catholic people. Slavkovska does not realize, or does not want to admit, that the governmental mingling with the innermost Church affairs and the erection of the pro-Communist priestly organizations, established under government pressure and protected by it, brought about the grossest form of caesaropapism, incomparably more destructive to the Church than the purported political clericalism during the previous regimes. In her article Slavkovska does not go as far as to the late sixties, to the Dubcek era. As soon as the cruel pressure on the Church was lifted in 1968, the Catholics, led by their remaining bishops and priests loyal to the Church, publicly denounced the persecution of the past decades and demanded abolition of all the previous abuses against the Church. They were supported even by many high ranking Communists of that era (Ladislav Holdos, Daniel Okali, Erika Kadlecova, and others). They achieved the restoration of the Greek Catholic diocese of Presov, the only seemingly permanent correction of the anti-Church abuses of the early fifties. Unfortunately , the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August, 1968 , and Husak 's process of so-called normalization destroyed all other rights which the Church had regained during the short-lived period of the "Prague-Spring." � 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 1984, Vol. 31 Description An account of the resource Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984. 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 1984 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 11 3 Review Article THEODORIC J . ZUBEK , O.F.M. AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM Eva Slavkovska. " Vzt'ah statu k cirkvam v prvych rokoch vystavby socializmu na Slovensku ," Historick y casopis, XXX, 2 (1982), 223-49. In her article Eva Slavkovska attempts to give a comple te account of the mo st important events in the worsening relations between the Czechoslovak government and the Catholic Church in Slovakia during the two critical years following the Communist coup d'etat of February 1948 . She b ases he r work most! y on the official records of the Slovak Commissariat for Schools, Sciences, and Arts prese rved in the Central State Archives of the Slovak Socialist Republic. Furthermore, she quotes from the works of seve ral Communist authors who wrote about the same subject matter , as well as articles from the so-called Catholic press, which soon after the coup was subjected to complete Communist control. As a result , her evaluation of the religious situation in Slovakia is one-sided and biased by he r Communist perception . Slavkovska begins h er article with a falsely precon ce ived idea tha t the deep reli giou s co nvictions of the Slovak people stemmed from econom ic, social, a nd cultural backwardness , supported in great part b y the Catholic hie rarchy a nd the tradition al political clericalism which until the Communist ta keover in 1948 affected Slova k Catholics. Although quite frequently Slavkovska looks back to the years before the Comm uni st coup d'e tat in February , 1948, she n eglects to m ention that immed iately after the war ( 1945) the Catholic Church suffered much more in Slovakia than it did in Bohemia and Moravia (Czech territories). Wh ereas in the Czech lands Catholi cs were represe nted b y th eir own politi cal party (Msgr. J a n Sramek's Czech P eople's P arty), Slovak Catholi cs were branded as "cle ri co -fascists" a nd h ad no political representation. The decrees of the Slovak National Council, which was dominated by Communists, h ad the aut hority of law in th e territory 114 SLOVAKIA of Slovakia . By these decrees all Catholic schools, publications , and societies were suppressed immediately after the war, while during the same period their counterparts in Bohemia and Moravia remained untouched. Only the elections of May 25, 1946 (the last free elections) brought some relief to Slovak Catholics. In April, 1946, the representatives of Slovak Catholics who had showed some opposition to Dr. Jozef Tiso's regime and were acceptable in the new political situation made an agreement with the representatives of the Slovak Democratic Party, previously completely dominated by Lutherans. With the help of Slovak Catholics, the Democratic Party won in Slovakia 62 % of the votes, while the Communist Party of Slovakia received less than half of that amount (30 % ). As a result of these elections, Slovak Catholics gained some political influence . Several of their periodical publications and some of the strictly religious societies were restored . But no Catholic schools, except the nine theologates, were allowed. It was only after the Communist takeover that the restrictions against the Catholic Church were conducted on a national basis and applied in the same way to Catholics in the whole country. Not surprisingly, Slavkovska omits these important facts and distinctions. She then proceeds by chronologically describing protracted and frustrating negotiations between the government and Church representatives. The bishops asked for a guarantee of freedom in the admin istration of the dioceses and parishes, for the preservation of the remaining Catholic schools in Bohemia and Moravia and for their restoration in Slovakia , for the existence of a free Catholic press and religious societies - rights that graduall y had been restricted after the Communist coup d'etat. The government pressed the bishops for a public proclamation of their loyalty to the new regime , for a renewal of their loyalty oath to the Communist government, and for influencing pries ts and Catholic people in promoting a pro-governm ent spirit. At thi s stage the Catholic bishops of the Czech territories a nd Slovakia acted together for the defense of the basic rights of the Catholic Church. The State-Church negotiations ended in failure in March , 1949 . Slavkovska blames the bishops for this failure, accusing them of a n un yieldin g a nd insin cere stand toward the Communist regime. Actually, the Communist regime was interes ted only in subjugating the Church and not in a ny workable agreement. While the nego ti a tions were still SLOVAKIA 11 5 going on, the Central Action Committee of the National Front in Prague and its branches throughout the whole country , together with other government agencies, systematically en croach ed ever m o re d eeply on the rights of the Church . In 1949 , under various pretex ts , the regime suppressed several monasteries and convents, confiscated man y church buildings , and imprisoned a number of Catholic priests, both diocesan and religious , and Catholic laymen . Secret agents spied on all Catholic priests and members of religious orders and congregations . On the basis of h er research , Slavkovska - perhaps unwittingly - gives an interesting report on this matter. She states that this surveillance of the priests by the state agencies resulted in putting the priests into four categories: reliable to the regime (13.21 % ); those with a positive stand toward the regime , but not unequivocally (15.65 % ); apolitical (28 .65%); and unreliable (42.41 %). According to Slavkovska, the Communist agents worked with the reliable priests and tried to influence those in the second a nd third categories . The main part of the article is devoted to the so-called P eople's Catholic Action . Since the pontificate of Pius XI Catholic Action was an important m eans used by the Church to activate the faithful toward a deeper Christian life and to help priests bring Christian principles into family life and the whole of society . There was a well-organized Catholic Action in the Slovak dioceses and parishes under the supervision of the bishops and priests . In their effort to destroy the Church organization in Czechoslovakia, the Communist agencies attempted to alienate the priests from their bishops and the lay people from the uncompromising pries ts . Since Catholic Action was basically a laymen' s organization, the Communists con voked on June 10 , 1949 a meeting of n ominally Catholic lay people and several " reliable" priests in Pragu e. They establish ed their own '' P eople's Catholic A ct ion.' ' I ts purported aim was to promote moral life in the family , support constru ct ive efforts of the Czechoslovak governm ent , prevent the persecuti on of priests loyal to the re gim e by their bishops , a nd elimin ate all foreign interfe ren ce in the Church m a tters of Czechoslovakia. In this vein they issu ed a M a nifesto which was publi shed in all n ewspap ers and b roadcast on the state radio . An inten sive campa ign for the signin g of the M a nifesto was cond u cted throughout the whole country. The bishops of Czechoslovakia were still able secretl y 116 SLOVAKIA to meet and to issue a pastoral letter warning the people of the schismatic character of this spurious organization . On June 20, 1949, the Holy Office in Rome published a declaration by which all organizers and active members of the schismatic "Catholic Action" were automatically penalized with the highest ecclesiastical censure ( excommunication reserved in a special way to the Holy See). Despite the frantic efforts of the Communist regime to win supporters for this anti-Church campaign, the "Catholic Action" movement soon became a complete fiasco . It caused a great turmoil throughout the whole country and in Slovakia strikes in several factories and confrontations with the state police . The Communist government had to retreat. It even called on the maligned bishops to send a letter to the faithful to calm them down and exhort them to return to their work. Slavkovska describes in detail the organizational structure of the "Catholic Action" and various meetings of its organizers, but fails to mention that almost from the beginning it was only a paper organization doomed to an early demise. Still, the Communist government was not ready and willing to stop its efforts to subjugate the Church. With the failure of its ''Catholic Action" it took a new approach in this direction. It decided to legalize its attempts to enslave the Church . In a Communist country the parliament is a rubber-stamp assembly which can be counted on to pass all legislation unanimously put before it by the Communist Party. On October 14, 1949 , the Czechoslovak parliament enacted two laws which put the Church under the complete control of the state: Law No . 217/1949, which set up a State Agency for Ecclesiastical Affairs, and Law No. 218/1949 on the economic safeguarding of churches and religious bodies by the state. The State Agency for Ecclesiastical Affairs (and in Slovakia the Slovak Agency for Ecclesiastical Affairs) took control over all religious activities in the country. The second law gave the government all buildings of the churches and religious denominations and the exclusive right to grant ( or take away) licenses to clergymen for performing their ministry after they had taken an oath of loyalty to the government, and to pay them salaries according to their rank, seniority, and efficiency. The bishops first vehemently protested against this legalized enslavement of the Church. In the chaotic situation resulting from this new situation , they finally permitted their priests to take the prescribed oath with the mental reservation that they did not intend thereby to act against SLOVAKIA 117 the laws of God, the Church, and the legitimate ecclesiastical authorities. In that sense, several bishops in March and April of 1950 also took the oath of loyalty. In that year ( 1950) of crude pressure on and persecution of the Church, the Communists rapidly proceeded in their efforts completely to subjugate the Church . They imprisoned or interned on trumped-up charges, or without any charges, several bishops Uosef Beran, Stepan Trochta, Jan Vojtassak, Stanislav Zela, Stefan Barnas, Michal Buzalka, Pavel Gojdic, and Basil Hopko). In public trials in the national courts they condemned to long prison terms Bishops V ojtassak, Gojdic, Buzalka, and Zela. Several representatives of larger religious orders and prominent prelates of Czechoslovakia were also publicly tried and condemned during this reign of terror. Still others were imprisoned and tried secretly. In the same year all monasteries, convents, and houses of religious orders and congregations were suppressed, and their members were confined to concentration houses . The Greek Catholic diocese of Presov was fraudulently and forcibly taken over by Orthodox bishops .The legitimate bishops of the diocese, Pavel Gojdic and Basil Hopko, were imprisoned, and Greek Catholic priests, loyal to Rome, were dispersed throughout the country as manual workers. Meanwhile, the Communists intensively worked on priests who showed an inclination to collaborate with the regime. First they established the organization of so-called patriotic priests , which later changed its name to ''Peace Movement of the Catholic Priests .'' In the dioceses whose bishops were imprisoned they forced the elections of vicars capitular as heads of the dioceses. The remaining bishops were confined to their residences and were under the surveillance of government agents who controlled all the activities of ligitimate ordinaries. Priestcollaborators intruded into the administration of the dioceses as vicars general, chancellors, and similar high officials. Slavkovska hardly mentions these rude encroachments on the administration and the life of the Catholic Church in Slovakia. But she does try to justify all these cruel interferences of the Communist regime in the very structure of the Catholic Church and in the field of human rights of the Catholic clergy and people. In her evaluation, there was no persecution of the Church, only legitimate steps for eliminating political clericalism in Slovakia. She praises the anti-Church laws of 1949 because they granted adequate financial remuneration to the priests for 118 SLOVAKIA their work as state employees . Furthermore, she wantonly states that all these provisions were welcomed by the "lower clergy" and the Catholic people. Slavkovska does not realize, or does not want to admit, that the governmental mingling with the innermost Church affairs and the erection of the pro-Communist priestly organizations, established under government pressure and protected by it, brought about the grossest form of caesaropapism, incomparably more destructive to the Church than the purported political clericalism during the previous regimes. In her article Slavkovska does not go as far as to the late sixties, to the Dubcek era. As soon as the cruel pressure on the Church was lifted in 1968, the Catholics, led by their remaining bishops and priests loyal to the Church, publicly denounced the persecution of the past decades and demanded abolition of all the previous abuses against the Church. They were supported even by many high ranking Communists of that era (Ladislav Holdos, Daniel Okali, Erika Kadlecova, and others). They achieved the restoration of the Greek Catholic diocese of Presov, the only seemingly permanent correction of the anti-Church abuses of the early fifties. Unfortunately , the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August, 1968 , and Husak 's process of so-called normalization destroyed all other rights which the Church had regained during the short-lived period of the "Prague-Spring."  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 'Audi Alteram Partem': Eva Slavkovská, "Vzťah štátu k cirkvám v prvých rokoch výstavby socializmu na Slovensku" Description An account of the resource Theodoric J. Zubek Slovakia, Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984 pp. 113-118 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Zúbek, Teodorik J., 1914-1988 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Historickvý časopis, XXX, 2 (1982), 223-49 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/2b8aa9baaf206146d98754fc24025177.pdf e15f32c5dc1cf13cc3a1d9a02d354a18 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 119 Book Reviews Robin Okey. Eastern Europe 1740-1980: feudalism to Communism. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1982 . 264 pp . Attempting to write a general survey of Eastern European history is no m ean task . Indeed, a comprehensive overview within the confines of a book numbering less than three hundred pages is altogether impossible. Robin Okey offers an alternative to this dilemma in the form of an interpretive stud y . The author indicates that his purpose is to " present a perspecti ve rather than tell a story. " Focusing on the twin themes of modernization and na tionalism , he traces the evolution of the Central and Eastern European lands through two ce nturies of economic , political, and social change . It is his thesis that Eastern European nationalism arose as a response to the area ' s comparative backwardness in relation to the W est. In approaching thi s theme, Okey notes that feudalism came relatively late to this general area , and suggests that - at least until the sixteenth century - Eastern Europe enjoyed the potential of parallel development with W estern Europe. H e states, however , that dom estic fe udal forces were strong enough to reverse thi s trend . External forces - the Turkish invasion of the Balka ns a nd Hun gary a nd the H a bsburg conquest of rebelliou s Bohemia - are also cited as instrument al facto rs. Ei ghtee nth -century Eastern Europe is ch a racterized as havin g regimes which were ineffi cient even by feudal standards . The peasantry bore the brunt of resulta nt defi ciencies, but thriving popul ar cultures provided an impetu s for future revival. Okey states catego rically that the penetrati on of the Enli ghtenm ent represe nt s the first stages of ra pprochem ent with the W est. In a number of in sta nces th e process was characteri zed by reform from a bove, althou gh the role of th e cl ergy is also cited . In the latter case, the auth or specificall y mention s th e P ole K on a rski and th e Serb Obrad ovic; it is wo rth notin g th a t Bern ola k's contribution to th e Slovak rev ival is omitted . T he Eastern Eu ro pean Enli gh te nment faced the dil emm a th at the socia l premi ses of an al ternative order we re incomplete. Con sequentl y, conservatives were more ext reme and reformers more revolutionary tha n their cou n terpa rt s in the West. �120 SLOVAKIA Liberalism in Eastern Europe differed from the West insofar as members of the nobility were heavily involved in a process which put them in opposition to their own social strata. Okey characterizes Eastern European liberalism as "an elusive, complex creed"; it shared the heavy emotionalism of ideas from other lands , but was only partially emancipated from native traditions. He objects to the Marxist view of nationalism as a creed devised by ambitious bourgeois elements; instead, he cites the role of professional scholars as the vanguard of the national movements . The 1848 revolutionary experience led to a clash between liberalism and nationalism; the former was instrumental in abolishing the last vestiges of serfdom, but also failed to satisfy the national aspirations of subject peoples . The balance of the nineteenth century is treated as a period of ideological fragmentation. The advance of industrial capitalism caused a reaction against liberalism on the part of the Right as well as the Left , and the continued rise of mass nationalism splintered existing political parties along ethnic lines. In assessing the downfall of the old order during World War I , Okey concedes that not all tendencies could be related to the national question. But h e hastens to add that "only nationalism had a magnetism strong enough to draw the dislocated elements into an alternative political order the pattern of nation-states . '' Promoters of the new nation-states viewed their emergence as the culmination of humanist principles. Okey disagrees, and cites three general causes for the failure of Western-style liberalism in the interwar period . Most obviously, one of them is the continuity of ethnic conflict within the new states. Second, the Eastern European nations remained economically de pendent on foreign capital. Finally, both the leaders of the new states and their opponents repudiated democracy in their approach to the outstanding problems of the times. Okey views interwar nationalism as "short-sighted rather than fundamentall y misguided"; the outsider Hitler bore the greatest responsibility for the demise of these states. The author implies that national Communism was most successful in those countries where the Party remained in effective control of public life, and failed in Czechoslovakia because the regime capitulated ideologicall y to non-Party gro ups. Finally, Okey states that the rise of a mass int elli ge nt sia and the emerge nce of common social problem s with the West is indicative of a greater degree of syncopat ion. For the student of Slovak hi story, this book might prove disappointing. Indeed, a genuine weakness may be found in the fact that Okey cites so few examples of the Slovak experien ce which provide important contrasts with certain patterns. Okey ' s contention that Eastern European soc iety had already become "brutali zed" during World War II , and that the Communists were tailor-made representatives of the new age , borders on conjecture. Although the position of the J ews in Slovakia was precarious during the war , they were �SLOVAKIA 121 nevertheless afforded a certain "breathing space" denied to their kin smen in Poland, and the average citizen of the Slovak R epublic was by no m ean s terrorized. It was only during the 1944 risin g - in which Communists played a major role - that "brutalization" on a broad scale was affected . Okey's treatment of the " Prague Spring" also provides a case of omission: He correctly cites the straightj acket command economy model as a major facto r in Novotny's demise, but mentions the Slovak opposition only as merely inciden tal. But insofar as Slovakia may be viewed as an integral part of an Eastern European whole, this book has definite merit. It provides the reader with a concise, refreshing overview of the past two centuries, and the author skillfully employs anecdotal examples to compare and contrast specific national experiences. Okey's book is helpful to the student already well-grounded in general Eastern European history; it can also be useful to the instructor who wishes to co nvey a certain sense of ideological conflict inherent in the region . R. VLADIMIR BAUMGARTEN Easley, South Carolin a East Central Europe: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. Edited by Milorad M. Drachkovitch. Stanford, Calif.: H oover Institution Press, 1982 . 41 7 pp . Thirteen of the seventeen papers contained in this volume were presented at a conferen ce organized by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in January , 1980 . Due to the events in Poland in August , 1980 , publication of the symposium's proceedings was delayed so that individual authors could revise their contributions. According to the editor, Milorad M. Drachkovitch, readers of the book "will not find in it a ny pred ictions " and "will be offered facts and explan ations of recent events" (p. xi). This is true of most but not all of the essays. The latte r are largely analyt ical and of uneven quality. Among th e excellent contributions are Drachkovitch 's survey of the postwar political and economic developm ents in Yu goslavia, Leszek Kolakowski's " Ideology in Eastern Europe ," and the essays by J ohn Erickson, Hugh Seton-Watson, Peter J. Wiles, and Richard F. Staar. Also superb is the overview of developments in East Central Europe , " Present Situation and Principal Trends ," by Robert F. Byrnes. H e points out that '' the opinions of even our most expe rienced an alysts often reflect shallow hi stori cal knowledge , flight y analysis, and the ass umpti on that peoples of this area are far less in terested in independence and self-government than a re West �122 SLOVAKIA Europeans and Americans '' (p. 20). The flip-flops of George K ennan are cited as an example. Byrnes is a very perceptive observer who notices the connection between the election of Pope John Paul II , his visit to P oland in 1979, and the subsequent d evelopments in that country. In contrast , the essay on Poland by Jan T omasz Gross, " What Is Yet To Come," appears to be a rather superficial d escription of events leading up to the establishment of Solidarity in 1980 , claiming that " the impossible was inevitable " (p. 32 1). In the last section of the essay Gross sketches two different scenarios: first , Soviet military intervention ; second, the devolution of the Soviet imperium for which the price would be " m ost likely " the " ne utralization of Germany through unification and detachment from the Atlantic Alliance " (p. 325). As it happened , the imposition of martial law in D ecember 1981 proved his (and man y other observers') projections incorrect. On Alexander Dubcek 's behavior in 1968 Hugh Seton-Watson comments by asking a rhetorical question : How could the United States "defend people who would not defend themselves?" (p . 178). In contrast to it , Zdenek L. Suda, while concentrating mostly on the events in 1968 , is very a pologetic. H e writes: " The peaceful counterrevolution in the ve ry core of the Czechoslovak system must have caused more pani c in Moscow than the armed insurgency of Hungarian workers and soldiers in O ctober 1956 " (p. 258). Suda's cl aim is an undocumented assumption without an y foundation, and so is his interpretation of the events in Czechoslovkia when he writes that " the whole reform movement of 1968 could be defined simply as the application of rules and laws that long had been dead letters, but nt>:vertheless existed. It was precisely this greater respect for legality and constitutionality that sounded an alarm in the Soviet power center and triggered the intervention" (p. 256). Accordin g to Suda, "the Czechoslovak case differs from the Polish case because the Polish reform experim ent initiated in 1956 fa iled without direct Soviet intervent ion " (p. 252). Suda does not differentiate between intervention and in vasion . Soviet military presence in Poland ever since the end of World War II has constituted inter vention and h as m ade in vasion unnecessary. In fact, an invasion would have been cou nterproductive from the Soviet point of view. In contrast to it , by in vading Czechoslovakia in 1968 the Soviets h ave attained their military and strategic objecti ves. The "temporary" stationing of Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia has become " permanent. " The even ts in Poland in the earl y 1980s corroborate the view th at the Soviets had military a nd strategic reasons for the 1968 in vasion and that the in ternal de velopments , which certainly did not amount to a "counterrevoluti on" as Sud a and the Sov iets claim, were merely a pretext for the action whose a im was to extract a "consent " from the Czech and Slovak Communist leaders to the stati oning of Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia. L abeling people as " neo -Stalinists " a nd "dogmati cs," as �SLOVAKIA 123 Suda does, is meaningless. His lack of knowledge of history is reflected in the essay. For example, he writes that " the division of the world between the two superpowers into spheres of interest - made the eventual integration of Czechoslovakia into the system controlled by the Soviets virtually inevitable'' (p. 244). However , nothing was " inevitable" about the arrangements that Edvard Benes made in Moscow in D ecember , 1943 . It was his decision to sign the trea ty with the Soviet Union and to promise the Czech and Slovak Communist leaders in Moscow that their party would be the strongest element in the new regime and that he would always support it. Indeed , Professor Byrnes' comment on the " shallow historical knowledge" and " flighty analysis," cited above , is applicable to the two essays by the two sociologists on Czechoslovakia and Poland published in this volume . j OSEF KAL YODA Saint Joseph College W est H artford, Connecticut Rudolf Krajcovic. Svedectvo dejfn o slovencine . 2nd edition, corrected. Martin : Matica slovenska, 1980 . 268 pp. The second edi tion of Krajcovic's collection of linguistic eviden ce for the Slovak language is essentially the same as the first of 1977 . In these two edition s, the compiler strives to offer proof that the Slovak language has its own long and distinctive history. He is intent on demonstrating that Slovak is a " language of written documents ." He traces Slovak from the period of the Great Moravian Empire of the ninth century throu gh the "twilight of Hungarian feudalism" in the nineteenth century. For the conclusion of his stud y, Krajcovic gives examples of present-day dialectical variations of the Slovak lan guage. There are photographs of d ocuments u sed as evidence. Especially when documents are in script, Krajcovic has the writings reproduced in printed form for easier appreciat ion. Interspersed among the evidence are bl ac k a nd white as well as colored illu stration s of folk articles and pa intings on a folk theme. The illu st ra tions a re the better to con vey the a tmosphere and period of the docum ents presented. Documen ta ry evidence from the early periods , n a mel y from that of the Great M orav ia n Empire through that of the fifteenth century , is not really extensive. A hi storical lin gui st would find the m aterial interesti ng, perh a ps even intrigu ing , but not conclu sive or even substantial for a judgm ent. From the sixteenth century onwards , the material offered as evidence is increasin gly more substanti ve. Indeed , Krajcovic him self notes th at the m aterial from the sixtee nth ce ntury is of" great significance," because thi s was "when Slovak was �124 SLOVAKIA for the first time committed to written form." The expression " written form " is perhaps a poor choice of phrasing. (The expression is found in the brief Slovak, Russian, as well as English introductions to the documentary evidence for this period.) For virtually all the examples of Slovak in this book are written . By the expression "written form," Krajcovic's probably means that the extant documentary instances of Slovak become more extensive and so more able to be appreciated linguistically. In focusing on this poor phrasing and its alleged implication , I do not intend to impugn the long history and distinctiveness of Slovak that Krajcovic desires so clearly to demonstrate in his book. The reader, nonetheless, cannot help feeling that Krajcovic is straining very hard to do this. On the whole, the book is more a nicely illustrated survey of the Slovak language for the layperson rather than a serious academic study for the specialist. With the Slovak language and its related culture appreciated so little outside of Slovakia and the Czech lands, Krajcovic' s book could enhance to some degree a better understanding of this language and culture . This second edition is a ''corrected '' version of the first . This correcting involves stylistic and typographical errors, but especially a few attributions that include additions, deletions, or actual corrections. For example, Krajfovic has deleted the attribution of the 1648 Trnava dictionary as one used for Virgil's Aeneid. The attribution ofa folk article as coming from Kovafova pri Zvolene has been changed to Kral'ova. Krajcovic has added the name of the Austrian author of Klimko's rendition of Krizant und Daria - Gottfried Uhlich, rendered by Krajcovic as Ulrich . Also, the English text has at times questionable diction and stylistic phrasing. The Russian text has been improved for this edition in various places. Neither language should offer problems in Slovakia, for there are native speakers as well as numerous specialists who could be consulted for a third edition . Finally, the bibliography for this edition has been expanded by one item. The price of this survey of the Slovak language has remained the same as for the earlier edition . This should make the book a readily purchasable acquisition for any individual or institution. G ERALD] . SABO , S.J . John Carroll University Cleveland, Ohio I'.udovft Novak. K najstarsfm dejinam slovenskehojazyka . Bratislava: Veda, vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej adademie vied, 1980 . 352 pp. This important study of the earliest history of the Slovak language evolved out of a plan by I'.udovft Novak in the 1930s to supply the most up-to-date , complete, and detailed presentation of Slovak phonology from its earliest begin- �SLOVAKIA 125 nings . Methods of structu ral analysis were to be applied to the reconstructed phonologies of Slovak dialects . The origi nal ve rsion was begun in the last months of 1938 and earl y 1939 , a period of political turbulence. Over the intervening years, materials added to the original accumulated into several essays, thus resulting in two works. By reason of the a mount of accu mulated m ate rials , a recent decision to publi sh this monograph from just the original alone was ca rried out . The val ue of the original as a linguistic la ndm ark of the structural method in Slovakia was the deciding factor. Novak 's later theories are to be published in a separate volume which will be entitled "Vznik Praslovanov a ich jazyka. '' Four chapters in the book under review provide the most important linguistic phenomena in the d evelopment of the Slovak sou nd system , from the earliest period after the collapse of Common Slavic into the dialect differentiations of the Slovak area. They are: (a) the Slovak reflexes rat-, lat- from P ro to-Slavic *ort- , *oft -; (b) alterat ions in the consonant clusters dl, tl, and dn ; (c) reduced vowel "yer"-changes , the contraction phenomena, and the depalatalization of e( e)»a; and (d) the reconstruction of sound systems of Slovak dialects after the period of liquidation of Common Slavic co rrelations of '' syllabic soft ening. '' Novak is interested in whether (a) can be termed a "Yugoslavism" relating to a theory of colonization of Central Slovakia from the south . With respect to (b) he quotes rare documents of ancient dialect litera ture, gives phonetic a nd phonological ex plana tions , with examples of geographic ex tension of changes in W estern Slovak, and compares this with pa rallel types of like consonantal quantitat ive correlation s in a non-Slavic la nguage. For ( c) the a uthor defines the rapport of Central Slovak especially with East and Central Slavic languages, and refers to the chronology and locali zation of alterations in the Common Slavic dialect dom ai n. R egarding (d) he concen trates first on the contrac tion phenomena in Central Slovak with its chronology a nd that of other Slavic dialects, and then of other West Slavic la nguages . H e provides a n argu m ent for the explanation of the zenou-feminine-instrumental-singular type and a criticism of other theories. Most of the phonological changes in Old Slovak are viewed as occurring due to certain influences of external lan guages or of internal dialects. Hi s terminology illu strates certain developing periods of Old Slovak , for example, turkicizing, mongolization. The aut hor maintains one of several possible theories in lin guistic development. Hi s is an attempt to overcome difficulties connected with the immane nt development of the Slovak language. ova.k's structural approach as innovative and successful in the earl y period of lin gu ist ics is appla uded by colleagues m entioned in the foreword. H owever, his earl y theory is criticized as "one-sided" for three main reasons : fai lure to �126 SLOVAKIA calculate the comparison of internal contradictions; overemphasis on phonology without consideration of grammatical, morphemi c, morphological, or wordbuilding structures as lingui stic units; and finally a lack of regard for sociolin guistic chan ges . I'.udovft Novak is referred to as th e " Nestor of Slovak Linguistics " (p. 9) . This original work is viewed as a monument in the evolution of Slovak lin gu istics a nd is noteworthy, especially considering the period of its composition, the structural methods applied, with its new theoreti cal thought and insights. It is rightly considered the first synthetic conception of the earliest history of Slovak language founded on the development of the dialect sound systems. The dedication of the book is symbolic of its apparent inherent worth. Honored are three famous contributors to Slovak linguistics: to the history of the Slovak language (Trubetzkoy); to the comparative history of Slovak and Czech languages (Travnfcek), and to the foundation of modern Slovak linguistic geography with its Slovak historical dialectology (Vazny). Novak has provided the first synth etic method of structu ral applicat ion to the historical phonology of Slovak , a structural lin gui st ic milestone in Slovak lan guage study. JOHN M . KOCHIK Westmoreland County Community College Youngwood, Pennsyl vania Frantisek Kalesny. Habani na Slovensku. Bratislava: Tatran, 198 1. 376 pp. Scattered today over the prairies of the United States and Canada can be found settlements of a people known as Hutterites or Hutterian Brethren. The Brethren still retain the German language of their forefathers and practice a st ri ctly communitarian way of life. Their mode of collective farming is not th e outcome of economi c calculation ; it results from the Hutterit es' belief that Christ calls on his followers to renounce private property and have all things common . The H utterites originated in th e earl y 1530s as part of the Anabaptist movement that had begun in Central Europe around 1525. The M ennon ites tod ay also claim spiritual descent from this movement which represe nted a left wing of the Protestant R eformation. While onl y the Hutterites esta bli shed community o f goods, all its adherents practiced adult ba ptism (hence the n ame they acqu ired, Anabaptists) in order to stress the volunta ry character of their beli eve rs' church, in which only grown persons could participate meaningfull y. As Dr. Kales ny remarks in the preface to hi s fascinating study of Hutterite hi story, few Slovaks know about th e connection betwee n the Hutterites a nd Slovakia, where they li ved for over two hundred year . The descendants of those Hutterites, who in the mid -e ighteenth century acce pted forced �SLOVAKIA 127 recatholicization rather than have to emigrate, eve ntually lost their German speech and a re today completely assimilated to the Slovak popula tion. If memories of the Hutterites grew dim, the name which their Slovak neighbors gave these German settlers , " H abans " (Habani, H abaner) , has become widely known on acco unt of the beautiful ceramics produced by the Hutterite communities and their successors. These are now valued possessions of the museums of Czechoslovakia a nd Hun gary, and examples of the art form are also to be fo und elsewhere. H a ban folk a rt , according to K alesny (p.12), should be reckoned as an important asse t of Slovak '' n at ion al culture,'' for it was produced on the soil of Slovakia by people who, although of foreign origin , had put down deep roots there. The book , which is a wo rk of scholarship even though it lac ks footnotes, is divided into three parts. The first part deals with the history of the Hutterite communities from their inception down to the present d ay, with m ost a ttention given to their soj ourn in northwest Hungary (present -day Slovakia) . They first set up comm unities there around 1545: Their chief settlement a nd the seat of their " bi sh op" was a t Sobotiste. As in Moravia where the sect had started, h ere too it s ad herents we re welcomed by the landown ing nobility, Catholic as well as Protestant, who valued the Hu tterites as h ardworking and profitable tenants and consequently were prepared to overlook their religiou s peculiarities. After the battle of White Mountain in 1620 the H absburg ruler drove them out of M oravia, but the Moravian brethren also found a refuge on the estates of friendly Hun garia n landown ers. The endemic warfare of the seve nteenth century when Turkish, H absburg, and kuru c forces ravaged the Slovak countryside inflicted terrible suffering on the local population , including the Hutterites . On the eve of the disaster of 1620 the Hutterites in M oravia and Slovakia had numbered abo ut 25,000 persons, a tenfold increase sin ce 1545, which was due to the steady stream of newcomers from the T yrol a nd ot her pa rts of Ce n tral Europe seeking to join the brotherhood. Almost all these were of German speech , but a few adherents were of local origin. On page 46 , fo r instance, K alesny m entions "Wendel H olba ein Schlawak (Ve ndel H olba, Slovak)," who even becam e a Hu tterite minister. Whereas in north Hun gary the Hutterites abandoned their communitarian wa y of life in 1685 a nd were recatholicized under Maria Theresa in the nex t century (w hile still retaining for some time their separate legal identit y as H abaner), in Transylvania - where some Hutterites had settled in 1621 - they contin ued to lead the same life as before, until finally in 1767 the aut horit ies expelled those who would not conform . Ka les ny ch ron icles briefly their subseq uent wanderings, first via Wall ac hia to the Ukraine where they arrived in 1770 and then in 1874 across the Atlantic and on to the American West. After World War I most of the Hutterites moved across the border into Canada . Their later mi grat ions stemmed not from �128 SLOVAKIA religious persecution but from the threat posed to their pacifist principles by the introduction of universal miliary service. Kalesny prefaces his historical narrative, which for the most part does not add to what we already know , by an interestin g discussion of the name haban , the first authenticated m ention of which occurs in a document of 1667 now in the municipal archives of Bratislava. Originally a d erogatory term , it eventually lost its pejorative connotation and became the accepted way of describing the descendants of the former comm unitarians . Concerning the origin of the word no consensus exists among scholars. The latest theory is that of a German scholar who derives it from the H ebrew. D espite what the resumes say, Kalesn y seems to be somewhat sceptical about this. If the author deals rather briefly with the religious aspects of the Hutteri te way of life, h e devotes almost the whole of th e second part of the book to their social organization. The overwhelming majority of community m embers were artisans: Over forty crafts were bei ng practiced when the communities were at their peak. Of course, they also engaged in farming, which today is the chief occupation of the Hutterites. A strict discipline was imposed on members , expulsion from the brotherhood being the final sanction against those who did not conform. But this was not usually necessary since the brethren recognized the advantages of communal living over those of the outside world, despite any momentary attraction they might feel toward the latter. " The Hutterites had succeeded in creating an ordered society, socially egalitarian and materially secure, with high moral principles based on the community'' (p. 169) . Children of both sexes were taught at least to read and write - in an age when illiteracy prevailed among the masses . Great care was taken, too, to provide for the sick and aged, for pregnant women and for children of preschool age . The culture was perhaps narrow and th e aut horit y of the elders excessive, but this must be judged within the context of the times. Purely aesthetic values found no place among Hutterites. Yet their craftsmen succeeded in creatin g countless objects of beauty either for domestic use or for sale: Their pottery became famous throughout east central Europe and was eage rly bought up by the nobility a nd wealthy townspeople of the area. Kalesny, whose specialty is folk a rt , devotes th e third part of hi s book to the history and technology of'' H aban '' pottery. The making of faience , their most hi gly prized produ ct , had bee n introdu ced into th e Hutterite communit ies around 1580 by An a baptist immigra nts from northeas t Italy. Kales ny has included at the end I 09 full-page colored illu strat ion s of ceramics emanating from " H aban" workshops. The bibliography includes man y items in Slovak, Czech, a nd Hungarian that are unknown to North Ameri can scholars who have written on the Hutterites. Man y of these pi eces, it is true , deal with " Haban" ce ramics, but some �SLOVAKIA 129 are of more general interest. K alesny, on the other h and, h as obviously had difficulty in gaining access to sch olarship in the W est. He knows the work of the M ennonite sociologist , J ohn A. H ostetler. But h e does not, for example , appear to be acquainted either with the valua ble study by another M ennonite scholar , Victor J . Peters, All Things Common: The Hutterian Way of Life (Minneapoli s, 1965) , or with the numerous articles published in the United States by the leading authority on Hutterite history and culture, the late Robert Friedmann . Many of them were reprinted in his Hutterite Studies (Goshen , Indian a , 1961) . L et us hope that in future closer contacts can be established in the field of Hutterite studies between North American scholars and those working in Czechoslovakia and Hungary. K alesny is perhaps lucky in dealing with a group like the Hutterites who , while deeply religiou s, have at the same time been dedicated "communists," albeit of the Utopian variety. The T at ran press was able (so to speak) to roll out the red carpet for him . It h as published a volume that , with its excellent pa per, numerou s illu stration s, and tasteful design , is indeed a credit to book production in Slovakia. PETER BROCK University of T oronto Toronto , Canada August A. Skodacek. Lutherans in Slovakia . Pittsburgh : Slavia Printing Company, 1982. 242 pp. This acco unt of the rise and development of the Lutheran Church in Slovakia from the Reformation to the present redresses the oversight of many concern in g the role of the Lutheran Church in the historical development of Slovakia. This may b e a fl aw. The author would have us understand that Slovakia 's history in modern times is a con sequen ce n ot onl y of the R eformation but also of the influence of Lutheranism in Slovak social and political struggles. However, Skodacek does not su ffic ientl y analyze the historical facts a nd ci rcum stances to judge whether hi s claim , that without Lutheranism m od ern Slovakia would not be , is warranted. Skodacek chronciles the fa te and fort une of Lutherani sm in term s of fates and fortun es of the group's leaders. As they fared, so fared their group . Thus, this is a hi story of an in stitution al church and its great m en from a perspective of within the gro up . It uses synodical records to illu strate th e respon se of the Lutheran C hurch in Slovakia to outside social and political forces, na m ely the Roman Catholic C hu rch , the J esuits, and the variou s rulers allied with those two groups. Since there is little in -depth an alysis, thi s essay does not offer a ny new insights into the causes of man y of the events ch ro nicled. �130 SLOVAKIA In the main, it is a hagiographic account extolling historical individuals for their virtues and deeds done in the name of the cause. In describing the influences of a Thurzo , Lani , or Krman and others, Skodacek, interestingly enough, sees them as the real descendants of the missionaries Cyril and Methodius. Just as Cyril and Methodius introduced the Slavs to Christianity and hence to civilization ( of a kind) , so too the followers of Luther reintroduced Christianity and civilization to Slovakia even to the point of generating and maintaining a consciousness of Slovak nationalism. To this point, Skodacek writes that "the R eformation activated a conversion in Slovakia which gradually brought into the open a Slovak nationality; it spread the reformational ideology in an understandable native language and a democratic religious life'' (p. 66). Be this as it may, the book is a good source for anyone who wishes to do research in Slovak history but who does not know th e necessary languages. The volume provides translations of records and documents of the various synodical events which figured large in the life of the Slovak Lutheran Church. This point not withstanding, it is unfortunate that Skodacek did not see fit to describe and analyze the historical dynamics of the sociocultural and political forces beyond the activities of the Lutherans and the Roman Catholics. Not everyone, despite Skodacek's claim, was either a Lutheran or Roman Catholic. Some were Greek Catholic and some were Calvinists. These are never mentioned . Also, not everyone living in Slovakia was either a Slovak or a German . Another missing analytical point is that of socioeconomic class; from what class did the Lutheran leadership come? It is on these points that Skodacek could have given us some insight; perhaps he will irt another book . Although this vol ume is a good in-house version of a historical period and of what happened to the Lutherans in Slovakia , the lack of analysis of the sociocultural and political dynamics limits its effectiveness. ROBERT j. SKOVIRA Saint Vincent College Latrobe, Pennsylvania Paul R obert Magocsi . The Shaping of a National Identity: Subcarpathian Rus ', 1848-1948. Cambridge, Mass .: Harvard University Press, 1978 . 650 pp. P aul R. Magocsi. The Rusyn -Ukrainians of Czechoslovakia: An Historical Survey . Vienna: Wilhelm Braumi.iller Universitats-Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1983. 94 pp . The first of Professor Magocsi ' s books is the one we all dream of writing . The fruit of years of research, it is encyclopedic in its description of the cul- �SLOVAKIA 131 tu ral a nd political development of the territory which m ad e up Subcarpathian Ruthenia in the first C zechoslovak Republic. H e has used a rich array of sources - archives, published statistics, interviews , and most books and articles relating to the subj ect. It will stand for d ecades to com e as the basic referen ce work . Graduate students will be surpr ised to find a detached , obj ective approach in a volume devoted to an East European nationality group of less tha n a million people. It will be a required presence in the library of eve ryo ne who calls himself an Eas t European historian . Slovakists , in particular, will welcome Magocsi ' s dispassiona te understa ndin g of the sensibilities of the ripening Slovak national identity in Eastern Slovakia. The tex t is di vided into three parts. The first cove rs political and cultural hi story un til 19 18 . The second examines history, la nguage, literature , education , and reli gion between 19 18 and 1944. The final part discusses the political hi story from the end of W orld W ar I to the incorporation of the territory into the U krainia n Soviet R epublic at the end of W orld W ar II. This is followed by 4 a ppendices (82 pages), notes ( 106 pages), and bibliography ( 122 pages) . In his introduct ion , M agocsi promises to analyze how one ethnic group was exposed to na tionalism and how its leaders presen ted this new ideology to their people. H e points out that the leaders in what he calls " an embryonic sta te of na tional d evelopment " still did not agree on which national orientation to follow - Ru syn , Hun gari an , Slovak (and/o r C zech), Ukra inian , or Russian. H e then describes the elimination of each alternative until only Ukrainia n was left. With such a rich and well-organized presentation of d ata, it must seem churlish for a reviewer to take issue with the author . And ye t one has the impression tha t the author ' s desire to incl ude every las t piece of info rm ation has di st racted him fro m his original inte ntion of trying to discover the underl ying reaso ns fo r the fi nal victory of the U kra inia n orientation . The book becom es fi nall y a trad itional approach to East Eu ro pean history, albeit without the partisan coloring wh ich usually characterizes such work . H e outlines the failure of leaders of certa in national orien tations to attrac t adherents, or their willingness to sacrifice national fo r political gain. H e find s external factors decisive in dete rmining that the territory wo uld eventu ally become Ukrainian . In an area with such a n embryo nic ethnic and national identity, it seems odd tha t M agocsi limited his book terri to rially, acco rding to political bound aries which existed for onl y two decades . The fa ult m ay lie in his d efinition of ethn ic group as a popul ation that " in m ost cases possesses a distinct territory, com m on traditions, and related dialects. " Although he pays homage to the theories of K a rl D eutsch on natio nalism and social communicatio n , he fa il s in large pa rt to apply them . H e looks a t the intelligentsia in action , but not the intelligen tsia in formatio n . It would �132 SLOVAKIA have been possible, for instance, to examine the changing national composition of the students in the high schools (gymnazia) over time and through the various grades. This might have suggested underlying trends in national identification. Magocsi is quite right in saying it is impossible to explain why individuals join differing national orientations, but the totality of the changes can be very informative. It is quite conceivable that the socioeconomic development in the interwar period showed a trend toward a Ukrainian identity. This would help explain why the Soviet regime met so little opposition when it assigned a Ukrainian identification to the population at the end of the war. After the depth of research and evaluation which characterized the first book , the second volume is a disappointment. While those interested in Slovak history will find useful material here on the political, socioeconomic, and cultural history of what Magocsi calls the "Rusyn-Ukrainians" of Czechoslovakia, there also is a disappointing tendency to blame every difficulty faced by this national grouping on national discrimination. This stands in considerable contrast to his conclusion (p . 270) in the larger volume . OWEN V . JOHNSON Indiana University Bloomington , Indiana Jubilea Matice slovenskej. Compiled by Vojtech Sarluska. "Seria: Monografie - Vyskum dejfn Matice slovenskej, zv. 9." Martin: Matica slovenska, 1980. 130 pp . The volume under review is a compendium of articles resulting from a seminar devoted to the commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the Matica slovenska's reconstitution ( 1919) and its silver anniversary as the Slovak National Library ( 1954 ). The essays discuss various aspects of the Matica's present contributions in the fields of research and education. Themes analyzed include : the Matica ' s efforts in library acquisition, preservation, and dissemination; planning and organization of its activities and resources; bibliographic development over the past quarter century; activities of the Literary Archives; programs of the Literary Museum; efforts of the Biographical Office; activities of the Matica's Office of Slovaks Abroad ; and the Matica ' s publishing activities. The section prepared by Stefan Krivus, the Matica' s present director , sets the tone for the other essays . Krivus traces the Matica's history through interwar Czechoslovakia, its activities during World War II, its place in the resurrected R epublic, and its role in Socialist Slovakia. He describes each period as a step in the Matica's maturation process. Both Krivus and the other contributors make it quite clear that the Matica of 1979 is not the Matica of 1919 ; �SLOVAKIA 133 it has continually changed in response to the demands placed on it as Slovakia' s premier national cultural institution. It is a pity that this publication , which offers much valuable information on the Matica slovenska's vital role in past and contemporary Slovak cultural life , was printed in a limited edition and "only for internal use" by professional scholars, thus making it unavailable to the much wider readership which it deserves . JOHN A . BERTA Middletown, Pennsylvania I1 mondo slavo. Saggi e contributi slavistici a cura del Centro Studi Europ a Orientale di Padova . Volume VIII. Edited by Milan S. Durica. Padova: CESEO-Liviana, 1982 . 318 pp. Professor Milan S. Durica has taken the opportunity of his editorship of this volume of I1 mondo slavo to present a number of studies which help to identify Slovak ethnic consciousness in its language and history and to distinguish it clearly from assimilative Czechoslovak linguistic and political tendencies. In his own article, which offers a historical-philological profile of the Slovak language, he traces the evolution of the Slovak language in Slavic ethnogeny. The Slovak glottogenetic process of isoglosses is delineable on Slovak ethnic territory . This position is butressed by (1) Slovakocentricity - the expression of geometric distance proportional to linguistic elements and (2) the most recent studies on fundamental Slavic lexical patrimony revealing its highest in Slovak . Durica' s ' profile' establishes that the research of historical and comparative lexicology fortifies the theory of the Slovak proto-Slavic glottogenesis. His synthesis of recent· research is a valuable contribution to the thesis that Slovak is an independent Slavic language . Stefan V ragas presents historical and linguistic highlights of the development of the Slovak literary language from 1918 to 1979. A significant portion of his article centers on the linguistic politics of "Czechoslovakism ," i.e. , the linguistic and political claim of one Czechoslovak language and nation , in opposition to any contention of on e separate and individual Slovak language and nation . The author demonstrates that Slovak experts succeeded in counteracting the opposition by applying the facts of history to linguistics and courageously weathering political humiliations as did , for example, Eudovft Novak , author of K najstarsfm dejinam slovenskehojazyka. Vragas must be commended for his definition of Czechoslovakism and for his timely exposition of some generally unknown linguistic-political humiliations of Slovak scholars, especially in the 1950s a nd part of the 1960s. �134 SLOVAKIA The history of Slovak translations on Slovak ethnic territory to 1939 is the subject of the article by Agostino Visco. Brief mention is made of translations into contemporary Slavic during the Great Moravian era and some initial translations into Latin . It was not until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that extensive translation was made from Latin into the Slovak national language, mainly by Catholics. From Greek and Latin some classics and religious works were translated: ancient poetry, meditations, the Bible . Later, translations began from West European authors, then from East European ones, until the abortive years 1848-1849, when translations declined . After 1918 and in the early twentieth century translations resumed . They steadily progressed after 1933, when the Matica slovenska established a translation group , thus institutionalizing and perfecting translations. Visco considers the Slovak R epublic era (1939-1945) as the most important period for translations . Inasmuch as translations have so much influenced both Slovak poetry and prose, they represent an important facet of Slovak literature. Mirella De Martini Tihany examines the emigration of Italian laborers from Venetia and Lombardy to Slovakia in the second half of the nineteenth century . Parish registers of Slovak localities along the main railroad line from Kosice (Slovakia) to Bohumfn (Moravia) are the principal sources of research, especially those found in the State and District Archives of Bytca. Because of mineral transports from central Slovakia, railroads were needed in Slovakia . Historically, the Kosice-Bohumfn line construction in 1870 was urgent for connecting eastern Slovakia with Berlin . In this construction , the temporary Italian immigration initially entered . For some workers it meant death from epidemic , for others it was an occasion for marriage and baptisms. In her article Tihanyi provides a brief insight into Slovak interaction with the emigrants and also a sad commentary on the plight of Italian workers neglected by their non-Slovak contractors . Finally , Lisa Guarda Nardini considers the sole syndicate in Czechoslovakia, the "ROH" - Revolutionary Trade Union Movement. It is studied as an exemplary illustration of the statute of the organization which institutionally represents all workers in a country which claims that labor is paramount and the workers govern . The author proceeds from a relatively brief introduction about members , duties, structure, and other considerations to a translation of the ROH statute with its fifty articles. The m erit of this article is the translation of the ROH statute into Italian from Slovak. Volume III of IJ mondo slavo can be recommended to the readers of Slovakia for its wealth of information on fascinating Slovak topics. JOHN M. KOCHIK Westmoreland County Community College Youngwood, Pennsylvania �SLOVAKIA 135 Josef Korbel. Twentieth-Century Czechoslovakia: The Meanings of Its History. New York: Columbia University Press , 1977 . 346 pp. A rich and varied background prepared the late Professor Josef Korbel for this twentieth-century history of a small country in Central Europe . He was closely associated with the University of Denver, where he served as Dean of the Graduate School oflnternational Studies, Director of the Social Science Foundation , and Andrew W . Mellon Professor of International Studies. He was the author of several books on Central Europe. Prior to his academic career, Korbel had been the Czechoslovak ambassador to Yugoslavia . He also had held a number of other important diplomatic posts and was a personal acquaintance of both Edvard Benes and Jan Masaryk . Twentieth -Century Czechoslovakia begins with the Hussite period. By tracing the "roots" of Czech thought from Jan Hus to the subsequent suppression by the Catholic Habsburgs, and through the era of the Enlightenment, the author demonstrates how the Czech ideal of humanity evolved. He compares concepts derived from Frantisek Palacky and Karel Havlfcek to Tomas G. Masaryk's "Czech humanism. " All three were witnesses to the Hussite influence . A quick glance at opposing interpretations of Czech history by Josef Pekar and Ferdinand Peroutka and their criticism ofT.G. Masaryk's philosophy leads Korbel to the observation that " in times of assured statehood the Czech people strove for the ideals of humanity; in times of peril, they lowered their heads to save the national body" (p. 24). Korbel expands this thought throughout the rest of the book. Beginning with July 6, 1915, the 500th anniversary of the death of Jan Hus , Tomas G. Masaryk is depicted as voicing a vision about to become a reality. As the author discusses the historical formation of Czechoslovakia, he dwells primarily on the Czech leadership. He skillfully paints portraits of national hopes , problems of administration, mistakes in judgment, and fears for the future. Throughout the twenties and thirties these events led to the final breakup of the first Czechoslovakia. By analyzing the Munich crisis and World War II as it affected this Central European victim state, Korbel clearly shows that the Czechs " lowered their heads to save the national body." As he searches for the mea ning of the postwar years in the revitalized Czechoslovak state, he refers to them as " The Sisyphean Years," the title of his last and perhaps most intriguing chapter. With T.G . M asaryk, he believes that " the nation will take up again its active role in mankind's neyer-ending struggle for freedom and social justice" (p. 320). Written in an engaging style, Korbel's story of Czechoslovakia's rise and fall will fascinate not only the student of history but also a ny reader interested �136 SLOVAKIA in learning about Central Europe during the twentieth century. Unfortunately, the author does exhibit a bias against the Slovaks. This is especially apparent in his reference to the well-loved and respected Slovak leader Father Andrej Hlinka as being "fanatic. " Furthermore, while the Czechoslovak state could not exist without the Slovaks, Korbel devotes a mere 25-30 pages to them in a book of 346 pages. His admiration for Tomas G. Masaryk is deep, his respect for Jan Masaryk is genuine, and his evaluation of Edvard Benes appears objective. Had it been possible to apply historical honesty to all aspects of Czechoslovakia's growth from its inception to its dissolution and rebirth, such an account might have added significantly to the rapidly increasing literature in that area of research. One can only conclude that this historical account was written from the so-called Czechoslovak point of view. If this is understood, the reader will enjoy Twentieth-Century Czechoslovakia but will continue to look for "The Meanings of Its History" in other books dealing far more adequately with Slovakia and the Slovaks . M. EVANGELA LUBEK, 0 .S.B. Bishop Noll Institute Hammond, Indiana Martin R . Myant. Socialism and Democracy in Czechoslovakia, 1945-1948. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981. 302 pp. The three years that preceded the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia at the end of the Second World War have been generally understood in the West as a lull in which all the indications of what would happen in February 1948 were present. Although Martin Myant does not contradict this approach, he offers in this study, above all, an examination of the political situation in Czechoslovakia in which the Communist Party was just one of many players until mid-194 7, when a power struggle erupted leading to the Communist victory a few months later. What we have here, according to the author, is a polity which sought to achieve a socialist society by democratic means. It is an interesting thesis that reflects to a great extent the approach that Communist scholars took to this period in the 1960s and which found some sympathy among Western scholars. The book is divided into ten chapters that begin with a rapid overview of the development of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia . The next five chapters are devoted to an analysis of the political situation in the Czech lands, with one chapter on Slovakia . In three more chapters the author looks at the power struggle which culminated in the February crisis . The final chapter �SLOVAKIA 137 examines post-February Czechoslovakia, in particular those events that announced the imposition of a more radical line by the Kremlin . It is clear from Myant 's story that World War II had brought about major changes in the Czech lands. In the postwar world, Czech political life reflected a general consensus that Czech society wanted its government to implement socialist changes because the prewar order had been destroyed during the hostilities . As an organized resistance group, the Communists played a major part in setting the framework for a socialist transformation . They were by far the most cohesive and organized party. Until mid-1947 they were also willing to collaborate - and indeed did so - with the non-Communist parties in implem enting new policies . The author gives a thorough analysis not only of the platforms of all parties, but also of the political activities of the Communist Party. When the struggle for power broke out, the Communists aimed at nothing more than victory and then used whatever means they could get away with to achieve that end. But for Myant - unlike for Paul Zinner and Josef Korbel, who also wrote on this period - the interest lies in the pre-mid 1947 period where, as he writes, "for all its faults, the National Front system established in May 1945 provided a possible basis for the development of socialism in Czechoslovakia" (p. 242). Despite the author's thorough analysis, this reviewer is not convinced that the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia could have played according to democratic rules in an advanced society. Although Myant attributes the shift that occurred in mid-1947 to the international situation and Cominform directives , the fact remains that the Communist Party was willing in the last analysis to abandon democratic means in favor of one-party rule. There is no evidence that the Party offered the Kremlin any resistance . Had its commitment to democracy really existed, it could have defied Moscow since there were no Soviet troops in the country and it is doubtful that Moscow would have risked a war to impose its will . The pre-mid-1947 experience may be interesting for those who still hanker after a form of" democratic socialism"; for m e it merely shows that a Communist Party will also play the democratic game if it brings it closer to its goal of total power, but it does not show a commitment to democracy . The author's treatment of Slovakia is inadequate . He approaches it from the same point of view as the Czech lands , namely that the Slovaks were also headed for socialist transformation. To take this approach is to ignore not only the legacy of prewar Slovak politics, but also the major impact the Slovak R epublic had on the Slovaks. His accusation that Slovakia was backward is both unfair and unfortunate; it is a Czech point of view that was arti~ulated quite openly from 1945 on, especially in the Communist Party. This view was also imposed on Slovak Communists, who accepted it after their defeat in the May 1946 elections. The author does, however, point out that the Communist �138 SLOVAKIA Party was unwilling to embark on a different and distinct Slovak policy, if only not to alienate its Czech constituency. The position of Slovakia in postwar Czechoslovakia was very critical. Forced without consultation into a state where they would be a minority, Slovaks then saw most instruments of autonomous government progressively taken away from them . The non-Communist leadership was weak and faced not only Communist opposition but also Czech resistance to any status beyond minimal autonomy . Thus Slovak political life centered once again on Slovakia ' s role in Czechoslovakia, not on socialist transformation . As time went on, it was clear to most Slovaks that they mattered very little in Czechoslovak politics and were expected to be merely compliant to Prague . In this respect, Myant writes unfairly about President Tiso's execution in 1947 that "its announcement in Slovakia was met with no visible unrest" (p. 158). The truth of the matter is that the army and Czech police had been sent to Slovakia to make sure that there was no unrest. For the same reason the attempted Communist coup in Bratislava failed that autumn. The game had to be played out in Prague. This is a well-researched study that is thorough in its presentation for the Czech lands . It is highly unsatisfactory for Slovakia. For this reason, as well as the author's ideological predelictions, it is regrettably incomplete and, therefore, disappointing. STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM Glendon College, York University Toronto, Canada Leon Noel. La Tchecoslovaquie d'avant Munich. Paris: Institut d'etudes slaves, 1982. 208 pp. J.F.N. Bradley. Politics in Czechoslovakia, 1945-1971. Washington, D.C .: University Press of America, 1981. 225 pp. There are few Central European states that have had as turbulent a history as Czechoslovakia. It was created by the Western Powers on the morrow of World War I, only to be abandoned two decades later to German expansionism and another ten years later to Soviet imperialism. Paradoxically, Western scholarship has yet to produce a good history on either the First Republic or on the postwar Communist period. The two volumes under review, while they seek to give us an overview of each period, are also unsatisfactory. Leon Noel was France's Minister to Czechoslovakia from 1932 to 1935. His book constitutes a sort of memoir of the three years he spent in Prague. To this account he added a few chapters that deal with the origins of the state , �SLOVAKIA 139 some of its leading personalities, the Slovaks, the Germans and the Hungarians, the Catholic Church, and the political parties . None is very good , and the chapters on the Slovaks and the political parties are particularly poor. It becomes quickly very clear that this French diplomat understood very little the country in which he represented France . The main impression that one gets is that he was interested above all in maintaining excellent diplomatic relations between Prague and Paris . This he seems to have done, given the number of positive comments about himself by Czechoslovakia's leaders that he quotes . But one does not get any idea what were the main currents in FrancoCzechoslovak relations. It is only when he evaluates the leading personalities in Prague of the common state of the Czechs and Slovaks that he is interesting. That is one of the redeeming features of his book . If this book is at all interesting , it is becau se it reflects French perceptions of Czechoslovakia in the interwar period . The state was to a great extent a French creation, and Czechoslovakia's centralist system of government was modelled on that of France. Paris supported Prague on the German and the Slovak questions with the result that neither French diplomats nor French scholars paid any attention to anyone but the Czechs and accepted everything Prague told them. Noel ' s book is therefore not different from those published in the interwar years. It is a pity that he did not learn from subsequent events about which much has been written to give us a more critical appreciation of the country where he clearly spent three interesting years of his life . The Bradley volume is more in line with contemporary scholarship. But it is a peculiar book. The author has done some thorough research in a number of areas, yet he does not succeed in giving us an adequate overall picture of Communist politics in Czechoslovakia. The greatest flaw is his lack of treatment of the Slovak question, which he does not seem to have understood at all. There are two them es to the book: government and politics. The author gives a thorough description of Czechoslovakia's Communist government structure , examining in turn its constitutions, parliaments , governments, the judiciary , and security. Hi s chapter on the central government for 1948-1968 is rather good . He analyzes well the main problems of any Communist government, namely political domination and efficient administration. As he points out: "Even the most capable administrators among these politicans would have found it impossible to run central ministries efficiently with the politicallyreliable but admi nistratively unfit officials at their disposal" (p. 123) . When it comes to analyzing Communist politics , the author devotes only two chapters, one on the Dubcek era and the other on the Husak period of normalization. Both are somewhat disappointing. The overall result is that at the end of the book the reader is still left wondering what Czechoslovak politics were all about for the period 1948-1971. �140 SLOVAKIA The major flaw of Bradley's book is its treatment of the Slovak question. Clearly the author belongs to that category of Western scholars who do not consider Czech-Slovak relations to have been, and still to be, the focal point of the survival of the common state of these two nations. It is not surprising to come across such a statement as : "The Slovaks, who had apparently been enjoying equality and autonomy since 1948, began to voice their demands for new constitutional arrangements within the Czechoslovak Republic" (p. 183), with no further explanation. The final chapter, on Husak's federalism , is also inadequate in analyzing the new relationship between the two nations, let alone explaining why this formerly centralist state had been transformed into a federation . Neither book fulfills the mission its title suggests . Nevertheless in each there are some aspects of interest which may help the specialist and the interested reader on Czechoslovakia to get a better insight into this troubled common state of the Czechs and Slovaks. STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM Glendon College, York University Toronto, Canada Zdenek L. Suda. Zealots and Rebels: A History of the Ruling Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Stanford, Calif. : Hoover Institution Press , 1980 . 412 pp . This first history of the Czechoslovak Communist Party in English, from its beginnings in November, 1917 , in Revolutionary Russia and its foundation in November , 1921, up to the late 1970s, is an impressive achievement. Professor Suda, a sociologist at the University in Pittsburgh, selected some of the best scholarly works written in the West on various topics or periods of his target and complemented them with a few basic books and articles published at different times in Czechoslovakia. Although his opus is based almost exclusively on secondary sources and, surprisingly, does not even mention authors whose work should have been consulted (e .g ., Machonin, Borkenau, Taborsky, Zinner, Horak , Jancar, Korbel, Tigrid) , it is worth reading and including in private as well as public libraries. It is a solid work and excels in its capable and systematic review of major events in the history of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Its organization is clear, and the writer consistently pays attention to domestic developments as well as to Soviet or other Communist parties' history . In Suda' s concluding words , what matters is "the development of the Soviet core to which the CPCS, for the greater part of its existence, has only been peripheral" (p. 380). �SLOVAKIA 141 Suda's main contribution is to be found in his judicious summary of some sixty years in the life of a movement, in his sensible comments, and in his perspicuous analysis. One half of the book is devoted to the Party's history before it came to power in 1945 . There is a certain imbalance in Suda's treatment of the foundation of the CPCS (50 pages) or of its history until 1929 (70 pages) and his discussion of the crucial year of 1968 (only 20 pages) . The later story is much better known that the first two so that it does not constitute any major weakness, especially since the author keeps stressing interesting parallels between different periods of Party history . Basically, it was and is a foreign element brought into a state whose traditions , both cultural and political, have been .at variance with it . Suda devotes a substantial part of his book to developments in the Communist Party of Slovakia and to its asymmetric position in a basically centralist party and state. He rightly considers the unsolved problems of national minorities - and many Slovaks refused to think of themselves as equal partners in a "Czechoslovak" nation - to be the weak point of the whole edifice . The German problem is also systematically studied, and so are the Hungarian and Ruthenian ethnic communities. Paradoxically, even the establishment of a federal state in 1968 did not put an end to Prague centralism, although the general secretary of the Party since 1968 has been a Slovak. The lack of a detailed study of primary sources and of many crucial scholarly works , unfortunately , is responsible for some, mostly minor, mistakes in an otherwise well-printed and well-proofread work. For instance, Trotsky's secret message to disarm the Czechoslovak Corps in Russia is not mentioned; Tomas G . Masaryk is wrongly characterized as "never a socialist" (p. 12); the important role of G eneral Vlasov and his armed units in the Prague uprising in 1945 is omitted; for some reason, the Cominform and Comintern are both spelled with a ' K '; there is nothing on substantial workers' unrest in 1948 and 1949 ; Richta's leadership of a scientific Party commission is assigned to Mlynar , who was in charge of another one about whose existence the author does not seem to have known (p. 328); the Manifesto of 2000 Words was published simultaneously in four Prague papers and not just in one (p. 391) - a fact which was important for the Soviet audience since the pressure group was clearly well organized! Furthermore, the periodical Listy was not a "bimonthly" (p. 367) but rather appeared monthly. In disagreement with the author's statement on page 261, Zapotocky was criticized at Politboro meetings for his relaxation of forced collectivization of agriculture . What is more important, Suda sometimes accepts the terminology of his Communist sources and then refers, for instance , to the "progressive elite " (p. 120) when he discusses individuals who were responsible for bringing shame and enslave- �142 SLOVAKIA ment upon their own nations. Although the author believes that only a small minority of Social Democrats refused to join the CPCS in the year of forced amalgamation (p. 225), the truth is that less than one third of them joined the Communist Party! Also, his description of workers' acceptance of the Slansky trial is only partially true because, according even to Communist sources, after the initial passage of favorable resolutions, there was resolute criticism of the whole Party and state leadership, often calling for their dismissal. Finally , the 1968 meetings at Cierna nad Tisou did not take place in the Soviet train (p . 340) but - with the exception of Dubcek's visit to the "ailing" Brezhev in a railwaymen's club on Czechoslovak territory. There is a good analysis of voting patterns in 1925 but, somewhat surprisingly for a sociologist, the author does not include any analysis and statistics (which are available) of the social or class composition of the CPCS in its period of absolute power. All these and a few other errors and omissions can be easily corrected in an eventual second edition of this pioneering and generally very successful work . PETER R. HRUBY Western Australian Institute of Technology Perth , Australia Frantisek Bielik a kolektfv. Slovaci vo svete. Volume II. Martin : Matica slovenska, 1980. 320 pp . This second volume of Slovaci vo svete is a general survey of pre-World War II Slovak immigration to countries throughout the world. It is a collaborative effort. However, except for the separate sections on Slovak immigrant culture and involvement in labor activities in the United States and the Slovak immigration to Canada and France , Frantisek Bielik is the principal author of the book. Bielik first discusses the general causes of Slovak emigration and its impact on Hungary and later Czechoslovakia. The work is then divided into geographical categories by country. Within each geographical division, the authors adopt a standard, almost monotonous , procedure of chronicling the formation and sporadic activities of various Slovak organizations . They provide brief descriptions of Slovak fraternal societies , schools, newspapers, labor organizations, and cultural associations . In addition, they discuss the political and labor activities of some Slovak immigrants in the different countries. Slovaci vo svete is a useful addition to the literature on Slovak immigration, because it contains tables and statistics as well as literary material that have not been readily available in a single source. The inclusion of sources would have improved the usefulness of the tables. The work is also important �SLOVAKIA 143 because it offers some different perspectives on the Slovak immigration experience . For example, Bielik properly stresses that the United States was the major but not the sole destination of Slovak emigrants . To emphasize this point, the book includes brief sketches of Slovak immigration to New Zealand, Asia, and Africa - countries not commonly associated with the Slovak emigration movement. Also, by discussing Slovak involvement in labor unions and Socialist organizations, the authors offer a different profile of Slovak immigrant laborers than that depicted in earlier literature. Ivan Poljak and Eva Fordinalova, who contributed the segment on Slovak union and work-related activities in the United States, would agree with Victor Greene that Slovak workers were not simply meek laborers whose docility prevented them from becoming actively involved in labor unions and strife. Moreover, their religiosity did not prevent all Slovaks in the United States and elsewhere from flirting with Socialist or Communist ideas and joining Socialist or Communist parties. Despite such points, Slovaci vo svete is marred by serious weaknesses. As a synthesis , the book is far too general and institutionally oriented. Even the lengthier discussion of Slovak immigrants in the United States is primarily a chronicle narrative of various immigrant organizations and newspapers. The treatment of Slovak immigration to other countries serves little more than as a reminder that the United States was not the sole destination of this immigrant group. No attempt is made to offer a comparative analysis of Slovak adjustment to various countries. Rather, Bielik and the other contributors seem content to resort to perfunctory , isolated discussions of Slovaks and their organizations in the several countries. While they are to be commended for the attempt to describe the work life of Slovak laborers, the discussions of this topic suffer from overgeneralizations, oversimplifications, and factual and interpretive errors. The· authors try desperately to show that Slovaks almost naturally harbor Socialist sympathies . They use the participation by Slovaks in labor unions or strikes as examples of these natural sympathies. Typically the authors do not provide sufficient or convincing evidence for their generalizations. For example, they make no attempt even to estimate the number of Slovaks actually involved in the various " Socialist " and labor activities they describe . Unfortunately, Slovaci vo svete is further harmed because the authors overlook some obviously important aspects of Slovak immigrant life in the United States and perhaps in other countries as well. Despite the claim that the book is offering a description of immigrant life , much of the material actually focuses on the activities of prominent Slovaks, not ordinary immigrants . Slovak churches and their role in American Slovak communities are ignored. Overall, Slovaci vo svete is too brief to treat adequately the complex aspects of Slovak immigration to the United States and to other countries. Still, this work does raise questions that merit closer analysis b y students of Slovak �144 SLOVAKIA immigration and of labor and political history. The contributors also do provide a general, institutional history of Slovak immigration throughout the world. This volume does not rank as the definitive study of Slovak immigration, but it is a synthesis that scholars in Czechoslovakia and in those countries where Slovak immigrants have gone will find useful. JUNE GRANATIR ALEXANDER The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio Elena Jakesova . Vyst'ahovalectvo Slovakov do Kanady. Bratislava : Veda, vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej akademie vied, 1981. 160 pp . In recent years there has been a great renewed interest in ethnic and immigration history on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. To the growing list of scholarly studies in this field can be added Elenajakesova's present monograph . Jakesova presents a concise, statistical account of Slovak immigration to Canada from the 1870s to 1938. The book is divided into two sections, one covering the years from the 18 70s to 1914, and the second from 1922 to 1938 . She gives the reasons for Slovak immigration from Hungary, and later from Czechoslovakia, and also an excellent outline of the individual Slovak settlements in Canada. Other chapters or sections are devoted to the development of the Slovak press in Canada and to the rise of Slovak fraternal societies. Separate sections describe Slovak mining settlements in Western Canada, agricultural communities in Central Canada, and urban settlements in Eastern Canada in later years . This is a well-organized and well-written book . The research and documentation are most impressive . The author made use of archival material from Slovak district archives in Slovakia, from the Haus-Hof-und Staatsarchiv in Vienna, and from the Magyar Orszagos Leveltar in Budapest. Most of the periodical literature and monographic studies dealing with Canadian Slovaks were also used. In short, few stones were left unturned . The volume is also enriched by graphs and charts which help clarify the history of Slovak immigration to Canada. Even the illustrations were well selected and add interest to the subject. , Two serious shortcomings of the book arejakesova's treatment of Canadian Slovak societies and churches. Among societies the importance of the Slovak workers' movement was overemphasized . Her account of it was informative and interesting, but the movement itself was of decidedly minor significance. The Canadian Slovak League and Canadian-Slovak Support Society were and remain the largest Canadian-Slovak organizations . More should �SLOVAKIA 145 have been said about these groups and the great work and sacrifices of such individuals as Andrej Kucera and Andrej Potocky, founders of the Canadian Slovak League . In general, more attention should have been devoted to the experiences of Canadian Slovaks - their joys and sufferings - and to the history of their churches, which were not covered at all. Aside from these drawbacks , the work has many merits and can be recomm ended to anyone seeking a general survey of Slovak immigration to Canada. X. SUTHERLAND Stoney Point, New York ANTHONY Engelbert Zobl and Hertha A. Zobl. Holzbaukunst in der Slowakei. Vienna : Fachjournalverlagsgesellschaft, 1978. 92 pp. This unpretentious little paperback volume bears witness to what seems to be a growing interest among enthusiasts in western Europe to " uncover " the art of traditional wooden architecture in the Carpathian region of Slovakia. H ence, since the appearance of the book under review , two more ambitious volumes have appeared: Wooden Churches in th e Carpathians: The Photographic Legacy of Florian Zapletal (Vienna, 1982) by Paul R. Magoci and the monumental Wooden Churches of Eastern Europe (Cambridge , 1981) by David Buxton , both of which contain numerous photograp hs of structures in northeastern Slovakia. In contrast to these two subsequent works , the book by Engelbert and Hertha Zobl seems more of an architectural travel reportage put together as a guide for Austrian and West German tourists who still flock each summer to Czechoslovakia in search of the ostensibly more exotic cultural stimuli of the "east." This is not to suggest that such popular books are without value or that the Zobls have not done a competent job . In fact, as is evident from the albeit self-indulgent autobiographical data (complete with photographs of the whole family), the husband and wife Zobl team have degrees, respectively , in architecture and the a pplied arts. And as the lavishly-illustrated book reveals , they both have a keen sensitivity for the aesthetic as well as technical aspects of their subject. The book is basically divided into five chapters : belfries, wooden churches, wooden crosses, secular wooden architecture, and architectural ornamentation. The appendices include a list of all belfries and churches with their date of construct ion (in most , but not all instances); a map showing the travel route fo llowed by the authors in 1976 with each place indicated that appears in the book ; an index of placenames; and a brief bibliography . The latter indicates a few basi c German, Czech, and Slovak works, but omi ts two recent �146 SLOVAKIA Ukraini an-langu age studies from C zechoslovakia th at deal with the subj ect: an encyclopedia of wooden churches (past and present) in northeastern Slovakia by B. K ovafo vyfova-Puskarova and I. Pu skar , D erev 'jani cerk vy schidnoho obrjadu na Slo vaccyni (Bratislava and Presov, 1971) and a survey of secular architecture in the same region by M . Sopolyha , Narodn a architektura ukrajinciv Schidnoji Slovaccyn y (Svidnfk, 1976) . Each chapter in the book by the Zobls is preceded by a very brief introduction , and each of the 110 photograph s carries a caption. There are also 41 line drawings of structures and ground plans. By far , the largest portion of the book - a to tal of 72 illu strations - d epicts structures from villages inhabited by C a rpatho-Ru syns in the very northea stern part of Slovakia. Thi s is not surprising, since that area had economicall y always been the m ost underdeveloped and , therefore, traditional life-style and architecture have been preserved there the longest. Also , the authors seem ed to have become enchanted by the clusters of wood en churches north of Svidnfk and northea st of Snina, whose almost perfect form a nd balance m ake them stand out aesthetically, in particular when juxta posed to wooden architecture throughout all of eastern Europe, as is evident from the compara tive survey b y David Buxton mentioned above. The photographs are, in fact , the highlight of the Zobl ' s book . They were all ta ken in 1976, were well executed and often provide different views of a given structure, and have been reproduced clearly in the printing process. With the exception of a few iconostases in side Byzantine-rite churches, the photographs are almost all exterior shots. Pa rti cul arl y striking are 39 photograph s in color , am ong the best of which a re the wooden church in Mi rol'a, the cem etary crosses in D etva, and the decoration on hou ses in Zdi ar . All in all , W ooden Architecture in Slovakia is an excellent introd uction to the beauties of trad itional cultu re that still can be found in Slovaki a tod ay. As a serious guide for tourists, it would be pa rticula rl y useful if a n E ngli sh ed ition could be p repa red fo r the increasin g numbers of Am ericans of Slovak a nd Carpatho-Ru syn descent who visit the ancestral hom eland . P AUL R . M AGOCSI Uni versity of T oronto T oronto, Ca nada A tlas CSSR . Brat islava: Slove nska kartografi a, 1980 . This school atlas is obviously intended for student s at about the hi gh school level. It has no accompan yin g text or explana tory m a terial and is even devoid of a n introdu ction. Con sequentl y, the u ser is give n no idea regardin g the in tended audience or the goal s of thi s volume of m aps. �SLOVAKIA 147 There are 42 pages of maps; there are more actual maps, howeve r , because numerous inset (larger scale) maps are displayed on various themes. The first quarter of the atlas is d evoted to physical/environmental subjects temperature, precipitation , geological structure , soils, forests , etc. The remainder of the volume contains social, cultural, and especially economic maps . The physical maps are of standard type, although the last of this group is an interesting map of conservation sites, such as parks and botanical stations. The demographic maps (pages 12 to 15) are interesting because included are maps on density , fertility , mortality , national population growth rates , labor force, and the nationalities. Most of the m aps suffer as a result of the inappropriate scale employed and poor use of color. The nationalities sheet is particularly poor because the combination of colors and patterns to locate and quantify minority groups is a total failure. The economic maps (pages 16-27) again are standard and include maps of minerals , manufacturing, agriculture , crops , transport and more for the entire country. Detailed political/ physical maps of the Czech and Slovak R epublics are then followed by similar economic maps for the two areas. The atlas is rounded out with a set of maps of "regional types" at the micro-scale. There are six of these, including types such as the High Tatra a rea and a section of industrial Ostrava. There are also 10 exam ples of "settlement types," including Nitra and a Czech resort town. The final three maps are interesting cultural maps, including one of higher and middle schools, medical institutions, and historical/cultural monuments. Unfortunately , these maps are of very limited use because they are drawn at a scale ( 1 :4,000,000) which obliterates any detail. In general, the Atlas CSSR is an adequate school level tool. It would have been much better and useful, however , if sharper color had been used and if more reasonable scales had been chosen for many of the maps. The bulkiness (23 cm. x 55 cm .) and the inferior quality of the binding also detract from the Atlas ' value. In sum , a poten tiall y lively collection of maps has bee n rendered into a disappointing volume of no particular distinction. GEORGE J. D EMKO U.S. Department of State W ashington , D .C. Peter Balaz, Miloslav Darovec, and H eather Trebaticka. Slovak for Slavicists . Brat islava: Slovenske pedagogicke nakladatel'stvo, 1976. 302 pp. Students who have some background in another Slavic langu age, as well as those who possess a rudimentary knowledge of Slovak , will find this text- �148 SLOVAKIA book useful. It was written for the intermediate classes at the Studia Academica Slovaca (Summer Seminar of Slovak Language and Culture in Bratislava), and was also intended for use as a textbook in university-level courses abroad . The authors point out in the preface that it is not a handbook for those studying Slovak without a teacher ; however , it can be used in this way if the student's goal is to gain only a reading knowledge of Slovak, and particularly if Slovak is not his/ her first Slavic language. The book contains 27 lessons in addition to the Slovak-English/English-Slovak glossaries . The bilingual d esignation of the section headings in the table of contents and in the lessons themselves is a very desirable feature of the book . It serves the immediate pedagogical purpose of teaching these items in Slovak as well as enabling the student who wishes to augment the explanations in the textbook with those from Slovak sources to find easily the desired items in the Slovak books . Lesson 1 is devoted to a brief discussion of the alphabet and pronunciation . The Slovak letters ii, c, dz, s, z, t', d', 1' are characterized as palatalized consonants (p. 17) , which might well confuse those students who have studied Ru ssian . They would be better described in English as palatals. Furthermore, since regressive voice assimilatio n before nasals and liquids characterizes Slovak sandhi rules in contrast to some of the other Slavic languages, it would be well to include that information in the section on pronunciation . The remaining lessons have the following general format : introductory text , questions , vocabulary, grammatical section , exercises , grammatical section, exercises, translation exercise, and pronunciation exercise. The exercises a re well constructed and provide immediate reinforcement of the concepts just introduced . The notes and notice markers which call attention to exceptions or to features which differ significantly in English are also very effective . R eview exercises, spaced at appropriate intervals throughout the book which would combine the information presented in the various grammatical sections up to that point , would enhance the efficacy of the textbook (e.g., inclusion of a review exercise following Lesson 6 after most declensional paradigms have been introduced) . The introductory texts conta in a vocabulary which is very useful for those students who will be in Bratislava . Howeve r, to those who have never been there , as well as to the newly arrived , certain words such as miestenka are mystifying and a note of explanation would be helpful. Lesson 8 has an informal letter to a friend as the introductory text. The forms of ty are correctly capitalized. H owever , there is no note of explanation on how vy (polite singular/plural) should be written. Since this is one of the areas in which the Slavic languages differ , it would be well to include a note on T /V capitalization in letters. It might be more useful to include a thank- yo u note or a formal letter for exam- �SLOVAKIA 149 pie, to a professor requesting a consultation, because these are the kinds of letters that a more advanced student is likely to be writing . In general the texts are of a very practical nature and provide the student with an adequate vocabulary for functioning in Slovak society. They could be made more effective by deleting some, such as Lesson 4, or editing them, so that they would be more appropriate for and interesting to university students. While it is possible to draw up a list of additions that one would wish to insert into the book, that in no way detracts from its value. It is certainly the best textbook available today for teaching Slovak to English-speaking students at the university level, and we can only hope that it will be expanded and enlarged in future editions. LOUISE B. HAMMER Bloomington , Indiana JozefMistrfk . Basic Slovak . Bratislava : Slovenske pedagogicke nakladatel'stvo, 1981. 160 pp . This textbook is designed for English-speaking students who want to learn the fundamental grammatical phenomena and 800 of the most frequently occurring vocabularly items in Slovak without wading through the complexities that most traditional grammars present. Its focus is on learning to speak Slovak (American speakers of English should be forewarned that the pronunciation equivalents between English and Slovak given in Lesson 1 are based on British English), not on gaining a passive reading knowledge of the language, and it is not designed to be used without a teacher . Therefore, rules are given but exceptions to the rules are introduced into the discussion only when they occur frequently . This approach is based on the theory that second language acquisition, like first language acquisition, requires a knowledge of the productive grammatical rules of a language, i.e. , those patterns that a learner encounters over and over again in everyday usage. Since this textbook is designed for the one-month Studia Academica Slovaca summer school course as an introductory textbook, it alone would not suffice for a traditional American two-year college program; however, even in a more extended course, the texts which begin each chapter , as well as the exercises at the ends of the lessons, could serve as useful supplementary material . The book contains fifteen lessons , paradigm tables, Slovak-English and English-Slovak vocabularies, and a dictionary of linguistic terms . Beginning with the second, each lesson consists of four parts : text, vocabulary, grammar, and exercises. The texts are interest ing from the sociolinguistic point of view because they frequently have as their themes social events which a re common �150 SLOVAKIA in contemporary Slovak life, such as presenting flowers to someone arriving at the station, waiting in line to buy things, the extended family living together, friends sharing their experiences over a glass of wine . These texts serve to familiarize American students with Slovak culture and appropriate language usage in that culture. Each text introduces the vocabulary items which are listed just after it. This section is followed by grammatical explanations which are simple and concise, and are easily understood by learners with a minimal background in traditional grammar . The exercises require the student to create new forms based on the rules and data presented in the preceding sections . In addition to fillin g in blanks , the students are required to form sentences. Since a bilingual text is given in all of the lessons after the fifth , the student is able to check his/her progress in sentence construction . Features of Slovak which are absent in English and are, therefore , troublesome for English-speaking students are re-introduced in the texts or exercises of subsequent lessons; for example, the prefixed forms of ist' are introduced in Lesson 10 and are exemplified in the exercises in Lesson 12 . The last item in the exercises is a list of words to be read aloud for pronunciation purposes. These words do not appear in the glossary at the end of the book. The glossary does possess an attr~ctive feature: It indicates after every word the number of the lesson in which the word was introdu ced . As is usual in a first printing , some errors are to be found in the book (e.g., a few of the r ' s in th e glossary have been deleted , and some of the s's have been transposed into the s section). There are also minor errors in the English text : " present " in stead of " represent" (p. 11) ; "shorting" instead of " shortening" (p . 66) ; "The both forms are possible" (p . 74 ). one of these lead s to misunderstanding ; however, occasionally, as in " byvam dlho h are" (p . 3 1) ( = " not to sleep"), the E nglish m eaning is not immedia tely clear. On the whole , P rofessor Mi strfk 's book successfully fulfills the goals which he set in writing it , and any teacher or student of Slovak will find it a u seful addition to his/her library. L OU ISE B . HAMM ER Blooming ton , Indian a Abel Kral'. Slovenska vyslovn ost'. Banska Bys trica: U cebne pomocky, 1979. 8 stereo phonograph records with accom pan ying text , 173 pp. These high-quality recordings were produced by Abel Kral' , the head of the Phonetics D epartment a t Com enius University, and national artist V . Zaborsky , for u se in seconda ry schools and la ngu age institutes in Slovakia in �SLOVAKIA 151 order to teach students the neutral pronunciation style of standard literary Slovak . In the introduction Kral' explains the theoretical assumptions on which the presentation is based and suggests various ways in which the records can be used effectively. The recordings contain sections on the vowels, diphthongs, consonants, and consonant clusters . In addition there are excellent exercises on gemminated consonants, rhythmic shortening, and particularly on voicing assimilation in the various environments. The last record has a well-exemplifed discussion of sentence intonation. Each section begins with an introduction in which the terminology is defined, the particular sound or sounds under consideration are d escribed, and incorrect pronunciation is sometimes identified. Then the correct pronunciation is given. It is repeated twice with pauses between the utterances so that the student is able to practice the pronunciation and compare it to the record. These sections would be valuable for beginning students, while the more advanced students would additionally gain from hearing the spoken Slovak of the explanations as well as from their content. These recordings would be a very useful teaching aid for non-native speakers who teach Slovak or for Slovaks who speak a dialect and would like to acquire the standard pronunciation . Every student of Slovak who wishes to acquire a good speaking command of the language will benefit from the use of these recordings. They are in fact a very solid course in Slovak phonetics, and selections from the recordings would be ideal material for the pronunciation section of a typical language course. LOUISE B. HAMMER Bloomington , Indiana Vojtech Mihalik . Erotikon. Subor l'ubostn ej lyriky. Bratislava : Slovensky spisovatel' , 1981. Vojtech Mihalik is the grand old m an of Czechoslovak letters , and specifically of Slovak poetry, if this title could apply to a m a n who is only 55 years old. He is undoubtedly the most outstanding poet of the generation which came to the fore after the Second World War. Born in 1926 , Michalik for many years worked as the editor-in-chief of the main publishing house in Bra tislava . A former long-time president of the Association of Slovak Writers, he is at presen t the director of the publi shing house Slovensky spisovatel'. His first selection of poems appeared shortly after the war. H e has published 13 more volumes of poetry as well as numerous essays a nd translations. In 1978 he received the title of Nat ion al Artist, one of the highest literary honors in Czechoslovakia. �152 SLOVAKIA This, his latest volume, contains a selection of poems written at various periods of the author's life. As far as the erotic content of the book is concerned, it is much smaller than could be expected by Western standards . Mihalik is prima rily a romantic poet , a poet of love and emotion . H e puts less stress on the physical aspects of passion than would most of his W estern colleagues . In this he remains firmly rooted in the native Slovak tradition, where the appeal is to the feeling and sentiment , and where the exploitation of sexual aspects is subdued by a sense of decorum. Thus Mihalik ' s main effort in his love is to capture the fl eeting moments of love: the minute of mutual silence, a tree rising against the sun as the lovers embrace , the sorrows and the ecstasies of deep emotion. Mihalik is ve ry conscious of nature . Like most Slovak poets, he lives spiritually in the countryside , with its peasant cottages, lush gardens, orchards full of ripe fruit, meadows suffused by the rays of sun . His erotic imagery refers almost exclu sively to nature. A lonely lover is compared to earth which gave away its beautiful perfume to strolling winds. Lovemaking is perceived by the author in term s of entering a rose garden , searching for a star in the silent sky, or walking unharmed in the midst of a swarm of bees . The metaphors are so intricately ornate that they would be reminiscent of oriental poetry, were it not for the absence of explicitness so characteristic of Arabic and Persian verse. Each poem is a parable of nature sustained to the very end , where in the last lines it unravels into a love poem . If it were not for the last couple of lines, an inexperienced reader might take the poems at their face value of m elancholy or ecstatic descriptions of landscape . Each poem is thus a higly complex and elegantly written puzzle, the m eaning of which has to be d eciphered on two levels , the natural and the erotic. Mihalik 's poems are usually short. His favorite form is the sonnet, whose stylish elegance suits perfectly his method of expression . Some of the poem s are cast in the form of a dialogue, which is a mode deeply rooted in Slovak folk poetry. Mihalik m ay be a romantic lover accordin g to the Slovak tradition , but he is by no means a patient one. If hi s passion does not m eet with a quick response , he rebels. H e sees love as a confusing passion because there is so little understanding between man and woman. Woman is always an outsider in hi s poems. She may be courted, coveted , responsive, submi ssive, or cold , but she always remain s incomprehen sible. Mihalik 's attitude toward women is quite traditional . They are the ones who suffer, who bear the burden of broken relationships, and who carry the whole burden of parental responsibility. Mih alik admires women , feels sorry for them, but he seems to accept their lot as a na tural thing. A s he gets older, Mihalik finds it increasingly difficult to accept the new �SLOVAKIA 153 world around him . It is a world where the traditional values become rejected, where children of living parents become orphans because of desertion , where wives are leaving incompatible husbands , where families becom e broken for no apparent reason. The poet sees the world around him as full of suffering and unhappiness which he can only record, without being able to alleviate them . H e becomes a witness for a new generation that is growing up unloved and unlovable . His poems lose their spontaneous enchantment with life, as life becomes increasingly complex and difficult and as the poet finds he cannot turn to love to provide him with a sense of the m eaning of existence. The only an swer that seem s to emerge from Mihalik 's later poems is the implicit message to endure , to go on, and to do one's best. And in this message, as in so many aspects of hi s poetry, Mihalik shows himself again as the true son of his peopl e, the patient, enduring, and long-suffering people of Slovakia. YVONNE GRABOWSKI York University Downsview, Canada Vincent Sikula. Liesky. Bratislava: Smena, 1980. The novelette Liesky is in many respects firml y embedded in the Slovak literary tradition. Like so many books produced in Slovakia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it describes the trials and tribulations of a country boy on his way toward education and recognition. The chief character is a student at the conservatory who hopes to become a forest horn player and who persists in hi s path in spite of loneliness and abject poverty. The form of the novelette is also an old favorite, a first person narrative. The genre itself has been successfully transplanted from the Russian literature of the Golden Age and has fl ourished in Czechoslovakia since there was a favorable ground for its reception in Czech and Slovak folklore . What saves the story from becoming a typical hardship case narration , so characteristic of Slovak literature, is Sikula's humorous approach. The humor is intensified by the aut hor's use of the skaz technique. The predicam ents of the hero m ay be pathetic, but they are at the same time highly amusing. When the hero describes his family, we learn that his parents had so many children that the y hardly noticed if several of them were missing. The young man 's landlady can carry a conversation only with her cat - she is stone deaf. The hero has to practice music by drumming on the table because he cannot afford an instrument. When he finally gets the opportunity to practice on a real piano, he ruefully notes that it does not sou nd to him as good as the table. The narration thus proceeds at a lively pace, in a jolly animated style, �154 SLOVAKIA full of slan g, colloquiali sm s, and peasant speech m annerism s. It m akes fo r ea sy and pleasant readin g. Yet Sikula is mu ch m ore th an a skillful na rrator . Hi s m astery of style is evident as the story gradually reveals the narrator 's character , his a rtistic strivings , and his sexu al awakening. Sikula possesses a superb sense of n ature. M an is never alone in hi s book. All his ac tion s and feelings ta ke place in a na tural setting of which he is a n integral part. N a ture blends with the action , and the cha n ge of seasons accompanies ch a n ges of life . Thus the story starts with a beautiful description of winter and ends with an equally beautiful episode of picking fresh twigs from bu sh es. The story is deliberatel y left unfinished since Sikula aim s a t portrayin g but one stage in th e hero 's life . W e will never learn what is goin g to ha ppen in the future to the human twig picked from the bu sh of country life, a nd we are not m eant to know. Sikula presen ts u s with a vignette of life in the m a kin g. W e a re expected to enj oy the beaut y and the immediacy of the vignette portrayed b y an exquisite painter and not to look beyond it. Sikula has both the talen t of a pa inter a nd a poe t. Althou gh the story is written in p rose, it read s like a poem , di splayin g the author 's rem arka ble powe r ove r la nguage. Its m easured cad en ces a nd sen se of rhythm give the reader a unique poetic experience. It is the beaut y of style which gives to Liesk y its most definite imprin t. YVONNE G R ABOWS KI Y ork Uni versity D own sview, C anada �SLOVAKIA 155 BOOK NOTE Charles Wojatsek . From Trianon to the First Vienna Arbitral Award: The Hungarian Minority in th e First Czechoslovak Republic, 1918-1938. Montreal: Institute of Comparative Civilizations, 1981. 229 pp . Time and time again Mr. Wojatsek attempted to publish his manuscript through academic and commercial presses , only to have it repea tedly rejected because of its poor quality . Finally, when nothing else could be done, he published the book him self, under the spu rious auspices of the " In stitute of Comparative Civilizations, Montreal." This book is not worth serious consideration. It was written with the patriotic fervor of a true believer, and its reading makes for cruel and unusual punishment, deserved only by other nationalists of Wojatsek's type. This reviewer wishes to warn the unsu specting public: Beware 1 You may jeopardize your time, your money, and your nerves! Y ESHA Y AHU JELINEK Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beer-Sheba, Israel �� SLOVAKIA 119 Book Reviews Robin Okey. Eastern Europe 1740-1980: feudalism to Communism. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1982 . 264 pp . Attempting to write a general survey of Eastern European history is no m ean task . Indeed, a comprehensive overview within the confines of a book numbering less than three hundred pages is altogether impossible. Robin Okey offers an alternative to this dilemma in the form of an interpretive stud y . The author indicates that his purpose is to " present a perspecti ve rather than tell a story. " Focusing on the twin themes of modernization and na tionalism , he traces the evolution of the Central and Eastern European lands through two ce nturies of economic , political, and social change . It is his thesis that Eastern European nationalism arose as a response to the area ' s comparative backwardness in relation to the W est. In approaching thi s theme, Okey notes that feudalism came relatively late to this general area , and suggests that - at least until the sixteenth century - Eastern Europe enjoyed the potential of parallel development with W estern Europe. H e states, however , that dom estic fe udal forces were strong enough to reverse thi s trend . External forces - the Turkish invasion of the Balka ns a nd Hun gary a nd the H a bsburg conquest of rebelliou s Bohemia - are also cited as instrument al facto rs. Ei ghtee nth -century Eastern Europe is ch a racterized as havin g regimes which were ineffi cient even by feudal standards . The peasantry bore the brunt of resulta nt defi ciencies, but thriving popul ar cultures provided an impetu s for future revival. Okey states catego rically that the penetrati on of the Enli ghtenm ent represe nt s the first stages of ra pprochem ent with the W est. In a number of in sta nces th e process was characteri zed by reform from a bove, althou gh the role of th e cl ergy is also cited . In the latter case, the auth or specificall y mention s th e P ole K on a rski and th e Serb Obrad ovic; it is wo rth notin g th a t Bern ola k's contribution to th e Slovak rev ival is omitted . T he Eastern Eu ro pean Enli gh te nment faced the dil emm a th at the socia l premi ses of an al ternative order we re incomplete. Con sequentl y, conservatives were more ext reme and reformers more revolutionary tha n their cou n terpa rt s in the West. �120 SLOVAKIA Liberalism in Eastern Europe differed from the West insofar as members of the nobility were heavily involved in a process which put them in opposition to their own social strata. Okey characterizes Eastern European liberalism as "an elusive, complex creed"; it shared the heavy emotionalism of ideas from other lands , but was only partially emancipated from native traditions. He objects to the Marxist view of nationalism as a creed devised by ambitious bourgeois elements; instead, he cites the role of professional scholars as the vanguard of the national movements . The 1848 revolutionary experience led to a clash between liberalism and nationalism; the former was instrumental in abolishing the last vestiges of serfdom, but also failed to satisfy the national aspirations of subject peoples . The balance of the nineteenth century is treated as a period of ideological fragmentation. The advance of industrial capitalism caused a reaction against liberalism on the part of the Right as well as the Left , and the continued rise of mass nationalism splintered existing political parties along ethnic lines. In assessing the downfall of the old order during World War I , Okey concedes that not all tendencies could be related to the national question. But h e hastens to add that "only nationalism had a magnetism strong enough to draw the dislocated elements into an alternative political order the pattern of nation-states . '' Promoters of the new nation-states viewed their emergence as the culmination of humanist principles. Okey disagrees, and cites three general causes for the failure of Western-style liberalism in the interwar period . Most obviously, one of them is the continuity of ethnic conflict within the new states. Second, the Eastern European nations remained economically de pendent on foreign capital. Finally, both the leaders of the new states and their opponents repudiated democracy in their approach to the outstanding problems of the times. Okey views interwar nationalism as "short-sighted rather than fundamentall y misguided"; the outsider Hitler bore the greatest responsibility for the demise of these states. The author implies that national Communism was most successful in those countries where the Party remained in effective control of public life, and failed in Czechoslovakia because the regime capitulated ideologicall y to non-Party gro ups. Finally, Okey states that the rise of a mass int elli ge nt sia and the emerge nce of common social problem s with the West is indicative of a greater degree of syncopat ion. For the student of Slovak hi story, this book might prove disappointing. Indeed, a genuine weakness may be found in the fact that Okey cites so few examples of the Slovak experien ce which provide important contrasts with certain patterns. Okey ' s contention that Eastern European soc iety had already become "brutali zed" during World War II , and that the Communists were tailor-made representatives of the new age , borders on conjecture. Although the position of the J ews in Slovakia was precarious during the war , they were �SLOVAKIA 121 nevertheless afforded a certain "breathing space" denied to their kin smen in Poland, and the average citizen of the Slovak R epublic was by no m ean s terrorized. It was only during the 1944 risin g - in which Communists played a major role - that "brutalization" on a broad scale was affected . Okey's treatment of the " Prague Spring" also provides a case of omission: He correctly cites the straightj acket command economy model as a major facto r in Novotny's demise, but mentions the Slovak opposition only as merely inciden tal. But insofar as Slovakia may be viewed as an integral part of an Eastern European whole, this book has definite merit. It provides the reader with a concise, refreshing overview of the past two centuries, and the author skillfully employs anecdotal examples to compare and contrast specific national experiences. Okey's book is helpful to the student already well-grounded in general Eastern European history; it can also be useful to the instructor who wishes to co nvey a certain sense of ideological conflict inherent in the region . R. VLADIMIR BAUMGARTEN Easley, South Carolin a East Central Europe: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. Edited by Milorad M. Drachkovitch. Stanford, Calif.: H oover Institution Press, 1982 . 41 7 pp . Thirteen of the seventeen papers contained in this volume were presented at a conferen ce organized by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in January , 1980 . Due to the events in Poland in August , 1980 , publication of the symposium's proceedings was delayed so that individual authors could revise their contributions. According to the editor, Milorad M. Drachkovitch, readers of the book "will not find in it a ny pred ictions " and "will be offered facts and explan ations of recent events" (p. xi). This is true of most but not all of the essays. The latte r are largely analyt ical and of uneven quality. Among th e excellent contributions are Drachkovitch 's survey of the postwar political and economic developm ents in Yu goslavia, Leszek Kolakowski's " Ideology in Eastern Europe ," and the essays by J ohn Erickson, Hugh Seton-Watson, Peter J. Wiles, and Richard F. Staar. Also superb is the overview of developments in East Central Europe , " Present Situation and Principal Trends ," by Robert F. Byrnes. H e points out that '' the opinions of even our most expe rienced an alysts often reflect shallow hi stori cal knowledge , flight y analysis, and the ass umpti on that peoples of this area are far less in terested in independence and self-government than a re West �122 SLOVAKIA Europeans and Americans '' (p. 20). The flip-flops of George K ennan are cited as an example. Byrnes is a very perceptive observer who notices the connection between the election of Pope John Paul II , his visit to P oland in 1979, and the subsequent d evelopments in that country. In contrast , the essay on Poland by Jan T omasz Gross, " What Is Yet To Come," appears to be a rather superficial d escription of events leading up to the establishment of Solidarity in 1980 , claiming that " the impossible was inevitable " (p. 32 1). In the last section of the essay Gross sketches two different scenarios: first , Soviet military intervention ; second, the devolution of the Soviet imperium for which the price would be " m ost likely " the " ne utralization of Germany through unification and detachment from the Atlantic Alliance " (p. 325). As it happened , the imposition of martial law in D ecember 1981 proved his (and man y other observers') projections incorrect. On Alexander Dubcek 's behavior in 1968 Hugh Seton-Watson comments by asking a rhetorical question : How could the United States "defend people who would not defend themselves?" (p . 178). In contrast to it , Zdenek L. Suda, while concentrating mostly on the events in 1968 , is very a pologetic. H e writes: " The peaceful counterrevolution in the ve ry core of the Czechoslovak system must have caused more pani c in Moscow than the armed insurgency of Hungarian workers and soldiers in O ctober 1956 " (p. 258). Suda's cl aim is an undocumented assumption without an y foundation, and so is his interpretation of the events in Czechoslovkia when he writes that " the whole reform movement of 1968 could be defined simply as the application of rules and laws that long had been dead letters, but nt>:vertheless existed. It was precisely this greater respect for legality and constitutionality that sounded an alarm in the Soviet power center and triggered the intervention" (p. 256). Accordin g to Suda, "the Czechoslovak case differs from the Polish case because the Polish reform experim ent initiated in 1956 fa iled without direct Soviet intervent ion " (p. 252). Suda does not differentiate between intervention and in vasion . Soviet military presence in Poland ever since the end of World War II has constituted inter vention and h as m ade in vasion unnecessary. In fact, an invasion would have been cou nterproductive from the Soviet point of view. In contrast to it , by in vading Czechoslovakia in 1968 the Soviets h ave attained their military and strategic objecti ves. The "temporary" stationing of Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia has become " permanent. " The even ts in Poland in the earl y 1980s corroborate the view th at the Soviets had military a nd strategic reasons for the 1968 in vasion and that the in ternal de velopments , which certainly did not amount to a "counterrevoluti on" as Sud a and the Sov iets claim, were merely a pretext for the action whose a im was to extract a "consent " from the Czech and Slovak Communist leaders to the stati oning of Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia. L abeling people as " neo -Stalinists " a nd "dogmati cs," as �SLOVAKIA 123 Suda does, is meaningless. His lack of knowledge of history is reflected in the essay. For example, he writes that " the division of the world between the two superpowers into spheres of interest - made the eventual integration of Czechoslovakia into the system controlled by the Soviets virtually inevitable'' (p. 244). However , nothing was " inevitable" about the arrangements that Edvard Benes made in Moscow in D ecember , 1943 . It was his decision to sign the trea ty with the Soviet Union and to promise the Czech and Slovak Communist leaders in Moscow that their party would be the strongest element in the new regime and that he would always support it. Indeed , Professor Byrnes' comment on the " shallow historical knowledge" and " flighty analysis," cited above , is applicable to the two essays by the two sociologists on Czechoslovakia and Poland published in this volume . j OSEF KAL YODA Saint Joseph College W est H artford, Connecticut Rudolf Krajcovic. Svedectvo dejfn o slovencine . 2nd edition, corrected. Martin : Matica slovenska, 1980 . 268 pp. The second edi tion of Krajcovic's collection of linguistic eviden ce for the Slovak language is essentially the same as the first of 1977 . In these two edition s, the compiler strives to offer proof that the Slovak language has its own long and distinctive history. He is intent on demonstrating that Slovak is a " language of written documents ." He traces Slovak from the period of the Great Moravian Empire of the ninth century throu gh the "twilight of Hungarian feudalism" in the nineteenth century. For the conclusion of his stud y, Krajcovic gives examples of present-day dialectical variations of the Slovak lan guage. There are photographs of d ocuments u sed as evidence. Especially when documents are in script, Krajcovic has the writings reproduced in printed form for easier appreciat ion. Interspersed among the evidence are bl ac k a nd white as well as colored illu stration s of folk articles and pa intings on a folk theme. The illu st ra tions a re the better to con vey the a tmosphere and period of the docum ents presented. Documen ta ry evidence from the early periods , n a mel y from that of the Great M orav ia n Empire through that of the fifteenth century , is not really extensive. A hi storical lin gui st would find the m aterial interesti ng, perh a ps even intrigu ing , but not conclu sive or even substantial for a judgm ent. From the sixteenth century onwards , the material offered as evidence is increasin gly more substanti ve. Indeed , Krajcovic him self notes th at the m aterial from the sixtee nth ce ntury is of" great significance," because thi s was "when Slovak was �124 SLOVAKIA for the first time committed to written form." The expression " written form " is perhaps a poor choice of phrasing. (The expression is found in the brief Slovak, Russian, as well as English introductions to the documentary evidence for this period.) For virtually all the examples of Slovak in this book are written . By the expression "written form," Krajcovic's probably means that the extant documentary instances of Slovak become more extensive and so more able to be appreciated linguistically. In focusing on this poor phrasing and its alleged implication , I do not intend to impugn the long history and distinctiveness of Slovak that Krajcovic desires so clearly to demonstrate in his book. The reader, nonetheless, cannot help feeling that Krajcovic is straining very hard to do this. On the whole, the book is more a nicely illustrated survey of the Slovak language for the layperson rather than a serious academic study for the specialist. With the Slovak language and its related culture appreciated so little outside of Slovakia and the Czech lands, Krajcovic' s book could enhance to some degree a better understanding of this language and culture . This second edition is a ''corrected '' version of the first . This correcting involves stylistic and typographical errors, but especially a few attributions that include additions, deletions, or actual corrections. For example, Krajfovic has deleted the attribution of the 1648 Trnava dictionary as one used for Virgil's Aeneid. The attribution ofa folk article as coming from Kovafova pri Zvolene has been changed to Kral'ova. Krajcovic has added the name of the Austrian author of Klimko's rendition of Krizant und Daria - Gottfried Uhlich, rendered by Krajcovic as Ulrich . Also, the English text has at times questionable diction and stylistic phrasing. The Russian text has been improved for this edition in various places. Neither language should offer problems in Slovakia, for there are native speakers as well as numerous specialists who could be consulted for a third edition . Finally, the bibliography for this edition has been expanded by one item. The price of this survey of the Slovak language has remained the same as for the earlier edition . This should make the book a readily purchasable acquisition for any individual or institution. G ERALD] . SABO , S.J . John Carroll University Cleveland, Ohio I'.udovft Novak. K najstarsfm dejinam slovenskehojazyka . Bratislava: Veda, vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej adademie vied, 1980 . 352 pp. This important study of the earliest history of the Slovak language evolved out of a plan by I'.udovft Novak in the 1930s to supply the most up-to-date , complete, and detailed presentation of Slovak phonology from its earliest begin- �SLOVAKIA 125 nings . Methods of structu ral analysis were to be applied to the reconstructed phonologies of Slovak dialects . The origi nal ve rsion was begun in the last months of 1938 and earl y 1939 , a period of political turbulence. Over the intervening years, materials added to the original accumulated into several essays, thus resulting in two works. By reason of the a mount of accu mulated m ate rials , a recent decision to publi sh this monograph from just the original alone was ca rried out . The val ue of the original as a linguistic la ndm ark of the structural method in Slovakia was the deciding factor. Novak 's later theories are to be published in a separate volume which will be entitled "Vznik Praslovanov a ich jazyka. '' Four chapters in the book under review provide the most important linguistic phenomena in the d evelopment of the Slovak sou nd system , from the earliest period after the collapse of Common Slavic into the dialect differentiations of the Slovak area. They are: (a) the Slovak reflexes rat-, lat- from P ro to-Slavic *ort- , *oft -; (b) alterat ions in the consonant clusters dl, tl, and dn ; (c) reduced vowel "yer"-changes , the contraction phenomena, and the depalatalization of e( e)»a; and (d) the reconstruction of sound systems of Slovak dialects after the period of liquidation of Common Slavic co rrelations of '' syllabic soft ening. '' Novak is interested in whether (a) can be termed a "Yugoslavism" relating to a theory of colonization of Central Slovakia from the south . With respect to (b) he quotes rare documents of ancient dialect litera ture, gives phonetic a nd phonological ex plana tions , with examples of geographic ex tension of changes in W estern Slovak, and compares this with pa rallel types of like consonantal quantitat ive correlation s in a non-Slavic la nguage. For ( c) the a uthor defines the rapport of Central Slovak especially with East and Central Slavic languages, and refers to the chronology and locali zation of alterations in the Common Slavic dialect dom ai n. R egarding (d) he concen trates first on the contrac tion phenomena in Central Slovak with its chronology a nd that of other Slavic dialects, and then of other West Slavic la nguages . H e provides a n argu m ent for the explanation of the zenou-feminine-instrumental-singular type and a criticism of other theories. Most of the phonological changes in Old Slovak are viewed as occurring due to certain influences of external lan guages or of internal dialects. Hi s terminology illu strates certain developing periods of Old Slovak , for example, turkicizing, mongolization. The aut hor maintains one of several possible theories in lin guistic development. Hi s is an attempt to overcome difficulties connected with the immane nt development of the Slovak language. ova.k's structural approach as innovative and successful in the earl y period of lin gu ist ics is appla uded by colleagues m entioned in the foreword. H owever, his earl y theory is criticized as "one-sided" for three main reasons : fai lure to �126 SLOVAKIA calculate the comparison of internal contradictions; overemphasis on phonology without consideration of grammatical, morphemi c, morphological, or wordbuilding structures as lingui stic units; and finally a lack of regard for sociolin guistic chan ges . I'.udovft Novak is referred to as th e " Nestor of Slovak Linguistics " (p. 9) . This original work is viewed as a monument in the evolution of Slovak lin gu istics a nd is noteworthy, especially considering the period of its composition, the structural methods applied, with its new theoreti cal thought and insights. It is rightly considered the first synthetic conception of the earliest history of Slovak language founded on the development of the dialect sound systems. The dedication of the book is symbolic of its apparent inherent worth. Honored are three famous contributors to Slovak linguistics: to the history of the Slovak language (Trubetzkoy); to the comparative history of Slovak and Czech languages (Travnfcek), and to the foundation of modern Slovak linguistic geography with its Slovak historical dialectology (Vazny). Novak has provided the first synth etic method of structu ral applicat ion to the historical phonology of Slovak , a structural lin gui st ic milestone in Slovak lan guage study. JOHN M . KOCHIK Westmoreland County Community College Youngwood, Pennsyl vania Frantisek Kalesny. Habani na Slovensku. Bratislava: Tatran, 198 1. 376 pp. Scattered today over the prairies of the United States and Canada can be found settlements of a people known as Hutterites or Hutterian Brethren. The Brethren still retain the German language of their forefathers and practice a st ri ctly communitarian way of life. Their mode of collective farming is not th e outcome of economi c calculation ; it results from the Hutterit es' belief that Christ calls on his followers to renounce private property and have all things common . The H utterites originated in th e earl y 1530s as part of the Anabaptist movement that had begun in Central Europe around 1525. The M ennon ites tod ay also claim spiritual descent from this movement which represe nted a left wing of the Protestant R eformation. While onl y the Hutterites esta bli shed community o f goods, all its adherents practiced adult ba ptism (hence the n ame they acqu ired, Anabaptists) in order to stress the volunta ry character of their beli eve rs' church, in which only grown persons could participate meaningfull y. As Dr. Kales ny remarks in the preface to hi s fascinating study of Hutterite hi story, few Slovaks know about th e connection betwee n the Hutterites a nd Slovakia, where they li ved for over two hundred year . The descendants of those Hutterites, who in the mid -e ighteenth century acce pted forced �SLOVAKIA 127 recatholicization rather than have to emigrate, eve ntually lost their German speech and a re today completely assimilated to the Slovak popula tion. If memories of the Hutterites grew dim, the name which their Slovak neighbors gave these German settlers , " H abans " (Habani, H abaner) , has become widely known on acco unt of the beautiful ceramics produced by the Hutterite communities and their successors. These are now valued possessions of the museums of Czechoslovakia a nd Hun gary, and examples of the art form are also to be fo und elsewhere. H a ban folk a rt , according to K alesny (p.12), should be reckoned as an important asse t of Slovak '' n at ion al culture,'' for it was produced on the soil of Slovakia by people who, although of foreign origin , had put down deep roots there. The book , which is a wo rk of scholarship even though it lac ks footnotes, is divided into three parts. The first part deals with the history of the Hutterite communities from their inception down to the present d ay, with m ost a ttention given to their soj ourn in northwest Hungary (present -day Slovakia) . They first set up comm unities there around 1545: Their chief settlement a nd the seat of their " bi sh op" was a t Sobotiste. As in Moravia where the sect had started, h ere too it s ad herents we re welcomed by the landown ing nobility, Catholic as well as Protestant, who valued the Hu tterites as h ardworking and profitable tenants and consequently were prepared to overlook their religiou s peculiarities. After the battle of White Mountain in 1620 the H absburg ruler drove them out of M oravia, but the Moravian brethren also found a refuge on the estates of friendly Hun garia n landown ers. The endemic warfare of the seve nteenth century when Turkish, H absburg, and kuru c forces ravaged the Slovak countryside inflicted terrible suffering on the local population , including the Hutterites . On the eve of the disaster of 1620 the Hutterites in M oravia and Slovakia had numbered abo ut 25,000 persons, a tenfold increase sin ce 1545, which was due to the steady stream of newcomers from the T yrol a nd ot her pa rts of Ce n tral Europe seeking to join the brotherhood. Almost all these were of German speech , but a few adherents were of local origin. On page 46 , fo r instance, K alesny m entions "Wendel H olba ein Schlawak (Ve ndel H olba, Slovak)," who even becam e a Hu tterite minister. Whereas in north Hun gary the Hutterites abandoned their communitarian wa y of life in 1685 a nd were recatholicized under Maria Theresa in the nex t century (w hile still retaining for some time their separate legal identit y as H abaner), in Transylvania - where some Hutterites had settled in 1621 - they contin ued to lead the same life as before, until finally in 1767 the aut horit ies expelled those who would not conform . Ka les ny ch ron icles briefly their subseq uent wanderings, first via Wall ac hia to the Ukraine where they arrived in 1770 and then in 1874 across the Atlantic and on to the American West. After World War I most of the Hutterites moved across the border into Canada . Their later mi grat ions stemmed not from �128 SLOVAKIA religious persecution but from the threat posed to their pacifist principles by the introduction of universal miliary service. Kalesny prefaces his historical narrative, which for the most part does not add to what we already know , by an interestin g discussion of the name haban , the first authenticated m ention of which occurs in a document of 1667 now in the municipal archives of Bratislava. Originally a d erogatory term , it eventually lost its pejorative connotation and became the accepted way of describing the descendants of the former comm unitarians . Concerning the origin of the word no consensus exists among scholars. The latest theory is that of a German scholar who derives it from the H ebrew. D espite what the resumes say, Kalesn y seems to be somewhat sceptical about this. If the author deals rather briefly with the religious aspects of the Hutteri te way of life, h e devotes almost the whole of th e second part of the book to their social organization. The overwhelming majority of community m embers were artisans: Over forty crafts were bei ng practiced when the communities were at their peak. Of course, they also engaged in farming, which today is the chief occupation of the Hutterites. A strict discipline was imposed on members , expulsion from the brotherhood being the final sanction against those who did not conform. But this was not usually necessary since the brethren recognized the advantages of communal living over those of the outside world, despite any momentary attraction they might feel toward the latter. " The Hutterites had succeeded in creating an ordered society, socially egalitarian and materially secure, with high moral principles based on the community'' (p. 169) . Children of both sexes were taught at least to read and write - in an age when illiteracy prevailed among the masses . Great care was taken, too, to provide for the sick and aged, for pregnant women and for children of preschool age . The culture was perhaps narrow and th e aut horit y of the elders excessive, but this must be judged within the context of the times. Purely aesthetic values found no place among Hutterites. Yet their craftsmen succeeded in creatin g countless objects of beauty either for domestic use or for sale: Their pottery became famous throughout east central Europe and was eage rly bought up by the nobility a nd wealthy townspeople of the area. Kalesny, whose specialty is folk a rt , devotes th e third part of hi s book to the history and technology of'' H aban '' pottery. The making of faience , their most hi gly prized produ ct , had bee n introdu ced into th e Hutterite communit ies around 1580 by An a baptist immigra nts from northeas t Italy. Kales ny has included at the end I 09 full-page colored illu strat ion s of ceramics emanating from " H aban" workshops. The bibliography includes man y items in Slovak, Czech, a nd Hungarian that are unknown to North Ameri can scholars who have written on the Hutterites. Man y of these pi eces, it is true , deal with " Haban" ce ramics, but some �SLOVAKIA 129 are of more general interest. K alesny, on the other h and, h as obviously had difficulty in gaining access to sch olarship in the W est. He knows the work of the M ennonite sociologist , J ohn A. H ostetler. But h e does not, for example , appear to be acquainted either with the valua ble study by another M ennonite scholar , Victor J . Peters, All Things Common: The Hutterian Way of Life (Minneapoli s, 1965) , or with the numerous articles published in the United States by the leading authority on Hutterite history and culture, the late Robert Friedmann . Many of them were reprinted in his Hutterite Studies (Goshen , Indian a , 1961) . L et us hope that in future closer contacts can be established in the field of Hutterite studies between North American scholars and those working in Czechoslovakia and Hungary. K alesny is perhaps lucky in dealing with a group like the Hutterites who , while deeply religiou s, have at the same time been dedicated "communists," albeit of the Utopian variety. The T at ran press was able (so to speak) to roll out the red carpet for him . It h as published a volume that , with its excellent pa per, numerou s illu stration s, and tasteful design , is indeed a credit to book production in Slovakia. PETER BROCK University of T oronto Toronto , Canada August A. Skodacek. Lutherans in Slovakia . Pittsburgh : Slavia Printing Company, 1982. 242 pp. This acco unt of the rise and development of the Lutheran Church in Slovakia from the Reformation to the present redresses the oversight of many concern in g the role of the Lutheran Church in the historical development of Slovakia. This may b e a fl aw. The author would have us understand that Slovakia 's history in modern times is a con sequen ce n ot onl y of the R eformation but also of the influence of Lutheranism in Slovak social and political struggles. However, Skodacek does not su ffic ientl y analyze the historical facts a nd ci rcum stances to judge whether hi s claim , that without Lutheranism m od ern Slovakia would not be , is warranted. Skodacek chronciles the fa te and fort une of Lutherani sm in term s of fates and fortun es of the group's leaders. As they fared, so fared their group . Thus, this is a hi story of an in stitution al church and its great m en from a perspective of within the gro up . It uses synodical records to illu strate th e respon se of the Lutheran C hurch in Slovakia to outside social and political forces, na m ely the Roman Catholic C hu rch , the J esuits, and the variou s rulers allied with those two groups. Since there is little in -depth an alysis, thi s essay does not offer a ny new insights into the causes of man y of the events ch ro nicled. �130 SLOVAKIA In the main, it is a hagiographic account extolling historical individuals for their virtues and deeds done in the name of the cause. In describing the influences of a Thurzo , Lani , or Krman and others, Skodacek, interestingly enough, sees them as the real descendants of the missionaries Cyril and Methodius. Just as Cyril and Methodius introduced the Slavs to Christianity and hence to civilization ( of a kind) , so too the followers of Luther reintroduced Christianity and civilization to Slovakia even to the point of generating and maintaining a consciousness of Slovak nationalism. To this point, Skodacek writes that "the R eformation activated a conversion in Slovakia which gradually brought into the open a Slovak nationality; it spread the reformational ideology in an understandable native language and a democratic religious life'' (p. 66). Be this as it may, the book is a good source for anyone who wishes to do research in Slovak history but who does not know th e necessary languages. The volume provides translations of records and documents of the various synodical events which figured large in the life of the Slovak Lutheran Church. This point not withstanding, it is unfortunate that Skodacek did not see fit to describe and analyze the historical dynamics of the sociocultural and political forces beyond the activities of the Lutherans and the Roman Catholics. Not everyone, despite Skodacek's claim, was either a Lutheran or Roman Catholic. Some were Greek Catholic and some were Calvinists. These are never mentioned . Also, not everyone living in Slovakia was either a Slovak or a German . Another missing analytical point is that of socioeconomic class; from what class did the Lutheran leadership come? It is on these points that Skodacek could have given us some insight; perhaps he will irt another book . Although this vol ume is a good in-house version of a historical period and of what happened to the Lutherans in Slovakia , the lack of analysis of the sociocultural and political dynamics limits its effectiveness. ROBERT j. SKOVIRA Saint Vincent College Latrobe, Pennsylvania Paul R obert Magocsi . The Shaping of a National Identity: Subcarpathian Rus ', 1848-1948. Cambridge, Mass .: Harvard University Press, 1978 . 650 pp. P aul R. Magocsi. The Rusyn -Ukrainians of Czechoslovakia: An Historical Survey . Vienna: Wilhelm Braumi.iller Universitats-Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1983. 94 pp . The first of Professor Magocsi ' s books is the one we all dream of writing . The fruit of years of research, it is encyclopedic in its description of the cul- �SLOVAKIA 131 tu ral a nd political development of the territory which m ad e up Subcarpathian Ruthenia in the first C zechoslovak Republic. H e has used a rich array of sources - archives, published statistics, interviews , and most books and articles relating to the subj ect. It will stand for d ecades to com e as the basic referen ce work . Graduate students will be surpr ised to find a detached , obj ective approach in a volume devoted to an East European nationality group of less tha n a million people. It will be a required presence in the library of eve ryo ne who calls himself an Eas t European historian . Slovakists , in particular, will welcome Magocsi ' s dispassiona te understa ndin g of the sensibilities of the ripening Slovak national identity in Eastern Slovakia. The tex t is di vided into three parts. The first cove rs political and cultural hi story un til 19 18 . The second examines history, la nguage, literature , education , and reli gion between 19 18 and 1944. The final part discusses the political hi story from the end of W orld W ar I to the incorporation of the territory into the U krainia n Soviet R epublic at the end of W orld W ar II. This is followed by 4 a ppendices (82 pages), notes ( 106 pages), and bibliography ( 122 pages) . In his introduct ion , M agocsi promises to analyze how one ethnic group was exposed to na tionalism and how its leaders presen ted this new ideology to their people. H e points out that the leaders in what he calls " an embryonic sta te of na tional d evelopment " still did not agree on which national orientation to follow - Ru syn , Hun gari an , Slovak (and/o r C zech), Ukra inian , or Russian. H e then describes the elimination of each alternative until only Ukrainia n was left. With such a rich and well-organized presentation of d ata, it must seem churlish for a reviewer to take issue with the author . And ye t one has the impression tha t the author ' s desire to incl ude every las t piece of info rm ation has di st racted him fro m his original inte ntion of trying to discover the underl ying reaso ns fo r the fi nal victory of the U kra inia n orientation . The book becom es fi nall y a trad itional approach to East Eu ro pean history, albeit without the partisan coloring wh ich usually characterizes such work . H e outlines the failure of leaders of certa in national orien tations to attrac t adherents, or their willingness to sacrifice national fo r political gain. H e find s external factors decisive in dete rmining that the territory wo uld eventu ally become Ukrainian . In an area with such a n embryo nic ethnic and national identity, it seems odd tha t M agocsi limited his book terri to rially, acco rding to political bound aries which existed for onl y two decades . The fa ult m ay lie in his d efinition of ethn ic group as a popul ation that " in m ost cases possesses a distinct territory, com m on traditions, and related dialects. " Although he pays homage to the theories of K a rl D eutsch on natio nalism and social communicatio n , he fa il s in large pa rt to apply them . H e looks a t the intelligentsia in action , but not the intelligen tsia in formatio n . It would �132 SLOVAKIA have been possible, for instance, to examine the changing national composition of the students in the high schools (gymnazia) over time and through the various grades. This might have suggested underlying trends in national identification. Magocsi is quite right in saying it is impossible to explain why individuals join differing national orientations, but the totality of the changes can be very informative. It is quite conceivable that the socioeconomic development in the interwar period showed a trend toward a Ukrainian identity. This would help explain why the Soviet regime met so little opposition when it assigned a Ukrainian identification to the population at the end of the war. After the depth of research and evaluation which characterized the first book , the second volume is a disappointment. While those interested in Slovak history will find useful material here on the political, socioeconomic, and cultural history of what Magocsi calls the "Rusyn-Ukrainians" of Czechoslovakia, there also is a disappointing tendency to blame every difficulty faced by this national grouping on national discrimination. This stands in considerable contrast to his conclusion (p . 270) in the larger volume . OWEN V . JOHNSON Indiana University Bloomington , Indiana Jubilea Matice slovenskej. Compiled by Vojtech Sarluska. "Seria: Monografie - Vyskum dejfn Matice slovenskej, zv. 9." Martin: Matica slovenska, 1980. 130 pp . The volume under review is a compendium of articles resulting from a seminar devoted to the commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the Matica slovenska's reconstitution ( 1919) and its silver anniversary as the Slovak National Library ( 1954 ). The essays discuss various aspects of the Matica's present contributions in the fields of research and education. Themes analyzed include : the Matica ' s efforts in library acquisition, preservation, and dissemination; planning and organization of its activities and resources; bibliographic development over the past quarter century; activities of the Literary Archives; programs of the Literary Museum; efforts of the Biographical Office; activities of the Matica's Office of Slovaks Abroad ; and the Matica ' s publishing activities. The section prepared by Stefan Krivus, the Matica' s present director , sets the tone for the other essays . Krivus traces the Matica's history through interwar Czechoslovakia, its activities during World War II, its place in the resurrected R epublic, and its role in Socialist Slovakia. He describes each period as a step in the Matica's maturation process. Both Krivus and the other contributors make it quite clear that the Matica of 1979 is not the Matica of 1919 ; �SLOVAKIA 133 it has continually changed in response to the demands placed on it as Slovakia' s premier national cultural institution. It is a pity that this publication , which offers much valuable information on the Matica slovenska's vital role in past and contemporary Slovak cultural life , was printed in a limited edition and "only for internal use" by professional scholars, thus making it unavailable to the much wider readership which it deserves . JOHN A . BERTA Middletown, Pennsylvania I1 mondo slavo. Saggi e contributi slavistici a cura del Centro Studi Europ a Orientale di Padova . Volume VIII. Edited by Milan S. Durica. Padova: CESEO-Liviana, 1982 . 318 pp. Professor Milan S. Durica has taken the opportunity of his editorship of this volume of I1 mondo slavo to present a number of studies which help to identify Slovak ethnic consciousness in its language and history and to distinguish it clearly from assimilative Czechoslovak linguistic and political tendencies. In his own article, which offers a historical-philological profile of the Slovak language, he traces the evolution of the Slovak language in Slavic ethnogeny. The Slovak glottogenetic process of isoglosses is delineable on Slovak ethnic territory . This position is butressed by (1) Slovakocentricity - the expression of geometric distance proportional to linguistic elements and (2) the most recent studies on fundamental Slavic lexical patrimony revealing its highest in Slovak . Durica' s ' profile' establishes that the research of historical and comparative lexicology fortifies the theory of the Slovak proto-Slavic glottogenesis. His synthesis of recent· research is a valuable contribution to the thesis that Slovak is an independent Slavic language . Stefan V ragas presents historical and linguistic highlights of the development of the Slovak literary language from 1918 to 1979. A significant portion of his article centers on the linguistic politics of "Czechoslovakism ," i.e. , the linguistic and political claim of one Czechoslovak language and nation , in opposition to any contention of on e separate and individual Slovak language and nation . The author demonstrates that Slovak experts succeeded in counteracting the opposition by applying the facts of history to linguistics and courageously weathering political humiliations as did , for example, Eudovft Novak , author of K najstarsfm dejinam slovenskehojazyka. Vragas must be commended for his definition of Czechoslovakism and for his timely exposition of some generally unknown linguistic-political humiliations of Slovak scholars, especially in the 1950s a nd part of the 1960s. �134 SLOVAKIA The history of Slovak translations on Slovak ethnic territory to 1939 is the subject of the article by Agostino Visco. Brief mention is made of translations into contemporary Slavic during the Great Moravian era and some initial translations into Latin . It was not until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that extensive translation was made from Latin into the Slovak national language, mainly by Catholics. From Greek and Latin some classics and religious works were translated: ancient poetry, meditations, the Bible . Later, translations began from West European authors, then from East European ones, until the abortive years 1848-1849, when translations declined . After 1918 and in the early twentieth century translations resumed . They steadily progressed after 1933, when the Matica slovenska established a translation group , thus institutionalizing and perfecting translations. Visco considers the Slovak R epublic era (1939-1945) as the most important period for translations . Inasmuch as translations have so much influenced both Slovak poetry and prose, they represent an important facet of Slovak literature. Mirella De Martini Tihany examines the emigration of Italian laborers from Venetia and Lombardy to Slovakia in the second half of the nineteenth century . Parish registers of Slovak localities along the main railroad line from Kosice (Slovakia) to Bohumfn (Moravia) are the principal sources of research, especially those found in the State and District Archives of Bytca. Because of mineral transports from central Slovakia, railroads were needed in Slovakia . Historically, the Kosice-Bohumfn line construction in 1870 was urgent for connecting eastern Slovakia with Berlin . In this construction , the temporary Italian immigration initially entered . For some workers it meant death from epidemic , for others it was an occasion for marriage and baptisms. In her article Tihanyi provides a brief insight into Slovak interaction with the emigrants and also a sad commentary on the plight of Italian workers neglected by their non-Slovak contractors . Finally , Lisa Guarda Nardini considers the sole syndicate in Czechoslovakia, the "ROH" - Revolutionary Trade Union Movement. It is studied as an exemplary illustration of the statute of the organization which institutionally represents all workers in a country which claims that labor is paramount and the workers govern . The author proceeds from a relatively brief introduction about members , duties, structure, and other considerations to a translation of the ROH statute with its fifty articles. The m erit of this article is the translation of the ROH statute into Italian from Slovak. Volume III of IJ mondo slavo can be recommended to the readers of Slovakia for its wealth of information on fascinating Slovak topics. JOHN M. KOCHIK Westmoreland County Community College Youngwood, Pennsylvania �SLOVAKIA 135 Josef Korbel. Twentieth-Century Czechoslovakia: The Meanings of Its History. New York: Columbia University Press , 1977 . 346 pp. A rich and varied background prepared the late Professor Josef Korbel for this twentieth-century history of a small country in Central Europe . He was closely associated with the University of Denver, where he served as Dean of the Graduate School oflnternational Studies, Director of the Social Science Foundation , and Andrew W . Mellon Professor of International Studies. He was the author of several books on Central Europe. Prior to his academic career, Korbel had been the Czechoslovak ambassador to Yugoslavia . He also had held a number of other important diplomatic posts and was a personal acquaintance of both Edvard Benes and Jan Masaryk . Twentieth -Century Czechoslovakia begins with the Hussite period. By tracing the "roots" of Czech thought from Jan Hus to the subsequent suppression by the Catholic Habsburgs, and through the era of the Enlightenment, the author demonstrates how the Czech ideal of humanity evolved. He compares concepts derived from Frantisek Palacky and Karel Havlfcek to Tomas G. Masaryk's "Czech humanism. " All three were witnesses to the Hussite influence . A quick glance at opposing interpretations of Czech history by Josef Pekar and Ferdinand Peroutka and their criticism ofT.G. Masaryk's philosophy leads Korbel to the observation that " in times of assured statehood the Czech people strove for the ideals of humanity; in times of peril, they lowered their heads to save the national body" (p. 24). Korbel expands this thought throughout the rest of the book. Beginning with July 6, 1915, the 500th anniversary of the death of Jan Hus , Tomas G. Masaryk is depicted as voicing a vision about to become a reality. As the author discusses the historical formation of Czechoslovakia, he dwells primarily on the Czech leadership. He skillfully paints portraits of national hopes , problems of administration, mistakes in judgment, and fears for the future. Throughout the twenties and thirties these events led to the final breakup of the first Czechoslovakia. By analyzing the Munich crisis and World War II as it affected this Central European victim state, Korbel clearly shows that the Czechs " lowered their heads to save the national body." As he searches for the mea ning of the postwar years in the revitalized Czechoslovak state, he refers to them as " The Sisyphean Years," the title of his last and perhaps most intriguing chapter. With T.G . M asaryk, he believes that " the nation will take up again its active role in mankind's neyer-ending struggle for freedom and social justice" (p. 320). Written in an engaging style, Korbel's story of Czechoslovakia's rise and fall will fascinate not only the student of history but also a ny reader interested �136 SLOVAKIA in learning about Central Europe during the twentieth century. Unfortunately, the author does exhibit a bias against the Slovaks. This is especially apparent in his reference to the well-loved and respected Slovak leader Father Andrej Hlinka as being "fanatic. " Furthermore, while the Czechoslovak state could not exist without the Slovaks, Korbel devotes a mere 25-30 pages to them in a book of 346 pages. His admiration for Tomas G. Masaryk is deep, his respect for Jan Masaryk is genuine, and his evaluation of Edvard Benes appears objective. Had it been possible to apply historical honesty to all aspects of Czechoslovakia's growth from its inception to its dissolution and rebirth, such an account might have added significantly to the rapidly increasing literature in that area of research. One can only conclude that this historical account was written from the so-called Czechoslovak point of view. If this is understood, the reader will enjoy Twentieth-Century Czechoslovakia but will continue to look for "The Meanings of Its History" in other books dealing far more adequately with Slovakia and the Slovaks . M. EVANGELA LUBEK, 0 .S.B. Bishop Noll Institute Hammond, Indiana Martin R . Myant. Socialism and Democracy in Czechoslovakia, 1945-1948. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981. 302 pp. The three years that preceded the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia at the end of the Second World War have been generally understood in the West as a lull in which all the indications of what would happen in February 1948 were present. Although Martin Myant does not contradict this approach, he offers in this study, above all, an examination of the political situation in Czechoslovakia in which the Communist Party was just one of many players until mid-194 7, when a power struggle erupted leading to the Communist victory a few months later. What we have here, according to the author, is a polity which sought to achieve a socialist society by democratic means. It is an interesting thesis that reflects to a great extent the approach that Communist scholars took to this period in the 1960s and which found some sympathy among Western scholars. The book is divided into ten chapters that begin with a rapid overview of the development of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia . The next five chapters are devoted to an analysis of the political situation in the Czech lands, with one chapter on Slovakia . In three more chapters the author looks at the power struggle which culminated in the February crisis . The final chapter �SLOVAKIA 137 examines post-February Czechoslovakia, in particular those events that announced the imposition of a more radical line by the Kremlin . It is clear from Myant 's story that World War II had brought about major changes in the Czech lands. In the postwar world, Czech political life reflected a general consensus that Czech society wanted its government to implement socialist changes because the prewar order had been destroyed during the hostilities . As an organized resistance group, the Communists played a major part in setting the framework for a socialist transformation . They were by far the most cohesive and organized party. Until mid-1947 they were also willing to collaborate - and indeed did so - with the non-Communist parties in implem enting new policies . The author gives a thorough analysis not only of the platforms of all parties, but also of the political activities of the Communist Party. When the struggle for power broke out, the Communists aimed at nothing more than victory and then used whatever means they could get away with to achieve that end. But for Myant - unlike for Paul Zinner and Josef Korbel, who also wrote on this period - the interest lies in the pre-mid 1947 period where, as he writes, "for all its faults, the National Front system established in May 1945 provided a possible basis for the development of socialism in Czechoslovakia" (p. 242). Despite the author's thorough analysis, this reviewer is not convinced that the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia could have played according to democratic rules in an advanced society. Although Myant attributes the shift that occurred in mid-1947 to the international situation and Cominform directives , the fact remains that the Communist Party was willing in the last analysis to abandon democratic means in favor of one-party rule. There is no evidence that the Party offered the Kremlin any resistance . Had its commitment to democracy really existed, it could have defied Moscow since there were no Soviet troops in the country and it is doubtful that Moscow would have risked a war to impose its will . The pre-mid-1947 experience may be interesting for those who still hanker after a form of" democratic socialism"; for m e it merely shows that a Communist Party will also play the democratic game if it brings it closer to its goal of total power, but it does not show a commitment to democracy . The author's treatment of Slovakia is inadequate . He approaches it from the same point of view as the Czech lands , namely that the Slovaks were also headed for socialist transformation. To take this approach is to ignore not only the legacy of prewar Slovak politics, but also the major impact the Slovak R epublic had on the Slovaks. His accusation that Slovakia was backward is both unfair and unfortunate; it is a Czech point of view that was arti~ulated quite openly from 1945 on, especially in the Communist Party. This view was also imposed on Slovak Communists, who accepted it after their defeat in the May 1946 elections. The author does, however, point out that the Communist �138 SLOVAKIA Party was unwilling to embark on a different and distinct Slovak policy, if only not to alienate its Czech constituency. The position of Slovakia in postwar Czechoslovakia was very critical. Forced without consultation into a state where they would be a minority, Slovaks then saw most instruments of autonomous government progressively taken away from them . The non-Communist leadership was weak and faced not only Communist opposition but also Czech resistance to any status beyond minimal autonomy . Thus Slovak political life centered once again on Slovakia ' s role in Czechoslovakia, not on socialist transformation . As time went on, it was clear to most Slovaks that they mattered very little in Czechoslovak politics and were expected to be merely compliant to Prague . In this respect, Myant writes unfairly about President Tiso's execution in 1947 that "its announcement in Slovakia was met with no visible unrest" (p. 158). The truth of the matter is that the army and Czech police had been sent to Slovakia to make sure that there was no unrest. For the same reason the attempted Communist coup in Bratislava failed that autumn. The game had to be played out in Prague. This is a well-researched study that is thorough in its presentation for the Czech lands . It is highly unsatisfactory for Slovakia. For this reason, as well as the author's ideological predelictions, it is regrettably incomplete and, therefore, disappointing. STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM Glendon College, York University Toronto, Canada Leon Noel. La Tchecoslovaquie d'avant Munich. Paris: Institut d'etudes slaves, 1982. 208 pp. J.F.N. Bradley. Politics in Czechoslovakia, 1945-1971. Washington, D.C .: University Press of America, 1981. 225 pp. There are few Central European states that have had as turbulent a history as Czechoslovakia. It was created by the Western Powers on the morrow of World War I, only to be abandoned two decades later to German expansionism and another ten years later to Soviet imperialism. Paradoxically, Western scholarship has yet to produce a good history on either the First Republic or on the postwar Communist period. The two volumes under review, while they seek to give us an overview of each period, are also unsatisfactory. Leon Noel was France's Minister to Czechoslovakia from 1932 to 1935. His book constitutes a sort of memoir of the three years he spent in Prague. To this account he added a few chapters that deal with the origins of the state , �SLOVAKIA 139 some of its leading personalities, the Slovaks, the Germans and the Hungarians, the Catholic Church, and the political parties . None is very good , and the chapters on the Slovaks and the political parties are particularly poor. It becomes quickly very clear that this French diplomat understood very little the country in which he represented France . The main impression that one gets is that he was interested above all in maintaining excellent diplomatic relations between Prague and Paris . This he seems to have done, given the number of positive comments about himself by Czechoslovakia's leaders that he quotes . But one does not get any idea what were the main currents in FrancoCzechoslovak relations. It is only when he evaluates the leading personalities in Prague of the common state of the Czechs and Slovaks that he is interesting. That is one of the redeeming features of his book . If this book is at all interesting , it is becau se it reflects French perceptions of Czechoslovakia in the interwar period . The state was to a great extent a French creation, and Czechoslovakia's centralist system of government was modelled on that of France. Paris supported Prague on the German and the Slovak questions with the result that neither French diplomats nor French scholars paid any attention to anyone but the Czechs and accepted everything Prague told them. Noel ' s book is therefore not different from those published in the interwar years. It is a pity that he did not learn from subsequent events about which much has been written to give us a more critical appreciation of the country where he clearly spent three interesting years of his life . The Bradley volume is more in line with contemporary scholarship. But it is a peculiar book. The author has done some thorough research in a number of areas, yet he does not succeed in giving us an adequate overall picture of Communist politics in Czechoslovakia. The greatest flaw is his lack of treatment of the Slovak question, which he does not seem to have understood at all. There are two them es to the book: government and politics. The author gives a thorough description of Czechoslovakia's Communist government structure , examining in turn its constitutions, parliaments , governments, the judiciary , and security. Hi s chapter on the central government for 1948-1968 is rather good . He analyzes well the main problems of any Communist government, namely political domination and efficient administration. As he points out: "Even the most capable administrators among these politicans would have found it impossible to run central ministries efficiently with the politicallyreliable but admi nistratively unfit officials at their disposal" (p. 123) . When it comes to analyzing Communist politics , the author devotes only two chapters, one on the Dubcek era and the other on the Husak period of normalization. Both are somewhat disappointing. The overall result is that at the end of the book the reader is still left wondering what Czechoslovak politics were all about for the period 1948-1971. �140 SLOVAKIA The major flaw of Bradley's book is its treatment of the Slovak question. Clearly the author belongs to that category of Western scholars who do not consider Czech-Slovak relations to have been, and still to be, the focal point of the survival of the common state of these two nations. It is not surprising to come across such a statement as : "The Slovaks, who had apparently been enjoying equality and autonomy since 1948, began to voice their demands for new constitutional arrangements within the Czechoslovak Republic" (p. 183), with no further explanation. The final chapter, on Husak's federalism , is also inadequate in analyzing the new relationship between the two nations, let alone explaining why this formerly centralist state had been transformed into a federation . Neither book fulfills the mission its title suggests . Nevertheless in each there are some aspects of interest which may help the specialist and the interested reader on Czechoslovakia to get a better insight into this troubled common state of the Czechs and Slovaks. STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM Glendon College, York University Toronto, Canada Zdenek L. Suda. Zealots and Rebels: A History of the Ruling Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Stanford, Calif. : Hoover Institution Press , 1980 . 412 pp . This first history of the Czechoslovak Communist Party in English, from its beginnings in November, 1917 , in Revolutionary Russia and its foundation in November , 1921, up to the late 1970s, is an impressive achievement. Professor Suda, a sociologist at the University in Pittsburgh, selected some of the best scholarly works written in the West on various topics or periods of his target and complemented them with a few basic books and articles published at different times in Czechoslovakia. Although his opus is based almost exclusively on secondary sources and, surprisingly, does not even mention authors whose work should have been consulted (e .g ., Machonin, Borkenau, Taborsky, Zinner, Horak , Jancar, Korbel, Tigrid) , it is worth reading and including in private as well as public libraries. It is a solid work and excels in its capable and systematic review of major events in the history of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Its organization is clear, and the writer consistently pays attention to domestic developments as well as to Soviet or other Communist parties' history . In Suda' s concluding words , what matters is "the development of the Soviet core to which the CPCS, for the greater part of its existence, has only been peripheral" (p. 380). �SLOVAKIA 141 Suda's main contribution is to be found in his judicious summary of some sixty years in the life of a movement, in his sensible comments, and in his perspicuous analysis. One half of the book is devoted to the Party's history before it came to power in 1945 . There is a certain imbalance in Suda's treatment of the foundation of the CPCS (50 pages) or of its history until 1929 (70 pages) and his discussion of the crucial year of 1968 (only 20 pages) . The later story is much better known that the first two so that it does not constitute any major weakness, especially since the author keeps stressing interesting parallels between different periods of Party history . Basically, it was and is a foreign element brought into a state whose traditions , both cultural and political, have been .at variance with it . Suda devotes a substantial part of his book to developments in the Communist Party of Slovakia and to its asymmetric position in a basically centralist party and state. He rightly considers the unsolved problems of national minorities - and many Slovaks refused to think of themselves as equal partners in a "Czechoslovak" nation - to be the weak point of the whole edifice . The German problem is also systematically studied, and so are the Hungarian and Ruthenian ethnic communities. Paradoxically, even the establishment of a federal state in 1968 did not put an end to Prague centralism, although the general secretary of the Party since 1968 has been a Slovak. The lack of a detailed study of primary sources and of many crucial scholarly works , unfortunately , is responsible for some, mostly minor, mistakes in an otherwise well-printed and well-proofread work. For instance, Trotsky's secret message to disarm the Czechoslovak Corps in Russia is not mentioned; Tomas G . Masaryk is wrongly characterized as "never a socialist" (p. 12); the important role of G eneral Vlasov and his armed units in the Prague uprising in 1945 is omitted; for some reason, the Cominform and Comintern are both spelled with a ' K '; there is nothing on substantial workers' unrest in 1948 and 1949 ; Richta's leadership of a scientific Party commission is assigned to Mlynar , who was in charge of another one about whose existence the author does not seem to have known (p. 328); the Manifesto of 2000 Words was published simultaneously in four Prague papers and not just in one (p. 391) - a fact which was important for the Soviet audience since the pressure group was clearly well organized! Furthermore, the periodical Listy was not a "bimonthly" (p. 367) but rather appeared monthly. In disagreement with the author's statement on page 261, Zapotocky was criticized at Politboro meetings for his relaxation of forced collectivization of agriculture . What is more important, Suda sometimes accepts the terminology of his Communist sources and then refers, for instance , to the "progressive elite " (p. 120) when he discusses individuals who were responsible for bringing shame and enslave- �142 SLOVAKIA ment upon their own nations. Although the author believes that only a small minority of Social Democrats refused to join the CPCS in the year of forced amalgamation (p. 225), the truth is that less than one third of them joined the Communist Party! Also, his description of workers' acceptance of the Slansky trial is only partially true because, according even to Communist sources, after the initial passage of favorable resolutions, there was resolute criticism of the whole Party and state leadership, often calling for their dismissal. Finally , the 1968 meetings at Cierna nad Tisou did not take place in the Soviet train (p . 340) but - with the exception of Dubcek's visit to the "ailing" Brezhev in a railwaymen's club on Czechoslovak territory. There is a good analysis of voting patterns in 1925 but, somewhat surprisingly for a sociologist, the author does not include any analysis and statistics (which are available) of the social or class composition of the CPCS in its period of absolute power. All these and a few other errors and omissions can be easily corrected in an eventual second edition of this pioneering and generally very successful work . PETER R. HRUBY Western Australian Institute of Technology Perth , Australia Frantisek Bielik a kolektfv. Slovaci vo svete. Volume II. Martin : Matica slovenska, 1980. 320 pp . This second volume of Slovaci vo svete is a general survey of pre-World War II Slovak immigration to countries throughout the world. It is a collaborative effort. However, except for the separate sections on Slovak immigrant culture and involvement in labor activities in the United States and the Slovak immigration to Canada and France , Frantisek Bielik is the principal author of the book. Bielik first discusses the general causes of Slovak emigration and its impact on Hungary and later Czechoslovakia. The work is then divided into geographical categories by country. Within each geographical division, the authors adopt a standard, almost monotonous , procedure of chronicling the formation and sporadic activities of various Slovak organizations . They provide brief descriptions of Slovak fraternal societies , schools, newspapers, labor organizations, and cultural associations . In addition, they discuss the political and labor activities of some Slovak immigrants in the different countries. Slovaci vo svete is a useful addition to the literature on Slovak immigration, because it contains tables and statistics as well as literary material that have not been readily available in a single source. The inclusion of sources would have improved the usefulness of the tables. The work is also important �SLOVAKIA 143 because it offers some different perspectives on the Slovak immigration experience . For example, Bielik properly stresses that the United States was the major but not the sole destination of Slovak emigrants . To emphasize this point, the book includes brief sketches of Slovak immigration to New Zealand, Asia, and Africa - countries not commonly associated with the Slovak emigration movement. Also, by discussing Slovak involvement in labor unions and Socialist organizations, the authors offer a different profile of Slovak immigrant laborers than that depicted in earlier literature. Ivan Poljak and Eva Fordinalova, who contributed the segment on Slovak union and work-related activities in the United States, would agree with Victor Greene that Slovak workers were not simply meek laborers whose docility prevented them from becoming actively involved in labor unions and strife. Moreover, their religiosity did not prevent all Slovaks in the United States and elsewhere from flirting with Socialist or Communist ideas and joining Socialist or Communist parties. Despite such points, Slovaci vo svete is marred by serious weaknesses. As a synthesis , the book is far too general and institutionally oriented. Even the lengthier discussion of Slovak immigrants in the United States is primarily a chronicle narrative of various immigrant organizations and newspapers. The treatment of Slovak immigration to other countries serves little more than as a reminder that the United States was not the sole destination of this immigrant group. No attempt is made to offer a comparative analysis of Slovak adjustment to various countries. Rather, Bielik and the other contributors seem content to resort to perfunctory , isolated discussions of Slovaks and their organizations in the several countries. While they are to be commended for the attempt to describe the work life of Slovak laborers, the discussions of this topic suffer from overgeneralizations, oversimplifications, and factual and interpretive errors. The· authors try desperately to show that Slovaks almost naturally harbor Socialist sympathies . They use the participation by Slovaks in labor unions or strikes as examples of these natural sympathies. Typically the authors do not provide sufficient or convincing evidence for their generalizations. For example, they make no attempt even to estimate the number of Slovaks actually involved in the various " Socialist " and labor activities they describe . Unfortunately, Slovaci vo svete is further harmed because the authors overlook some obviously important aspects of Slovak immigrant life in the United States and perhaps in other countries as well. Despite the claim that the book is offering a description of immigrant life , much of the material actually focuses on the activities of prominent Slovaks, not ordinary immigrants . Slovak churches and their role in American Slovak communities are ignored. Overall, Slovaci vo svete is too brief to treat adequately the complex aspects of Slovak immigration to the United States and to other countries. Still, this work does raise questions that merit closer analysis b y students of Slovak �144 SLOVAKIA immigration and of labor and political history. The contributors also do provide a general, institutional history of Slovak immigration throughout the world. This volume does not rank as the definitive study of Slovak immigration, but it is a synthesis that scholars in Czechoslovakia and in those countries where Slovak immigrants have gone will find useful. JUNE GRANATIR ALEXANDER The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio Elena Jakesova . Vyst'ahovalectvo Slovakov do Kanady. Bratislava : Veda, vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej akademie vied, 1981. 160 pp . In recent years there has been a great renewed interest in ethnic and immigration history on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. To the growing list of scholarly studies in this field can be added Elenajakesova's present monograph . Jakesova presents a concise, statistical account of Slovak immigration to Canada from the 1870s to 1938. The book is divided into two sections, one covering the years from the 18 70s to 1914, and the second from 1922 to 1938 . She gives the reasons for Slovak immigration from Hungary, and later from Czechoslovakia, and also an excellent outline of the individual Slovak settlements in Canada. Other chapters or sections are devoted to the development of the Slovak press in Canada and to the rise of Slovak fraternal societies. Separate sections describe Slovak mining settlements in Western Canada, agricultural communities in Central Canada, and urban settlements in Eastern Canada in later years . This is a well-organized and well-written book . The research and documentation are most impressive . The author made use of archival material from Slovak district archives in Slovakia, from the Haus-Hof-und Staatsarchiv in Vienna, and from the Magyar Orszagos Leveltar in Budapest. Most of the periodical literature and monographic studies dealing with Canadian Slovaks were also used. In short, few stones were left unturned . The volume is also enriched by graphs and charts which help clarify the history of Slovak immigration to Canada. Even the illustrations were well selected and add interest to the subject. , Two serious shortcomings of the book arejakesova's treatment of Canadian Slovak societies and churches. Among societies the importance of the Slovak workers' movement was overemphasized . Her account of it was informative and interesting, but the movement itself was of decidedly minor significance. The Canadian Slovak League and Canadian-Slovak Support Society were and remain the largest Canadian-Slovak organizations . More should �SLOVAKIA 145 have been said about these groups and the great work and sacrifices of such individuals as Andrej Kucera and Andrej Potocky, founders of the Canadian Slovak League . In general, more attention should have been devoted to the experiences of Canadian Slovaks - their joys and sufferings - and to the history of their churches, which were not covered at all. Aside from these drawbacks , the work has many merits and can be recomm ended to anyone seeking a general survey of Slovak immigration to Canada. X. SUTHERLAND Stoney Point, New York ANTHONY Engelbert Zobl and Hertha A. Zobl. Holzbaukunst in der Slowakei. Vienna : Fachjournalverlagsgesellschaft, 1978. 92 pp. This unpretentious little paperback volume bears witness to what seems to be a growing interest among enthusiasts in western Europe to " uncover " the art of traditional wooden architecture in the Carpathian region of Slovakia. H ence, since the appearance of the book under review , two more ambitious volumes have appeared: Wooden Churches in th e Carpathians: The Photographic Legacy of Florian Zapletal (Vienna, 1982) by Paul R. Magoci and the monumental Wooden Churches of Eastern Europe (Cambridge , 1981) by David Buxton , both of which contain numerous photograp hs of structures in northeastern Slovakia. In contrast to these two subsequent works , the book by Engelbert and Hertha Zobl seems more of an architectural travel reportage put together as a guide for Austrian and West German tourists who still flock each summer to Czechoslovakia in search of the ostensibly more exotic cultural stimuli of the "east." This is not to suggest that such popular books are without value or that the Zobls have not done a competent job . In fact, as is evident from the albeit self-indulgent autobiographical data (complete with photographs of the whole family), the husband and wife Zobl team have degrees, respectively , in architecture and the a pplied arts. And as the lavishly-illustrated book reveals , they both have a keen sensitivity for the aesthetic as well as technical aspects of their subject. The book is basically divided into five chapters : belfries, wooden churches, wooden crosses, secular wooden architecture, and architectural ornamentation. The appendices include a list of all belfries and churches with their date of construct ion (in most , but not all instances); a map showing the travel route fo llowed by the authors in 1976 with each place indicated that appears in the book ; an index of placenames; and a brief bibliography . The latter indicates a few basi c German, Czech, and Slovak works, but omi ts two recent �146 SLOVAKIA Ukraini an-langu age studies from C zechoslovakia th at deal with the subj ect: an encyclopedia of wooden churches (past and present) in northeastern Slovakia by B. K ovafo vyfova-Puskarova and I. Pu skar , D erev 'jani cerk vy schidnoho obrjadu na Slo vaccyni (Bratislava and Presov, 1971) and a survey of secular architecture in the same region by M . Sopolyha , Narodn a architektura ukrajinciv Schidnoji Slovaccyn y (Svidnfk, 1976) . Each chapter in the book by the Zobls is preceded by a very brief introduction , and each of the 110 photograph s carries a caption. There are also 41 line drawings of structures and ground plans. By far , the largest portion of the book - a to tal of 72 illu strations - d epicts structures from villages inhabited by C a rpatho-Ru syns in the very northea stern part of Slovakia. Thi s is not surprising, since that area had economicall y always been the m ost underdeveloped and , therefore, traditional life-style and architecture have been preserved there the longest. Also , the authors seem ed to have become enchanted by the clusters of wood en churches north of Svidnfk and northea st of Snina, whose almost perfect form a nd balance m ake them stand out aesthetically, in particular when juxta posed to wooden architecture throughout all of eastern Europe, as is evident from the compara tive survey b y David Buxton mentioned above. The photographs are, in fact , the highlight of the Zobl ' s book . They were all ta ken in 1976, were well executed and often provide different views of a given structure, and have been reproduced clearly in the printing process. With the exception of a few iconostases in side Byzantine-rite churches, the photographs are almost all exterior shots. Pa rti cul arl y striking are 39 photograph s in color , am ong the best of which a re the wooden church in Mi rol'a, the cem etary crosses in D etva, and the decoration on hou ses in Zdi ar . All in all , W ooden Architecture in Slovakia is an excellent introd uction to the beauties of trad itional cultu re that still can be found in Slovaki a tod ay. As a serious guide for tourists, it would be pa rticula rl y useful if a n E ngli sh ed ition could be p repa red fo r the increasin g numbers of Am ericans of Slovak a nd Carpatho-Ru syn descent who visit the ancestral hom eland . P AUL R . M AGOCSI Uni versity of T oronto T oronto, Ca nada A tlas CSSR . Brat islava: Slove nska kartografi a, 1980 . This school atlas is obviously intended for student s at about the hi gh school level. It has no accompan yin g text or explana tory m a terial and is even devoid of a n introdu ction. Con sequentl y, the u ser is give n no idea regardin g the in tended audience or the goal s of thi s volume of m aps. �SLOVAKIA 147 There are 42 pages of maps; there are more actual maps, howeve r , because numerous inset (larger scale) maps are displayed on various themes. The first quarter of the atlas is d evoted to physical/environmental subjects temperature, precipitation , geological structure , soils, forests , etc. The remainder of the volume contains social, cultural, and especially economic maps . The physical maps are of standard type, although the last of this group is an interesting map of conservation sites, such as parks and botanical stations. The demographic maps (pages 12 to 15) are interesting because included are maps on density , fertility , mortality , national population growth rates , labor force, and the nationalities. Most of the m aps suffer as a result of the inappropriate scale employed and poor use of color. The nationalities sheet is particularly poor because the combination of colors and patterns to locate and quantify minority groups is a total failure. The economic maps (pages 16-27) again are standard and include maps of minerals , manufacturing, agriculture , crops , transport and more for the entire country. Detailed political/ physical maps of the Czech and Slovak R epublics are then followed by similar economic maps for the two areas. The atlas is rounded out with a set of maps of "regional types" at the micro-scale. There are six of these, including types such as the High Tatra a rea and a section of industrial Ostrava. There are also 10 exam ples of "settlement types," including Nitra and a Czech resort town. The final three maps are interesting cultural maps, including one of higher and middle schools, medical institutions, and historical/cultural monuments. Unfortunately , these maps are of very limited use because they are drawn at a scale ( 1 :4,000,000) which obliterates any detail. In general, the Atlas CSSR is an adequate school level tool. It would have been much better and useful, however , if sharper color had been used and if more reasonable scales had been chosen for many of the maps. The bulkiness (23 cm. x 55 cm .) and the inferior quality of the binding also detract from the Atlas ' value. In sum , a poten tiall y lively collection of maps has bee n rendered into a disappointing volume of no particular distinction. GEORGE J. D EMKO U.S. Department of State W ashington , D .C. Peter Balaz, Miloslav Darovec, and H eather Trebaticka. Slovak for Slavicists . Brat islava: Slovenske pedagogicke nakladatel'stvo, 1976. 302 pp. Students who have some background in another Slavic langu age, as well as those who possess a rudimentary knowledge of Slovak , will find this text- �148 SLOVAKIA book useful. It was written for the intermediate classes at the Studia Academica Slovaca (Summer Seminar of Slovak Language and Culture in Bratislava), and was also intended for use as a textbook in university-level courses abroad . The authors point out in the preface that it is not a handbook for those studying Slovak without a teacher ; however , it can be used in this way if the student's goal is to gain only a reading knowledge of Slovak, and particularly if Slovak is not his/ her first Slavic language. The book contains 27 lessons in addition to the Slovak-English/English-Slovak glossaries . The bilingual d esignation of the section headings in the table of contents and in the lessons themselves is a very desirable feature of the book . It serves the immediate pedagogical purpose of teaching these items in Slovak as well as enabling the student who wishes to augment the explanations in the textbook with those from Slovak sources to find easily the desired items in the Slovak books . Lesson 1 is devoted to a brief discussion of the alphabet and pronunciation . The Slovak letters ii, c, dz, s, z, t', d', 1' are characterized as palatalized consonants (p. 17) , which might well confuse those students who have studied Ru ssian . They would be better described in English as palatals. Furthermore, since regressive voice assimilatio n before nasals and liquids characterizes Slovak sandhi rules in contrast to some of the other Slavic languages, it would be well to include that information in the section on pronunciation . The remaining lessons have the following general format : introductory text , questions , vocabulary, grammatical section , exercises , grammatical section, exercises, translation exercise, and pronunciation exercise. The exercises a re well constructed and provide immediate reinforcement of the concepts just introduced . The notes and notice markers which call attention to exceptions or to features which differ significantly in English are also very effective . R eview exercises, spaced at appropriate intervals throughout the book which would combine the information presented in the various grammatical sections up to that point , would enhance the efficacy of the textbook (e.g., inclusion of a review exercise following Lesson 6 after most declensional paradigms have been introduced) . The introductory texts conta in a vocabulary which is very useful for those students who will be in Bratislava . Howeve r, to those who have never been there , as well as to the newly arrived , certain words such as miestenka are mystifying and a note of explanation would be helpful. Lesson 8 has an informal letter to a friend as the introductory text. The forms of ty are correctly capitalized. H owever , there is no note of explanation on how vy (polite singular/plural) should be written. Since this is one of the areas in which the Slavic languages differ , it would be well to include a note on T /V capitalization in letters. It might be more useful to include a thank- yo u note or a formal letter for exam- �SLOVAKIA 149 pie, to a professor requesting a consultation, because these are the kinds of letters that a more advanced student is likely to be writing . In general the texts are of a very practical nature and provide the student with an adequate vocabulary for functioning in Slovak society. They could be made more effective by deleting some, such as Lesson 4, or editing them, so that they would be more appropriate for and interesting to university students. While it is possible to draw up a list of additions that one would wish to insert into the book, that in no way detracts from its value. It is certainly the best textbook available today for teaching Slovak to English-speaking students at the university level, and we can only hope that it will be expanded and enlarged in future editions. LOUISE B. HAMMER Bloomington , Indiana JozefMistrfk . Basic Slovak . Bratislava : Slovenske pedagogicke nakladatel'stvo, 1981. 160 pp . This textbook is designed for English-speaking students who want to learn the fundamental grammatical phenomena and 800 of the most frequently occurring vocabularly items in Slovak without wading through the complexities that most traditional grammars present. Its focus is on learning to speak Slovak (American speakers of English should be forewarned that the pronunciation equivalents between English and Slovak given in Lesson 1 are based on British English), not on gaining a passive reading knowledge of the language, and it is not designed to be used without a teacher . Therefore, rules are given but exceptions to the rules are introduced into the discussion only when they occur frequently . This approach is based on the theory that second language acquisition, like first language acquisition, requires a knowledge of the productive grammatical rules of a language, i.e. , those patterns that a learner encounters over and over again in everyday usage. Since this textbook is designed for the one-month Studia Academica Slovaca summer school course as an introductory textbook, it alone would not suffice for a traditional American two-year college program; however, even in a more extended course, the texts which begin each chapter , as well as the exercises at the ends of the lessons, could serve as useful supplementary material . The book contains fifteen lessons , paradigm tables, Slovak-English and English-Slovak vocabularies, and a dictionary of linguistic terms . Beginning with the second, each lesson consists of four parts : text, vocabulary, grammar, and exercises. The texts are interest ing from the sociolinguistic point of view because they frequently have as their themes social events which a re common �150 SLOVAKIA in contemporary Slovak life, such as presenting flowers to someone arriving at the station, waiting in line to buy things, the extended family living together, friends sharing their experiences over a glass of wine . These texts serve to familiarize American students with Slovak culture and appropriate language usage in that culture. Each text introduces the vocabulary items which are listed just after it. This section is followed by grammatical explanations which are simple and concise, and are easily understood by learners with a minimal background in traditional grammar . The exercises require the student to create new forms based on the rules and data presented in the preceding sections . In addition to fillin g in blanks , the students are required to form sentences. Since a bilingual text is given in all of the lessons after the fifth , the student is able to check his/her progress in sentence construction . Features of Slovak which are absent in English and are, therefore , troublesome for English-speaking students are re-introduced in the texts or exercises of subsequent lessons; for example, the prefixed forms of ist' are introduced in Lesson 10 and are exemplified in the exercises in Lesson 12 . The last item in the exercises is a list of words to be read aloud for pronunciation purposes. These words do not appear in the glossary at the end of the book. The glossary does possess an attr~ctive feature: It indicates after every word the number of the lesson in which the word was introdu ced . As is usual in a first printing , some errors are to be found in the book (e.g., a few of the r ' s in th e glossary have been deleted , and some of the s's have been transposed into the s section). There are also minor errors in the English text : " present " in stead of " represent" (p. 11) ; "shorting" instead of " shortening" (p . 66) ; "The both forms are possible" (p . 74 ). one of these lead s to misunderstanding ; however, occasionally, as in " byvam dlho h are" (p . 3 1) ( = " not to sleep"), the E nglish m eaning is not immedia tely clear. On the whole , P rofessor Mi strfk 's book successfully fulfills the goals which he set in writing it , and any teacher or student of Slovak will find it a u seful addition to his/her library. L OU ISE B . HAMM ER Blooming ton , Indian a Abel Kral'. Slovenska vyslovn ost'. Banska Bys trica: U cebne pomocky, 1979. 8 stereo phonograph records with accom pan ying text , 173 pp. These high-quality recordings were produced by Abel Kral' , the head of the Phonetics D epartment a t Com enius University, and national artist V . Zaborsky , for u se in seconda ry schools and la ngu age institutes in Slovakia in �SLOVAKIA 151 order to teach students the neutral pronunciation style of standard literary Slovak . In the introduction Kral' explains the theoretical assumptions on which the presentation is based and suggests various ways in which the records can be used effectively. The recordings contain sections on the vowels, diphthongs, consonants, and consonant clusters . In addition there are excellent exercises on gemminated consonants, rhythmic shortening, and particularly on voicing assimilation in the various environments. The last record has a well-exemplifed discussion of sentence intonation. Each section begins with an introduction in which the terminology is defined, the particular sound or sounds under consideration are d escribed, and incorrect pronunciation is sometimes identified. Then the correct pronunciation is given. It is repeated twice with pauses between the utterances so that the student is able to practice the pronunciation and compare it to the record. These sections would be valuable for beginning students, while the more advanced students would additionally gain from hearing the spoken Slovak of the explanations as well as from their content. These recordings would be a very useful teaching aid for non-native speakers who teach Slovak or for Slovaks who speak a dialect and would like to acquire the standard pronunciation . Every student of Slovak who wishes to acquire a good speaking command of the language will benefit from the use of these recordings. They are in fact a very solid course in Slovak phonetics, and selections from the recordings would be ideal material for the pronunciation section of a typical language course. LOUISE B. HAMMER Bloomington , Indiana Vojtech Mihalik . Erotikon. Subor l'ubostn ej lyriky. Bratislava : Slovensky spisovatel' , 1981. Vojtech Mihalik is the grand old m an of Czechoslovak letters , and specifically of Slovak poetry, if this title could apply to a m a n who is only 55 years old. He is undoubtedly the most outstanding poet of the generation which came to the fore after the Second World War. Born in 1926 , Michalik for many years worked as the editor-in-chief of the main publishing house in Bra tislava . A former long-time president of the Association of Slovak Writers, he is at presen t the director of the publi shing house Slovensky spisovatel'. His first selection of poems appeared shortly after the war. H e has published 13 more volumes of poetry as well as numerous essays a nd translations. In 1978 he received the title of Nat ion al Artist, one of the highest literary honors in Czechoslovakia. �152 SLOVAKIA This, his latest volume, contains a selection of poems written at various periods of the author's life. As far as the erotic content of the book is concerned, it is much smaller than could be expected by Western standards . Mihalik is prima rily a romantic poet , a poet of love and emotion . H e puts less stress on the physical aspects of passion than would most of his W estern colleagues . In this he remains firmly rooted in the native Slovak tradition, where the appeal is to the feeling and sentiment , and where the exploitation of sexual aspects is subdued by a sense of decorum. Thus Mihalik ' s main effort in his love is to capture the fl eeting moments of love: the minute of mutual silence, a tree rising against the sun as the lovers embrace , the sorrows and the ecstasies of deep emotion. Mihalik is ve ry conscious of nature . Like most Slovak poets, he lives spiritually in the countryside , with its peasant cottages, lush gardens, orchards full of ripe fruit, meadows suffused by the rays of sun . His erotic imagery refers almost exclu sively to nature. A lonely lover is compared to earth which gave away its beautiful perfume to strolling winds. Lovemaking is perceived by the author in term s of entering a rose garden , searching for a star in the silent sky, or walking unharmed in the midst of a swarm of bees . The metaphors are so intricately ornate that they would be reminiscent of oriental poetry, were it not for the absence of explicitness so characteristic of Arabic and Persian verse. Each poem is a parable of nature sustained to the very end , where in the last lines it unravels into a love poem . If it were not for the last couple of lines, an inexperienced reader might take the poems at their face value of m elancholy or ecstatic descriptions of landscape . Each poem is thus a higly complex and elegantly written puzzle, the m eaning of which has to be d eciphered on two levels , the natural and the erotic. Mihalik 's poems are usually short. His favorite form is the sonnet, whose stylish elegance suits perfectly his method of expression . Some of the poem s are cast in the form of a dialogue, which is a mode deeply rooted in Slovak folk poetry. Mihalik m ay be a romantic lover accordin g to the Slovak tradition , but he is by no means a patient one. If hi s passion does not m eet with a quick response , he rebels. H e sees love as a confusing passion because there is so little understanding between man and woman. Woman is always an outsider in hi s poems. She may be courted, coveted , responsive, submi ssive, or cold , but she always remain s incomprehen sible. Mihalik 's attitude toward women is quite traditional . They are the ones who suffer, who bear the burden of broken relationships, and who carry the whole burden of parental responsibility. Mih alik admires women , feels sorry for them, but he seems to accept their lot as a na tural thing. A s he gets older, Mihalik finds it increasingly difficult to accept the new �SLOVAKIA 153 world around him . It is a world where the traditional values become rejected, where children of living parents become orphans because of desertion , where wives are leaving incompatible husbands , where families becom e broken for no apparent reason. The poet sees the world around him as full of suffering and unhappiness which he can only record, without being able to alleviate them . H e becomes a witness for a new generation that is growing up unloved and unlovable . His poems lose their spontaneous enchantment with life, as life becomes increasingly complex and difficult and as the poet finds he cannot turn to love to provide him with a sense of the m eaning of existence. The only an swer that seem s to emerge from Mihalik 's later poems is the implicit message to endure , to go on, and to do one's best. And in this message, as in so many aspects of hi s poetry, Mihalik shows himself again as the true son of his peopl e, the patient, enduring, and long-suffering people of Slovakia. YVONNE GRABOWSKI York University Downsview, Canada Vincent Sikula. Liesky. Bratislava: Smena, 1980. The novelette Liesky is in many respects firml y embedded in the Slovak literary tradition. Like so many books produced in Slovakia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it describes the trials and tribulations of a country boy on his way toward education and recognition. The chief character is a student at the conservatory who hopes to become a forest horn player and who persists in hi s path in spite of loneliness and abject poverty. The form of the novelette is also an old favorite, a first person narrative. The genre itself has been successfully transplanted from the Russian literature of the Golden Age and has fl ourished in Czechoslovakia since there was a favorable ground for its reception in Czech and Slovak folklore . What saves the story from becoming a typical hardship case narration , so characteristic of Slovak literature, is Sikula's humorous approach. The humor is intensified by the aut hor's use of the skaz technique. The predicam ents of the hero m ay be pathetic, but they are at the same time highly amusing. When the hero describes his family, we learn that his parents had so many children that the y hardly noticed if several of them were missing. The young man 's landlady can carry a conversation only with her cat - she is stone deaf. The hero has to practice music by drumming on the table because he cannot afford an instrument. When he finally gets the opportunity to practice on a real piano, he ruefully notes that it does not sou nd to him as good as the table. The narration thus proceeds at a lively pace, in a jolly animated style, �154 SLOVAKIA full of slan g, colloquiali sm s, and peasant speech m annerism s. It m akes fo r ea sy and pleasant readin g. Yet Sikula is mu ch m ore th an a skillful na rrator . Hi s m astery of style is evident as the story gradually reveals the narrator 's character , his a rtistic strivings , and his sexu al awakening. Sikula possesses a superb sense of n ature. M an is never alone in hi s book. All his ac tion s and feelings ta ke place in a na tural setting of which he is a n integral part. N a ture blends with the action , and the cha n ge of seasons accompanies ch a n ges of life . Thus the story starts with a beautiful description of winter and ends with an equally beautiful episode of picking fresh twigs from bu sh es. The story is deliberatel y left unfinished since Sikula aim s a t portrayin g but one stage in th e hero 's life . W e will never learn what is goin g to ha ppen in the future to the human twig picked from the bu sh of country life, a nd we are not m eant to know. Sikula presen ts u s with a vignette of life in the m a kin g. W e a re expected to enj oy the beaut y and the immediacy of the vignette portrayed b y an exquisite painter and not to look beyond it. Sikula has both the talen t of a pa inter a nd a poe t. Althou gh the story is written in p rose, it read s like a poem , di splayin g the author 's rem arka ble powe r ove r la nguage. Its m easured cad en ces a nd sen se of rhythm give the reader a unique poetic experience. It is the beaut y of style which gives to Liesk y its most definite imprin t. YVONNE G R ABOWS KI Y ork Uni versity D own sview, C anada �SLOVAKIA 155 BOOK NOTE Charles Wojatsek . From Trianon to the First Vienna Arbitral Award: The Hungarian Minority in th e First Czechoslovak Republic, 1918-1938. Montreal: Institute of Comparative Civilizations, 1981. 229 pp . Time and time again Mr. Wojatsek attempted to publish his manuscript through academic and commercial presses , only to have it repea tedly rejected because of its poor quality . Finally, when nothing else could be done, he published the book him self, under the spu rious auspices of the " In stitute of Comparative Civilizations, Montreal." This book is not worth serious consideration. It was written with the patriotic fervor of a true believer, and its reading makes for cruel and unusual punishment, deserved only by other nationalists of Wojatsek's type. This reviewer wishes to warn the unsu specting public: Beware 1 You may jeopardize your time, your money, and your nerves! Y ESHA Y AHU JELINEK Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beer-Sheba, Israel �� 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 1984, Vol. 31 Description An account of the resource Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984. 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 1984 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 119 Book Reviews Robin Okey. Eastern Europe 1740-1980: feudalism to Communism. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1982 . 264 pp . Attempting to write a general survey of Eastern European history is no m ean task . Indeed, a comprehensive overview within the confines of a book numbering less than three hundred pages is altogether impossible. Robin Okey offers an alternative to this dilemma in the form of an interpretive stud y . The author indicates that his purpose is to " present a perspecti ve rather than tell a story. " Focusing on the twin themes of modernization and na tionalism , he traces the evolution of the Central and Eastern European lands through two ce nturies of economic , political, and social change . It is his thesis that Eastern European nationalism arose as a response to the area ' s comparative backwardness in relation to the W est. In approaching thi s theme, Okey notes that feudalism came relatively late to this general area , and suggests that - at least until the sixteenth century - Eastern Europe enjoyed the potential of parallel development with W estern Europe. H e states, however , that dom estic fe udal forces were strong enough to reverse thi s trend . External forces - the Turkish invasion of the Balka ns a nd Hun gary a nd the H a bsburg conquest of rebelliou s Bohemia - are also cited as instrument al facto rs. Ei ghtee nth -century Eastern Europe is ch a racterized as havin g regimes which were ineffi cient even by feudal standards . The peasantry bore the brunt of resulta nt defi ciencies, but thriving popul ar cultures provided an impetu s for future revival. Okey states catego rically that the penetrati on of the Enli ghtenm ent represe nt s the first stages of ra pprochem ent with the W est. In a number of in sta nces th e process was characteri zed by reform from a bove, althou gh the role of th e cl ergy is also cited . In the latter case, the auth or specificall y mention s th e P ole K on a rski and th e Serb Obrad ovic; it is wo rth notin g th a t Bern ola k's contribution to th e Slovak rev ival is omitted . T he Eastern Eu ro pean Enli gh te nment faced the dil emm a th at the socia l premi ses of an al ternative order we re incomplete. Con sequentl y, conservatives were more ext reme and reformers more revolutionary tha n their cou n terpa rt s in the West. 120 SLOVAKIA Liberalism in Eastern Europe differed from the West insofar as members of the nobility were heavily involved in a process which put them in opposition to their own social strata. Okey characterizes Eastern European liberalism as "an elusive, complex creed"; it shared the heavy emotionalism of ideas from other lands , but was only partially emancipated from native traditions. He objects to the Marxist view of nationalism as a creed devised by ambitious bourgeois elements; instead, he cites the role of professional scholars as the vanguard of the national movements . The 1848 revolutionary experience led to a clash between liberalism and nationalism; the former was instrumental in abolishing the last vestiges of serfdom, but also failed to satisfy the national aspirations of subject peoples . The balance of the nineteenth century is treated as a period of ideological fragmentation. The advance of industrial capitalism caused a reaction against liberalism on the part of the Right as well as the Left , and the continued rise of mass nationalism splintered existing political parties along ethnic lines. In assessing the downfall of the old order during World War I , Okey concedes that not all tendencies could be related to the national question. But h e hastens to add that "only nationalism had a magnetism strong enough to draw the dislocated elements into an alternative political order the pattern of nation-states . '' Promoters of the new nation-states viewed their emergence as the culmination of humanist principles. Okey disagrees, and cites three general causes for the failure of Western-style liberalism in the interwar period . Most obviously, one of them is the continuity of ethnic conflict within the new states. Second, the Eastern European nations remained economically de pendent on foreign capital. Finally, both the leaders of the new states and their opponents repudiated democracy in their approach to the outstanding problems of the times. Okey views interwar nationalism as "short-sighted rather than fundamentall y misguided"; the outsider Hitler bore the greatest responsibility for the demise of these states. The author implies that national Communism was most successful in those countries where the Party remained in effective control of public life, and failed in Czechoslovakia because the regime capitulated ideologicall y to non-Party gro ups. Finally, Okey states that the rise of a mass int elli ge nt sia and the emerge nce of common social problem s with the West is indicative of a greater degree of syncopat ion. For the student of Slovak hi story, this book might prove disappointing. Indeed, a genuine weakness may be found in the fact that Okey cites so few examples of the Slovak experien ce which provide important contrasts with certain patterns. Okey ' s contention that Eastern European soc iety had already become "brutali zed" during World War II , and that the Communists were tailor-made representatives of the new age , borders on conjecture. Although the position of the J ews in Slovakia was precarious during the war , they were SLOVAKIA 121 nevertheless afforded a certain "breathing space" denied to their kin smen in Poland, and the average citizen of the Slovak R epublic was by no m ean s terrorized. It was only during the 1944 risin g - in which Communists played a major role - that "brutalization" on a broad scale was affected . Okey's treatment of the " Prague Spring" also provides a case of omission: He correctly cites the straightj acket command economy model as a major facto r in Novotny's demise, but mentions the Slovak opposition only as merely inciden tal. But insofar as Slovakia may be viewed as an integral part of an Eastern European whole, this book has definite merit. It provides the reader with a concise, refreshing overview of the past two centuries, and the author skillfully employs anecdotal examples to compare and contrast specific national experiences. Okey's book is helpful to the student already well-grounded in general Eastern European history; it can also be useful to the instructor who wishes to co nvey a certain sense of ideological conflict inherent in the region . R. VLADIMIR BAUMGARTEN Easley, South Carolin a East Central Europe: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. Edited by Milorad M. Drachkovitch. Stanford, Calif.: H oover Institution Press, 1982 . 41 7 pp . Thirteen of the seventeen papers contained in this volume were presented at a conferen ce organized by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in January , 1980 . Due to the events in Poland in August , 1980 , publication of the symposium's proceedings was delayed so that individual authors could revise their contributions. According to the editor, Milorad M. Drachkovitch, readers of the book "will not find in it a ny pred ictions " and "will be offered facts and explan ations of recent events" (p. xi). This is true of most but not all of the essays. The latte r are largely analyt ical and of uneven quality. Among th e excellent contributions are Drachkovitch 's survey of the postwar political and economic developm ents in Yu goslavia, Leszek Kolakowski's " Ideology in Eastern Europe ," and the essays by J ohn Erickson, Hugh Seton-Watson, Peter J. Wiles, and Richard F. Staar. Also superb is the overview of developments in East Central Europe , " Present Situation and Principal Trends ," by Robert F. Byrnes. H e points out that '' the opinions of even our most expe rienced an alysts often reflect shallow hi stori cal knowledge , flight y analysis, and the ass umpti on that peoples of this area are far less in terested in independence and self-government than a re West 122 SLOVAKIA Europeans and Americans '' (p. 20). The flip-flops of George K ennan are cited as an example. Byrnes is a very perceptive observer who notices the connection between the election of Pope John Paul II , his visit to P oland in 1979, and the subsequent d evelopments in that country. In contrast , the essay on Poland by Jan T omasz Gross, " What Is Yet To Come," appears to be a rather superficial d escription of events leading up to the establishment of Solidarity in 1980 , claiming that " the impossible was inevitable " (p. 32 1). In the last section of the essay Gross sketches two different scenarios: first , Soviet military intervention ; second, the devolution of the Soviet imperium for which the price would be " m ost likely " the " ne utralization of Germany through unification and detachment from the Atlantic Alliance " (p. 325). As it happened , the imposition of martial law in D ecember 1981 proved his (and man y other observers') projections incorrect. On Alexander Dubcek 's behavior in 1968 Hugh Seton-Watson comments by asking a rhetorical question : How could the United States "defend people who would not defend themselves?" (p . 178). In contrast to it , Zdenek L. Suda, while concentrating mostly on the events in 1968 , is very a pologetic. H e writes: " The peaceful counterrevolution in the ve ry core of the Czechoslovak system must have caused more pani c in Moscow than the armed insurgency of Hungarian workers and soldiers in O ctober 1956 " (p. 258). Suda's cl aim is an undocumented assumption without an y foundation, and so is his interpretation of the events in Czechoslovkia when he writes that " the whole reform movement of 1968 could be defined simply as the application of rules and laws that long had been dead letters, but nt>:vertheless existed. It was precisely this greater respect for legality and constitutionality that sounded an alarm in the Soviet power center and triggered the intervention" (p. 256). Accordin g to Suda, "the Czechoslovak case differs from the Polish case because the Polish reform experim ent initiated in 1956 fa iled without direct Soviet intervent ion " (p. 252). Suda does not differentiate between intervention and in vasion . Soviet military presence in Poland ever since the end of World War II has constituted inter vention and h as m ade in vasion unnecessary. In fact, an invasion would have been cou nterproductive from the Soviet point of view. In contrast to it , by in vading Czechoslovakia in 1968 the Soviets h ave attained their military and strategic objecti ves. The "temporary" stationing of Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia has become " permanent. " The even ts in Poland in the earl y 1980s corroborate the view th at the Soviets had military a nd strategic reasons for the 1968 in vasion and that the in ternal de velopments , which certainly did not amount to a "counterrevoluti on" as Sud a and the Sov iets claim, were merely a pretext for the action whose a im was to extract a "consent " from the Czech and Slovak Communist leaders to the stati oning of Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia. L abeling people as " neo -Stalinists " a nd "dogmati cs," as SLOVAKIA 123 Suda does, is meaningless. His lack of knowledge of history is reflected in the essay. For example, he writes that " the division of the world between the two superpowers into spheres of interest - made the eventual integration of Czechoslovakia into the system controlled by the Soviets virtually inevitable'' (p. 244). However , nothing was " inevitable" about the arrangements that Edvard Benes made in Moscow in D ecember , 1943 . It was his decision to sign the trea ty with the Soviet Union and to promise the Czech and Slovak Communist leaders in Moscow that their party would be the strongest element in the new regime and that he would always support it. Indeed , Professor Byrnes' comment on the " shallow historical knowledge" and " flighty analysis," cited above , is applicable to the two essays by the two sociologists on Czechoslovakia and Poland published in this volume . j OSEF KAL YODA Saint Joseph College W est H artford, Connecticut Rudolf Krajcovic. Svedectvo dejfn o slovencine . 2nd edition, corrected. Martin : Matica slovenska, 1980 . 268 pp. The second edi tion of Krajcovic's collection of linguistic eviden ce for the Slovak language is essentially the same as the first of 1977 . In these two edition s, the compiler strives to offer proof that the Slovak language has its own long and distinctive history. He is intent on demonstrating that Slovak is a " language of written documents ." He traces Slovak from the period of the Great Moravian Empire of the ninth century throu gh the "twilight of Hungarian feudalism" in the nineteenth century. For the conclusion of his stud y, Krajcovic gives examples of present-day dialectical variations of the Slovak lan guage. There are photographs of d ocuments u sed as evidence. Especially when documents are in script, Krajcovic has the writings reproduced in printed form for easier appreciat ion. Interspersed among the evidence are bl ac k a nd white as well as colored illu stration s of folk articles and pa intings on a folk theme. The illu st ra tions a re the better to con vey the a tmosphere and period of the docum ents presented. Documen ta ry evidence from the early periods , n a mel y from that of the Great M orav ia n Empire through that of the fifteenth century , is not really extensive. A hi storical lin gui st would find the m aterial interesti ng, perh a ps even intrigu ing , but not conclu sive or even substantial for a judgm ent. From the sixteenth century onwards , the material offered as evidence is increasin gly more substanti ve. Indeed , Krajcovic him self notes th at the m aterial from the sixtee nth ce ntury is of" great significance," because thi s was "when Slovak was 124 SLOVAKIA for the first time committed to written form." The expression " written form " is perhaps a poor choice of phrasing. (The expression is found in the brief Slovak, Russian, as well as English introductions to the documentary evidence for this period.) For virtually all the examples of Slovak in this book are written . By the expression "written form," Krajcovic's probably means that the extant documentary instances of Slovak become more extensive and so more able to be appreciated linguistically. In focusing on this poor phrasing and its alleged implication , I do not intend to impugn the long history and distinctiveness of Slovak that Krajcovic desires so clearly to demonstrate in his book. The reader, nonetheless, cannot help feeling that Krajcovic is straining very hard to do this. On the whole, the book is more a nicely illustrated survey of the Slovak language for the layperson rather than a serious academic study for the specialist. With the Slovak language and its related culture appreciated so little outside of Slovakia and the Czech lands, Krajcovic' s book could enhance to some degree a better understanding of this language and culture . This second edition is a ''corrected '' version of the first . This correcting involves stylistic and typographical errors, but especially a few attributions that include additions, deletions, or actual corrections. For example, Krajfovic has deleted the attribution of the 1648 Trnava dictionary as one used for Virgil's Aeneid. The attribution ofa folk article as coming from Kovafova pri Zvolene has been changed to Kral'ova. Krajcovic has added the name of the Austrian author of Klimko's rendition of Krizant und Daria - Gottfried Uhlich, rendered by Krajcovic as Ulrich . Also, the English text has at times questionable diction and stylistic phrasing. The Russian text has been improved for this edition in various places. Neither language should offer problems in Slovakia, for there are native speakers as well as numerous specialists who could be consulted for a third edition . Finally, the bibliography for this edition has been expanded by one item. The price of this survey of the Slovak language has remained the same as for the earlier edition . This should make the book a readily purchasable acquisition for any individual or institution. G ERALD] . SABO , S.J . John Carroll University Cleveland, Ohio I'.udovft Novak. K najstarsfm dejinam slovenskehojazyka . Bratislava: Veda, vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej adademie vied, 1980 . 352 pp. This important study of the earliest history of the Slovak language evolved out of a plan by I'.udovft Novak in the 1930s to supply the most up-to-date , complete, and detailed presentation of Slovak phonology from its earliest begin- SLOVAKIA 125 nings . Methods of structu ral analysis were to be applied to the reconstructed phonologies of Slovak dialects . The origi nal ve rsion was begun in the last months of 1938 and earl y 1939 , a period of political turbulence. Over the intervening years, materials added to the original accumulated into several essays, thus resulting in two works. By reason of the a mount of accu mulated m ate rials , a recent decision to publi sh this monograph from just the original alone was ca rried out . The val ue of the original as a linguistic la ndm ark of the structural method in Slovakia was the deciding factor. Novak 's later theories are to be published in a separate volume which will be entitled "Vznik Praslovanov a ich jazyka. '' Four chapters in the book under review provide the most important linguistic phenomena in the d evelopment of the Slovak sou nd system , from the earliest period after the collapse of Common Slavic into the dialect differentiations of the Slovak area. They are: (a) the Slovak reflexes rat-, lat- from P ro to-Slavic *ort- , *oft -; (b) alterat ions in the consonant clusters dl, tl, and dn ; (c) reduced vowel "yer"-changes , the contraction phenomena, and the depalatalization of e( e)»a; and (d) the reconstruction of sound systems of Slovak dialects after the period of liquidation of Common Slavic co rrelations of '' syllabic soft ening. '' Novak is interested in whether (a) can be termed a "Yugoslavism" relating to a theory of colonization of Central Slovakia from the south . With respect to (b) he quotes rare documents of ancient dialect litera ture, gives phonetic a nd phonological ex plana tions , with examples of geographic ex tension of changes in W estern Slovak, and compares this with pa rallel types of like consonantal quantitat ive correlation s in a non-Slavic la nguage. For ( c) the a uthor defines the rapport of Central Slovak especially with East and Central Slavic languages, and refers to the chronology and locali zation of alterations in the Common Slavic dialect dom ai n. R egarding (d) he concen trates first on the contrac tion phenomena in Central Slovak with its chronology a nd that of other Slavic dialects, and then of other West Slavic la nguages . H e provides a n argu m ent for the explanation of the zenou-feminine-instrumental-singular type and a criticism of other theories. Most of the phonological changes in Old Slovak are viewed as occurring due to certain influences of external lan guages or of internal dialects. Hi s terminology illu strates certain developing periods of Old Slovak , for example, turkicizing, mongolization. The aut hor maintains one of several possible theories in lin guistic development. Hi s is an attempt to overcome difficulties connected with the immane nt development of the Slovak language. ova.k's structural approach as innovative and successful in the earl y period of lin gu ist ics is appla uded by colleagues m entioned in the foreword. H owever, his earl y theory is criticized as "one-sided" for three main reasons : fai lure to 126 SLOVAKIA calculate the comparison of internal contradictions; overemphasis on phonology without consideration of grammatical, morphemi c, morphological, or wordbuilding structures as lingui stic units; and finally a lack of regard for sociolin guistic chan ges . I'.udovft Novak is referred to as th e " Nestor of Slovak Linguistics " (p. 9) . This original work is viewed as a monument in the evolution of Slovak lin gu istics a nd is noteworthy, especially considering the period of its composition, the structural methods applied, with its new theoreti cal thought and insights. It is rightly considered the first synthetic conception of the earliest history of Slovak language founded on the development of the dialect sound systems. The dedication of the book is symbolic of its apparent inherent worth. Honored are three famous contributors to Slovak linguistics: to the history of the Slovak language (Trubetzkoy); to the comparative history of Slovak and Czech languages (Travnfcek), and to the foundation of modern Slovak linguistic geography with its Slovak historical dialectology (Vazny). Novak has provided the first synth etic method of structu ral applicat ion to the historical phonology of Slovak , a structural lin gui st ic milestone in Slovak lan guage study. JOHN M . KOCHIK Westmoreland County Community College Youngwood, Pennsyl vania Frantisek Kalesny. Habani na Slovensku. Bratislava: Tatran, 198 1. 376 pp. Scattered today over the prairies of the United States and Canada can be found settlements of a people known as Hutterites or Hutterian Brethren. The Brethren still retain the German language of their forefathers and practice a st ri ctly communitarian way of life. Their mode of collective farming is not th e outcome of economi c calculation ; it results from the Hutterit es' belief that Christ calls on his followers to renounce private property and have all things common . The H utterites originated in th e earl y 1530s as part of the Anabaptist movement that had begun in Central Europe around 1525. The M ennon ites tod ay also claim spiritual descent from this movement which represe nted a left wing of the Protestant R eformation. While onl y the Hutterites esta bli shed community o f goods, all its adherents practiced adult ba ptism (hence the n ame they acqu ired, Anabaptists) in order to stress the volunta ry character of their beli eve rs' church, in which only grown persons could participate meaningfull y. As Dr. Kales ny remarks in the preface to hi s fascinating study of Hutterite hi story, few Slovaks know about th e connection betwee n the Hutterites a nd Slovakia, where they li ved for over two hundred year . The descendants of those Hutterites, who in the mid -e ighteenth century acce pted forced SLOVAKIA 127 recatholicization rather than have to emigrate, eve ntually lost their German speech and a re today completely assimilated to the Slovak popula tion. If memories of the Hutterites grew dim, the name which their Slovak neighbors gave these German settlers , " H abans " (Habani, H abaner) , has become widely known on acco unt of the beautiful ceramics produced by the Hutterite communities and their successors. These are now valued possessions of the museums of Czechoslovakia a nd Hun gary, and examples of the art form are also to be fo und elsewhere. H a ban folk a rt , according to K alesny (p.12), should be reckoned as an important asse t of Slovak '' n at ion al culture,'' for it was produced on the soil of Slovakia by people who, although of foreign origin , had put down deep roots there. The book , which is a wo rk of scholarship even though it lac ks footnotes, is divided into three parts. The first part deals with the history of the Hutterite communities from their inception down to the present d ay, with m ost a ttention given to their soj ourn in northwest Hungary (present -day Slovakia) . They first set up comm unities there around 1545: Their chief settlement a nd the seat of their " bi sh op" was a t Sobotiste. As in Moravia where the sect had started, h ere too it s ad herents we re welcomed by the landown ing nobility, Catholic as well as Protestant, who valued the Hu tterites as h ardworking and profitable tenants and consequently were prepared to overlook their religiou s peculiarities. After the battle of White Mountain in 1620 the H absburg ruler drove them out of M oravia, but the Moravian brethren also found a refuge on the estates of friendly Hun garia n landown ers. The endemic warfare of the seve nteenth century when Turkish, H absburg, and kuru c forces ravaged the Slovak countryside inflicted terrible suffering on the local population , including the Hutterites . On the eve of the disaster of 1620 the Hutterites in M oravia and Slovakia had numbered abo ut 25,000 persons, a tenfold increase sin ce 1545, which was due to the steady stream of newcomers from the T yrol a nd ot her pa rts of Ce n tral Europe seeking to join the brotherhood. Almost all these were of German speech , but a few adherents were of local origin. On page 46 , fo r instance, K alesny m entions "Wendel H olba ein Schlawak (Ve ndel H olba, Slovak)," who even becam e a Hu tterite minister. Whereas in north Hun gary the Hutterites abandoned their communitarian wa y of life in 1685 a nd were recatholicized under Maria Theresa in the nex t century (w hile still retaining for some time their separate legal identit y as H abaner), in Transylvania - where some Hutterites had settled in 1621 - they contin ued to lead the same life as before, until finally in 1767 the aut horit ies expelled those who would not conform . Ka les ny ch ron icles briefly their subseq uent wanderings, first via Wall ac hia to the Ukraine where they arrived in 1770 and then in 1874 across the Atlantic and on to the American West. After World War I most of the Hutterites moved across the border into Canada . Their later mi grat ions stemmed not from 128 SLOVAKIA religious persecution but from the threat posed to their pacifist principles by the introduction of universal miliary service. Kalesny prefaces his historical narrative, which for the most part does not add to what we already know , by an interestin g discussion of the name haban , the first authenticated m ention of which occurs in a document of 1667 now in the municipal archives of Bratislava. Originally a d erogatory term , it eventually lost its pejorative connotation and became the accepted way of describing the descendants of the former comm unitarians . Concerning the origin of the word no consensus exists among scholars. The latest theory is that of a German scholar who derives it from the H ebrew. D espite what the resumes say, Kalesn y seems to be somewhat sceptical about this. If the author deals rather briefly with the religious aspects of the Hutteri te way of life, h e devotes almost the whole of th e second part of the book to their social organization. The overwhelming majority of community m embers were artisans: Over forty crafts were bei ng practiced when the communities were at their peak. Of course, they also engaged in farming, which today is the chief occupation of the Hutterites. A strict discipline was imposed on members , expulsion from the brotherhood being the final sanction against those who did not conform. But this was not usually necessary since the brethren recognized the advantages of communal living over those of the outside world, despite any momentary attraction they might feel toward the latter. " The Hutterites had succeeded in creating an ordered society, socially egalitarian and materially secure, with high moral principles based on the community'' (p. 169) . Children of both sexes were taught at least to read and write - in an age when illiteracy prevailed among the masses . Great care was taken, too, to provide for the sick and aged, for pregnant women and for children of preschool age . The culture was perhaps narrow and th e aut horit y of the elders excessive, but this must be judged within the context of the times. Purely aesthetic values found no place among Hutterites. Yet their craftsmen succeeded in creatin g countless objects of beauty either for domestic use or for sale: Their pottery became famous throughout east central Europe and was eage rly bought up by the nobility a nd wealthy townspeople of the area. Kalesny, whose specialty is folk a rt , devotes th e third part of hi s book to the history and technology of'' H aban '' pottery. The making of faience , their most hi gly prized produ ct , had bee n introdu ced into th e Hutterite communit ies around 1580 by An a baptist immigra nts from northeas t Italy. Kales ny has included at the end I 09 full-page colored illu strat ion s of ceramics emanating from " H aban" workshops. The bibliography includes man y items in Slovak, Czech, a nd Hungarian that are unknown to North Ameri can scholars who have written on the Hutterites. Man y of these pi eces, it is true , deal with " Haban" ce ramics, but some SLOVAKIA 129 are of more general interest. K alesny, on the other h and, h as obviously had difficulty in gaining access to sch olarship in the W est. He knows the work of the M ennonite sociologist , J ohn A. H ostetler. But h e does not, for example , appear to be acquainted either with the valua ble study by another M ennonite scholar , Victor J . Peters, All Things Common: The Hutterian Way of Life (Minneapoli s, 1965) , or with the numerous articles published in the United States by the leading authority on Hutterite history and culture, the late Robert Friedmann . Many of them were reprinted in his Hutterite Studies (Goshen , Indian a , 1961) . L et us hope that in future closer contacts can be established in the field of Hutterite studies between North American scholars and those working in Czechoslovakia and Hungary. K alesny is perhaps lucky in dealing with a group like the Hutterites who , while deeply religiou s, have at the same time been dedicated "communists," albeit of the Utopian variety. The T at ran press was able (so to speak) to roll out the red carpet for him . It h as published a volume that , with its excellent pa per, numerou s illu stration s, and tasteful design , is indeed a credit to book production in Slovakia. PETER BROCK University of T oronto Toronto , Canada August A. Skodacek. Lutherans in Slovakia . Pittsburgh : Slavia Printing Company, 1982. 242 pp. This acco unt of the rise and development of the Lutheran Church in Slovakia from the Reformation to the present redresses the oversight of many concern in g the role of the Lutheran Church in the historical development of Slovakia. This may b e a fl aw. The author would have us understand that Slovakia 's history in modern times is a con sequen ce n ot onl y of the R eformation but also of the influence of Lutheranism in Slovak social and political struggles. However, Skodacek does not su ffic ientl y analyze the historical facts a nd ci rcum stances to judge whether hi s claim , that without Lutheranism m od ern Slovakia would not be , is warranted. Skodacek chronciles the fa te and fort une of Lutherani sm in term s of fates and fortun es of the group's leaders. As they fared, so fared their group . Thus, this is a hi story of an in stitution al church and its great m en from a perspective of within the gro up . It uses synodical records to illu strate th e respon se of the Lutheran C hurch in Slovakia to outside social and political forces, na m ely the Roman Catholic C hu rch , the J esuits, and the variou s rulers allied with those two groups. Since there is little in -depth an alysis, thi s essay does not offer a ny new insights into the causes of man y of the events ch ro nicled. 130 SLOVAKIA In the main, it is a hagiographic account extolling historical individuals for their virtues and deeds done in the name of the cause. In describing the influences of a Thurzo , Lani , or Krman and others, Skodacek, interestingly enough, sees them as the real descendants of the missionaries Cyril and Methodius. Just as Cyril and Methodius introduced the Slavs to Christianity and hence to civilization ( of a kind) , so too the followers of Luther reintroduced Christianity and civilization to Slovakia even to the point of generating and maintaining a consciousness of Slovak nationalism. To this point, Skodacek writes that "the R eformation activated a conversion in Slovakia which gradually brought into the open a Slovak nationality; it spread the reformational ideology in an understandable native language and a democratic religious life'' (p. 66). Be this as it may, the book is a good source for anyone who wishes to do research in Slovak history but who does not know th e necessary languages. The volume provides translations of records and documents of the various synodical events which figured large in the life of the Slovak Lutheran Church. This point not withstanding, it is unfortunate that Skodacek did not see fit to describe and analyze the historical dynamics of the sociocultural and political forces beyond the activities of the Lutherans and the Roman Catholics. Not everyone, despite Skodacek's claim, was either a Lutheran or Roman Catholic. Some were Greek Catholic and some were Calvinists. These are never mentioned . Also, not everyone living in Slovakia was either a Slovak or a German . Another missing analytical point is that of socioeconomic class; from what class did the Lutheran leadership come? It is on these points that Skodacek could have given us some insight; perhaps he will irt another book . Although this vol ume is a good in-house version of a historical period and of what happened to the Lutherans in Slovakia , the lack of analysis of the sociocultural and political dynamics limits its effectiveness. ROBERT j. SKOVIRA Saint Vincent College Latrobe, Pennsylvania Paul R obert Magocsi . The Shaping of a National Identity: Subcarpathian Rus ', 1848-1948. Cambridge, Mass .: Harvard University Press, 1978 . 650 pp. P aul R. Magocsi. The Rusyn -Ukrainians of Czechoslovakia: An Historical Survey . Vienna: Wilhelm Braumi.iller Universitats-Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1983. 94 pp . The first of Professor Magocsi ' s books is the one we all dream of writing . The fruit of years of research, it is encyclopedic in its description of the cul- SLOVAKIA 131 tu ral a nd political development of the territory which m ad e up Subcarpathian Ruthenia in the first C zechoslovak Republic. H e has used a rich array of sources - archives, published statistics, interviews , and most books and articles relating to the subj ect. It will stand for d ecades to com e as the basic referen ce work . Graduate students will be surpr ised to find a detached , obj ective approach in a volume devoted to an East European nationality group of less tha n a million people. It will be a required presence in the library of eve ryo ne who calls himself an Eas t European historian . Slovakists , in particular, will welcome Magocsi ' s dispassiona te understa ndin g of the sensibilities of the ripening Slovak national identity in Eastern Slovakia. The tex t is di vided into three parts. The first cove rs political and cultural hi story un til 19 18 . The second examines history, la nguage, literature , education , and reli gion between 19 18 and 1944. The final part discusses the political hi story from the end of W orld W ar I to the incorporation of the territory into the U krainia n Soviet R epublic at the end of W orld W ar II. This is followed by 4 a ppendices (82 pages), notes ( 106 pages), and bibliography ( 122 pages) . In his introduct ion , M agocsi promises to analyze how one ethnic group was exposed to na tionalism and how its leaders presen ted this new ideology to their people. H e points out that the leaders in what he calls " an embryonic sta te of na tional d evelopment " still did not agree on which national orientation to follow - Ru syn , Hun gari an , Slovak (and/o r C zech), Ukra inian , or Russian. H e then describes the elimination of each alternative until only Ukrainia n was left. With such a rich and well-organized presentation of d ata, it must seem churlish for a reviewer to take issue with the author . And ye t one has the impression tha t the author ' s desire to incl ude every las t piece of info rm ation has di st racted him fro m his original inte ntion of trying to discover the underl ying reaso ns fo r the fi nal victory of the U kra inia n orientation . The book becom es fi nall y a trad itional approach to East Eu ro pean history, albeit without the partisan coloring wh ich usually characterizes such work . H e outlines the failure of leaders of certa in national orien tations to attrac t adherents, or their willingness to sacrifice national fo r political gain. H e find s external factors decisive in dete rmining that the territory wo uld eventu ally become Ukrainian . In an area with such a n embryo nic ethnic and national identity, it seems odd tha t M agocsi limited his book terri to rially, acco rding to political bound aries which existed for onl y two decades . The fa ult m ay lie in his d efinition of ethn ic group as a popul ation that " in m ost cases possesses a distinct territory, com m on traditions, and related dialects. " Although he pays homage to the theories of K a rl D eutsch on natio nalism and social communicatio n , he fa il s in large pa rt to apply them . H e looks a t the intelligentsia in action , but not the intelligen tsia in formatio n . It would 132 SLOVAKIA have been possible, for instance, to examine the changing national composition of the students in the high schools (gymnazia) over time and through the various grades. This might have suggested underlying trends in national identification. Magocsi is quite right in saying it is impossible to explain why individuals join differing national orientations, but the totality of the changes can be very informative. It is quite conceivable that the socioeconomic development in the interwar period showed a trend toward a Ukrainian identity. This would help explain why the Soviet regime met so little opposition when it assigned a Ukrainian identification to the population at the end of the war. After the depth of research and evaluation which characterized the first book , the second volume is a disappointment. While those interested in Slovak history will find useful material here on the political, socioeconomic, and cultural history of what Magocsi calls the "Rusyn-Ukrainians" of Czechoslovakia, there also is a disappointing tendency to blame every difficulty faced by this national grouping on national discrimination. This stands in considerable contrast to his conclusion (p . 270) in the larger volume . OWEN V . JOHNSON Indiana University Bloomington , Indiana Jubilea Matice slovenskej. Compiled by Vojtech Sarluska. "Seria: Monografie - Vyskum dejfn Matice slovenskej, zv. 9." Martin: Matica slovenska, 1980. 130 pp . The volume under review is a compendium of articles resulting from a seminar devoted to the commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the Matica slovenska's reconstitution ( 1919) and its silver anniversary as the Slovak National Library ( 1954 ). The essays discuss various aspects of the Matica's present contributions in the fields of research and education. Themes analyzed include : the Matica ' s efforts in library acquisition, preservation, and dissemination; planning and organization of its activities and resources; bibliographic development over the past quarter century; activities of the Literary Archives; programs of the Literary Museum; efforts of the Biographical Office; activities of the Matica's Office of Slovaks Abroad ; and the Matica ' s publishing activities. The section prepared by Stefan Krivus, the Matica' s present director , sets the tone for the other essays . Krivus traces the Matica's history through interwar Czechoslovakia, its activities during World War II, its place in the resurrected R epublic, and its role in Socialist Slovakia. He describes each period as a step in the Matica's maturation process. Both Krivus and the other contributors make it quite clear that the Matica of 1979 is not the Matica of 1919 ; SLOVAKIA 133 it has continually changed in response to the demands placed on it as Slovakia' s premier national cultural institution. It is a pity that this publication , which offers much valuable information on the Matica slovenska's vital role in past and contemporary Slovak cultural life , was printed in a limited edition and "only for internal use" by professional scholars, thus making it unavailable to the much wider readership which it deserves . JOHN A . BERTA Middletown, Pennsylvania I1 mondo slavo. Saggi e contributi slavistici a cura del Centro Studi Europ a Orientale di Padova . Volume VIII. Edited by Milan S. Durica. Padova: CESEO-Liviana, 1982 . 318 pp. Professor Milan S. Durica has taken the opportunity of his editorship of this volume of I1 mondo slavo to present a number of studies which help to identify Slovak ethnic consciousness in its language and history and to distinguish it clearly from assimilative Czechoslovak linguistic and political tendencies. In his own article, which offers a historical-philological profile of the Slovak language, he traces the evolution of the Slovak language in Slavic ethnogeny. The Slovak glottogenetic process of isoglosses is delineable on Slovak ethnic territory . This position is butressed by (1) Slovakocentricity - the expression of geometric distance proportional to linguistic elements and (2) the most recent studies on fundamental Slavic lexical patrimony revealing its highest in Slovak . Durica' s ' profile' establishes that the research of historical and comparative lexicology fortifies the theory of the Slovak proto-Slavic glottogenesis. His synthesis of recent· research is a valuable contribution to the thesis that Slovak is an independent Slavic language . Stefan V ragas presents historical and linguistic highlights of the development of the Slovak literary language from 1918 to 1979. A significant portion of his article centers on the linguistic politics of "Czechoslovakism ," i.e. , the linguistic and political claim of one Czechoslovak language and nation , in opposition to any contention of on e separate and individual Slovak language and nation . The author demonstrates that Slovak experts succeeded in counteracting the opposition by applying the facts of history to linguistics and courageously weathering political humiliations as did , for example, Eudovft Novak , author of K najstarsfm dejinam slovenskehojazyka. Vragas must be commended for his definition of Czechoslovakism and for his timely exposition of some generally unknown linguistic-political humiliations of Slovak scholars, especially in the 1950s a nd part of the 1960s. 134 SLOVAKIA The history of Slovak translations on Slovak ethnic territory to 1939 is the subject of the article by Agostino Visco. Brief mention is made of translations into contemporary Slavic during the Great Moravian era and some initial translations into Latin . It was not until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that extensive translation was made from Latin into the Slovak national language, mainly by Catholics. From Greek and Latin some classics and religious works were translated: ancient poetry, meditations, the Bible . Later, translations began from West European authors, then from East European ones, until the abortive years 1848-1849, when translations declined . After 1918 and in the early twentieth century translations resumed . They steadily progressed after 1933, when the Matica slovenska established a translation group , thus institutionalizing and perfecting translations. Visco considers the Slovak R epublic era (1939-1945) as the most important period for translations . Inasmuch as translations have so much influenced both Slovak poetry and prose, they represent an important facet of Slovak literature. Mirella De Martini Tihany examines the emigration of Italian laborers from Venetia and Lombardy to Slovakia in the second half of the nineteenth century . Parish registers of Slovak localities along the main railroad line from Kosice (Slovakia) to Bohumfn (Moravia) are the principal sources of research, especially those found in the State and District Archives of Bytca. Because of mineral transports from central Slovakia, railroads were needed in Slovakia . Historically, the Kosice-Bohumfn line construction in 1870 was urgent for connecting eastern Slovakia with Berlin . In this construction , the temporary Italian immigration initially entered . For some workers it meant death from epidemic , for others it was an occasion for marriage and baptisms. In her article Tihanyi provides a brief insight into Slovak interaction with the emigrants and also a sad commentary on the plight of Italian workers neglected by their non-Slovak contractors . Finally , Lisa Guarda Nardini considers the sole syndicate in Czechoslovakia, the "ROH" - Revolutionary Trade Union Movement. It is studied as an exemplary illustration of the statute of the organization which institutionally represents all workers in a country which claims that labor is paramount and the workers govern . The author proceeds from a relatively brief introduction about members , duties, structure, and other considerations to a translation of the ROH statute with its fifty articles. The m erit of this article is the translation of the ROH statute into Italian from Slovak. Volume III of IJ mondo slavo can be recommended to the readers of Slovakia for its wealth of information on fascinating Slovak topics. JOHN M. KOCHIK Westmoreland County Community College Youngwood, Pennsylvania SLOVAKIA 135 Josef Korbel. Twentieth-Century Czechoslovakia: The Meanings of Its History. New York: Columbia University Press , 1977 . 346 pp. A rich and varied background prepared the late Professor Josef Korbel for this twentieth-century history of a small country in Central Europe . He was closely associated with the University of Denver, where he served as Dean of the Graduate School oflnternational Studies, Director of the Social Science Foundation , and Andrew W . Mellon Professor of International Studies. He was the author of several books on Central Europe. Prior to his academic career, Korbel had been the Czechoslovak ambassador to Yugoslavia . He also had held a number of other important diplomatic posts and was a personal acquaintance of both Edvard Benes and Jan Masaryk . Twentieth -Century Czechoslovakia begins with the Hussite period. By tracing the "roots" of Czech thought from Jan Hus to the subsequent suppression by the Catholic Habsburgs, and through the era of the Enlightenment, the author demonstrates how the Czech ideal of humanity evolved. He compares concepts derived from Frantisek Palacky and Karel Havlfcek to Tomas G. Masaryk's "Czech humanism. " All three were witnesses to the Hussite influence . A quick glance at opposing interpretations of Czech history by Josef Pekar and Ferdinand Peroutka and their criticism ofT.G. Masaryk's philosophy leads Korbel to the observation that " in times of assured statehood the Czech people strove for the ideals of humanity; in times of peril, they lowered their heads to save the national body" (p. 24). Korbel expands this thought throughout the rest of the book. Beginning with July 6, 1915, the 500th anniversary of the death of Jan Hus , Tomas G. Masaryk is depicted as voicing a vision about to become a reality. As the author discusses the historical formation of Czechoslovakia, he dwells primarily on the Czech leadership. He skillfully paints portraits of national hopes , problems of administration, mistakes in judgment, and fears for the future. Throughout the twenties and thirties these events led to the final breakup of the first Czechoslovakia. By analyzing the Munich crisis and World War II as it affected this Central European victim state, Korbel clearly shows that the Czechs " lowered their heads to save the national body." As he searches for the mea ning of the postwar years in the revitalized Czechoslovak state, he refers to them as " The Sisyphean Years," the title of his last and perhaps most intriguing chapter. With T.G . M asaryk, he believes that " the nation will take up again its active role in mankind's neyer-ending struggle for freedom and social justice" (p. 320). Written in an engaging style, Korbel's story of Czechoslovakia's rise and fall will fascinate not only the student of history but also a ny reader interested 136 SLOVAKIA in learning about Central Europe during the twentieth century. Unfortunately, the author does exhibit a bias against the Slovaks. This is especially apparent in his reference to the well-loved and respected Slovak leader Father Andrej Hlinka as being "fanatic. " Furthermore, while the Czechoslovak state could not exist without the Slovaks, Korbel devotes a mere 25-30 pages to them in a book of 346 pages. His admiration for Tomas G. Masaryk is deep, his respect for Jan Masaryk is genuine, and his evaluation of Edvard Benes appears objective. Had it been possible to apply historical honesty to all aspects of Czechoslovakia's growth from its inception to its dissolution and rebirth, such an account might have added significantly to the rapidly increasing literature in that area of research. One can only conclude that this historical account was written from the so-called Czechoslovak point of view. If this is understood, the reader will enjoy Twentieth-Century Czechoslovakia but will continue to look for "The Meanings of Its History" in other books dealing far more adequately with Slovakia and the Slovaks . M. EVANGELA LUBEK, 0 .S.B. Bishop Noll Institute Hammond, Indiana Martin R . Myant. Socialism and Democracy in Czechoslovakia, 1945-1948. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981. 302 pp. The three years that preceded the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia at the end of the Second World War have been generally understood in the West as a lull in which all the indications of what would happen in February 1948 were present. Although Martin Myant does not contradict this approach, he offers in this study, above all, an examination of the political situation in Czechoslovakia in which the Communist Party was just one of many players until mid-194 7, when a power struggle erupted leading to the Communist victory a few months later. What we have here, according to the author, is a polity which sought to achieve a socialist society by democratic means. It is an interesting thesis that reflects to a great extent the approach that Communist scholars took to this period in the 1960s and which found some sympathy among Western scholars. The book is divided into ten chapters that begin with a rapid overview of the development of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia . The next five chapters are devoted to an analysis of the political situation in the Czech lands, with one chapter on Slovakia . In three more chapters the author looks at the power struggle which culminated in the February crisis . The final chapter SLOVAKIA 137 examines post-February Czechoslovakia, in particular those events that announced the imposition of a more radical line by the Kremlin . It is clear from Myant 's story that World War II had brought about major changes in the Czech lands. In the postwar world, Czech political life reflected a general consensus that Czech society wanted its government to implement socialist changes because the prewar order had been destroyed during the hostilities . As an organized resistance group, the Communists played a major part in setting the framework for a socialist transformation . They were by far the most cohesive and organized party. Until mid-1947 they were also willing to collaborate - and indeed did so - with the non-Communist parties in implem enting new policies . The author gives a thorough analysis not only of the platforms of all parties, but also of the political activities of the Communist Party. When the struggle for power broke out, the Communists aimed at nothing more than victory and then used whatever means they could get away with to achieve that end. But for Myant - unlike for Paul Zinner and Josef Korbel, who also wrote on this period - the interest lies in the pre-mid 1947 period where, as he writes, "for all its faults, the National Front system established in May 1945 provided a possible basis for the development of socialism in Czechoslovakia" (p. 242). Despite the author's thorough analysis, this reviewer is not convinced that the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia could have played according to democratic rules in an advanced society. Although Myant attributes the shift that occurred in mid-1947 to the international situation and Cominform directives , the fact remains that the Communist Party was willing in the last analysis to abandon democratic means in favor of one-party rule. There is no evidence that the Party offered the Kremlin any resistance . Had its commitment to democracy really existed, it could have defied Moscow since there were no Soviet troops in the country and it is doubtful that Moscow would have risked a war to impose its will . The pre-mid-1947 experience may be interesting for those who still hanker after a form of" democratic socialism"; for m e it merely shows that a Communist Party will also play the democratic game if it brings it closer to its goal of total power, but it does not show a commitment to democracy . The author's treatment of Slovakia is inadequate . He approaches it from the same point of view as the Czech lands , namely that the Slovaks were also headed for socialist transformation. To take this approach is to ignore not only the legacy of prewar Slovak politics, but also the major impact the Slovak R epublic had on the Slovaks. His accusation that Slovakia was backward is both unfair and unfortunate; it is a Czech point of view that was arti~ulated quite openly from 1945 on, especially in the Communist Party. This view was also imposed on Slovak Communists, who accepted it after their defeat in the May 1946 elections. The author does, however, point out that the Communist 138 SLOVAKIA Party was unwilling to embark on a different and distinct Slovak policy, if only not to alienate its Czech constituency. The position of Slovakia in postwar Czechoslovakia was very critical. Forced without consultation into a state where they would be a minority, Slovaks then saw most instruments of autonomous government progressively taken away from them . The non-Communist leadership was weak and faced not only Communist opposition but also Czech resistance to any status beyond minimal autonomy . Thus Slovak political life centered once again on Slovakia ' s role in Czechoslovakia, not on socialist transformation . As time went on, it was clear to most Slovaks that they mattered very little in Czechoslovak politics and were expected to be merely compliant to Prague . In this respect, Myant writes unfairly about President Tiso's execution in 1947 that "its announcement in Slovakia was met with no visible unrest" (p. 158). The truth of the matter is that the army and Czech police had been sent to Slovakia to make sure that there was no unrest. For the same reason the attempted Communist coup in Bratislava failed that autumn. The game had to be played out in Prague. This is a well-researched study that is thorough in its presentation for the Czech lands . It is highly unsatisfactory for Slovakia. For this reason, as well as the author's ideological predelictions, it is regrettably incomplete and, therefore, disappointing. STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM Glendon College, York University Toronto, Canada Leon Noel. La Tchecoslovaquie d'avant Munich. Paris: Institut d'etudes slaves, 1982. 208 pp. J.F.N. Bradley. Politics in Czechoslovakia, 1945-1971. Washington, D.C .: University Press of America, 1981. 225 pp. There are few Central European states that have had as turbulent a history as Czechoslovakia. It was created by the Western Powers on the morrow of World War I, only to be abandoned two decades later to German expansionism and another ten years later to Soviet imperialism. Paradoxically, Western scholarship has yet to produce a good history on either the First Republic or on the postwar Communist period. The two volumes under review, while they seek to give us an overview of each period, are also unsatisfactory. Leon Noel was France's Minister to Czechoslovakia from 1932 to 1935. His book constitutes a sort of memoir of the three years he spent in Prague. To this account he added a few chapters that deal with the origins of the state , SLOVAKIA 139 some of its leading personalities, the Slovaks, the Germans and the Hungarians, the Catholic Church, and the political parties . None is very good , and the chapters on the Slovaks and the political parties are particularly poor. It becomes quickly very clear that this French diplomat understood very little the country in which he represented France . The main impression that one gets is that he was interested above all in maintaining excellent diplomatic relations between Prague and Paris . This he seems to have done, given the number of positive comments about himself by Czechoslovakia's leaders that he quotes . But one does not get any idea what were the main currents in FrancoCzechoslovak relations. It is only when he evaluates the leading personalities in Prague of the common state of the Czechs and Slovaks that he is interesting. That is one of the redeeming features of his book . If this book is at all interesting , it is becau se it reflects French perceptions of Czechoslovakia in the interwar period . The state was to a great extent a French creation, and Czechoslovakia's centralist system of government was modelled on that of France. Paris supported Prague on the German and the Slovak questions with the result that neither French diplomats nor French scholars paid any attention to anyone but the Czechs and accepted everything Prague told them. Noel ' s book is therefore not different from those published in the interwar years. It is a pity that he did not learn from subsequent events about which much has been written to give us a more critical appreciation of the country where he clearly spent three interesting years of his life . The Bradley volume is more in line with contemporary scholarship. But it is a peculiar book. The author has done some thorough research in a number of areas, yet he does not succeed in giving us an adequate overall picture of Communist politics in Czechoslovakia. The greatest flaw is his lack of treatment of the Slovak question, which he does not seem to have understood at all. There are two them es to the book: government and politics. The author gives a thorough description of Czechoslovakia's Communist government structure , examining in turn its constitutions, parliaments , governments, the judiciary , and security. Hi s chapter on the central government for 1948-1968 is rather good . He analyzes well the main problems of any Communist government, namely political domination and efficient administration. As he points out: "Even the most capable administrators among these politicans would have found it impossible to run central ministries efficiently with the politicallyreliable but admi nistratively unfit officials at their disposal" (p. 123) . When it comes to analyzing Communist politics , the author devotes only two chapters, one on the Dubcek era and the other on the Husak period of normalization. Both are somewhat disappointing. The overall result is that at the end of the book the reader is still left wondering what Czechoslovak politics were all about for the period 1948-1971. 140 SLOVAKIA The major flaw of Bradley's book is its treatment of the Slovak question. Clearly the author belongs to that category of Western scholars who do not consider Czech-Slovak relations to have been, and still to be, the focal point of the survival of the common state of these two nations. It is not surprising to come across such a statement as : "The Slovaks, who had apparently been enjoying equality and autonomy since 1948, began to voice their demands for new constitutional arrangements within the Czechoslovak Republic" (p. 183), with no further explanation. The final chapter, on Husak's federalism , is also inadequate in analyzing the new relationship between the two nations, let alone explaining why this formerly centralist state had been transformed into a federation . Neither book fulfills the mission its title suggests . Nevertheless in each there are some aspects of interest which may help the specialist and the interested reader on Czechoslovakia to get a better insight into this troubled common state of the Czechs and Slovaks. STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM Glendon College, York University Toronto, Canada Zdenek L. Suda. Zealots and Rebels: A History of the Ruling Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Stanford, Calif. : Hoover Institution Press , 1980 . 412 pp . This first history of the Czechoslovak Communist Party in English, from its beginnings in November, 1917 , in Revolutionary Russia and its foundation in November , 1921, up to the late 1970s, is an impressive achievement. Professor Suda, a sociologist at the University in Pittsburgh, selected some of the best scholarly works written in the West on various topics or periods of his target and complemented them with a few basic books and articles published at different times in Czechoslovakia. Although his opus is based almost exclusively on secondary sources and, surprisingly, does not even mention authors whose work should have been consulted (e .g ., Machonin, Borkenau, Taborsky, Zinner, Horak , Jancar, Korbel, Tigrid) , it is worth reading and including in private as well as public libraries. It is a solid work and excels in its capable and systematic review of major events in the history of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Its organization is clear, and the writer consistently pays attention to domestic developments as well as to Soviet or other Communist parties' history . In Suda' s concluding words , what matters is "the development of the Soviet core to which the CPCS, for the greater part of its existence, has only been peripheral" (p. 380). SLOVAKIA 141 Suda's main contribution is to be found in his judicious summary of some sixty years in the life of a movement, in his sensible comments, and in his perspicuous analysis. One half of the book is devoted to the Party's history before it came to power in 1945 . There is a certain imbalance in Suda's treatment of the foundation of the CPCS (50 pages) or of its history until 1929 (70 pages) and his discussion of the crucial year of 1968 (only 20 pages) . The later story is much better known that the first two so that it does not constitute any major weakness, especially since the author keeps stressing interesting parallels between different periods of Party history . Basically, it was and is a foreign element brought into a state whose traditions , both cultural and political, have been .at variance with it . Suda devotes a substantial part of his book to developments in the Communist Party of Slovakia and to its asymmetric position in a basically centralist party and state. He rightly considers the unsolved problems of national minorities - and many Slovaks refused to think of themselves as equal partners in a "Czechoslovak" nation - to be the weak point of the whole edifice . The German problem is also systematically studied, and so are the Hungarian and Ruthenian ethnic communities. Paradoxically, even the establishment of a federal state in 1968 did not put an end to Prague centralism, although the general secretary of the Party since 1968 has been a Slovak. The lack of a detailed study of primary sources and of many crucial scholarly works , unfortunately , is responsible for some, mostly minor, mistakes in an otherwise well-printed and well-proofread work. For instance, Trotsky's secret message to disarm the Czechoslovak Corps in Russia is not mentioned; Tomas G . Masaryk is wrongly characterized as "never a socialist" (p. 12); the important role of G eneral Vlasov and his armed units in the Prague uprising in 1945 is omitted; for some reason, the Cominform and Comintern are both spelled with a ' K '; there is nothing on substantial workers' unrest in 1948 and 1949 ; Richta's leadership of a scientific Party commission is assigned to Mlynar , who was in charge of another one about whose existence the author does not seem to have known (p. 328); the Manifesto of 2000 Words was published simultaneously in four Prague papers and not just in one (p. 391) - a fact which was important for the Soviet audience since the pressure group was clearly well organized! Furthermore, the periodical Listy was not a "bimonthly" (p. 367) but rather appeared monthly. In disagreement with the author's statement on page 261, Zapotocky was criticized at Politboro meetings for his relaxation of forced collectivization of agriculture . What is more important, Suda sometimes accepts the terminology of his Communist sources and then refers, for instance , to the "progressive elite " (p. 120) when he discusses individuals who were responsible for bringing shame and enslave- 142 SLOVAKIA ment upon their own nations. Although the author believes that only a small minority of Social Democrats refused to join the CPCS in the year of forced amalgamation (p. 225), the truth is that less than one third of them joined the Communist Party! Also, his description of workers' acceptance of the Slansky trial is only partially true because, according even to Communist sources, after the initial passage of favorable resolutions, there was resolute criticism of the whole Party and state leadership, often calling for their dismissal. Finally , the 1968 meetings at Cierna nad Tisou did not take place in the Soviet train (p . 340) but - with the exception of Dubcek's visit to the "ailing" Brezhev in a railwaymen's club on Czechoslovak territory. There is a good analysis of voting patterns in 1925 but, somewhat surprisingly for a sociologist, the author does not include any analysis and statistics (which are available) of the social or class composition of the CPCS in its period of absolute power. All these and a few other errors and omissions can be easily corrected in an eventual second edition of this pioneering and generally very successful work . PETER R. HRUBY Western Australian Institute of Technology Perth , Australia Frantisek Bielik a kolektfv. Slovaci vo svete. Volume II. Martin : Matica slovenska, 1980. 320 pp . This second volume of Slovaci vo svete is a general survey of pre-World War II Slovak immigration to countries throughout the world. It is a collaborative effort. However, except for the separate sections on Slovak immigrant culture and involvement in labor activities in the United States and the Slovak immigration to Canada and France , Frantisek Bielik is the principal author of the book. Bielik first discusses the general causes of Slovak emigration and its impact on Hungary and later Czechoslovakia. The work is then divided into geographical categories by country. Within each geographical division, the authors adopt a standard, almost monotonous , procedure of chronicling the formation and sporadic activities of various Slovak organizations . They provide brief descriptions of Slovak fraternal societies , schools, newspapers, labor organizations, and cultural associations . In addition, they discuss the political and labor activities of some Slovak immigrants in the different countries. Slovaci vo svete is a useful addition to the literature on Slovak immigration, because it contains tables and statistics as well as literary material that have not been readily available in a single source. The inclusion of sources would have improved the usefulness of the tables. The work is also important SLOVAKIA 143 because it offers some different perspectives on the Slovak immigration experience . For example, Bielik properly stresses that the United States was the major but not the sole destination of Slovak emigrants . To emphasize this point, the book includes brief sketches of Slovak immigration to New Zealand, Asia, and Africa - countries not commonly associated with the Slovak emigration movement. Also, by discussing Slovak involvement in labor unions and Socialist organizations, the authors offer a different profile of Slovak immigrant laborers than that depicted in earlier literature. Ivan Poljak and Eva Fordinalova, who contributed the segment on Slovak union and work-related activities in the United States, would agree with Victor Greene that Slovak workers were not simply meek laborers whose docility prevented them from becoming actively involved in labor unions and strife. Moreover, their religiosity did not prevent all Slovaks in the United States and elsewhere from flirting with Socialist or Communist ideas and joining Socialist or Communist parties. Despite such points, Slovaci vo svete is marred by serious weaknesses. As a synthesis , the book is far too general and institutionally oriented. Even the lengthier discussion of Slovak immigrants in the United States is primarily a chronicle narrative of various immigrant organizations and newspapers. The treatment of Slovak immigration to other countries serves little more than as a reminder that the United States was not the sole destination of this immigrant group. No attempt is made to offer a comparative analysis of Slovak adjustment to various countries. Rather, Bielik and the other contributors seem content to resort to perfunctory , isolated discussions of Slovaks and their organizations in the several countries. While they are to be commended for the attempt to describe the work life of Slovak laborers, the discussions of this topic suffer from overgeneralizations, oversimplifications, and factual and interpretive errors. The· authors try desperately to show that Slovaks almost naturally harbor Socialist sympathies . They use the participation by Slovaks in labor unions or strikes as examples of these natural sympathies. Typically the authors do not provide sufficient or convincing evidence for their generalizations. For example, they make no attempt even to estimate the number of Slovaks actually involved in the various " Socialist " and labor activities they describe . Unfortunately, Slovaci vo svete is further harmed because the authors overlook some obviously important aspects of Slovak immigrant life in the United States and perhaps in other countries as well. Despite the claim that the book is offering a description of immigrant life , much of the material actually focuses on the activities of prominent Slovaks, not ordinary immigrants . Slovak churches and their role in American Slovak communities are ignored. Overall, Slovaci vo svete is too brief to treat adequately the complex aspects of Slovak immigration to the United States and to other countries. Still, this work does raise questions that merit closer analysis b y students of Slovak 144 SLOVAKIA immigration and of labor and political history. The contributors also do provide a general, institutional history of Slovak immigration throughout the world. This volume does not rank as the definitive study of Slovak immigration, but it is a synthesis that scholars in Czechoslovakia and in those countries where Slovak immigrants have gone will find useful. JUNE GRANATIR ALEXANDER The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio Elena Jakesova . Vyst'ahovalectvo Slovakov do Kanady. Bratislava : Veda, vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej akademie vied, 1981. 160 pp . In recent years there has been a great renewed interest in ethnic and immigration history on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. To the growing list of scholarly studies in this field can be added Elenajakesova's present monograph . Jakesova presents a concise, statistical account of Slovak immigration to Canada from the 1870s to 1938. The book is divided into two sections, one covering the years from the 18 70s to 1914, and the second from 1922 to 1938 . She gives the reasons for Slovak immigration from Hungary, and later from Czechoslovakia, and also an excellent outline of the individual Slovak settlements in Canada. Other chapters or sections are devoted to the development of the Slovak press in Canada and to the rise of Slovak fraternal societies. Separate sections describe Slovak mining settlements in Western Canada, agricultural communities in Central Canada, and urban settlements in Eastern Canada in later years . This is a well-organized and well-written book . The research and documentation are most impressive . The author made use of archival material from Slovak district archives in Slovakia, from the Haus-Hof-und Staatsarchiv in Vienna, and from the Magyar Orszagos Leveltar in Budapest. Most of the periodical literature and monographic studies dealing with Canadian Slovaks were also used. In short, few stones were left unturned . The volume is also enriched by graphs and charts which help clarify the history of Slovak immigration to Canada. Even the illustrations were well selected and add interest to the subject. , Two serious shortcomings of the book arejakesova's treatment of Canadian Slovak societies and churches. Among societies the importance of the Slovak workers' movement was overemphasized . Her account of it was informative and interesting, but the movement itself was of decidedly minor significance. The Canadian Slovak League and Canadian-Slovak Support Society were and remain the largest Canadian-Slovak organizations . More should SLOVAKIA 145 have been said about these groups and the great work and sacrifices of such individuals as Andrej Kucera and Andrej Potocky, founders of the Canadian Slovak League . In general, more attention should have been devoted to the experiences of Canadian Slovaks - their joys and sufferings - and to the history of their churches, which were not covered at all. Aside from these drawbacks , the work has many merits and can be recomm ended to anyone seeking a general survey of Slovak immigration to Canada. X. SUTHERLAND Stoney Point, New York ANTHONY Engelbert Zobl and Hertha A. Zobl. Holzbaukunst in der Slowakei. Vienna : Fachjournalverlagsgesellschaft, 1978. 92 pp. This unpretentious little paperback volume bears witness to what seems to be a growing interest among enthusiasts in western Europe to " uncover " the art of traditional wooden architecture in the Carpathian region of Slovakia. H ence, since the appearance of the book under review , two more ambitious volumes have appeared: Wooden Churches in th e Carpathians: The Photographic Legacy of Florian Zapletal (Vienna, 1982) by Paul R. Magoci and the monumental Wooden Churches of Eastern Europe (Cambridge , 1981) by David Buxton , both of which contain numerous photograp hs of structures in northeastern Slovakia. In contrast to these two subsequent works , the book by Engelbert and Hertha Zobl seems more of an architectural travel reportage put together as a guide for Austrian and West German tourists who still flock each summer to Czechoslovakia in search of the ostensibly more exotic cultural stimuli of the "east." This is not to suggest that such popular books are without value or that the Zobls have not done a competent job . In fact, as is evident from the albeit self-indulgent autobiographical data (complete with photographs of the whole family), the husband and wife Zobl team have degrees, respectively , in architecture and the a pplied arts. And as the lavishly-illustrated book reveals , they both have a keen sensitivity for the aesthetic as well as technical aspects of their subject. The book is basically divided into five chapters : belfries, wooden churches, wooden crosses, secular wooden architecture, and architectural ornamentation. The appendices include a list of all belfries and churches with their date of construct ion (in most , but not all instances); a map showing the travel route fo llowed by the authors in 1976 with each place indicated that appears in the book ; an index of placenames; and a brief bibliography . The latter indicates a few basi c German, Czech, and Slovak works, but omi ts two recent 146 SLOVAKIA Ukraini an-langu age studies from C zechoslovakia th at deal with the subj ect: an encyclopedia of wooden churches (past and present) in northeastern Slovakia by B. K ovafo vyfova-Puskarova and I. Pu skar , D erev 'jani cerk vy schidnoho obrjadu na Slo vaccyni (Bratislava and Presov, 1971) and a survey of secular architecture in the same region by M . Sopolyha , Narodn a architektura ukrajinciv Schidnoji Slovaccyn y (Svidnfk, 1976) . Each chapter in the book by the Zobls is preceded by a very brief introduction , and each of the 110 photograph s carries a caption. There are also 41 line drawings of structures and ground plans. By far , the largest portion of the book - a to tal of 72 illu strations - d epicts structures from villages inhabited by C a rpatho-Ru syns in the very northea stern part of Slovakia. Thi s is not surprising, since that area had economicall y always been the m ost underdeveloped and , therefore, traditional life-style and architecture have been preserved there the longest. Also , the authors seem ed to have become enchanted by the clusters of wood en churches north of Svidnfk and northea st of Snina, whose almost perfect form a nd balance m ake them stand out aesthetically, in particular when juxta posed to wooden architecture throughout all of eastern Europe, as is evident from the compara tive survey b y David Buxton mentioned above. The photographs are, in fact , the highlight of the Zobl ' s book . They were all ta ken in 1976, were well executed and often provide different views of a given structure, and have been reproduced clearly in the printing process. With the exception of a few iconostases in side Byzantine-rite churches, the photographs are almost all exterior shots. Pa rti cul arl y striking are 39 photograph s in color , am ong the best of which a re the wooden church in Mi rol'a, the cem etary crosses in D etva, and the decoration on hou ses in Zdi ar . All in all , W ooden Architecture in Slovakia is an excellent introd uction to the beauties of trad itional cultu re that still can be found in Slovaki a tod ay. As a serious guide for tourists, it would be pa rticula rl y useful if a n E ngli sh ed ition could be p repa red fo r the increasin g numbers of Am ericans of Slovak a nd Carpatho-Ru syn descent who visit the ancestral hom eland . P AUL R . M AGOCSI Uni versity of T oronto T oronto, Ca nada A tlas CSSR . Brat islava: Slove nska kartografi a, 1980 . This school atlas is obviously intended for student s at about the hi gh school level. It has no accompan yin g text or explana tory m a terial and is even devoid of a n introdu ction. Con sequentl y, the u ser is give n no idea regardin g the in tended audience or the goal s of thi s volume of m aps. SLOVAKIA 147 There are 42 pages of maps; there are more actual maps, howeve r , because numerous inset (larger scale) maps are displayed on various themes. The first quarter of the atlas is d evoted to physical/environmental subjects temperature, precipitation , geological structure , soils, forests , etc. The remainder of the volume contains social, cultural, and especially economic maps . The physical maps are of standard type, although the last of this group is an interesting map of conservation sites, such as parks and botanical stations. The demographic maps (pages 12 to 15) are interesting because included are maps on density , fertility , mortality , national population growth rates , labor force, and the nationalities. Most of the m aps suffer as a result of the inappropriate scale employed and poor use of color. The nationalities sheet is particularly poor because the combination of colors and patterns to locate and quantify minority groups is a total failure. The economic maps (pages 16-27) again are standard and include maps of minerals , manufacturing, agriculture , crops , transport and more for the entire country. Detailed political/ physical maps of the Czech and Slovak R epublics are then followed by similar economic maps for the two areas. The atlas is rounded out with a set of maps of "regional types" at the micro-scale. There are six of these, including types such as the High Tatra a rea and a section of industrial Ostrava. There are also 10 exam ples of "settlement types," including Nitra and a Czech resort town. The final three maps are interesting cultural maps, including one of higher and middle schools, medical institutions, and historical/cultural monuments. Unfortunately , these maps are of very limited use because they are drawn at a scale ( 1 :4,000,000) which obliterates any detail. In general, the Atlas CSSR is an adequate school level tool. It would have been much better and useful, however , if sharper color had been used and if more reasonable scales had been chosen for many of the maps. The bulkiness (23 cm. x 55 cm .) and the inferior quality of the binding also detract from the Atlas ' value. In sum , a poten tiall y lively collection of maps has bee n rendered into a disappointing volume of no particular distinction. GEORGE J. D EMKO U.S. Department of State W ashington , D .C. Peter Balaz, Miloslav Darovec, and H eather Trebaticka. Slovak for Slavicists . Brat islava: Slovenske pedagogicke nakladatel'stvo, 1976. 302 pp. Students who have some background in another Slavic langu age, as well as those who possess a rudimentary knowledge of Slovak , will find this text- 148 SLOVAKIA book useful. It was written for the intermediate classes at the Studia Academica Slovaca (Summer Seminar of Slovak Language and Culture in Bratislava), and was also intended for use as a textbook in university-level courses abroad . The authors point out in the preface that it is not a handbook for those studying Slovak without a teacher ; however , it can be used in this way if the student's goal is to gain only a reading knowledge of Slovak, and particularly if Slovak is not his/ her first Slavic language. The book contains 27 lessons in addition to the Slovak-English/English-Slovak glossaries . The bilingual d esignation of the section headings in the table of contents and in the lessons themselves is a very desirable feature of the book . It serves the immediate pedagogical purpose of teaching these items in Slovak as well as enabling the student who wishes to augment the explanations in the textbook with those from Slovak sources to find easily the desired items in the Slovak books . Lesson 1 is devoted to a brief discussion of the alphabet and pronunciation . The Slovak letters ii, c, dz, s, z, t', d', 1' are characterized as palatalized consonants (p. 17) , which might well confuse those students who have studied Ru ssian . They would be better described in English as palatals. Furthermore, since regressive voice assimilatio n before nasals and liquids characterizes Slovak sandhi rules in contrast to some of the other Slavic languages, it would be well to include that information in the section on pronunciation . The remaining lessons have the following general format : introductory text , questions , vocabulary, grammatical section , exercises , grammatical section, exercises, translation exercise, and pronunciation exercise. The exercises a re well constructed and provide immediate reinforcement of the concepts just introduced . The notes and notice markers which call attention to exceptions or to features which differ significantly in English are also very effective . R eview exercises, spaced at appropriate intervals throughout the book which would combine the information presented in the various grammatical sections up to that point , would enhance the efficacy of the textbook (e.g., inclusion of a review exercise following Lesson 6 after most declensional paradigms have been introduced) . The introductory texts conta in a vocabulary which is very useful for those students who will be in Bratislava . Howeve r, to those who have never been there , as well as to the newly arrived , certain words such as miestenka are mystifying and a note of explanation would be helpful. Lesson 8 has an informal letter to a friend as the introductory text. The forms of ty are correctly capitalized. H owever , there is no note of explanation on how vy (polite singular/plural) should be written. Since this is one of the areas in which the Slavic languages differ , it would be well to include a note on T /V capitalization in letters. It might be more useful to include a thank- yo u note or a formal letter for exam- SLOVAKIA 149 pie, to a professor requesting a consultation, because these are the kinds of letters that a more advanced student is likely to be writing . In general the texts are of a very practical nature and provide the student with an adequate vocabulary for functioning in Slovak society. They could be made more effective by deleting some, such as Lesson 4, or editing them, so that they would be more appropriate for and interesting to university students. While it is possible to draw up a list of additions that one would wish to insert into the book, that in no way detracts from its value. It is certainly the best textbook available today for teaching Slovak to English-speaking students at the university level, and we can only hope that it will be expanded and enlarged in future editions. LOUISE B. HAMMER Bloomington , Indiana JozefMistrfk . Basic Slovak . Bratislava : Slovenske pedagogicke nakladatel'stvo, 1981. 160 pp . This textbook is designed for English-speaking students who want to learn the fundamental grammatical phenomena and 800 of the most frequently occurring vocabularly items in Slovak without wading through the complexities that most traditional grammars present. Its focus is on learning to speak Slovak (American speakers of English should be forewarned that the pronunciation equivalents between English and Slovak given in Lesson 1 are based on British English), not on gaining a passive reading knowledge of the language, and it is not designed to be used without a teacher . Therefore, rules are given but exceptions to the rules are introduced into the discussion only when they occur frequently . This approach is based on the theory that second language acquisition, like first language acquisition, requires a knowledge of the productive grammatical rules of a language, i.e. , those patterns that a learner encounters over and over again in everyday usage. Since this textbook is designed for the one-month Studia Academica Slovaca summer school course as an introductory textbook, it alone would not suffice for a traditional American two-year college program; however, even in a more extended course, the texts which begin each chapter , as well as the exercises at the ends of the lessons, could serve as useful supplementary material . The book contains fifteen lessons , paradigm tables, Slovak-English and English-Slovak vocabularies, and a dictionary of linguistic terms . Beginning with the second, each lesson consists of four parts : text, vocabulary, grammar, and exercises. The texts are interest ing from the sociolinguistic point of view because they frequently have as their themes social events which a re common 150 SLOVAKIA in contemporary Slovak life, such as presenting flowers to someone arriving at the station, waiting in line to buy things, the extended family living together, friends sharing their experiences over a glass of wine . These texts serve to familiarize American students with Slovak culture and appropriate language usage in that culture. Each text introduces the vocabulary items which are listed just after it. This section is followed by grammatical explanations which are simple and concise, and are easily understood by learners with a minimal background in traditional grammar . The exercises require the student to create new forms based on the rules and data presented in the preceding sections . In addition to fillin g in blanks , the students are required to form sentences. Since a bilingual text is given in all of the lessons after the fifth , the student is able to check his/her progress in sentence construction . Features of Slovak which are absent in English and are, therefore , troublesome for English-speaking students are re-introduced in the texts or exercises of subsequent lessons; for example, the prefixed forms of ist' are introduced in Lesson 10 and are exemplified in the exercises in Lesson 12 . The last item in the exercises is a list of words to be read aloud for pronunciation purposes. These words do not appear in the glossary at the end of the book. The glossary does possess an attr~ctive feature: It indicates after every word the number of the lesson in which the word was introdu ced . As is usual in a first printing , some errors are to be found in the book (e.g., a few of the r ' s in th e glossary have been deleted , and some of the s's have been transposed into the s section). There are also minor errors in the English text : " present " in stead of " represent" (p. 11) ; "shorting" instead of " shortening" (p . 66) ; "The both forms are possible" (p . 74 ). one of these lead s to misunderstanding ; however, occasionally, as in " byvam dlho h are" (p . 3 1) ( = " not to sleep"), the E nglish m eaning is not immedia tely clear. On the whole , P rofessor Mi strfk 's book successfully fulfills the goals which he set in writing it , and any teacher or student of Slovak will find it a u seful addition to his/her library. L OU ISE B . HAMM ER Blooming ton , Indian a Abel Kral'. Slovenska vyslovn ost'. Banska Bys trica: U cebne pomocky, 1979. 8 stereo phonograph records with accom pan ying text , 173 pp. These high-quality recordings were produced by Abel Kral' , the head of the Phonetics D epartment a t Com enius University, and national artist V . Zaborsky , for u se in seconda ry schools and la ngu age institutes in Slovakia in SLOVAKIA 151 order to teach students the neutral pronunciation style of standard literary Slovak . In the introduction Kral' explains the theoretical assumptions on which the presentation is based and suggests various ways in which the records can be used effectively. The recordings contain sections on the vowels, diphthongs, consonants, and consonant clusters . In addition there are excellent exercises on gemminated consonants, rhythmic shortening, and particularly on voicing assimilation in the various environments. The last record has a well-exemplifed discussion of sentence intonation. Each section begins with an introduction in which the terminology is defined, the particular sound or sounds under consideration are d escribed, and incorrect pronunciation is sometimes identified. Then the correct pronunciation is given. It is repeated twice with pauses between the utterances so that the student is able to practice the pronunciation and compare it to the record. These sections would be valuable for beginning students, while the more advanced students would additionally gain from hearing the spoken Slovak of the explanations as well as from their content. These recordings would be a very useful teaching aid for non-native speakers who teach Slovak or for Slovaks who speak a dialect and would like to acquire the standard pronunciation . Every student of Slovak who wishes to acquire a good speaking command of the language will benefit from the use of these recordings. They are in fact a very solid course in Slovak phonetics, and selections from the recordings would be ideal material for the pronunciation section of a typical language course. LOUISE B. HAMMER Bloomington , Indiana Vojtech Mihalik . Erotikon. Subor l'ubostn ej lyriky. Bratislava : Slovensky spisovatel' , 1981. Vojtech Mihalik is the grand old m an of Czechoslovak letters , and specifically of Slovak poetry, if this title could apply to a m a n who is only 55 years old. He is undoubtedly the most outstanding poet of the generation which came to the fore after the Second World War. Born in 1926 , Michalik for many years worked as the editor-in-chief of the main publishing house in Bra tislava . A former long-time president of the Association of Slovak Writers, he is at presen t the director of the publi shing house Slovensky spisovatel'. His first selection of poems appeared shortly after the war. H e has published 13 more volumes of poetry as well as numerous essays a nd translations. In 1978 he received the title of Nat ion al Artist, one of the highest literary honors in Czechoslovakia. 152 SLOVAKIA This, his latest volume, contains a selection of poems written at various periods of the author's life. As far as the erotic content of the book is concerned, it is much smaller than could be expected by Western standards . Mihalik is prima rily a romantic poet , a poet of love and emotion . H e puts less stress on the physical aspects of passion than would most of his W estern colleagues . In this he remains firmly rooted in the native Slovak tradition, where the appeal is to the feeling and sentiment , and where the exploitation of sexual aspects is subdued by a sense of decorum. Thus Mihalik ' s main effort in his love is to capture the fl eeting moments of love: the minute of mutual silence, a tree rising against the sun as the lovers embrace , the sorrows and the ecstasies of deep emotion. Mihalik is ve ry conscious of nature . Like most Slovak poets, he lives spiritually in the countryside , with its peasant cottages, lush gardens, orchards full of ripe fruit, meadows suffused by the rays of sun . His erotic imagery refers almost exclu sively to nature. A lonely lover is compared to earth which gave away its beautiful perfume to strolling winds. Lovemaking is perceived by the author in term s of entering a rose garden , searching for a star in the silent sky, or walking unharmed in the midst of a swarm of bees . The metaphors are so intricately ornate that they would be reminiscent of oriental poetry, were it not for the absence of explicitness so characteristic of Arabic and Persian verse. Each poem is a parable of nature sustained to the very end , where in the last lines it unravels into a love poem . If it were not for the last couple of lines, an inexperienced reader might take the poems at their face value of m elancholy or ecstatic descriptions of landscape . Each poem is thus a higly complex and elegantly written puzzle, the m eaning of which has to be d eciphered on two levels , the natural and the erotic. Mihalik 's poems are usually short. His favorite form is the sonnet, whose stylish elegance suits perfectly his method of expression . Some of the poem s are cast in the form of a dialogue, which is a mode deeply rooted in Slovak folk poetry. Mihalik m ay be a romantic lover accordin g to the Slovak tradition , but he is by no means a patient one. If hi s passion does not m eet with a quick response , he rebels. H e sees love as a confusing passion because there is so little understanding between man and woman. Woman is always an outsider in hi s poems. She may be courted, coveted , responsive, submi ssive, or cold , but she always remain s incomprehen sible. Mihalik 's attitude toward women is quite traditional . They are the ones who suffer, who bear the burden of broken relationships, and who carry the whole burden of parental responsibility. Mih alik admires women , feels sorry for them, but he seems to accept their lot as a na tural thing. A s he gets older, Mihalik finds it increasingly difficult to accept the new SLOVAKIA 153 world around him . It is a world where the traditional values become rejected, where children of living parents become orphans because of desertion , where wives are leaving incompatible husbands , where families becom e broken for no apparent reason. The poet sees the world around him as full of suffering and unhappiness which he can only record, without being able to alleviate them . H e becomes a witness for a new generation that is growing up unloved and unlovable . His poems lose their spontaneous enchantment with life, as life becomes increasingly complex and difficult and as the poet finds he cannot turn to love to provide him with a sense of the m eaning of existence. The only an swer that seem s to emerge from Mihalik 's later poems is the implicit message to endure , to go on, and to do one's best. And in this message, as in so many aspects of hi s poetry, Mihalik shows himself again as the true son of his peopl e, the patient, enduring, and long-suffering people of Slovakia. YVONNE GRABOWSKI York University Downsview, Canada Vincent Sikula. Liesky. Bratislava: Smena, 1980. The novelette Liesky is in many respects firml y embedded in the Slovak literary tradition. Like so many books produced in Slovakia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it describes the trials and tribulations of a country boy on his way toward education and recognition. The chief character is a student at the conservatory who hopes to become a forest horn player and who persists in hi s path in spite of loneliness and abject poverty. The form of the novelette is also an old favorite, a first person narrative. The genre itself has been successfully transplanted from the Russian literature of the Golden Age and has fl ourished in Czechoslovakia since there was a favorable ground for its reception in Czech and Slovak folklore . What saves the story from becoming a typical hardship case narration , so characteristic of Slovak literature, is Sikula's humorous approach. The humor is intensified by the aut hor's use of the skaz technique. The predicam ents of the hero m ay be pathetic, but they are at the same time highly amusing. When the hero describes his family, we learn that his parents had so many children that the y hardly noticed if several of them were missing. The young man 's landlady can carry a conversation only with her cat - she is stone deaf. The hero has to practice music by drumming on the table because he cannot afford an instrument. When he finally gets the opportunity to practice on a real piano, he ruefully notes that it does not sou nd to him as good as the table. The narration thus proceeds at a lively pace, in a jolly animated style, 154 SLOVAKIA full of slan g, colloquiali sm s, and peasant speech m annerism s. It m akes fo r ea sy and pleasant readin g. Yet Sikula is mu ch m ore th an a skillful na rrator . Hi s m astery of style is evident as the story gradually reveals the narrator 's character , his a rtistic strivings , and his sexu al awakening. Sikula possesses a superb sense of n ature. M an is never alone in hi s book. All his ac tion s and feelings ta ke place in a na tural setting of which he is a n integral part. N a ture blends with the action , and the cha n ge of seasons accompanies ch a n ges of life . Thus the story starts with a beautiful description of winter and ends with an equally beautiful episode of picking fresh twigs from bu sh es. The story is deliberatel y left unfinished since Sikula aim s a t portrayin g but one stage in th e hero 's life . W e will never learn what is goin g to ha ppen in the future to the human twig picked from the bu sh of country life, a nd we are not m eant to know. Sikula presen ts u s with a vignette of life in the m a kin g. W e a re expected to enj oy the beaut y and the immediacy of the vignette portrayed b y an exquisite painter and not to look beyond it. Sikula has both the talen t of a pa inter a nd a poe t. Althou gh the story is written in p rose, it read s like a poem , di splayin g the author 's rem arka ble powe r ove r la nguage. Its m easured cad en ces a nd sen se of rhythm give the reader a unique poetic experience. It is the beaut y of style which gives to Liesk y its most definite imprin t. YVONNE G R ABOWS KI Y ork Uni versity D own sview, C anada SLOVAKIA 155 BOOK NOTE Charles Wojatsek . From Trianon to the First Vienna Arbitral Award: The Hungarian Minority in th e First Czechoslovak Republic, 1918-1938. Montreal: Institute of Comparative Civilizations, 1981. 229 pp . Time and time again Mr. Wojatsek attempted to publish his manuscript through academic and commercial presses , only to have it repea tedly rejected because of its poor quality . Finally, when nothing else could be done, he published the book him self, under the spu rious auspices of the " In stitute of Comparative Civilizations, Montreal." This book is not worth serious consideration. It was written with the patriotic fervor of a true believer, and its reading makes for cruel and unusual punishment, deserved only by other nationalists of Wojatsek's type. This reviewer wishes to warn the unsu specting public: Beware 1 You may jeopardize your time, your money, and your nerves! Y ESHA Y AHU JELINEK Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beer-Sheba, Israel  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 Book Reviews, Slovakia, Vol. 31 (No. 57) Description An account of the resource includes:<br /><ul><li>Robin Okey, <em>Eastern Europe, 1740-1980</em> (R. Vladimir Baumgarten), p. 119</li> <li>Milorad M. Drachkovitch, ed., <em>East Central Europe</em> (Josef Kalvoda), p. 121</li> <li>Rudolf Krajčovič, <em>Svedectvo dejín o slovenčine</em> (Gerald J. Sabo), p. 123</li> <li>Ľudovít Novák, <em>K najstarším dejinám slovenského jazyka</em> (John M. Kochik), p. 124</li> <li>František Kalesný, <em>Habáni na Slovensku</em> (Peter Brock), p. 126</li> <li>August A. Skodacek, <em>Lutherans in Slovakia</em> (Robert J. Skovira), p. 129</li> <li>Paul Robert Magocsi, <em>The Shaping of a National Identity and The Rusyn-Ukrainians of Czechoslovakia</em> (Owen V. Johnson), p. 130</li> <li>Vojtech Šarluška, comp., <em>Jubileá Matice slovenskej</em> (John A. Berta), p. 132</li> <li>Milan S. Ďurica, ed., <em>Il mondo slavo</em>. Volume VIII. (John M. Kochik), p. 133</li> <li>Josef Korbel, <em>Twentieth-Century Czechoslovakia</em> (M. Evangela Lubek), p. 135</li> <li>Martin R. Myant, <em>Socialism and Democracy in Czechoslovakia</em> (Stanislav J. Kirschbaum), p. 136</li> <li>Léon Noël, <em>La Tchécoslovaquie ďavant Munich and J.F.N. Bradley, Politics in Czechoslovakia</em> (Stanislav J. Kirschbaum), p. 138</li> <li>Zdenek L. Suda, <em>Zealots and Rebels</em> (Peter R. Hruby), p. 140</li> <li>František Bielik, et. al., <em>Slováci vo svete</em>. Volume II. (June Granatir Alexander), p. 142</li> <li>Elena Jakešová, <em>Vysťahovalectvo Slovákov do Kanady</em> (Anthony X. Sutherland), p. 144</li> <li>Engelbert and Hertha Zobl, <em>Holzbaukunst in der Slowakei</em> (Paul R. Magocsi), p. 145</li> <li><em>Atlas ČSSR</em> (George J. Demko), p. 146</li> <li>Peter Baláž et. al., <em>Slovak for Slavicists</em> (Louise B. Hammer), p. 147</li> <li>Jozef Mistrík, <em>Basic Slovak</em> (Louise B. Hammer), p. 149</li> <li>Ábel Kráľ, <em>Slovenská výslovnosť</em> (Louise B. Hammer), p. 150</li> <li>Vojtech Mihálik, <em>Erotikon</em> (Yvonne Grabowski), p. 151</li> <li>Vincent Šikula, <em>Liesky</em> (Yvonne Grabowski), p. 153</li> <li>Charles Wojatsek, <em>From Trianon to the First Vienna Arbitral Award</em> (Yeshayahu Jelinek), p. 155</li> </ul> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Alexander, June Granatir, 1948- Baumgarten, R. Vladimir Berta, John A. Brock, Peter, 1920-2006 Demko, George J., 1933- Grabowski, Yvonne, 1929-1989 Hammer, Louise B., 1940- Hrubý, Petr, 1921-2017 Jelínek, Yešhayahu A., 1933-2016 Johnson, Owen V. Kalvoda, Josef, 1923-1999 Kirschbaum, Stanislav J., 1942- Kochik, John Michael Lubek, Sister M. Evangela, SS.C.M. Magocsi, Paul Robert, 1945- Sabo, Gerald J., 1945–2020 Skovira, Robert J. Sutherland, Anthony X. (Anthony Xavier) LCNAF LCNAF+dates name SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/ca239dfe1cfd991cb72da0195dcdcfc9.pdf 60aaabae305589df9f830910050d2d99 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 157 CONTRIBUTORS JAMES BORCHERT, Ph.D. (University of Maryland) , teaches American history at the Cleveland State University. He is the author of Alley Life in Washington: Family, Community, Religion, and Folklife in th e City, 1850-1970 ( 1980). SUSAN DANZIGER BORCHERT, Ph.D. (Ohio State University), teaches sociology at Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio. OWEN V. JOHNSON, Ph.D. (University of Michigan), currently teaches journalism at Indiana University . His book on Slovakia, 1918-1938: Educa tion and the Making of a Nation will be published by Columbia University Press in 1985. PA TRICIA ONDEK LAURENCE is a graduate of the State University of New York at Stoney Brook and teaches English at the City College of New York. She recently published "A Slovak Immigrant 's View of Work," in the literary journal MELUS (1983). NORMAL. RUDINSKY, a graduate of Stanford University, teaches English at Oregon State University. She has published many articles in literary journals and is the leading authority in the West on the Slovak writer Martin Kukucfn . CAROL TOWARNICKY is Lifestyle Columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News . A graduate of Ohio University, she has practiced journalism since 1967 and has written several short stories . PAUL WILKES, Writer-in-Residence at the University of Pittsburgh, is the author of six books and of the two television series Six American Families ( 1978) and M erton ( 1984 ). H e is currently writing a massive saga on Slovak immigration to America. THE REVEREND THEODORIC ZUBEK, O.F .M. , received his S.T.D. degree from the University ofFribourg in 1940 . H e has written The Church of Silence in Slovakia ( 1956) and is the leading expert in the West on churchstate relations in his homeland . �158 SLOVAKIA Guidelines for Manuscripts Manuscripts of articles for possible publication should be sent to the editor. Articles should normally not exceed twenty-five pages in length, and should be submitted in triplicate, typed double-spaced, with generous margins for copyediting. Footnotes should also be typed doublespaced, 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 editor. Individuals who wish to review books should send the editor a cop y of their curriculum vitae and an indication of their areas of ex pertise and interest. ��THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA Organized in 1907 at Cleveland , Ohio EDWARD J . BEHUNCIK, K.S.G. President JOHN A. HOLY Secretary-Treasurer Vice Presidents ANNE Z. SAROSY DANIEL F. TANZONE MICHAEL BUCKO Executive Committee Edward J . Behuncik, John A . Holy, Andrew F. Hudak, Jr., George N. Kantor Michael J . Krajsa, Anna S. Granchay, Cecelia Sarocky, Margaret Pilosi, Joseph R. Kristofik, John F. Pitek Joseph Stefka , Stephen J. Kavulich Slovak League of America Ladies' Auxiliary Anna M . Vizza , President Regional Vi ce-Presidents : George Lupjan - New York , New Jersey, New England States John Herman - Eastern Pennsylvania John Gastan - Western Pennsylvania George Chura - Ohio Joseph Fecik - Michigan Ivan Kralik - Illinois Bernadine Wandke - Wisconsin Matthew Zvada - California Joseph Ondis - Florida John Hvasta - Washington , D.C., Virginia Joseph Valencik Auditors: Dolores J . Soska Paul Brunovsky SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS /Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK LADIES ASSOCIATION Cleveland , Ohio FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION OF THE U.S. AND CANADA Cleveland, Ohio SLOVAK CATHOLIC SOKOL Passaic, N.J . NATIONAL SLOVAK SOCIETY OF THE U.S.A. Pittsburgh , Pa . LADIES PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . FIRST SLOVAK WREATH OF THE FREE EAGLE Bridgeport, Conn. SLOVAK NEWSPAPERMEN ' S ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Joseph C. Krajsa , K.S.G ., President SLOVAKIA $6.00 per annum Printed By JEDNOTA PRINTERY Middletown , Pennsylvania 17057 U.S.A. � SLOVAKIA 157 CONTRIBUTORS JAMES BORCHERT, Ph.D. (University of Maryland) , teaches American history at the Cleveland State University. He is the author of Alley Life in Washington: Family, Community, Religion, and Folklife in th e City, 1850-1970 ( 1980). SUSAN DANZIGER BORCHERT, Ph.D. (Ohio State University), teaches sociology at Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio. OWEN V. JOHNSON, Ph.D. (University of Michigan), currently teaches journalism at Indiana University . His book on Slovakia, 1918-1938: Educa tion and the Making of a Nation will be published by Columbia University Press in 1985. PA TRICIA ONDEK LAURENCE is a graduate of the State University of New York at Stoney Brook and teaches English at the City College of New York. She recently published "A Slovak Immigrant 's View of Work," in the literary journal MELUS (1983). NORMAL. RUDINSKY, a graduate of Stanford University, teaches English at Oregon State University. She has published many articles in literary journals and is the leading authority in the West on the Slovak writer Martin Kukucfn . CAROL TOWARNICKY is Lifestyle Columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News . A graduate of Ohio University, she has practiced journalism since 1967 and has written several short stories . PAUL WILKES, Writer-in-Residence at the University of Pittsburgh, is the author of six books and of the two television series Six American Families ( 1978) and M erton ( 1984 ). H e is currently writing a massive saga on Slovak immigration to America. THE REVEREND THEODORIC ZUBEK, O.F .M. , received his S.T.D. degree from the University ofFribourg in 1940 . H e has written The Church of Silence in Slovakia ( 1956) and is the leading expert in the West on churchstate relations in his homeland . �158 SLOVAKIA Guidelines for Manuscripts Manuscripts of articles for possible publication should be sent to the editor. Articles should normally not exceed twenty-five pages in length, and should be submitted in triplicate, typed double-spaced, with generous margins for copyediting. Footnotes should also be typed doublespaced, 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 editor. Individuals who wish to review books should send the editor a cop y of their curriculum vitae and an indication of their areas of ex pertise and interest. ��THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA Organized in 1907 at Cleveland , Ohio EDWARD J . BEHUNCIK, K.S.G. President JOHN A. HOLY Secretary-Treasurer Vice Presidents ANNE Z. SAROSY DANIEL F. TANZONE MICHAEL BUCKO Executive Committee Edward J . Behuncik, John A . Holy, Andrew F. Hudak, Jr., George N. Kantor Michael J . Krajsa, Anna S. Granchay, Cecelia Sarocky, Margaret Pilosi, Joseph R. Kristofik, John F. Pitek Joseph Stefka , Stephen J. Kavulich Slovak League of America Ladies' Auxiliary Anna M . Vizza , President Regional Vi ce-Presidents : George Lupjan - New York , New Jersey, New England States John Herman - Eastern Pennsylvania John Gastan - Western Pennsylvania George Chura - Ohio Joseph Fecik - Michigan Ivan Kralik - Illinois Bernadine Wandke - Wisconsin Matthew Zvada - California Joseph Ondis - Florida John Hvasta - Washington , D.C., Virginia Joseph Valencik Auditors: Dolores J . Soska Paul Brunovsky SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS /Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK LADIES ASSOCIATION Cleveland , Ohio FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION OF THE U.S. AND CANADA Cleveland, Ohio SLOVAK CATHOLIC SOKOL Passaic, N.J . NATIONAL SLOVAK SOCIETY OF THE U.S.A. Pittsburgh , Pa . LADIES PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . FIRST SLOVAK WREATH OF THE FREE EAGLE Bridgeport, Conn. SLOVAK NEWSPAPERMEN ' S ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Joseph C. Krajsa , K.S.G ., President 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 1984, Vol. 31 Description An account of the resource Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984. 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 1984 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 157 CONTRIBUTORS JAMES BORCHERT, Ph.D. (University of Maryland) , teaches American history at the Cleveland State University. He is the author of Alley Life in Washington: Family, Community, Religion, and Folklife in th e City, 1850-1970 ( 1980). SUSAN DANZIGER BORCHERT, Ph.D. (Ohio State University), teaches sociology at Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio. OWEN V. JOHNSON, Ph.D. (University of Michigan), currently teaches journalism at Indiana University . His book on Slovakia, 1918-1938: Educa tion and the Making of a Nation will be published by Columbia University Press in 1985. PA TRICIA ONDEK LAURENCE is a graduate of the State University of New York at Stoney Brook and teaches English at the City College of New York. She recently published "A Slovak Immigrant 's View of Work," in the literary journal MELUS (1983). NORMAL. RUDINSKY, a graduate of Stanford University, teaches English at Oregon State University. She has published many articles in literary journals and is the leading authority in the West on the Slovak writer Martin Kukucfn . CAROL TOWARNICKY is Lifestyle Columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News . A graduate of Ohio University, she has practiced journalism since 1967 and has written several short stories . PAUL WILKES, Writer-in-Residence at the University of Pittsburgh, is the author of six books and of the two television series Six American Families ( 1978) and M erton ( 1984 ). H e is currently writing a massive saga on Slovak immigration to America. THE REVEREND THEODORIC ZUBEK, O.F .M. , received his S.T.D. degree from the University ofFribourg in 1940 . H e has written The Church of Silence in Slovakia ( 1956) and is the leading expert in the West on churchstate relations in his homeland . 158 SLOVAKIA Guidelines for Manuscripts Manuscripts of articles for possible publication should be sent to the editor. Articles should normally not exceed twenty-five pages in length, and should be submitted in triplicate, typed double-spaced, with generous margins for copyediting. Footnotes should also be typed doublespaced, 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 editor. Individuals who wish to review books should send the editor a cop y of their curriculum vitae and an indication of their areas of ex pertise and interest. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA Organized in 1907 at Cleveland , Ohio EDWARD J . BEHUNCIK, K.S.G. President JOHN A. HOLY Secretary-Treasurer Vice Presidents ANNE Z. SAROSY DANIEL F. TANZONE MICHAEL BUCKO Executive Committee Edward J . Behuncik, John A . Holy, Andrew F. Hudak, Jr., George N. Kantor Michael J . Krajsa, Anna S. Granchay, Cecelia Sarocky, Margaret Pilosi, Joseph R. Kristofik, John F. Pitek Joseph Stefka , Stephen J. Kavulich Slovak League of America Ladies' Auxiliary Anna M . Vizza , President Regional Vi ce-Presidents : George Lupjan - New York , New Jersey, New England States John Herman - Eastern Pennsylvania John Gastan - Western Pennsylvania George Chura - Ohio Joseph Fecik - Michigan Ivan Kralik - Illinois Bernadine Wandke - Wisconsin Matthew Zvada - California Joseph Ondis - Florida John Hvasta - Washington , D.C., Virginia Joseph Valencik Auditors: Dolores J . Soska Paul Brunovsky SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS /Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK LADIES ASSOCIATION Cleveland , Ohio FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION OF THE U.S. AND CANADA Cleveland, Ohio SLOVAK CATHOLIC SOKOL Passaic, N.J . NATIONAL SLOVAK SOCIETY OF THE U.S.A. Pittsburgh , Pa . LADIES PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . FIRST SLOVAK WREATH OF THE FREE EAGLE Bridgeport, Conn. SLOVAK NEWSPAPERMEN ' S ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Joseph C. Krajsa , K.S.G ., President 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. 31 (No. 57) Description An account of the resource includes Contributors; Guidelines for Manuscripts Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/b194a94420b8280836a000cff9bdc153.pdf efe5228e5c66ec4d035069e682d78be1 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 1984 Published By THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA ��SLOVAKIA VOLUME XXXI NUMBER 57 1984 A schola rl y annu al devoted to the hi story, lit erature, and culture of Slovaks the world over Edi1or M . MARK STOLARIK The Ba lch I nstitute for Ethni c Studies A ssocia1e Edilor THOMAS D . MARZ IK Saint J ose ph 's Universit y Editorial Board GEORGE J DEMKO U.S. De partm ent of Sta te MI C HA EL NOVA K Am eri ca n Enterprise In stitute DAVID P . DA N I EL Co ncord ia Theological Seminary STANLEY Z. PECH Universi ty of British Colu mbia OWEN V JOH NSON India na Uni,·ersity NO RMA L. RU DI NS KY Oregon State U ni ve rsit y S/01·;,k League Ad,·isory Boa rd EDWARDJ DRAGA D IV INS KA J OSEPH C KRAJSA BEH UNC IK JOH N A . H OLY DAN I EL F. TANZONE Pu blisher Th e Slo,·a k League of Ameri ca c/o J ohn A. H oly, Sec retary -Treas urer 870 Ri0 e Camp R oad W est Paterson, N .J . 07424 Inquiries regarding subscrip ti o ns should be add ressed to J o hn H oly M an uscript s fo r possible publication an d boo ks for re,· iew sho uld be se nt to M . M a rk Stola rik , Edit or, S!o ,·a kia, 700 Penfie ld Ave., H a,-cnow n , Pa . 19083. ��SLOVAKIA A Message from the President Again it is my pleasure to introduce another issue of our highlyregarded scholarly a nnual, Slovakia. W e welcome Dr. Thomas D. Marzik, Associate Professor of History at St. J oseph 's University in Philadelphia, Pennsylva nia, as our associate edito r. H e is a n established scholar who has done ex tensive research in Slovakia, and I a m co nfide nt th a t h e will a bl y assist our ed itor , Dr. M . M ark Stola rik , in editin g our schola rly journal. Afte r an enthusiastic response, with many positive rev iews , of our las t " literary " issu e of Slovakia, edited by Mrs. Norma Rudin sky, we a re returnin g to our regular format. Our Slovak-American youth is p a rticularly urged to take advan tage of the opportunities presented by Dr. Stolarik and his editorial board to become bette r acquainted with our ri ch Slovak heritage. W e are members of a n ancient ethni c group which, in God 's good tim e , will ac hieve its ri ghtful pl ace in the family of na tions. Among the Slovak League's purposes in publishing Slovakia, a nd issuing other docum ents su ch as resolutions and memoranda , is to have the non-Slovak world learn about the people be neath the Tatra mountains ( a nd their diaspora), their culture, history and traditions. Many of the sc holars who con tribute to Slovakia play a n active role in conferences of the American Association for the Advan ce m e nt of Slavic Studies, held a nnu all y in American cities. These gatherings provide our youth with a nother opportunity to learn about Slovak history and culture. While we all recognize that the Slovak nation rightfully aspires, with our su pport , to achieve self-determination in a political system of its own choos in g, we also recognize that this will not co m e about until the hold of the Soviet Union upon our people in Czecho-Slovakia weakens. Meanwhile, one of the best ways for u s to kee p the Slova k cause alive a nd �4 SLOVAKIA in the eyes of the ge neral public is to suppo rt such important publicati ons a s Slovakia. By encouraging, and publishin g, seriou s works of scholarship on the Slovak people, we will continu e to win th e respect of schol ars, journalists and politi cians and pave the way for future co nsiderations of Slovak self-determination in the world fo rum . In thi s way we will remain tru e to the m andate esta blished by our ancestors who fo unded the Slovak League of America in Cleveland , Ohio in 1907 . They helped liberate our nation from Hun garian oppression in 1918 and , with G od 's help , we will m ake a similar co n tributi on in the fu ture. EDWARD J. BE HUN C IK , President Slovak League of Ameri ca �SLOVAKIA 5 Table of Contents A M essage from the President Edward]. B ehun cik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 HISTORY Mi grant R esponses to the City: The Neighborhood , Case Studies in Blac k and White, 1870-1940 J am es and Susan Borch ert 8 The Mati ca slovenska and Its Relation to the Development of Sl ovak Litera ture N orm a L . Rudinsk y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 The M od ernization of Slovakia: The R ole of V ocational High Schools , 1918-1938 Owen V. J ohnson 59 LITERATURE Excerpt from " In Due Season " Paul Wilkes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 My Grandfather ' s Silence Patricia Ondek L auren ce .. . . .... .... . . . .. . .. .. . . . .. . ... 101 Bro ken Line Ca rol T o warnick y 107 REVIEW ARTICLE ' Audi Alteram Pa rtem ': Eva Slavkovska, " V zt'ah sta tu k cirkvam v prvyc h rokoch vystavby socializmu na Slovensku" Th eodoric ]. Zubek . ............... . ........ . .. . .. . ... 11 3 REVIEWS R obin Okey, Ea stern Europ e, 1740-1980 (R . Vladimir Baumgarten) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Milorad M . Drachkovitch , ed . , East Central Europe U ose[ K alvoda) .. . .. .. .. . . .. ........... . ... . . . . . ... . . 121 �6 SLOVAKIA Rudolf Kraj covic, S vedectvo dejfn o slo ven cine (G erald J. Sabo) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 r.udovft Novak, K n ajstarsfm dejinam slo ven skeh o j azyka U ohn M . K ochik) .. . . . ......................... . . . ... 124 Frantisek K alesny , H abani na Sloven sku (Peter Brock) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Au gust A . Skodacek, Luth eran s in Slo vakia (R obert J. Sko vira) .............. . . . ..... .. .......... . 129 Paul R obert M agocsi, Th e Sh aping of a Na tional Identity and T h e Rusyn- Ukrainians of Czech oslo vakia (O wen V. J ohn son) .......... . ............ .. .. . ... .. .. 130 V oj tec h Sarlu ska, comp. , J ubilea M atice slo ven sk ej (John A . B erta) .. . .. . ... . . . ........ . ..... . .... . ...... 132 Mil an S. Durica, ed ., IJ m ondo sla vo . Volume VIII. (John M . K ochik) .......................... ... ... ... . 133 J osef K orbel, Twentieth-Century Czechoslovakia (M . E vangela Lubek) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Martin R . M yant , Socialism and D em ocracy in C zechoslovakia (Stanisla v J. Kirschbaum) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Leon Noel , L a T ch ecoslo vaquie d'avant Munich a nd J.F .N . Bradley, Politics in Czech oslovakia (Stanisla v J. Kirschbaum) . . .... .. . . . . ... . ...... . . . ..... 138 Zdenek L. Suda, Z ealots and R ebels (Peter R . Hrub y) ........................... .. ... . . .. . 140 Franti sek Bielik et. al ., Slovaci VO svete. Volume II . Uun e Gran atir A lexan der) ... . . . . .. ...... ..... ... . .... .. 142 Elena J akesova, Vyst'ah ovalectvo Slo vak ov do K anad y (Anthon y X. S uth erland) . . .... .. . ... .. . ..... .... . . . .... 144 Engelbert a nd H ertha Zobl , H olzbaukun st in der Slowak ei (Paul R . M agocs1) ............................... . .... 145 Atlas CSSR (Geo rge J. D emko) . ......... . .... . ......... ... ... .... 146 Peter Balaz et. al ., Slovak fo r Sla vicists (L o uise B . H ammer) .. . .......... . .. . . .... .. .. . ... .. .. 147 �SLOVAKIA 7 Jozef Mistrfk, Basic Slovak (Louise B . Hammer) ...... .... ... . ................... . 149 Abel Kral', Slovenska vyslovnost' (Louise B. Hammer) ................. . .... . ..... ..... . 150 Vojtech Mihalik , Erotikon (Yvonne Grabowski) 151 Vincent Sikula, Liesky (Yvonne Grabowski) 153 Book Note: Charles Wojatsek, From Trianon to the First Vienna Arbitral A ward (Yeshayahu J elinek) ................... . .. . . ........... 155 Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 7 Guidelines for Manuscripts ....... . ..... . .. . ..... . ... . .... .. 158 � SLOVAKIA 1984 Published By THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA ��SLOVAKIA VOLUME XXXI NUMBER 57 1984 A schola rl y annu al devoted to the hi story, lit erature, and culture of Slovaks the world over Edi1or M . MARK STOLARIK The Ba lch I nstitute for Ethni c Studies A ssocia1e Edilor THOMAS D . MARZ IK Saint J ose ph 's Universit y Editorial Board GEORGE J DEMKO U.S. De partm ent of Sta te MI C HA EL NOVA K Am eri ca n Enterprise In stitute DAVID P . DA N I EL Co ncord ia Theological Seminary STANLEY Z. PECH Universi ty of British Colu mbia OWEN V JOH NSON India na Uni,·ersity NO RMA L. RU DI NS KY Oregon State U ni ve rsit y S/01·;,k League Ad,·isory Boa rd EDWARDJ DRAGA D IV INS KA J OSEPH C KRAJSA BEH UNC IK JOH N A . H OLY DAN I EL F. TANZONE Pu blisher Th e Slo,·a k League of Ameri ca c/o J ohn A. H oly, Sec retary -Treas urer 870 Ri0 e Camp R oad W est Paterson, N .J . 07424 Inquiries regarding subscrip ti o ns should be add ressed to J o hn H oly M an uscript s fo r possible publication an d boo ks for re,· iew sho uld be se nt to M . M a rk Stola rik , Edit or, S!o ,·a kia, 700 Penfie ld Ave., H a,-cnow n , Pa . 19083. ��SLOVAKIA A Message from the President Again it is my pleasure to introduce another issue of our highlyregarded scholarly a nnual, Slovakia. W e welcome Dr. Thomas D. Marzik, Associate Professor of History at St. J oseph 's University in Philadelphia, Pennsylva nia, as our associate edito r. H e is a n established scholar who has done ex tensive research in Slovakia, and I a m co nfide nt th a t h e will a bl y assist our ed itor , Dr. M . M ark Stola rik , in editin g our schola rly journal. Afte r an enthusiastic response, with many positive rev iews , of our las t " literary " issu e of Slovakia, edited by Mrs. Norma Rudin sky, we a re returnin g to our regular format. Our Slovak-American youth is p a rticularly urged to take advan tage of the opportunities presented by Dr. Stolarik and his editorial board to become bette r acquainted with our ri ch Slovak heritage. W e are members of a n ancient ethni c group which, in God 's good tim e , will ac hieve its ri ghtful pl ace in the family of na tions. Among the Slovak League's purposes in publishing Slovakia, a nd issuing other docum ents su ch as resolutions and memoranda , is to have the non-Slovak world learn about the people be neath the Tatra mountains ( a nd their diaspora), their culture, history and traditions. Many of the sc holars who con tribute to Slovakia play a n active role in conferences of the American Association for the Advan ce m e nt of Slavic Studies, held a nnu all y in American cities. These gatherings provide our youth with a nother opportunity to learn about Slovak history and culture. While we all recognize that the Slovak nation rightfully aspires, with our su pport , to achieve self-determination in a political system of its own choos in g, we also recognize that this will not co m e about until the hold of the Soviet Union upon our people in Czecho-Slovakia weakens. Meanwhile, one of the best ways for u s to kee p the Slova k cause alive a nd �4 SLOVAKIA in the eyes of the ge neral public is to suppo rt such important publicati ons a s Slovakia. By encouraging, and publishin g, seriou s works of scholarship on the Slovak people, we will continu e to win th e respect of schol ars, journalists and politi cians and pave the way for future co nsiderations of Slovak self-determination in the world fo rum . In thi s way we will remain tru e to the m andate esta blished by our ancestors who fo unded the Slovak League of America in Cleveland , Ohio in 1907 . They helped liberate our nation from Hun garian oppression in 1918 and , with G od 's help , we will m ake a similar co n tributi on in the fu ture. EDWARD J. BE HUN C IK , President Slovak League of Ameri ca �SLOVAKIA 5 Table of Contents A M essage from the President Edward]. B ehun cik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 HISTORY Mi grant R esponses to the City: The Neighborhood , Case Studies in Blac k and White, 1870-1940 J am es and Susan Borch ert 8 The Mati ca slovenska and Its Relation to the Development of Sl ovak Litera ture N orm a L . Rudinsk y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 The M od ernization of Slovakia: The R ole of V ocational High Schools , 1918-1938 Owen V. J ohnson 59 LITERATURE Excerpt from " In Due Season " Paul Wilkes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 My Grandfather ' s Silence Patricia Ondek L auren ce .. . . .... .... . . . .. . .. .. . . . .. . ... 101 Bro ken Line Ca rol T o warnick y 107 REVIEW ARTICLE ' Audi Alteram Pa rtem ': Eva Slavkovska, " V zt'ah sta tu k cirkvam v prvyc h rokoch vystavby socializmu na Slovensku" Th eodoric ]. Zubek . ............... . ........ . .. . .. . ... 11 3 REVIEWS R obin Okey, Ea stern Europ e, 1740-1980 (R . Vladimir Baumgarten) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Milorad M . Drachkovitch , ed . , East Central Europe U ose[ K alvoda) .. . .. .. .. . . .. ........... . ... . . . . . ... . . 121 �6 SLOVAKIA Rudolf Kraj covic, S vedectvo dejfn o slo ven cine (G erald J. Sabo) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 r.udovft Novak, K n ajstarsfm dejinam slo ven skeh o j azyka U ohn M . K ochik) .. . . . ......................... . . . ... 124 Frantisek K alesny , H abani na Sloven sku (Peter Brock) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Au gust A . Skodacek, Luth eran s in Slo vakia (R obert J. Sko vira) .............. . . . ..... .. .......... . 129 Paul R obert M agocsi, Th e Sh aping of a Na tional Identity and T h e Rusyn- Ukrainians of Czech oslo vakia (O wen V. J ohn son) .......... . ............ .. .. . ... .. .. 130 V oj tec h Sarlu ska, comp. , J ubilea M atice slo ven sk ej (John A . B erta) .. . .. . ... . . . ........ . ..... . .... . ...... 132 Mil an S. Durica, ed ., IJ m ondo sla vo . Volume VIII. (John M . K ochik) .......................... ... ... ... . 133 J osef K orbel, Twentieth-Century Czechoslovakia (M . E vangela Lubek) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Martin R . M yant , Socialism and D em ocracy in C zechoslovakia (Stanisla v J. Kirschbaum) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Leon Noel , L a T ch ecoslo vaquie d'avant Munich a nd J.F .N . Bradley, Politics in Czech oslovakia (Stanisla v J. Kirschbaum) . . .... .. . . . . ... . ...... . . . ..... 138 Zdenek L. Suda, Z ealots and R ebels (Peter R . Hrub y) ........................... .. ... . . .. . 140 Franti sek Bielik et. al ., Slovaci VO svete. Volume II . Uun e Gran atir A lexan der) ... . . . . .. ...... ..... ... . .... .. 142 Elena J akesova, Vyst'ah ovalectvo Slo vak ov do K anad y (Anthon y X. S uth erland) . . .... .. . ... .. . ..... .... . . . .... 144 Engelbert a nd H ertha Zobl , H olzbaukun st in der Slowak ei (Paul R . M agocs1) ............................... . .... 145 Atlas CSSR (Geo rge J. D emko) . ......... . .... . ......... ... ... .... 146 Peter Balaz et. al ., Slovak fo r Sla vicists (L o uise B . H ammer) .. . .......... . .. . . .... .. .. . ... .. .. 147 �SLOVAKIA 7 Jozef Mistrfk, Basic Slovak (Louise B . Hammer) ...... .... ... . ................... . 149 Abel Kral', Slovenska vyslovnost' (Louise B. Hammer) ................. . .... . ..... ..... . 150 Vojtech Mihalik , Erotikon (Yvonne Grabowski) 151 Vincent Sikula, Liesky (Yvonne Grabowski) 153 Book Note: Charles Wojatsek, From Trianon to the First Vienna Arbitral A ward (Yeshayahu J elinek) ................... . .. . . ........... 155 Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 7 Guidelines for Manuscripts ....... . ..... . .. . ..... . ... . .... .. 158 � 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 1984, Vol. 31 Description An account of the resource Vol. 31 (No. 57), 1984. 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 1984 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 1984 Published By THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA SLOVAKIA VOLUME XXXI NUMBER 57 1984 A schola rl y annu al devoted to the hi story, lit erature, and culture of Slovaks the world over Edi1or M . MARK STOLARIK The Ba lch I nstitute for Ethni c Studies A ssocia1e Edilor THOMAS D . MARZ IK Saint J ose ph 's Universit y Editorial Board GEORGE J DEMKO U.S. De partm ent of Sta te MI C HA EL NOVA K Am eri ca n Enterprise In stitute DAVID P . DA N I EL Co ncord ia Theological Seminary STANLEY Z. PECH Universi ty of British Colu mbia OWEN V JOH NSON India na Uni,·ersity NO RMA L. RU DI NS KY Oregon State U ni ve rsit y S/01·;,k League Ad,·isory Boa rd EDWARDJ DRAGA D IV INS KA J OSEPH C KRAJSA BEH UNC IK JOH N A . H OLY DAN I EL F. TANZONE Pu blisher Th e Slo,·a k League of Ameri ca c/o J ohn A. H oly, Sec retary -Treas urer 870 Ri0 e Camp R oad W est Paterson, N .J . 07424 Inquiries regarding subscrip ti o ns should be add ressed to J o hn H oly M an uscript s fo r possible publication an d boo ks for re,· iew sho uld be se nt to M . M a rk Stola rik , Edit or, S!o ,·a kia, 700 Penfie ld Ave., H a,-cnow n , Pa . 19083. SLOVAKIA A Message from the President Again it is my pleasure to introduce another issue of our highlyregarded scholarly a nnual, Slovakia. W e welcome Dr. Thomas D. Marzik, Associate Professor of History at St. J oseph 's University in Philadelphia, Pennsylva nia, as our associate edito r. H e is a n established scholar who has done ex tensive research in Slovakia, and I a m co nfide nt th a t h e will a bl y assist our ed itor , Dr. M . M ark Stola rik , in editin g our schola rly journal. Afte r an enthusiastic response, with many positive rev iews , of our las t " literary " issu e of Slovakia, edited by Mrs. Norma Rudin sky, we a re returnin g to our regular format. Our Slovak-American youth is p a rticularly urged to take advan tage of the opportunities presented by Dr. Stolarik and his editorial board to become bette r acquainted with our ri ch Slovak heritage. W e are members of a n ancient ethni c group which, in God 's good tim e , will ac hieve its ri ghtful pl ace in the family of na tions. Among the Slovak League's purposes in publishing Slovakia, a nd issuing other docum ents su ch as resolutions and memoranda , is to have the non-Slovak world learn about the people be neath the Tatra mountains ( a nd their diaspora), their culture, history and traditions. Many of the sc holars who con tribute to Slovakia play a n active role in conferences of the American Association for the Advan ce m e nt of Slavic Studies, held a nnu all y in American cities. These gatherings provide our youth with a nother opportunity to learn about Slovak history and culture. While we all recognize that the Slovak nation rightfully aspires, with our su pport , to achieve self-determination in a political system of its own choos in g, we also recognize that this will not co m e about until the hold of the Soviet Union upon our people in Czecho-Slovakia weakens. Meanwhile, one of the best ways for u s to kee p the Slova k cause alive a nd 4 SLOVAKIA in the eyes of the ge neral public is to suppo rt such important publicati ons a s Slovakia. By encouraging, and publishin g, seriou s works of scholarship on the Slovak people, we will continu e to win th e respect of schol ars, journalists and politi cians and pave the way for future co nsiderations of Slovak self-determination in the world fo rum . In thi s way we will remain tru e to the m andate esta blished by our ancestors who fo unded the Slovak League of America in Cleveland , Ohio in 1907 . They helped liberate our nation from Hun garian oppression in 1918 and , with G od 's help , we will m ake a similar co n tributi on in the fu ture. EDWARD J. BE HUN C IK , President Slovak League of Ameri ca SLOVAKIA 5 Table of Contents A M essage from the President Edward]. B ehun cik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 HISTORY Mi grant R esponses to the City: The Neighborhood , Case Studies in Blac k and White, 1870-1940 J am es and Susan Borch ert 8 The Mati ca slovenska and Its Relation to the Development of Sl ovak Litera ture N orm a L . Rudinsk y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 The M od ernization of Slovakia: The R ole of V ocational High Schools , 1918-1938 Owen V. J ohnson 59 LITERATURE Excerpt from " In Due Season " Paul Wilkes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 My Grandfather ' s Silence Patricia Ondek L auren ce .. . . .... .... . . . .. . .. .. . . . .. . ... 101 Bro ken Line Ca rol T o warnick y 107 REVIEW ARTICLE ' Audi Alteram Pa rtem ': Eva Slavkovska, " V zt'ah sta tu k cirkvam v prvyc h rokoch vystavby socializmu na Slovensku" Th eodoric ]. Zubek . ............... . ........ . .. . .. . ... 11 3 REVIEWS R obin Okey, Ea stern Europ e, 1740-1980 (R . Vladimir Baumgarten) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Milorad M . Drachkovitch , ed . , East Central Europe U ose[ K alvoda) .. . .. .. .. . . .. ........... . ... . . . . . ... . . 121 6 SLOVAKIA Rudolf Kraj covic, S vedectvo dejfn o slo ven cine (G erald J. Sabo) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 r.udovft Novak, K n ajstarsfm dejinam slo ven skeh o j azyka U ohn M . K ochik) .. . . . ......................... . . . ... 124 Frantisek K alesny , H abani na Sloven sku (Peter Brock) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Au gust A . Skodacek, Luth eran s in Slo vakia (R obert J. Sko vira) .............. . . . ..... .. .......... . 129 Paul R obert M agocsi, Th e Sh aping of a Na tional Identity and T h e Rusyn- Ukrainians of Czech oslo vakia (O wen V. J ohn son) .......... . ............ .. .. . ... .. .. 130 V oj tec h Sarlu ska, comp. , J ubilea M atice slo ven sk ej (John A . B erta) .. . .. . ... . . . ........ . ..... . .... . ...... 132 Mil an S. Durica, ed ., IJ m ondo sla vo . Volume VIII. (John M . K ochik) .......................... ... ... ... . 133 J osef K orbel, Twentieth-Century Czechoslovakia (M . E vangela Lubek) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Martin R . M yant , Socialism and D em ocracy in C zechoslovakia (Stanisla v J. Kirschbaum) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Leon Noel , L a T ch ecoslo vaquie d'avant Munich a nd J.F .N . Bradley, Politics in Czech oslovakia (Stanisla v J. Kirschbaum) . . .... .. . . . . ... . ...... . . . ..... 138 Zdenek L. Suda, Z ealots and R ebels (Peter R . Hrub y) ........................... .. ... . . .. . 140 Franti sek Bielik et. al ., Slovaci VO svete. Volume II . Uun e Gran atir A lexan der) ... . . . . .. ...... ..... ... . .... .. 142 Elena J akesova, Vyst'ah ovalectvo Slo vak ov do K anad y (Anthon y X. S uth erland) . . .... .. . ... .. . ..... .... . . . .... 144 Engelbert a nd H ertha Zobl , H olzbaukun st in der Slowak ei (Paul R . M agocs1) ............................... . .... 145 Atlas CSSR (Geo rge J. D emko) . ......... . .... . ......... ... ... .... 146 Peter Balaz et. al ., Slovak fo r Sla vicists (L o uise B . H ammer) .. . .......... . .. . . .... .. .. . ... .. .. 147 SLOVAKIA 7 Jozef Mistrfk, Basic Slovak (Louise B . Hammer) ...... .... ... . ................... . 149 Abel Kral', Slovenska vyslovnost' (Louise B. Hammer) ................. . .... . ..... ..... . 150 Vojtech Mihalik , Erotikon (Yvonne Grabowski) 151 Vincent Sikula, Liesky (Yvonne Grabowski) 153 Book Note: Charles Wojatsek, From Trianon to the First Vienna Arbitral A ward (Yeshayahu J elinek) ................... . .. . . ........... 155 Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 7 Guidelines for Manuscripts ....... . ..... . .. . ..... . ... . .... .. 158  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. 31 (No. 57) Description An account of the resource includes A Message from the President (Edward J. Behuncik) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Behuncik, Edward J. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/1c17ef71283f4c9efb36646c6d397886.pdf 36f63d872dbf453b0747d1ca88e982b0 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 117 CONTRIBUTORS JOSEPH STASKO (Ph.D., Comenius University; MLS Columbia), is an emigre Slovak politican and retired librarian. While pursuing post-graduate studies in Paris in 1939 he became a friend of Czechoslovak Ambassador Stefan Osusky and tried to get the Slovak government to establish contacts with him, as Stasko reminisces in this issue of Slovakia. While he avoided politics during the existence of the Slovak State , Stasko did join the post-war Democratic Party and won election to the Prague Parliament from his native Orava in May of 1946. However, because he was an uncompromising autonomist who made it clear that he would not vote for Edvard Benes as the post-war President of Czechoslovakia, the Democratic Party turned its back on him and allowed the "people's" courts to try him on trumped-up charges. From 1946 to 1953 he was imprisoned in Leopoldov and in the Jachymov uranium mines where, ironically, he came to know such rightwing Slovak politicians as Sano Mach and Communist luminaries like Gustav Husak. From 1953 to 1961 he worked as a manual laborer in various factories and then managed to escape to the West. After he received his degree in library science from Columbia University , he found employment at the New York Public Library. He became Chief of the Periodicals Department and retired in that capacity in 1983 . Since then he has been collecting SlovakAmerican archival materials and writing his memoirs. M. MARK STOLARJK (Ph.D ., Minnesota) is a historian and President of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies in Philadelphia. Author of four books and over twenty articles , as well as a film , he is editor of the Slovak Studies Newsletter and the scholarly annual Slovakia. He recently edited , with Murray Friedman, Making It in America: The Role of Ethnicity in Business Enterprise, Education and Work Choices (1986). �118 SLOVAKIA PAUL WILKES (M.A., Columbia) is Writer-in-Residence at the University of Pittsburgh. Author of six books and many articles in intellectual journals , Wilkes wrote the PBS television series Six American Families (1978) and Merton (1984). He has received awards from his 'alma mater ' Marquette University and from Columbia as one of their most distinguished alumnae. Recently he finished his saga of Slovak immigration to America entitled In Due Season, a chapter of which we have published in this issue of Slovakia, while the rest awaits publication. �SLOVAKIA 119 GUIDELINES FOR MANUSCRIPTS Manuscripts of articles for publication should be sent to the 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 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 editor. Unsolicited book reviews are not encouraged. Individuals who wish to review books should request them from the editor. They should send a 'curriculum vitae' with their request. ���THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA Organized in 1907 EDWARD J . BEHUNCIK, K.S .G., Honorary President DANIEL F. TANZONE President EMANUEL KVASSAY Vice-President JOHN A. HOLY Secretary-Treasurer ANNE Z. SAROSY Vice-President MICHAEL BUCKO Vice-President Executive Committee Daniel F. Tanzone, Edward J. Behuncik, John A . Holy, Anna S. Granchay Joseph R. Kristofik, Steve J . Hruska , Cecilia Sarocky, Andrew F. Hudak, Jr. , Joseph Stefka, Stephen J. Kavulich , Margaret Pilosi, George N. Kantor, Albert Misik, Edward A . Zelenak Anna M . Vizza, President, Ladies Auxiliary Auditors Joseph Valencik Mary Jacko Patrick Zelenak SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS AFFILIATED WITH THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK LADIES ASSOCIATION Cleveland, Ohio FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION OF THE U.S. AND CANADA Cleveland , Ohio SLOVAK CATHOLIC SOKOL Passaic, N.J . NATIONAL SLOVAK SOCIETY OF THE U.S.A . Pittsburgh , Pa . LADIES PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . FIRST SLOVAK WREATH OF THE FREE EAGLE Bridgeport, Conn . SLOVAK NEWSPAPERMEN 'S ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Joseph C. Krajsa , K.S .G., President THE SLOVAK GARDEN , INC. Andrew F. Hudak, Jr., President Winter Park, Florida SLOVAKIA $6.00 per issue Printed By JEDNOTA PRESS A Division of Jednota Communications, Inc. Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057 U.S.A . � SLOVAKIA 117 CONTRIBUTORS JOSEPH STASKO (Ph.D., Comenius University; MLS Columbia), is an emigre Slovak politican and retired librarian. While pursuing post-graduate studies in Paris in 1939 he became a friend of Czechoslovak Ambassador Stefan Osusky and tried to get the Slovak government to establish contacts with him, as Stasko reminisces in this issue of Slovakia. While he avoided politics during the existence of the Slovak State , Stasko did join the post-war Democratic Party and won election to the Prague Parliament from his native Orava in May of 1946. However, because he was an uncompromising autonomist who made it clear that he would not vote for Edvard Benes as the post-war President of Czechoslovakia, the Democratic Party turned its back on him and allowed the "people's" courts to try him on trumped-up charges. From 1946 to 1953 he was imprisoned in Leopoldov and in the Jachymov uranium mines where, ironically, he came to know such rightwing Slovak politicians as Sano Mach and Communist luminaries like Gustav Husak. From 1953 to 1961 he worked as a manual laborer in various factories and then managed to escape to the West. After he received his degree in library science from Columbia University , he found employment at the New York Public Library. He became Chief of the Periodicals Department and retired in that capacity in 1983 . Since then he has been collecting SlovakAmerican archival materials and writing his memoirs. M. MARK STOLARJK (Ph.D ., Minnesota) is a historian and President of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies in Philadelphia. Author of four books and over twenty articles , as well as a film , he is editor of the Slovak Studies Newsletter and the scholarly annual Slovakia. He recently edited , with Murray Friedman, Making It in America: The Role of Ethnicity in Business Enterprise, Education and Work Choices (1986). �118 SLOVAKIA PAUL WILKES (M.A., Columbia) is Writer-in-Residence at the University of Pittsburgh. Author of six books and many articles in intellectual journals , Wilkes wrote the PBS television series Six American Families (1978) and Merton (1984). He has received awards from his 'alma mater ' Marquette University and from Columbia as one of their most distinguished alumnae. Recently he finished his saga of Slovak immigration to America entitled In Due Season, a chapter of which we have published in this issue of Slovakia, while the rest awaits publication. �SLOVAKIA 119 GUIDELINES FOR MANUSCRIPTS Manuscripts of articles for publication should be sent to the 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 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 editor. Unsolicited book reviews are not encouraged. Individuals who wish to review books should request them from the editor. They should send a 'curriculum vitae' with their request. ���THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA Organized in 1907 EDWARD J . BEHUNCIK, K.S .G., Honorary President DANIEL F. TANZONE President EMANUEL KVASSAY Vice-President JOHN A. HOLY Secretary-Treasurer ANNE Z. SAROSY Vice-President MICHAEL BUCKO Vice-President Executive Committee Daniel F. Tanzone, Edward J. Behuncik, John A . Holy, Anna S. Granchay Joseph R. Kristofik, Steve J . Hruska , Cecilia Sarocky, Andrew F. Hudak, Jr. , Joseph Stefka, Stephen J. Kavulich , Margaret Pilosi, George N. Kantor, Albert Misik, Edward A . Zelenak Anna M . Vizza, President, Ladies Auxiliary Auditors Joseph Valencik Mary Jacko Patrick Zelenak SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS AFFILIATED WITH THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK LADIES ASSOCIATION Cleveland, Ohio FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION OF THE U.S. AND CANADA Cleveland , Ohio SLOVAK CATHOLIC SOKOL Passaic, N.J . NATIONAL SLOVAK SOCIETY OF THE U.S.A . Pittsburgh , Pa . LADIES PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . FIRST SLOVAK WREATH OF THE FREE EAGLE Bridgeport, Conn . SLOVAK NEWSPAPERMEN 'S ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Joseph C. Krajsa , K.S .G., President THE SLOVAK GARDEN , INC. Andrew F. Hudak, Jr., President Winter Park, Florida SLOVAKIA $6.00 per issue Printed By JEDNOTA PRESS A Division of Jednota Communications, Inc. 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 1985-86, Vol. 32 Description An account of the resource Vol. 32 (No. 58-59), 1985-86. 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 1985-86 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 117 CONTRIBUTORS JOSEPH STASKO (Ph.D., Comenius University; MLS Columbia), is an emigre Slovak politican and retired librarian. While pursuing post-graduate studies in Paris in 1939 he became a friend of Czechoslovak Ambassador Stefan Osusky and tried to get the Slovak government to establish contacts with him, as Stasko reminisces in this issue of Slovakia. While he avoided politics during the existence of the Slovak State , Stasko did join the post-war Democratic Party and won election to the Prague Parliament from his native Orava in May of 1946. However, because he was an uncompromising autonomist who made it clear that he would not vote for Edvard Benes as the post-war President of Czechoslovakia, the Democratic Party turned its back on him and allowed the "people's" courts to try him on trumped-up charges. From 1946 to 1953 he was imprisoned in Leopoldov and in the Jachymov uranium mines where, ironically, he came to know such rightwing Slovak politicians as Sano Mach and Communist luminaries like Gustav Husak. From 1953 to 1961 he worked as a manual laborer in various factories and then managed to escape to the West. After he received his degree in library science from Columbia University , he found employment at the New York Public Library. He became Chief of the Periodicals Department and retired in that capacity in 1983 . Since then he has been collecting SlovakAmerican archival materials and writing his memoirs. M. MARK STOLARJK (Ph.D ., Minnesota) is a historian and President of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies in Philadelphia. Author of four books and over twenty articles , as well as a film , he is editor of the Slovak Studies Newsletter and the scholarly annual Slovakia. He recently edited , with Murray Friedman, Making It in America: The Role of Ethnicity in Business Enterprise, Education and Work Choices (1986). 118 SLOVAKIA PAUL WILKES (M.A., Columbia) is Writer-in-Residence at the University of Pittsburgh. Author of six books and many articles in intellectual journals , Wilkes wrote the PBS television series Six American Families (1978) and Merton (1984). He has received awards from his 'alma mater ' Marquette University and from Columbia as one of their most distinguished alumnae. Recently he finished his saga of Slovak immigration to America entitled In Due Season, a chapter of which we have published in this issue of Slovakia, while the rest awaits publication. SLOVAKIA 119 GUIDELINES FOR MANUSCRIPTS Manuscripts of articles for publication should be sent to the 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 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 editor. Unsolicited book reviews are not encouraged. Individuals who wish to review books should request them from the editor. They should send a 'curriculum vitae' with their request. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA Organized in 1907 EDWARD J . BEHUNCIK, K.S .G., Honorary President DANIEL F. TANZONE President EMANUEL KVASSAY Vice-President JOHN A. HOLY Secretary-Treasurer ANNE Z. SAROSY Vice-President MICHAEL BUCKO Vice-President Executive Committee Daniel F. Tanzone, Edward J. Behuncik, John A . Holy, Anna S. Granchay Joseph R. Kristofik, Steve J . Hruska , Cecilia Sarocky, Andrew F. Hudak, Jr. , Joseph Stefka, Stephen J. Kavulich , Margaret Pilosi, George N. Kantor, Albert Misik, Edward A . Zelenak Anna M . Vizza, President, Ladies Auxiliary Auditors Joseph Valencik Mary Jacko Patrick Zelenak SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS AFFILIATED WITH THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK LADIES ASSOCIATION Cleveland, Ohio FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION OF THE U.S. AND CANADA Cleveland , Ohio SLOVAK CATHOLIC SOKOL Passaic, N.J . NATIONAL SLOVAK SOCIETY OF THE U.S.A . Pittsburgh , Pa . LADIES PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . FIRST SLOVAK WREATH OF THE FREE EAGLE Bridgeport, Conn . SLOVAK NEWSPAPERMEN 'S ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Joseph C. Krajsa , K.S .G., President THE SLOVAK GARDEN , INC. Andrew F. Hudak, Jr., President Winter Park, Florida SLOVAKIA $6.00 per issue Printed By JEDNOTA PRESS A Division of Jednota Communications, Inc. 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. 32 (No. 58-59) Description An account of the resource includes Contributors; Guidelines for Manuscripts Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1985-86 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/9d48306a8ca309774f8d2a6e7d9d6320.pdf 00f7397f1994292a5a91d360a97d92c0 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA REVIEWS 83 ��SLOVAKIA 85 Historicky casopis, 33 , 2 (1 985) . "K vel 'komoravskemu vyrociu. " Bratislava: Veda, 19 8 5. Anna Holla. Metod - ucitel' Slovienov. K 1100 vfrrociu umrtia {885-1985}. Martin: Matica slovenska , 1985 . THEODORIC J. ZUBEK, O.F.M. Pittsburgh , Pennsyl vania As the year 1985 approached , Slovak Christians both in Czechoslovakia and abroad wondered in what manner the 1, 100th anniversary of the death of St. Methodius would be observed in Slovakia. The two publications under review provide partial answers to that question. · Historicky casopis , the official organ of the Ustav historickych vied Slovenskej akademie vied , devoted an entire issue to the ' 'Great Moravian Anniversary. ' ' In their introduction, the editors concede that Methodius was ' 'the most important personality in the cultural history of Great Moravia." Further, they note that ''Marxist historiography values highly the work of Constantine and Methodius, who laid the foundations for the development of Slavic literature, which thereafter prevailed among the majority of the South and East Slavs ." However , they also maintain that although Marxist historiography cannot overstate the importance of these two men, it cannot view them only as " evangelizers of the faith." The cultural elements of the Cyrillo-Methodian heritage are, of course, undeniable. But it is equally undeniable that that legacy also - and primarily - includes tremendous religiou s significance for the Slavs in general and the Slovaks in particular. What this reviewer finds especially objectionable in this issue of Historicky casopis is the attempt to minimize the importance of the evangelical activity of Sts . Cyril and Methodius and to neglect the religious dimensions of their work. The cultural achievements of the saintly brothers were the result of their primary goal: to complete the Christianization of the Slavic peoples. This main goal of their mission is never properly recognized by the authors, and the names of Sts . Cyril and Methodius are never mentioned with their title of reverence , " Saint. " Furthermore, not a single arti- �86 SLOVAKIA cle is devoted specifically to St. Methodius in what is supposed to be a commemoration of the anniversary of his death! The first article , by Matus Kucera, assesses Great Moravia and the beginnings of Slovak national history. Although Kucera writes extensively about the era of Rastislav and Svatopluk, he fails to mention Sts. Cyril and Methodius by name as the founders of Christian civilization among the ancestors of the Slovaks. In his article on "fictions and facts" concerning the territorial development of Great Moravia, Peter Ratkos refutes the claims of Imre Boba and other historians that the territory of Great Moravia was situated around the Morava River in Serbia. According to Ratkos , Sirmium was probably not the actual see of Archbishop Methodius , because at that time Sirmium belonged to Bulgaria. Richard Marsina examines the diplomatic documents relating to the history of Great Moravia and their value as sources. He acknowledges the authenticity of seventeen diplomatic texts, mostly the preserved letters of Popes Adrian II, John VIII, Stephen V, and John IX, and eighteen lost documents (deperdita) mentioned in the authentic diplomatic papers and other reliable historical sources. The article which deals the most with St. Cyril is the one by Alexander Avenarius on the contribution of Byzantium to Great Moravian culture. The author explains St. Cyril's philosophy, classifies him as a liberal in his opposition to iconoclasm, and places him in the camp of the liberal patriarch Photius. Avenarius also describes the influence of Byzantine monasticism in Bohemia and Slovakia after the death of Svatopluk. The last two articles are not directly concerned with the work of Sts. Cyril and Metodius . Bohuslav Chropovsky and Alexander Ruttkay evaluate the most recent archeological excavations and situate geographically the extent of the Slovak ethnic group. Finally, Rudolf Krajcovic examines the very complicated issue of language in Great Moravia and its continuity with Slovak. The publication of the Matica slovenska, Metod - ucitel' Slovienov, is more germane to the commemoration of St. Methodius' anniversary than the articles in the Historicky casopis issue. It contains nineteen pages of printed text by Anna Holla and thirty-two photographic reproductions of archeological findings from the �SLOVAKIA 87 Great Moravian era, copies of some Glagolitic and Cyrillic texts, and newer Slovak literary and pictorial works related to Sts. Cyril and Methodius. Holla's brief survey of St. Methodius and the whole CyrilloMethodian legacy in Czechoslovakia is a popular version based on contemporary scholarship. It reflects, not surprisingly, the distortions of present official Marxist historiography concerning the Great Moravian period. Holla characterizes Great Moravia as the first state common to the Czechs and Slovaks; and she emphasizes the cultural, social, and political activity of Sts. Cyril and Methodius and excludes or minimizes their missio.nary efforts. Holla' s assertion that Great Moravia was the first joint state of the Czechs and Slovaks is of dubious historical validity. By military force Svatopluk occupied the adjacent Slavic territories, among them Bohemia, and annexed them to his realm, but he did not incorporate them organically into Great Moravia. After his death in 894, the people in these occupied territories hastened to separate themselves from Great Moravia, searching for independence or joining new political alliances. The annexation of Bohemia to Great Moravia lasted less than twenty years, and after Svatopluk's death the Czechs found themselves again in the orbit of the Eastern Frankish (German) Empire. This reviewer must also take exception to Holla's statement that ''The basis of the missionary work of Constantine and Methodius in the Great Moravian Empire was their legal work, by which they eradicated Frankish church law and the unwritten common law of Great Moravia and substituted for it a strong legal order" (p. 6}. As has been mentioned, the basis of the CyrilloMethodian mission was the evangelization of the Slavs. Sts. Cyril and Methodius did not eliminate the church law which had been brought to the territory of Great Moravia by Irish-Scottish, Acquilean (Italian), and Bavarian missionaries; and they did not abolish the unwritten indigenous laws as long as they did not deviate from either Latin or Byzantine church and civil laws. In conclusion, the jubilee issue of Historicky casopis and the text by Anna Holla in the Matica slovenska publication suffer from gross deficiencies and omissions which stem from the antireligious bias of official Marxist historiography toward the legacy �88 SLOVAKIA of Sts. Cyril and Methodius . Only the Matica slovenska publication, with its well-selected, beautiful reproductions , can in a sense be considered as a tribute to the memory of St. Methodius in Slovakia. Julius Sopko. Stredoveke latinske k6dexy v slovensky ch kniiniciach. (Stredoveke k6dexy slovenskej proveniencie, I]. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1981. 304 pp. Julius Sopko. Stredoveke latinske k6dexy slovenskej proveniencie v Mad'arsku av Rumunsku. (Stredoveke k6dexy slovenskej proveniencie, II). Martin: Matica slovenska, 1982. 400 pp. GERALD J. SABO John Carroll University University Heights, Ohio This two-volume catalogue of codices comprises a listing of all extant medieval manuscripts produced on Slovak territory. Most were written in Latin and are similar to those found throughout medieval Europe. The subject matter pertains, for the most part, to religious faith and practice, and philosophy. Bibles, missals , antiphonaries , graduals , chant collections , sermons and related bilingual dictionaries, rules of a religious order, commentaries on religious topics, and philosophical studies are the kinds of writings found in these manuscripts. Occasionally among them are " secular" - non-religious or philosophical - texts , such as Gesta Romanorum (Feats of the Romans), Chronicon Dubnicense (The History of Dubnica), or Codex Justinian us: Digesta - Excerpta (Justinian's Law Code: Summaries and Excerpts) . Some of these manuscripts are preserved in Slovak archival repositories, while others are found in Hungary and Romania. In the two introductions of the first volume in Slovak and Latin , Sopko considers briefly the emergence and development of libraries and scriptoria on Slovak territory as well as the history of manuscript collections and their present status. He discusses the role of certain religious orders in the execution and collection of such manuscripts; among these are the Benedictines, Fran- �SLOVAKIA 89 ciscans, Dominicans, Cistercians, Carthusians, and Premonstratensians (also known as Norbertines). Sopko also mentions the significant activity of the cathedral chapters in Nitra, Bratislava, and Spis that fostered the composing of manuscripts. Thirteen Slovak areas are listed as locations of repositories for such manuscripts: Banska Bystrica, Bardejov, Bratislava, Dolny Kubin, Jasov, Kezmarok, Kosice, Kremnica, Martin, Nitra, Presov, Spisska Kapitula , and Spisske Vlachy. These cities and towns, institutions in Bratislava and Kremnica contain the overwhelming majority of the 200 medieval manuscripts found on Slovak territory today. In Bratislava, the cathedral chapter library alone contains 82 such codices of the 135 found in the 6 repositories of this city. In Kremnica, the parish library contains 25 of 26 medieval codices in the city. In the second volume , 86 of 88 manuscripts preserved in Hungary are found in Budapest; the remaining 130 of the total 418 listed' in the two volumes are found in Alba Julia, Romania, in the former Batthyany library collection. In his introductions Sopko mentions the art of manuscript illumination that was well developed on Slovak territory . He includes at the end of both volumes photographic reproductions of some manuscripts, usually rendered in color, many of which also exemplify the art of illumination. One of the outstanding examples of manuscript writing and illumination is the ''Bratislava Missal,' ' which today is preserved in Alba Julia, Romania, as part of the former Batthyany library collection. This missal is described in the second volume of the catalogue (#400), and a color reproduction of one of its folio pages can be found at the end among the supplementary illustrations . (A book that presents the illumination aspect of medieval manuscripts in the Slovak area and that would complement this catalogue well is Stredoveka kniina mal 'ba na Slovensku by Alzbeta Giintherova and Jan Misianik published in two editions [1961 and 1977] by Tatran of Bratislava.) Sopko concludes each of the volumes with four lists: concordance of signatures , dated codices, first words of a codex, and a name and topic index. This two-volume catalogue by Sopko is primarily aimed at libraries and specialists in medieval culture and history. It presents �90 SLOVAKIA well the scholarly work that is often produced under the auspices of the Matica slovenska. Vysady miest a mesteciek na Slovensku {1238-1350}, I. Edited by L'ubomir Juck. Bratislava: Veda, 1984. 199 pp. Narodnostny vyvoj miest na Slovensku do roku 1918. K 600. vyrociu vydania vysad pre zilinskych Slovakov Edited by Richard Marsina. Martin: Osveta, 1984 . 275 pp. DAVID P. DANIEL ConcorcJti.a Seminary St. Louis, Missouri These two volumes reflect the breadth and depth of Slovak historical urban studies. They are both welcome additions to the growing body of scholarship on the history of urban life in Slovakia in the late medieval and early modern eras. The first, ''Privileges of the Cities and Towns in Slovakia (1238-1350)" was prepared as part of a long-term project planned by the Historical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences during the 1950's and early 1960's which set as its goal the editing and publication of historical documents from the earliest eras of Slovak history. This volume is the first dealing specifically with the charters and grants of legal privileges made to the emerging cities during the High Middle Ages, primarily by Hungarian monarchs. Information concerning the documents which have disappeared and/or the texts of those preserved were drawn from materials in the archives of Slovakia and throughout Central Europe. The volume begins with a general introduction indicating the methodological principles utilized in preparing it and some general comments on the types of documents included . The bulk of the book is devoted to a catalogue, in chronological order, of all the grants of privileges discovered; a brief description of their contents and context in Slovak; the text of the document, in so far as it is known in the original language of composition, Latin; and finally a listing of the provenance of each document. As such , this volume provides a fascinating and accessible entrance into �SLOVAKIA 91 the historical development of the cities and towns which emerged on the territory of modern-day Slovakia during the High Middle Ages. They show that the economic strength of the towns grew in conjunction with the grants of economic and political privileges extended to them by the Hungarian monarchs. The towns sought to develop and protect their economic basis, manufacture, and trade by securing from the kings extensive rights of selfadministration and governance. The second volume, "Nationality Development of Cities in Slovakia to the Year 1918," is a collection of essays arranged according to the three thematic sections of the book: ''Nationality Development in Zilina"; "Nationality Development in the Towns of Slovakia''; and ''Nationality Development in Czech and Moravian Towns in the Middle Ages." However, despite the title, all but four of the sixteen studies treat the medieval and early modern periods. In the first section Marsina himself analyzes the privileges given to the Slovaks in Zilina in 1381; Julius Sopko attempts to identify the various individuals who made entries into the city record book of Zilina; Izidor Kotulic evaluates the language of the Zilina record book and other historical documents in Slovak; and Rudolf Kuchar examines the family names which appear in the Zilina record book. The studies of Peter Stansky on the structuring of nationalities in Zilina up to 1918 and of Pavol Hapak on the economic life and workers movement in Zilina during the last half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries conclude the section devoted specifically to the history of Zilina. In the second section Ferdinand Ulicny investigates the national groupings within the medieval cities of Slovakia; Jan Dorul'a examines the use of Slovak in the cities between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries; Anton Spiesz provides an analysis of Slovak artisan activity during the so-called later feudal period, the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries; and Jozef Vozaf evaluates the relationship between ethnic groups in the so-called montana or mining cities of central Slovakia during the same era. Ivan Chalupecky provides an analysis of ethnic relationships in the towns of Spis county for the century between 1550 to 1650, and Jana Skladana examines the oldest city books in Banovec nad Bebravou, dating from the sixteenth through the early eighteenth �92 SLOVAKIA centuries. Milan Podrimavsky concludes this section with an examination of the cities in Slovakia during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries . The third section is made up of just three essays: Frantisek Smahel's review of findings and perspectives of the research into ethnic relationships in Bohemian cities during the Late Middle Ages (thirteenth to fifteenth centuries); Ludmila Sulitkova's investigation of the ethnic relationships in the Moravian cities, especially the royal cities, during the Late Middle Ages; and Josef Zemlicka' s essay on the countryside , ethnicity, and the late medieval Bohemian cities. While it is impossible to examine these essays individually, it should be noted that not only do they reveal how much urban studies have come to dominate Slovak late medieval/early modern history research , but also the complexities of ethnic relationships in Slovakia during the same era. Slovaks took an active, if not always an appreciated, role in the life of the cities of Slovakia during the Middle Ages and were, especially but not merely in the smaller towns , significant in their economic and political life. It is to be hoped that these volumes will encourage American scholars to become much more active in more fully investigating late medieval and early modern Slovak history. Juraj Zudel. Stolice na Slovensku. Bratislava: Obzor, 1984. 200 pp. R. VLADIMIR BAUMGARTEN Tallahassee , Florida This book was written to provide a generaLhistory of the counties of Slovakia until 1849, when a modern centralized administration was imposed by Imperial decree in the so-called "Bach era". It may consequently be subtitled "Patterns of Feudalism''. Zudel summarizes characteristics common to all the Slovak districts, and then depicts both individual and regional peculiarities. The main theme is an analysis of the evolution of the counties under the feudal order. In the introductory section, Zudel points out that originally individual Slovak counties had �SLOVAKIA 93 their own codes of law, but in all cases , in greater or lesser measure, these were eventually supplanted by more centralized government. Particular mention is made of the efforts of the Habsburgs, especially in the case of the Josephine reforms of the eighteenth century, to provide a uniform code of law for Hungary. These endeavors were only partially successful, and many of them were undone following the death of the King-Emperor in 1790 . Only in the aftermath of the 1848 revolution was it possible for enduring institutions of modern government to be established. Zudel points out that the 1848 experience may be characterized as a ''conflict of popular sovereignty''. The Hungarian reyolutionary leader Lajos Kossuth sought to protect the jealously-guarded privileges of individual counties, while at the same time using them as instruments of Magyarization in Upper Hungary. By contrast, the more conservative Hungarian reformer Istvan Szechenyi considered the county structure as antiquated, yet he opposed forced Magyarization. The archival sources consulted by the author are listed at the end of the introductory section, and a more general bibliography is included at the conclusion of the text. Zudel's introduction is followed by a survey of each individual county. These surveys include a summary of the territorial boundaries of each administration, the patterns of settlement and habitation , agricultural conditions, and cultural traditions . In cases where a county has been inhabited by more than one ethnic group, an additional section concerning ethnic relations is added . Although Zudel's presentation summarizes the counties in alphabetical order, any attempts at comparison and contrast are best served by examining the counties from a regional perspective. Two of the counties - Bratislava and Abauj - contained Slovakia's major metropolitan centers . In the case of the western county Bratislava, Zudel stresses its strategic location at the point where the Morava and Danube rivers converge. This location guaranteed that Bratislava was affected by the Hussite invasion. The author also mentions the presence of a Croatian element since the time of the Turkish wars. In the case of Abauj, which contains the eastern metropolis, Zudel indicates that the city of Kosice �94 SLOVAKIA was noteworthy for its traditionally oligarchical form of government. The southern Slovak counties of Gerner, Hant , Komarno , and Novohrad had the common denominators of all being ethnically mixed areas, plus serving as frontier zones in the HabsburgOttoman wars. Much the same treatment is accorded to Ostrihom, although the author also cites the latter for its significance in the Catholic Counterreformation. In the case of northern counties the author mentions that Liptov had lingering anti-feudal traditions, and also served as a stronghold for Slovak nationalism. Orava, in spite of its close geographic proximity to Liptov, evolved in the more traditional feudal pattern. Among central counties Nitra is particularly noted for having had a state organization which pre-dated the kingdom of Hungary; Tekov and Trencin are treated in a similar manner. In the case of the latter, Zudel also mentions the importance of the city of Zilina as a center of Slovak trade with the Czech lands, Silesia, and Prussia. Zvolen is noteworthy for its strategic location in defense of the fertile lowlands of southern Slovakia; the author also· mentions the influence of the Czech immigration following the Thirty Years War. Turiec is especially noted for having separated itself from Rakoczi's rising in the early eighteenth century . The author might have given this event more than passing treatment had he chosen to do so . The eastern counties of Slovakia present some of the most noteworthy peculiarities of all. Mention is made of the fact that the Hungarian king Sigismund mortgaged certain cities of Spis to Poland in the fifteenth century; they were returned to Hungary in the eighteenth. In spite of the fact that Saris was a major focal point for the Magyarization campaign, Zudel points out that the native Slovak nobility played a prominent role in public life. In the case of Zemplin county , the author mentions that the nobles long maintained a sense of autonomy , and consequently supported the Transylvanian rebels in the latter's struggle against the Habsburgs . Zudel also briefly summarizes the history of less " traditional" Slovak countries . After World War II much of the territory of Uz �SLOVAKIA 95 county was transferred to the Ukrainian S.S.R., and the population of the area is today classified as Ukrainian. Zudel, however, mentions the role of the Slovak element in siding with the Hungarian nobles against their Habsburg kings. Turn.a is treated as an extension of Abauj county (with which it was long affiliated) , although the influence of political patterns emanating from Gerner is also mentioned. In his concluding chapter Zudel summarizes administrative realignments dating from Bach's regime in the 1850s. Since the terms stolica and zupa are often used interchangeably, the author makes a distinction here between velzupa , containing more than one stolica, and zupa, constituting a single district. This distinction is an important one, and the author would hav~ served his readers better by mentioning it in the earlier portion of the text. Although the text conveys the ideological spirit common to contemporary Czechoslovakia, the historical facts are presented in a straightforward manner. Zudel points out that contemporary Hungarian Marxist historiography is more favorably disposed towards Slovak demographic claims in Upper Hungary, and he makes liberal use of Hungarian source materials. The major weakness of the book lies less in what is said than in what remains unsaid. In reference to Abauj county, Zudel cites the Mongol invasion as a determining factor in population distribution; he fails to mention that Kosice was temporarily transferred to the jurisdiction of Transylvania by the Treaty of Linz in 1645. One especially glaring contradiction is found in the case of Saris. The author mentions a "pestilental epidemic" in the eighteenth century, but no mention is made of the cholera epidemic which convulsed Saris and other eastern Slovak counties in 1831. Since the latter event was accompanied by a peasant rising which greatly undermined feudal society, the omission is a particularly serious one . For the student who is already well-grounded in Slovak history , Stolice presents little that is original. But is serves as an adequate text within the limits which have been mentioned , and is especially useful as a reference guide to the individual districts . �96 SLOVAKIA Tvorcovia noveho Slovenska/ The Shaping of Modern Slovakia. Festschrift to the Seventieth Birthday of Dr. Joseph A. Mikus . Edited by Joseph Stasko. Cambridge, Canada: Friends of Good Books, 1982 . xv . 271 pp . GEORGE VIRSIK Monash University Clayton, Australia This collection of articles by Imrich Kruzliak, Joseph Stasko , Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Frantisek Vnuk, and the celebrant can be looked upon from two different perspectives . The first is readily apparent . Kruzliak's interpretive account of Slovak history from 1918 to 1948; Stasko's soul-searching reflections on the meaning of the Slovak national heritage; Kirschbaum's examination of Slovak student organizations and their aims in the interwar period; and Vnuk's analysis of Slovak diplomacy before the Salzburg event of 1940 all have one common denominator: either the role played by, or the contemporary views held by , Joseph A. Mikus. Mikus's own article , "The International System in Transition,'' is a study of the moral and legal principles underlying the pre~ent system of (soverign or not) states and nations , as well as an application and projection into the future of his own ideas, summarized by the view that "not territorially defined states , particularly multinational structures or empires, but nations in the ethnic and cultural sense are the real members of the international community.'' The other perspective becomes more apparent only after one has finished reading the book. With the exception of Vnuk, the authors have all by now reached, or almost reached , their seventieth birthdays. They are all well-known emigre writers ; political commentators, and interpreters of the Slovak cultural heritage . And - again perhaps with the exception of Vnuk - all the contributions are representative of the particular author's " Slovak creed .' ' They read as a personal legacy to the generation to follow. No Slovak intellectual of the younger generation can afford to ignore what they have to say. Politically and territorially, of course, there is only one Slovakia. But spiritually and culturally there is �SLOVAKIA 97 also an alternative Slovakia, a Slovakia that many of us in the West (as well as some non-conformists in Slovakia) are proud to belong to , a Slovakia that would be unthinkable without its pioneers, and now seniors, like Mikus and Stasko, Kirschbaum, and Kruzliak. Thus it seems to me that - at least from the point of view of the new generation - the title of the book should have been something like " The Shape of a Slovakia We are Inheriting," meaning the spiritual and cultural shape of unofficial Slovakia forced to ''live in exile.'' To summarize: If one cannot read Slovak, it might be preferable to obtain just a reprint of Mikus' s English article rather than buy the whole book. But if one can read Slovak and is interested in Slovak matters, this book is a must. Slovak Politics: Essays on Slovak History in honour of Joseph M . Kirschbaum. Edited by Stanislav J. Kirschbaum. ClevelandRome: Slovak Institute, 1983. xviii, 381 pp. GEORGE VIRSIK Monash University Clayton , Australia This Festschrift dedicated to Joseph M. Kirschbaum offers nine articles on various political themes from Slovak history ranging from 1882 to about 1948 . It includes a brief appraisal of the celebrant's life and his contribution to Slovak politics by Charles Murin and a " select bibliography" of Kirschbaum 's publications written in exile. In the first article Edita Bosak deals with Czech-Slovak relations from 1882 to 1914, focusing on the student organization Detvan in Prague. Bosak sees Detvan "as a springboard and nursery for the young Slovak inteligentsia" as opposed to the "conservative Martin leadership ." Although she admits that "the amount of co-operation between Detvan and the Czechs was limited,'' she recognizes the resulting journal Hlas as "progressive," giving "wide distribution to many of the ideas that the students had already worked out in the debates in Detvan, �98 SLOVAKIA especially the idea of Czech-Slovak reciprocity." A comprehensive and unbiased study of Milan Hodza and his original political thinking (contrasted by his often controversial political associations that ended so sadly) is still missing from Slovak political literature . The article by Susan Mikula comes a long way toward such a study, but unfortunately it does not go beyond the year 1914. Still, her account of Hodza's Belvedere orientation and his attitude toward Magyars and Czechs seems to support those political thinkers who see him as the harbinger of contemporary Slovak aspirations toward Central European, or Danubian, Confederation. The contribution by Manfred Alexander is based on a study of the reports from the German Mission in Prague to the Foreign Office of the German Reich from 1918 to 1921. It contains over fifty pages of original documents related to Slovakia, published for the first time. Somehow, the documents make more interesting reading then the article itself. At least in one place the author's conclusions are hard to follow: It is true that Document 13 illustrates in many details the fact that Czech anti-clericalism was at the core of early Czech-Slovak frictions; and that it was the Catholic priests in Slovakia who raised the alarm, and often overreacted. But it seems to be a rather sweeping statement to claim that this is ',!valuable information indicating that the efforts made by the Slovak people to obtain autonomy did not originate spontaneously but were stirred up through agitation.'' Stanislav J. Kirschbaum's study of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party should certainly be read in conjunction with the German documents referred to above, especially by a non-specialist. It throws light on some points raised in the preceding article, and its systematic and more detached account well complements the subjectiveness and immediacy of the documents. The constitution of the Slovak Republic is analyzed by Karin Schmid. She comes to some mixed conclusions, perhaps best expressed in her own words: "If we consider every aspect of the Slovak Constitution - especially the role of the party on one hand, and on the other the control of the government by Parliament (although Parliament itself, in turn, was composed of only one party) - a comparison with what is known as 'socialist democracy' �SLOVAKIA 99 suggests itself. It is tempting, on the model of this concept, to coin the term 'fascist democracy.' However, if we wish to avoid jargon and if we bear in mind that fascism completely rejects the concept of democracy, then the Slovak system can be best described as an authoritarian system with rather surprising democratic features." Lisa Guarda Nardini examines President Tiso's political program. The person of Dr. Jozef Tiso, more so than the Slovak Republic as such, symbolizes the Slovak tragedy during and after World War II: After forty years, most Slovaks are by now resigned to the fact that, given all the circumstances, there was not much chance for the six years of the Slovak Republic to end' differently. But only a few will maintain that Dr. Tiso did not deserve a better fate, a fairer treatment and trial, and less prejudice connected with his place in Slovak history. The article and its discerningly apologetic tone have to be seen in this light. To a certain extent, the same atmosphere permeates the next article on the foreign policy of the Slovak Republic by Milan S. Durica. Of special interest is the section on relations with the Holy See. Durica does not hesitate to state explicitly that "the sharpest dispute between the Slovak Government and the Vatican arose over the Jewish question." Stanislav J. Kirschbaum tackles the extremely complicated and controversial Slovak revolt of 1944. He points out two options that the Slovaks faced by the end of World War II. The first was "to remain true to their state" not excluding "the taking of whatever means were necessary, including changing the regime and the political system'' and hoping that ''the victorious powers would realize that independence was indeed what the nation desired.'' The second option was to return to the Czechoslovak Republic. He is realistic enought to admit that the first option called for an acute sense of timing, exceptional diplomacy, faith on the part of people, and above all capable leadership at the top. But even given the second option, Kirschbaum observes that ''had Benes not been so prejudiced against the Slovaks, but rather had taken into account the evolution of the Slovak nation ... much of the tragedy that befell the Slovak people from 1944 on might have been avoided.'' �100 SLOVAKIA Frantisek Vnuk elaborates on this theme in his article on Slovak-Czech relations between 1945 and 1948. It describes the situation and events in Slovakia prior to February 1948, and it makes very sad reading. As one has come to expect from Vnuk, it is thoroughly documented. But it is also concise and comprehensive enough to be recommended to all - notably younger generation Slovaks, but also Czechs - who wish to understand the reasons behind Slovak resentments and political distrust of their Czech neighbors . In this reviewer's opinion, there is an increasing need for a comprehensive, critical study of Slovak political history from 1918 to 1968 written by a younger generation of scholars free of the compulsion either to fit that story into prescribed ideological frames or to justify a posteriori one's own role or moral position. The publication under review has perhaps so far come closest to fulfilling that need. Frantisek Vnuk. Zivotopis Konstantina Culena. Cleveland: Slovak Institute , 1984. 247 pp. OWEN V. JOHNSON Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana For several years I have been trying to persuade several important Slovak figures representing different political persuasions to write their memoirs, to give us an intimate perspective on their youth, their education, and the development of their careers. Each of the three has resisted , perhaps fearing that to write memoirs means to declare one's public life to be over. This is unfortunate because when I have stumbled onto memoir material , such as a dozen unpublished essays by as many interwar and wartime Slovak journalists, they have been a rich mine of information that their authors could never have realized would be so important. Other than oral interviews, the second best source of personal information is the biography . From that perspective, this book about Konstantin Culen is to be welcomed. Published with the �SLOVAKIA 101 support of Slovak-American activist Jan Beliansky a dozen years after completion of the manuscript, it traces the career of the headstrong Slovak publicist, amateur historian, diplomat, government official and emigre journalist. The author draws on his twenty-year correspondence with Culen, Culen's autobiographical "Posedenia," published in the early 1960s, and 15 short chapters that were parts of Culen's various unsuccessful efforts to write an autobiography. Vnuk makes no claim that this is a careful , complete, or scholarly biography. Nor does he promise any neutral and objective point-of-view, stating in the opening pages his respect and admiration for Culen. Vnuk asserts that the heart of the work is the la.s t section which describes Culen's work in exile - because it is the period he knows best. The historian will disagree. It is the first part (describing his youth and education) and to a lesser degree the second part (describing his twenty-year career in Slovakia) that more effectively transport the reader into the life of the periods they describe. This is so because it is precisely for those periods that Culen provided more of his own testimony about his life and times. We are reminded, for instance, that even though their eventual political views became quite different , many members of the Slovak intelligentsia initially were good friends of each other. Among Culen's early friends were such a diverse group as Vladimir Clementis, Julius Sefranek, Jan Golian, Ferdinand Jurgia, and Florian Tomanek. There are several references, too, to how important connections - Slovak or Czech - were in finding gainful employment. Particularly interesting is Vnuk's description of Culen's short career as a writer and reporter for Slovak, the daily Hlinkist organ. As with other institutions of the Slovak People 's Party, the newspaper staff reflected the splits among the different wings of the party. Eventually the splits led to Culen's dismissal from the staff. It foreshadowed his later ouster from the Slovak Government in July , 1940. The tragedy of Culen is that these divisions continued in emigration, and because he continued to be first and foremost a publicist, he became their victim. Despite a decade of service to �102 SLOVAKIA the Slovak press in North America, he was eventually forced out of all fulltime work in that area. During the last few years, Vnuk reports , Culen struggled to find gainful employment, eventually winding up as superintendent of a Brooklyn apartment house. He died in 1964. Miroslav Kropilak a kolektiv. Dejiny Slovenska V {1918-1945). Bratislava: Veda , 1985 . 612 pp. JAMES R. FELAK Bloomington, Indiana It would be hard to find a quarter century in Slovak history more eventful than the period from 1918 to 1945 . These years saw the creation, destruction , and re-creation of the Czechoslovak Republic , the emergence and disappearance of an independent Slovak state , a great economic crisis , and a world war. In this fifth volume of the new Dejiny Slovenska, a team of Slovak Marxist scholars provides the most extensive and detailed discussion of this period available in any language. Dejiny Slovenska Vis composed of two parts. The first covers Slovakia within the interwar Czechoslovak Republic; the second deals with the Slovak state and World War II. Each part is divided into chronologically based chapters, which in turn contain subchapters on themes like politics, foreign affairs , economics, social unrest, and developments within the Communist Party. In analyzing the interwar period, the authors focus on the so-called Slovak Question, that is , the place of Slovakia and the Slovak nation in a Czechoslovak state. This question involves a complex of political, economic , social , and cultural factors that gave rise to tensions between Slovaks and Czechs. The Czechoslovak government's failure to ease these tensions contributed mightily to the shape that the First Republic's demise took in 1938-39. In discussing this failure , the authors contend that only the Communist Party was capable of solving the problems that caused social and national dissatisfaction in Slovakia. The authors consider Slovak discontent as essentially a product of the ''bourgeois-democratic , capitalist system'' of the First �SLOVAKIA 103 Republic, with the Czech bourgeoisie as the main perpetrators of this discontent. This ruling class is accused of economically exploiting Slovakia, repressing manifestations of Slovak dissatisfaction, and ruling the country on the basis of centralism, with a complete disregard for Slovakia's special conditions and problems . To help rule Slovakia, this " ruling Czech bourgeoisie " fostered the idea of Czechoslovakism, that is, the notion that the Slovaks were not a distinct nation but rather members of a Czechdominated "Czechoslovak" nation. The authors sharply criticize Czechoslovakism, which they see as a reactionary ideology serving only to fan the flames of Slovak nationalism and to hamper Czechoslovak state unity in the face of the external threats of the 1930s. As allies of the ''ruling Czech bourgeoisie,' ' the so-called centralist parties in Slovakia, above all the Social Democrats and the Agrarians , come under attack in this volume. The Social Democrats are strongly criticized for their so-called reformist approach to Slovakia's social and economic ills , for placing the interests of the state ahead of the interests of the working class , and for staunchly supporting centralism and Czechoslovakism. The Agrarians are reproached for similar reasons, including an economic policy that favored the rural middle class of the expense of the working class and poorer peasants. The authors indeed point out that many Slovak Agrarians were lukewarm in their support for centralism and Czechoslovakism and tried to advance Slovakia's interests under the guise of "silent revision of centralism" or "regionalism." Nevertheless, the authors believe that by failing to distance themselves effectively from Prague and to solve Slovakia's economic problems, the centralist parties drove many Slovaks into the camp of Hlinka 's Slovak People 's Party (HSPP or L'udaks). The authors do not condemn the HSPP for its autonomist program and political opposition, but rather for " catering to the reactionary classes" at home and seeking ties with Czechoslovakia's enemies abroad. In their Marxist interpretation, the authors see the HSPP as the representative of those bourgeois elements that were dissatisfied with their political and economic position in Czechoslovakia. The fact that the HSPP had broad popular appeal �104 SLOVAKIA cutting across class boundaries is explained by the party's ability to exploit Slovakia's economic ills and national discontent demagogically in order to win votes. Although the authors condemn the HSPP's leadership, they are more lenient toward its rankand-file, whom they characterize as justly disaffected by the social and national situation in Slovakia but misled by L'udak propaganda. If the L'udaks were too reactionary to solve the Slovak Question, and the centralist parties too reformist and ''Czechoslovak,'' the Communist Party alone , according to this work, possessed the correct formula. In the authors' interpretation, the Communist Party was committed both to the distinctiveness of the Slovak nation and the integrity of the Czechoslovak state, which, after a socialist revolution and installation of a dictatorship of the proletariat, was to be set up on the basis of national equality and mutual respect between the Czech and Slovak nations. The party did not hold this position consistently from 1918 to 1945, but did take this stance during the Slovak National Uprising. The book depicts, although somewhat opaquely, the shifts in the party's nationality policy in the period under discussion and presents the party's position during the Uprising not as a mere tactical move but rather as the culmination of twenty-five years of Communist thinking al}d experience regarding the Slovak Question. Although the portrayal of the Communist Party in this volume is overwhelmingly positive , there is some criticism, especially of party centralism. The authors clearly side with those Slovak Communists, above all the Davists, who preferred a party that was more responsive to Slovak conditions to one that rigidly applied directives from the leadership in Prague. While centralism and "dogmatism" may be reproached, however, the authors never question the Communist Party's fundamental goals. The second part of this work deals with the Slovak state and World War II. This period is presented dichotomously. On the negative side is the Slovak state. Although the authors deem it "an acceptable alternative for the majority of the Slovak population in 1939-1941 from the constitutional point of view," they portray its L'udak leaders as fascists and opportunists, tools of German imperalism who tried but ultimately failed to win over the �SLOVAKIA 105 Slovak population via social demagoguery and exaggerated nationalism. On the positive side is the Slovak resistance movement, manifested above all in the Slovak National Uprising. According to the authors, the Uprising represented the progressive majority of the Slovak population. They claim that the Uprising was never defeated politically or militarily, but rather won out as the first stage of a democratic and national revolution in Slovakia. Although the authors acknowledge the role played by nonCommunists in the Slovak resistance, they repeatedly assert that Communist influence was paramount. The party gets credit forsuccessfully helping bring down the L'udak regime while at the same time resisting efforts of the Benes government in London to restore the pre-Munich Republic on its old sociopolitical bases. Not surprisingly, the authors also credit the Soviet Union with greatly assisting the Uprising. The authors have considerable sympathy for the selfdetermination of the Slovak nation, as their condemnation of centralism and Czechoslovakism attests . However , when this sympathy comes into conflict with their orthodox Marxist-Leninst line, the latter wins out. For example, the occupation of Slovakia by Bela Kun's army in 1919 is portrayed as a totally positive event for the Slovak population, and any suggestions that they may have constituted a restoration of Hungarian rule over the Slovaks are dismissed as myth. To the volume's credit, it provides an informative survey of social and economic developments in Slovakia. In addition, it devotes much attention to cultural history, including discussions of the growth of Slovak education, literature, art, and even film and radio. It also treats the cultural affairs of Slovakia's German , Magyar, and Ukrainian minorities. On the debit side, there is very little biographical information offered regarding the key figures in Slovak political life , the subchapters on diplomatic developments are completely and unequivocally pro-Soviet, and several important Western publications are absent from the relatively lengthly bibliography. As a comprehensive survey of some of the most crucial years in Slovak history, this installment of Dejiny Slovenska should interest all scholars of twentieth-century Slovak history . Not only �106 SLOVAKIA is it a source of much information, but it also presents the most up-to-date official view on controversial issues such as the Slovak Question, the Slovak state, and the Slovak National Uprising. Yeshayahu A. Jelinek. The Lust for Power: Nationalism, Slovakia, and the Communists, 1918-1948. "East European Monographs, No. CXXX. " Boulder, CO: East European Monographs , 1983. xi , 185 pp. Distributed by Columbia University Press. ROBERT K. EVANSON University of Missouri-Kansas City Kansas City, Missouri Students of Slovak history are greatly indebted to Yeshayahu Jelinek for his painstaking dissection of the response of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC) to ''the Slovak Question'' during the 1918-1948 period. Jelinek trudges admirably through the bewildering zigs and zags and general confusion of Communist nationality policies during the First, Second, and Third Czechoslovak Republics and the wartime Slovak Republic. It is well known that the political tasks of Czechoslovak Communism have often been complicated by the subjection of the KSC to Soviet supervision and interference. Slovak Communists faced an even tougher road in their efforts to expand their base of popular support within Slovakia, in part because their mentors in Prague were even more overbearing and less sensitive to Slovak national aspirations than were the Soviets. Czech Communist leaders tended to view Slovak nationalism as either an obstacle or a vehicle to their achievement of pow~r in Prague, depending on the moment. Their lack of understanding or respect for Slovak feelings was, of course, (ypical of Czech politicians of almost all ideological stripes. Not that Slovak Communists possessed any clear idea of how to handle the national question. Pulled in different directions by nationalist feelings and a desire to win popular support on the one hand , and by loyalty to the KSC and Moscow on the other, they adopted an array of "solutions" which were, as Jelinek notes, testimony to the failure of Communist ideology to address effec- �SLOVAKIA 107 tively the nationalist phenomenon. Different Slovak Communist spokesmen variously proposed the creation of a Slovak-Hungarian Soviet Republic, incorporation of Slovakia into the Soviet Union, complete independence, autonomous federative status within a unified Czechoslovakia, equality without autonomy , and extreme centralization under Prague 's control. Jelinek 's discussion provides essential background reading to Czech-Slovak tensions since 1948, including the tragic persecution of Slovak Communists during the 1950s and the renewal of Slovak demands for genuine federalism during the 1960s. Nationalism has been ·'a powerful force in Slovak Communism throughout the history of Czechoslovakia, and there is little reason to believe that the current quasi-federal formula will permanently sweep the issue of Slovak-Czech relations under the rug. Despite Jelinek 's yeoman service in delineating these matters , the book contains a number of typographical and some factual errors that should have been caught by the editor. Rudolf Slansky, for example, is twice identified as "Josef Slansky" (pp. 36, 72); and Viliam Siroky seems to be identified as a Czech - the language is ambiguous - on p . 40 , although later on he is characterized correctly as a Magyarized Slovak. On a more general level , this reviewer has two criticisms, one minor and one major. The period and events described by Jelinek are so complex that he could have helped the reader by more often stepping back to address the confusion and reorder the facts in summary form. Whenever such a broad overview is absent, the narrative unavoidably gets bogged down in the myraid of individuals, factions , and endless changes in party line that defined Communist nationality policies during the thirty years in question. When the author chooses to summarize , as in his excellent passage on the war years (pp. 40-41) and in his fine concluding chapter, the reader is greatly enlightened . More serious is Jelinek's tendency to lump all Communists together in his insistence that they regard nationalism as " a mere tool to achieve [power] " (p . 1). This is the author 's major thesis , but his book's evidence suggests rather that many Communists were confused about the Slovak issue and failed to reach a consensus about nationality policies . While Czech centralizers were �108 SLOVAKIA inclined to be cynical or fearful of Slovak nationalism, many Slovaks were genuine nationalists who took considerable risks to advocate their people's cause. Jelinek explicitly recognizes this fact on several occasions, as in his fascinating discussion of Communist cooperation with the rightwing L'udaks, and in his description of the Slovak National Uprising, neither of which can be regarded as a mere power tactic. The author's general thesis, therefore, is at odds with his narrative. Nonetheless, this book is a valuable and original contribution to the study of Slovak Communism. M. Mark Stolarik. Growing Up on the South Side: Three Generations of Slovaks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1880-1976. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press, 1985. 147 pp. JUNE GRANATIR ALEXANDER The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio In the preface to this work, M . Mark Stolarik states "that it is the responsibility of professional historians to also write the histories of particular ethnic groups for those groups'' and warns his readers that Growing Up on the South Side was written "only incidentally for fellow academics" (p. 13). Indeed, his research was partially supported by funds bequeathed for the purpose of writing a history of Bethlehem Slovaks for Bethlehem Slovaks. Growing Up on the South Side is too brief to offer an in-depth analysis of the Bethlehem Slovak population over a lengthy ninetysix-year period. Still, Stolarik touches upon important aspects of the history of that ethnic communtiy . He relies extensively on material generated by the Slovak community: fraternal and church records and publications, newspapers, and short histories written by Slovaks . He skillfully blends these sources with oral interviews with second- and third-generation Slovaks. Stolarik overlooks, however , the newspapers Narodne noviny and, with one minor exception, Slovensky hlasnik. His bibliography is somewhat dated because he does not cite relevant works, including his own, published after 1981. �SLOVAKIA 109 Although the author does not burden his narrative with statistics, tables, or theories , he generally succeeds in achieving his objective of writing for a more general , rather than an academic audience . On several occasions, either in the narrative or footnotes , he corrects factual errors that apparently heretofore have been accepted by Bethlehem Slovaks . However, by trying to avoid becoming bogged down in scholarly analysis , Stolarik, at times, forgets his responsibility to the general public as a professional historian. Indeed , he misses opportunities to use his scholarly expertise to investigate the veracity of some popularly-held beliefs or attitudes and is not always careful to use solid evidence to support some generalizations. For example , Stolarik rather nonchalantly refers to "the Irish police" as stopping fights at Slovak weddings (p. 82) . Were all the policemen in Bethlehem Irish , or were only Irish policemen sent to quiet down rowdy Slovak celebrations? Here statistics and footnotes are needed. Stolarik's nice composite picture of Slovak fraternal meetings drawn from the minutes of different lodges includes the suggestion that women disrupted meetings when they attended in their husbands' stead. This was a popular view held by Slovak males who opposed accepting females into lodges in the early twentieth century. How " often" did women actually delay meetings? Stolarik observes that secular lodges opened with the presidents warning '' all in attendance to behave themselves" (p . 40) . This presumably included both men and women present. Can women, then , be singled out as a particular problem? In both instances just cited , Stolarik's descriptions may be accurate, but statements by a professional historian that confirm ethnic and sexual stereotypes in the minds of a general audience require more concrete, explicit evidence . At times , Stolarik is also confusing because his discussion is too brief. For example , he relates that several factors gave rise to a large number of Slovak lodges in Bethlehem. Some lodges were formed on the basis of geographic origins, while the membership of others , he explains, reflected social standing in the Slovak community. Does this mean that Slovaks who joined the same lodge as fellow villagers but then subsequently attained a different social status in the community switched lodges? If this was the case, it has strong implications for further exploring the emergence �110 SLOVAKIA of class divisions within ethnic communities. The discussion of female occupations should also be expanded and clarified . It is not clear if the second- and third-generation working women he discusses (pp. 113, 115-17) were married or single . Did married women routinely work outside of the home? Such clarifications would have enhanced his discussion of the acculturation process among American-Slovaks. Also, since formal affiliation of the Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Church (founded in 1902) with the Missouri Synod did not occur until 1908, Stolarik's passing reference to 1902 as the date when Slovak Lutherans affiliated with that conservative body can create confusion. Finally, some Bethlehem Slovaks as well as scholars will surely disagree with some of Stolarik's generalizations about the Slovak experience in general and the Bethlehem experience in particular. Although Stolarik was concerned primarily with writing a history for Bethlehem Slovaks, his work does touch on issues of interest to professional scholars. His discussions of politics and social mobility support those scholars who suggest that social mobility in America can be gauged on different levels. While some Slovaks did not achieve social prominence in American society, they did achieve such prominence within their own ethnic community. His analysis of politics offers some insight into how immigrants dealt with, adjusted to, and influenced America's political structure. Overall, the author remains faithful to his objective of writing a history for Bethlehem Slovaks. In doing so, he avoids the trappings of filiopietism often evident in such ethnic histories. While careful not to offend their descendants, Stolarik, on occasion, provides critical judgments of individuals. Additionally, while he clearly regrets the ongoing demise of Slovak culture and the waning of ethnic identity that has taken place among Bethlehem Slovaks, he does not reduce his study to one of "Slovak contributions" and a celebration of Slovak culture in a propagan distic effort to stir ethnocentrism among second- and thirdgeneration Slovaks. Thus, w hile scholars will likely agree with Stolarik's own assessment that " traditional concerns of historians" generally remain beyond the scope of Growing Up on the South Side , Bethlehem Slovaks will find that Stolarik has done what he set out to do: write a readable English-language history for them. �SLOVAKIA 111 Ferenc Feher and Agnes Heller Hungary 1956 Revisited: The Message of a Revolution - A Quarter of a Century After. London: George Allen & Unwin , 1983 . xviii, 174 pp. PETER R. HRUBY Western Australian Institute of Technology Bentley, Australia The authors of this book left Hungary in 1977. Since then they have published a remarkable series of books, especially (together with George Markus) Dictatorship over Needs: A Study of Soviet Societies, also in 1983 . The present volume is a well written and passionately argued attempt to interpret the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 from a leftist and socialist radical point of view. The authors' thesis on the revolution is divided into two parts: its impact on the world, and on Hungary. There is hardly any doubt that the revolution was felt all over the world. Equally correct is the writers' conviction that because no substantial help was offered to the revolutionaries from the West , "the result was a major loss of face for the Western powers, a second moral Munich" (p. 15) . More questionable is their often repeated affirmation that the Hungarians rebelled equally against the Soviets as against the West, because during World War II the latter allowed Central and Eastern Europe to be incorporated into the Soviet sphere of influence. Only Istvan Bib6 and his " Draft of a compromise solution of the Hungarian question'' can be quoted in support of such a surprising assertion. Sure enough, most Central and East Europeans did not like the overwhelming Soviets interest and the shocking Western lack of interest in their fate and territories, but it is stretching the point to claim that ''the Hungarian revolution was a revolt against all signatories of the Yalta and Potsdam agreements" (p. 16) . Feher and Heller are on safer grounds when they assert that in 1956 the Americans lost a great opportunity by not offering to the Soviets a compromise by which Hungary would have been granted neutrality and the Soviet Union an end to the Cold War. The Soviet leaders were for a few crucial days divided about how to deal with the crisis, and the authors believe that the Soviets would have considered such an offer. �112 SLOVAKIA There follows a good discussion of "national communism, " and in this context Yugoslav leaders are blamed for their opportunist attitude toward the Hungarian revolution. Western Communist parties lost many members, fellow-travellers, and prestige in the process: "The events of October 1956 [sounded] the deathknell of the Popular Front policy" (p. 44). In their review of other East European Communist parties' reaction to the revolution, the writers express their support for "the idea of a confederation between the free nations of the region" (p. 62). In the second part of the book the authors stress the lack of democratic and liberal traditions in their native country. Several times they point out that only in Czechoslovakia was there a successful marriage of nationalism with such progressive tendencies. Although they believe that after both the First and Second World Wars Hungary was treated too harshly by the victors, they contend that only during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was a democratic, liberal, and socialist model being created in their country. One of the major points of the message should be seen in that historical development. Ferenc Feher and Agnes Heller would also like their readers to believe that after a long series of failed heroes of Hungarian history Imre Nagy should be accepted as a genuine hero , "forger, arbiter , martyr and symbol of a murdered revolution" (pp . 15 7-8). What fascinated this reviewers most was the obvious learning process experienced by extreme leftist radicals about the real substance of 'Soviet Commu nism and of its betrayal of the working people. The authors castigate not only Lenin, Trotsky , and Stalin, but also Deutscher and Sartre , among others, for trusting professional revolutionaries and manipulators more than the masses. From the authors ' arguments it is also clear that they themselves had to be transformed from typical radical intellectuals' positions of misuse of the wage earners to admiration for their democratic and pluralist hopes . They admit that only several years after the revolution were some of the w ishes and actions of the Hungarian people understood and accepted by them (e.g ., p . 92). The last pages of the volume are devoted to an excellent analysis of Kadarism and of the modernized sophisticated terror which is also well known in Czechoslovakia. �SLOVAKIA 113 Slovak readers will find occasional reference to Hungarian "bereft territories" (p. 149) and of the Hungarians expelled from Slovakia (pp. 50 -51). They might wonder who are the "Slovakians" (p . 51). Of much greater interest is the insight into the way leftist radical socialists inside of Hungary view the past and the future and what can be expected from them and their nation . Jozef Ciger-Hronsky. Jozef Mak. Translated by Andrew Cincura. Afterword by Peter Petro. Columbus: Slavica, 1984. 232 pp. WILLIAM E. HARKINS Columbia University New York, New York This volume is the first in a series of works of Slovak literature slated to be published by Slavica Publishers in Columbus, Ohio. Currently projected for publication are volumes by Hugolin Gavlovic and Bozena Timrava, as well as a volume of folk ballads. The project represents a notable break-through for the cause of Slovak literature in translation in this country . Jozef Ciger (1894-1960), who published under the pseudonym of Hronsky, is one of the great writers of Modern Slovak Literature, one comparatively neglected , presumably for ideological reasons. A village school teacher , Hronsky knew the Slovak peasants as perhaps no other Slovak writer did; in particular, he understood the mysticism of the peasantry and portrayed it in his works : During World War II he supported the nationalistic Tiso regime , and in 1945 emigrated to Argentina. Under the new Czechoslovak republic he was never mentioned, not to say published, along with a number of other nationalist writers . In 1970 his contemporary, the critic Alexander Matuska , published a monograph devoted to him. Jozef Mak was published in 1933. It is a novel of the Slovak village in the period of Hungarian oppression and the time of emigration to America. Maryarization and Emigration are portrayed as twin perils and twin temptations , for both seem to pro- �114 SLOVAKIA mise political or economic salvation to the poverty-ridden peasantry. The novel represents a unique blend of realism and symbolism, one hardly to be found among contemporary Czech writers, for instance, or even among other Slovak writers. Those aspects of the novel that pertain to individual characters and their fates are more symbolic, while the public and social facets of the story are realistic. The first are richer in metaphors , certainly while the latter are richer in metonyms. The blending of the two strains gave the author considerable difficulty , and it is the private, symbolic novel that is more memorable for the reader . The term "symbolic" is customarily used for fiction in the style of Jozef Mak , but the novel is actually as much mythic as symbolic. (Of course the two styles are closely interrelated.) The leading characters are archetypes who draw much of their being from an idealized metaphorical world close to folklore. Jozef Mak himself is an image of the alienated orphan, denied his inheritance, material as well as spiritual. The novel ends without his having found himself or his true destiny. Jozef Mak is born the illegitimate son of a poor peasant woman, to be ousted from the house and land by his worthless older, legitimate half brother. Still he grows up honest, hard working, and resourceful. He finally marries a crippled woman whom he seduces, a wife who provides a spiritual guide for him throughout his married life . But, exhausted from the weight of burdens, physical and spiritual, his wife Jula dies . Jozef is left alone at the end of the novel to endure and to plot his path through life alone. The wife Jula is certainly one of the great characters in Slovak literature. Her piety and meekness , and her endurance of her husband's deceptions, are entirely believable , as is the aura of spiritual beauty (in spite of physical deformity) with which the author invests her. The author's conception of such a character required great artistic imagination; Mak himself is hardly so successful. Perhaps his position as central character (and also as perceiving subject) in so much of the novel has precluded the writer from developing a firm, coherent image of him. Less sharp are the characters involved, positively or negative- �SLOVAKIA 115 ly , in their nation's political struggle , and it is evident that Hronsky had difficulties with the realistic side of the novel , partly because the struggle in question corresponds to the time of his boyhood, when he hardly could have succeeded in grasping its meaning. Thus the mythic, symbolic , mystical side of the novel is the stronger, and makes a powerful nostalgic imprint on the reader. Pavol Stevcek. Contemporary Slovak Literature . Translated by Ol 'ga Horska. Bratislava: Obzor, 1980. 122 pp. GERALDJ. SABO John Carroll University University Heights , Ohio Contemporary Slovak literature is often an unfamiliar area even to Slavic literary specialists, whereas writings of contemporary Czech authors from the same country are internationally known. Perhaps it is true , as one Slovak specialist in North America has stated , that Slovak literature is a Cinderella among the literatures of Europe that awaits the discovery of her true worth. The study under review is an attempt to dispel some of this unfamiliarity for an English-reading audience. In this book Stevcek discusses twenty-three writers of the post-1945 era. Twenty-one men are presented as poets and writers of prose and children's literature, but only two women are discussed and that in the area of children 's literature. Among the poets are Pavol Horov, Jan Kostra, Ladislav Novomesky, Milan Rufus, Jan Smrek, and Miroslav Valek; among the prose writers are Alfonz Bednar, Peter Jaros , Vladimir Minac, Vincent Sikula, and Frantisek Svantner. The first of six chapters sets the context for appreciating the work of these writers. In describing the development of this modern era in literature Stevcek employs a Marxist interpretation and even discusses briefly the features of literature written according to such a viewpoint. (The English here is rather stilted and contrived; if the translation is at fault, it is probably because it is a literal rendition of the author's diction and style , which in Slovak may be appropriate for such a work but becomes at times opaque in English translation .) In the remaining five �116 SLOVAKIA chapters, Stevcek considers respectively writers of poetry, prose, children's literature, drama, and literary studies and theoretical presentations. At the end of the chapters on poetry and prose, the author presents brief commentary on a number of other such contemporary writers in order to round out the presentation for these areas . In the chapter on poetry Stevcek fails to include Masa Hal 'amova. Why? Does not a poet who was at the time of this study an "Artist of Merit" deserve mention? (At the present time, she holds the title "National Artist.") This is a significant omission, especially as consideration of Hal'amova would also have increased the number of women presented . In the chapter on children's literature Stevcek includes two women, one of whom, Klara Jarunkova, could just as well have been discussed in the prose chapter. Indeed, she could have been included in both chapters . Likewise , L'ubomir Feldek should have been discussed for more than his contribution to children's literature. Some commentary on or at least mention of L'udo Zubek and Dominik Tatarka would also have been quite justified. Such additions to this study would certainly not have increased its size by much, and yet would have definitely enhanced its benefit to Slavic scholars and anyone interested in Slovak literature. Contemporary Slovak Literature is a noteworthy contribution from Slovakia that provides some basic information on a large number of writers. Such a publication in English is crucial if Slovak literature is to be able to assume its proper place in modern world literature . Given the paucity of such publications , this study should be helpful not only to specialists but also libraries. Given also the excellent literary specialists now writing in Slovakia, more such publications as the one above, with style and English rendition improved , should be rightly expected and published in the future. � SLOVAKIA REVIEWS 83 ��SLOVAKIA 85 Historicky casopis, 33 , 2 (1 985) . "K vel 'komoravskemu vyrociu. " Bratislava: Veda, 19 8 5. Anna Holla. Metod - ucitel' Slovienov. K 1100 vfrrociu umrtia {885-1985}. Martin: Matica slovenska , 1985 . THEODORIC J. ZUBEK, O.F.M. Pittsburgh , Pennsyl vania As the year 1985 approached , Slovak Christians both in Czechoslovakia and abroad wondered in what manner the 1, 100th anniversary of the death of St. Methodius would be observed in Slovakia. The two publications under review provide partial answers to that question. · Historicky casopis , the official organ of the Ustav historickych vied Slovenskej akademie vied , devoted an entire issue to the ' 'Great Moravian Anniversary. ' ' In their introduction, the editors concede that Methodius was ' 'the most important personality in the cultural history of Great Moravia." Further, they note that ''Marxist historiography values highly the work of Constantine and Methodius, who laid the foundations for the development of Slavic literature, which thereafter prevailed among the majority of the South and East Slavs ." However , they also maintain that although Marxist historiography cannot overstate the importance of these two men, it cannot view them only as " evangelizers of the faith." The cultural elements of the Cyrillo-Methodian heritage are, of course, undeniable. But it is equally undeniable that that legacy also - and primarily - includes tremendous religiou s significance for the Slavs in general and the Slovaks in particular. What this reviewer finds especially objectionable in this issue of Historicky casopis is the attempt to minimize the importance of the evangelical activity of Sts . Cyril and Methodius and to neglect the religious dimensions of their work. The cultural achievements of the saintly brothers were the result of their primary goal: to complete the Christianization of the Slavic peoples. This main goal of their mission is never properly recognized by the authors, and the names of Sts . Cyril and Methodius are never mentioned with their title of reverence , " Saint. " Furthermore, not a single arti- �86 SLOVAKIA cle is devoted specifically to St. Methodius in what is supposed to be a commemoration of the anniversary of his death! The first article , by Matus Kucera, assesses Great Moravia and the beginnings of Slovak national history. Although Kucera writes extensively about the era of Rastislav and Svatopluk, he fails to mention Sts. Cyril and Methodius by name as the founders of Christian civilization among the ancestors of the Slovaks. In his article on "fictions and facts" concerning the territorial development of Great Moravia, Peter Ratkos refutes the claims of Imre Boba and other historians that the territory of Great Moravia was situated around the Morava River in Serbia. According to Ratkos , Sirmium was probably not the actual see of Archbishop Methodius , because at that time Sirmium belonged to Bulgaria. Richard Marsina examines the diplomatic documents relating to the history of Great Moravia and their value as sources. He acknowledges the authenticity of seventeen diplomatic texts, mostly the preserved letters of Popes Adrian II, John VIII, Stephen V, and John IX, and eighteen lost documents (deperdita) mentioned in the authentic diplomatic papers and other reliable historical sources. The article which deals the most with St. Cyril is the one by Alexander Avenarius on the contribution of Byzantium to Great Moravian culture. The author explains St. Cyril's philosophy, classifies him as a liberal in his opposition to iconoclasm, and places him in the camp of the liberal patriarch Photius. Avenarius also describes the influence of Byzantine monasticism in Bohemia and Slovakia after the death of Svatopluk. The last two articles are not directly concerned with the work of Sts. Cyril and Metodius . Bohuslav Chropovsky and Alexander Ruttkay evaluate the most recent archeological excavations and situate geographically the extent of the Slovak ethnic group. Finally, Rudolf Krajcovic examines the very complicated issue of language in Great Moravia and its continuity with Slovak. The publication of the Matica slovenska, Metod - ucitel' Slovienov, is more germane to the commemoration of St. Methodius' anniversary than the articles in the Historicky casopis issue. It contains nineteen pages of printed text by Anna Holla and thirty-two photographic reproductions of archeological findings from the �SLOVAKIA 87 Great Moravian era, copies of some Glagolitic and Cyrillic texts, and newer Slovak literary and pictorial works related to Sts. Cyril and Methodius. Holla's brief survey of St. Methodius and the whole CyrilloMethodian legacy in Czechoslovakia is a popular version based on contemporary scholarship. It reflects, not surprisingly, the distortions of present official Marxist historiography concerning the Great Moravian period. Holla characterizes Great Moravia as the first state common to the Czechs and Slovaks; and she emphasizes the cultural, social, and political activity of Sts. Cyril and Methodius and excludes or minimizes their missio.nary efforts. Holla' s assertion that Great Moravia was the first joint state of the Czechs and Slovaks is of dubious historical validity. By military force Svatopluk occupied the adjacent Slavic territories, among them Bohemia, and annexed them to his realm, but he did not incorporate them organically into Great Moravia. After his death in 894, the people in these occupied territories hastened to separate themselves from Great Moravia, searching for independence or joining new political alliances. The annexation of Bohemia to Great Moravia lasted less than twenty years, and after Svatopluk's death the Czechs found themselves again in the orbit of the Eastern Frankish (German) Empire. This reviewer must also take exception to Holla's statement that ''The basis of the missionary work of Constantine and Methodius in the Great Moravian Empire was their legal work, by which they eradicated Frankish church law and the unwritten common law of Great Moravia and substituted for it a strong legal order" (p. 6}. As has been mentioned, the basis of the CyrilloMethodian mission was the evangelization of the Slavs. Sts. Cyril and Methodius did not eliminate the church law which had been brought to the territory of Great Moravia by Irish-Scottish, Acquilean (Italian), and Bavarian missionaries; and they did not abolish the unwritten indigenous laws as long as they did not deviate from either Latin or Byzantine church and civil laws. In conclusion, the jubilee issue of Historicky casopis and the text by Anna Holla in the Matica slovenska publication suffer from gross deficiencies and omissions which stem from the antireligious bias of official Marxist historiography toward the legacy �88 SLOVAKIA of Sts. Cyril and Methodius . Only the Matica slovenska publication, with its well-selected, beautiful reproductions , can in a sense be considered as a tribute to the memory of St. Methodius in Slovakia. Julius Sopko. Stredoveke latinske k6dexy v slovensky ch kniiniciach. (Stredoveke k6dexy slovenskej proveniencie, I]. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1981. 304 pp. Julius Sopko. Stredoveke latinske k6dexy slovenskej proveniencie v Mad'arsku av Rumunsku. (Stredoveke k6dexy slovenskej proveniencie, II). Martin: Matica slovenska, 1982. 400 pp. GERALD J. SABO John Carroll University University Heights, Ohio This two-volume catalogue of codices comprises a listing of all extant medieval manuscripts produced on Slovak territory. Most were written in Latin and are similar to those found throughout medieval Europe. The subject matter pertains, for the most part, to religious faith and practice, and philosophy. Bibles, missals , antiphonaries , graduals , chant collections , sermons and related bilingual dictionaries, rules of a religious order, commentaries on religious topics, and philosophical studies are the kinds of writings found in these manuscripts. Occasionally among them are " secular" - non-religious or philosophical - texts , such as Gesta Romanorum (Feats of the Romans), Chronicon Dubnicense (The History of Dubnica), or Codex Justinian us: Digesta - Excerpta (Justinian's Law Code: Summaries and Excerpts) . Some of these manuscripts are preserved in Slovak archival repositories, while others are found in Hungary and Romania. In the two introductions of the first volume in Slovak and Latin , Sopko considers briefly the emergence and development of libraries and scriptoria on Slovak territory as well as the history of manuscript collections and their present status. He discusses the role of certain religious orders in the execution and collection of such manuscripts; among these are the Benedictines, Fran- �SLOVAKIA 89 ciscans, Dominicans, Cistercians, Carthusians, and Premonstratensians (also known as Norbertines). Sopko also mentions the significant activity of the cathedral chapters in Nitra, Bratislava, and Spis that fostered the composing of manuscripts. Thirteen Slovak areas are listed as locations of repositories for such manuscripts: Banska Bystrica, Bardejov, Bratislava, Dolny Kubin, Jasov, Kezmarok, Kosice, Kremnica, Martin, Nitra, Presov, Spisska Kapitula , and Spisske Vlachy. These cities and towns, institutions in Bratislava and Kremnica contain the overwhelming majority of the 200 medieval manuscripts found on Slovak territory today. In Bratislava, the cathedral chapter library alone contains 82 such codices of the 135 found in the 6 repositories of this city. In Kremnica, the parish library contains 25 of 26 medieval codices in the city. In the second volume , 86 of 88 manuscripts preserved in Hungary are found in Budapest; the remaining 130 of the total 418 listed' in the two volumes are found in Alba Julia, Romania, in the former Batthyany library collection. In his introductions Sopko mentions the art of manuscript illumination that was well developed on Slovak territory . He includes at the end of both volumes photographic reproductions of some manuscripts, usually rendered in color, many of which also exemplify the art of illumination. One of the outstanding examples of manuscript writing and illumination is the ''Bratislava Missal,' ' which today is preserved in Alba Julia, Romania, as part of the former Batthyany library collection. This missal is described in the second volume of the catalogue (#400), and a color reproduction of one of its folio pages can be found at the end among the supplementary illustrations . (A book that presents the illumination aspect of medieval manuscripts in the Slovak area and that would complement this catalogue well is Stredoveka kniina mal 'ba na Slovensku by Alzbeta Giintherova and Jan Misianik published in two editions [1961 and 1977] by Tatran of Bratislava.) Sopko concludes each of the volumes with four lists: concordance of signatures , dated codices, first words of a codex, and a name and topic index. This two-volume catalogue by Sopko is primarily aimed at libraries and specialists in medieval culture and history. It presents �90 SLOVAKIA well the scholarly work that is often produced under the auspices of the Matica slovenska. Vysady miest a mesteciek na Slovensku {1238-1350}, I. Edited by L'ubomir Juck. Bratislava: Veda, 1984. 199 pp. Narodnostny vyvoj miest na Slovensku do roku 1918. K 600. vyrociu vydania vysad pre zilinskych Slovakov Edited by Richard Marsina. Martin: Osveta, 1984 . 275 pp. DAVID P. DANIEL ConcorcJti.a Seminary St. Louis, Missouri These two volumes reflect the breadth and depth of Slovak historical urban studies. They are both welcome additions to the growing body of scholarship on the history of urban life in Slovakia in the late medieval and early modern eras. The first, ''Privileges of the Cities and Towns in Slovakia (1238-1350)" was prepared as part of a long-term project planned by the Historical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences during the 1950's and early 1960's which set as its goal the editing and publication of historical documents from the earliest eras of Slovak history. This volume is the first dealing specifically with the charters and grants of legal privileges made to the emerging cities during the High Middle Ages, primarily by Hungarian monarchs. Information concerning the documents which have disappeared and/or the texts of those preserved were drawn from materials in the archives of Slovakia and throughout Central Europe. The volume begins with a general introduction indicating the methodological principles utilized in preparing it and some general comments on the types of documents included . The bulk of the book is devoted to a catalogue, in chronological order, of all the grants of privileges discovered; a brief description of their contents and context in Slovak; the text of the document, in so far as it is known in the original language of composition, Latin; and finally a listing of the provenance of each document. As such , this volume provides a fascinating and accessible entrance into �SLOVAKIA 91 the historical development of the cities and towns which emerged on the territory of modern-day Slovakia during the High Middle Ages. They show that the economic strength of the towns grew in conjunction with the grants of economic and political privileges extended to them by the Hungarian monarchs. The towns sought to develop and protect their economic basis, manufacture, and trade by securing from the kings extensive rights of selfadministration and governance. The second volume, "Nationality Development of Cities in Slovakia to the Year 1918," is a collection of essays arranged according to the three thematic sections of the book: ''Nationality Development in Zilina"; "Nationality Development in the Towns of Slovakia''; and ''Nationality Development in Czech and Moravian Towns in the Middle Ages." However, despite the title, all but four of the sixteen studies treat the medieval and early modern periods. In the first section Marsina himself analyzes the privileges given to the Slovaks in Zilina in 1381; Julius Sopko attempts to identify the various individuals who made entries into the city record book of Zilina; Izidor Kotulic evaluates the language of the Zilina record book and other historical documents in Slovak; and Rudolf Kuchar examines the family names which appear in the Zilina record book. The studies of Peter Stansky on the structuring of nationalities in Zilina up to 1918 and of Pavol Hapak on the economic life and workers movement in Zilina during the last half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries conclude the section devoted specifically to the history of Zilina. In the second section Ferdinand Ulicny investigates the national groupings within the medieval cities of Slovakia; Jan Dorul'a examines the use of Slovak in the cities between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries; Anton Spiesz provides an analysis of Slovak artisan activity during the so-called later feudal period, the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries; and Jozef Vozaf evaluates the relationship between ethnic groups in the so-called montana or mining cities of central Slovakia during the same era. Ivan Chalupecky provides an analysis of ethnic relationships in the towns of Spis county for the century between 1550 to 1650, and Jana Skladana examines the oldest city books in Banovec nad Bebravou, dating from the sixteenth through the early eighteenth �92 SLOVAKIA centuries. Milan Podrimavsky concludes this section with an examination of the cities in Slovakia during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries . The third section is made up of just three essays: Frantisek Smahel's review of findings and perspectives of the research into ethnic relationships in Bohemian cities during the Late Middle Ages (thirteenth to fifteenth centuries); Ludmila Sulitkova's investigation of the ethnic relationships in the Moravian cities, especially the royal cities, during the Late Middle Ages; and Josef Zemlicka' s essay on the countryside , ethnicity, and the late medieval Bohemian cities. While it is impossible to examine these essays individually, it should be noted that not only do they reveal how much urban studies have come to dominate Slovak late medieval/early modern history research , but also the complexities of ethnic relationships in Slovakia during the same era. Slovaks took an active, if not always an appreciated, role in the life of the cities of Slovakia during the Middle Ages and were, especially but not merely in the smaller towns , significant in their economic and political life. It is to be hoped that these volumes will encourage American scholars to become much more active in more fully investigating late medieval and early modern Slovak history. Juraj Zudel. Stolice na Slovensku. Bratislava: Obzor, 1984. 200 pp. R. VLADIMIR BAUMGARTEN Tallahassee , Florida This book was written to provide a generaLhistory of the counties of Slovakia until 1849, when a modern centralized administration was imposed by Imperial decree in the so-called "Bach era". It may consequently be subtitled "Patterns of Feudalism''. Zudel summarizes characteristics common to all the Slovak districts, and then depicts both individual and regional peculiarities. The main theme is an analysis of the evolution of the counties under the feudal order. In the introductory section, Zudel points out that originally individual Slovak counties had �SLOVAKIA 93 their own codes of law, but in all cases , in greater or lesser measure, these were eventually supplanted by more centralized government. Particular mention is made of the efforts of the Habsburgs, especially in the case of the Josephine reforms of the eighteenth century, to provide a uniform code of law for Hungary. These endeavors were only partially successful, and many of them were undone following the death of the King-Emperor in 1790 . Only in the aftermath of the 1848 revolution was it possible for enduring institutions of modern government to be established. Zudel points out that the 1848 experience may be characterized as a ''conflict of popular sovereignty''. The Hungarian reyolutionary leader Lajos Kossuth sought to protect the jealously-guarded privileges of individual counties, while at the same time using them as instruments of Magyarization in Upper Hungary. By contrast, the more conservative Hungarian reformer Istvan Szechenyi considered the county structure as antiquated, yet he opposed forced Magyarization. The archival sources consulted by the author are listed at the end of the introductory section, and a more general bibliography is included at the conclusion of the text. Zudel's introduction is followed by a survey of each individual county. These surveys include a summary of the territorial boundaries of each administration, the patterns of settlement and habitation , agricultural conditions, and cultural traditions . In cases where a county has been inhabited by more than one ethnic group, an additional section concerning ethnic relations is added . Although Zudel's presentation summarizes the counties in alphabetical order, any attempts at comparison and contrast are best served by examining the counties from a regional perspective. Two of the counties - Bratislava and Abauj - contained Slovakia's major metropolitan centers . In the case of the western county Bratislava, Zudel stresses its strategic location at the point where the Morava and Danube rivers converge. This location guaranteed that Bratislava was affected by the Hussite invasion. The author also mentions the presence of a Croatian element since the time of the Turkish wars. In the case of Abauj, which contains the eastern metropolis, Zudel indicates that the city of Kosice �94 SLOVAKIA was noteworthy for its traditionally oligarchical form of government. The southern Slovak counties of Gerner, Hant , Komarno , and Novohrad had the common denominators of all being ethnically mixed areas, plus serving as frontier zones in the HabsburgOttoman wars. Much the same treatment is accorded to Ostrihom, although the author also cites the latter for its significance in the Catholic Counterreformation. In the case of northern counties the author mentions that Liptov had lingering anti-feudal traditions, and also served as a stronghold for Slovak nationalism. Orava, in spite of its close geographic proximity to Liptov, evolved in the more traditional feudal pattern. Among central counties Nitra is particularly noted for having had a state organization which pre-dated the kingdom of Hungary; Tekov and Trencin are treated in a similar manner. In the case of the latter, Zudel also mentions the importance of the city of Zilina as a center of Slovak trade with the Czech lands, Silesia, and Prussia. Zvolen is noteworthy for its strategic location in defense of the fertile lowlands of southern Slovakia; the author also· mentions the influence of the Czech immigration following the Thirty Years War. Turiec is especially noted for having separated itself from Rakoczi's rising in the early eighteenth century . The author might have given this event more than passing treatment had he chosen to do so . The eastern counties of Slovakia present some of the most noteworthy peculiarities of all. Mention is made of the fact that the Hungarian king Sigismund mortgaged certain cities of Spis to Poland in the fifteenth century; they were returned to Hungary in the eighteenth. In spite of the fact that Saris was a major focal point for the Magyarization campaign, Zudel points out that the native Slovak nobility played a prominent role in public life. In the case of Zemplin county , the author mentions that the nobles long maintained a sense of autonomy , and consequently supported the Transylvanian rebels in the latter's struggle against the Habsburgs . Zudel also briefly summarizes the history of less " traditional" Slovak countries . After World War II much of the territory of Uz �SLOVAKIA 95 county was transferred to the Ukrainian S.S.R., and the population of the area is today classified as Ukrainian. Zudel, however, mentions the role of the Slovak element in siding with the Hungarian nobles against their Habsburg kings. Turn.a is treated as an extension of Abauj county (with which it was long affiliated) , although the influence of political patterns emanating from Gerner is also mentioned. In his concluding chapter Zudel summarizes administrative realignments dating from Bach's regime in the 1850s. Since the terms stolica and zupa are often used interchangeably, the author makes a distinction here between velzupa , containing more than one stolica, and zupa, constituting a single district. This distinction is an important one, and the author would hav~ served his readers better by mentioning it in the earlier portion of the text. Although the text conveys the ideological spirit common to contemporary Czechoslovakia, the historical facts are presented in a straightforward manner. Zudel points out that contemporary Hungarian Marxist historiography is more favorably disposed towards Slovak demographic claims in Upper Hungary, and he makes liberal use of Hungarian source materials. The major weakness of the book lies less in what is said than in what remains unsaid. In reference to Abauj county, Zudel cites the Mongol invasion as a determining factor in population distribution; he fails to mention that Kosice was temporarily transferred to the jurisdiction of Transylvania by the Treaty of Linz in 1645. One especially glaring contradiction is found in the case of Saris. The author mentions a "pestilental epidemic" in the eighteenth century, but no mention is made of the cholera epidemic which convulsed Saris and other eastern Slovak counties in 1831. Since the latter event was accompanied by a peasant rising which greatly undermined feudal society, the omission is a particularly serious one . For the student who is already well-grounded in Slovak history , Stolice presents little that is original. But is serves as an adequate text within the limits which have been mentioned , and is especially useful as a reference guide to the individual districts . �96 SLOVAKIA Tvorcovia noveho Slovenska/ The Shaping of Modern Slovakia. Festschrift to the Seventieth Birthday of Dr. Joseph A. Mikus . Edited by Joseph Stasko. Cambridge, Canada: Friends of Good Books, 1982 . xv . 271 pp . GEORGE VIRSIK Monash University Clayton, Australia This collection of articles by Imrich Kruzliak, Joseph Stasko , Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Frantisek Vnuk, and the celebrant can be looked upon from two different perspectives . The first is readily apparent . Kruzliak's interpretive account of Slovak history from 1918 to 1948; Stasko's soul-searching reflections on the meaning of the Slovak national heritage; Kirschbaum's examination of Slovak student organizations and their aims in the interwar period; and Vnuk's analysis of Slovak diplomacy before the Salzburg event of 1940 all have one common denominator: either the role played by, or the contemporary views held by , Joseph A. Mikus. Mikus's own article , "The International System in Transition,'' is a study of the moral and legal principles underlying the pre~ent system of (soverign or not) states and nations , as well as an application and projection into the future of his own ideas, summarized by the view that "not territorially defined states , particularly multinational structures or empires, but nations in the ethnic and cultural sense are the real members of the international community.'' The other perspective becomes more apparent only after one has finished reading the book. With the exception of Vnuk, the authors have all by now reached, or almost reached , their seventieth birthdays. They are all well-known emigre writers ; political commentators, and interpreters of the Slovak cultural heritage . And - again perhaps with the exception of Vnuk - all the contributions are representative of the particular author's " Slovak creed .' ' They read as a personal legacy to the generation to follow. No Slovak intellectual of the younger generation can afford to ignore what they have to say. Politically and territorially, of course, there is only one Slovakia. But spiritually and culturally there is �SLOVAKIA 97 also an alternative Slovakia, a Slovakia that many of us in the West (as well as some non-conformists in Slovakia) are proud to belong to , a Slovakia that would be unthinkable without its pioneers, and now seniors, like Mikus and Stasko, Kirschbaum, and Kruzliak. Thus it seems to me that - at least from the point of view of the new generation - the title of the book should have been something like " The Shape of a Slovakia We are Inheriting," meaning the spiritual and cultural shape of unofficial Slovakia forced to ''live in exile.'' To summarize: If one cannot read Slovak, it might be preferable to obtain just a reprint of Mikus' s English article rather than buy the whole book. But if one can read Slovak and is interested in Slovak matters, this book is a must. Slovak Politics: Essays on Slovak History in honour of Joseph M . Kirschbaum. Edited by Stanislav J. Kirschbaum. ClevelandRome: Slovak Institute, 1983. xviii, 381 pp. GEORGE VIRSIK Monash University Clayton , Australia This Festschrift dedicated to Joseph M. Kirschbaum offers nine articles on various political themes from Slovak history ranging from 1882 to about 1948 . It includes a brief appraisal of the celebrant's life and his contribution to Slovak politics by Charles Murin and a " select bibliography" of Kirschbaum 's publications written in exile. In the first article Edita Bosak deals with Czech-Slovak relations from 1882 to 1914, focusing on the student organization Detvan in Prague. Bosak sees Detvan "as a springboard and nursery for the young Slovak inteligentsia" as opposed to the "conservative Martin leadership ." Although she admits that "the amount of co-operation between Detvan and the Czechs was limited,'' she recognizes the resulting journal Hlas as "progressive," giving "wide distribution to many of the ideas that the students had already worked out in the debates in Detvan, �98 SLOVAKIA especially the idea of Czech-Slovak reciprocity." A comprehensive and unbiased study of Milan Hodza and his original political thinking (contrasted by his often controversial political associations that ended so sadly) is still missing from Slovak political literature . The article by Susan Mikula comes a long way toward such a study, but unfortunately it does not go beyond the year 1914. Still, her account of Hodza's Belvedere orientation and his attitude toward Magyars and Czechs seems to support those political thinkers who see him as the harbinger of contemporary Slovak aspirations toward Central European, or Danubian, Confederation. The contribution by Manfred Alexander is based on a study of the reports from the German Mission in Prague to the Foreign Office of the German Reich from 1918 to 1921. It contains over fifty pages of original documents related to Slovakia, published for the first time. Somehow, the documents make more interesting reading then the article itself. At least in one place the author's conclusions are hard to follow: It is true that Document 13 illustrates in many details the fact that Czech anti-clericalism was at the core of early Czech-Slovak frictions; and that it was the Catholic priests in Slovakia who raised the alarm, and often overreacted. But it seems to be a rather sweeping statement to claim that this is ',!valuable information indicating that the efforts made by the Slovak people to obtain autonomy did not originate spontaneously but were stirred up through agitation.'' Stanislav J. Kirschbaum's study of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party should certainly be read in conjunction with the German documents referred to above, especially by a non-specialist. It throws light on some points raised in the preceding article, and its systematic and more detached account well complements the subjectiveness and immediacy of the documents. The constitution of the Slovak Republic is analyzed by Karin Schmid. She comes to some mixed conclusions, perhaps best expressed in her own words: "If we consider every aspect of the Slovak Constitution - especially the role of the party on one hand, and on the other the control of the government by Parliament (although Parliament itself, in turn, was composed of only one party) - a comparison with what is known as 'socialist democracy' �SLOVAKIA 99 suggests itself. It is tempting, on the model of this concept, to coin the term 'fascist democracy.' However, if we wish to avoid jargon and if we bear in mind that fascism completely rejects the concept of democracy, then the Slovak system can be best described as an authoritarian system with rather surprising democratic features." Lisa Guarda Nardini examines President Tiso's political program. The person of Dr. Jozef Tiso, more so than the Slovak Republic as such, symbolizes the Slovak tragedy during and after World War II: After forty years, most Slovaks are by now resigned to the fact that, given all the circumstances, there was not much chance for the six years of the Slovak Republic to end' differently. But only a few will maintain that Dr. Tiso did not deserve a better fate, a fairer treatment and trial, and less prejudice connected with his place in Slovak history. The article and its discerningly apologetic tone have to be seen in this light. To a certain extent, the same atmosphere permeates the next article on the foreign policy of the Slovak Republic by Milan S. Durica. Of special interest is the section on relations with the Holy See. Durica does not hesitate to state explicitly that "the sharpest dispute between the Slovak Government and the Vatican arose over the Jewish question." Stanislav J. Kirschbaum tackles the extremely complicated and controversial Slovak revolt of 1944. He points out two options that the Slovaks faced by the end of World War II. The first was "to remain true to their state" not excluding "the taking of whatever means were necessary, including changing the regime and the political system'' and hoping that ''the victorious powers would realize that independence was indeed what the nation desired.'' The second option was to return to the Czechoslovak Republic. He is realistic enought to admit that the first option called for an acute sense of timing, exceptional diplomacy, faith on the part of people, and above all capable leadership at the top. But even given the second option, Kirschbaum observes that ''had Benes not been so prejudiced against the Slovaks, but rather had taken into account the evolution of the Slovak nation ... much of the tragedy that befell the Slovak people from 1944 on might have been avoided.'' �100 SLOVAKIA Frantisek Vnuk elaborates on this theme in his article on Slovak-Czech relations between 1945 and 1948. It describes the situation and events in Slovakia prior to February 1948, and it makes very sad reading. As one has come to expect from Vnuk, it is thoroughly documented. But it is also concise and comprehensive enough to be recommended to all - notably younger generation Slovaks, but also Czechs - who wish to understand the reasons behind Slovak resentments and political distrust of their Czech neighbors . In this reviewer's opinion, there is an increasing need for a comprehensive, critical study of Slovak political history from 1918 to 1968 written by a younger generation of scholars free of the compulsion either to fit that story into prescribed ideological frames or to justify a posteriori one's own role or moral position. The publication under review has perhaps so far come closest to fulfilling that need. Frantisek Vnuk. Zivotopis Konstantina Culena. Cleveland: Slovak Institute , 1984. 247 pp. OWEN V. JOHNSON Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana For several years I have been trying to persuade several important Slovak figures representing different political persuasions to write their memoirs, to give us an intimate perspective on their youth, their education, and the development of their careers. Each of the three has resisted , perhaps fearing that to write memoirs means to declare one's public life to be over. This is unfortunate because when I have stumbled onto memoir material , such as a dozen unpublished essays by as many interwar and wartime Slovak journalists, they have been a rich mine of information that their authors could never have realized would be so important. Other than oral interviews, the second best source of personal information is the biography . From that perspective, this book about Konstantin Culen is to be welcomed. Published with the �SLOVAKIA 101 support of Slovak-American activist Jan Beliansky a dozen years after completion of the manuscript, it traces the career of the headstrong Slovak publicist, amateur historian, diplomat, government official and emigre journalist. The author draws on his twenty-year correspondence with Culen, Culen's autobiographical "Posedenia," published in the early 1960s, and 15 short chapters that were parts of Culen's various unsuccessful efforts to write an autobiography. Vnuk makes no claim that this is a careful , complete, or scholarly biography. Nor does he promise any neutral and objective point-of-view, stating in the opening pages his respect and admiration for Culen. Vnuk asserts that the heart of the work is the la.s t section which describes Culen's work in exile - because it is the period he knows best. The historian will disagree. It is the first part (describing his youth and education) and to a lesser degree the second part (describing his twenty-year career in Slovakia) that more effectively transport the reader into the life of the periods they describe. This is so because it is precisely for those periods that Culen provided more of his own testimony about his life and times. We are reminded, for instance, that even though their eventual political views became quite different , many members of the Slovak intelligentsia initially were good friends of each other. Among Culen's early friends were such a diverse group as Vladimir Clementis, Julius Sefranek, Jan Golian, Ferdinand Jurgia, and Florian Tomanek. There are several references, too, to how important connections - Slovak or Czech - were in finding gainful employment. Particularly interesting is Vnuk's description of Culen's short career as a writer and reporter for Slovak, the daily Hlinkist organ. As with other institutions of the Slovak People 's Party, the newspaper staff reflected the splits among the different wings of the party. Eventually the splits led to Culen's dismissal from the staff. It foreshadowed his later ouster from the Slovak Government in July , 1940. The tragedy of Culen is that these divisions continued in emigration, and because he continued to be first and foremost a publicist, he became their victim. Despite a decade of service to �102 SLOVAKIA the Slovak press in North America, he was eventually forced out of all fulltime work in that area. During the last few years, Vnuk reports , Culen struggled to find gainful employment, eventually winding up as superintendent of a Brooklyn apartment house. He died in 1964. Miroslav Kropilak a kolektiv. Dejiny Slovenska V {1918-1945). Bratislava: Veda , 1985 . 612 pp. JAMES R. FELAK Bloomington, Indiana It would be hard to find a quarter century in Slovak history more eventful than the period from 1918 to 1945 . These years saw the creation, destruction , and re-creation of the Czechoslovak Republic , the emergence and disappearance of an independent Slovak state , a great economic crisis , and a world war. In this fifth volume of the new Dejiny Slovenska, a team of Slovak Marxist scholars provides the most extensive and detailed discussion of this period available in any language. Dejiny Slovenska Vis composed of two parts. The first covers Slovakia within the interwar Czechoslovak Republic; the second deals with the Slovak state and World War II. Each part is divided into chronologically based chapters, which in turn contain subchapters on themes like politics, foreign affairs , economics, social unrest, and developments within the Communist Party. In analyzing the interwar period, the authors focus on the so-called Slovak Question, that is , the place of Slovakia and the Slovak nation in a Czechoslovak state. This question involves a complex of political, economic , social , and cultural factors that gave rise to tensions between Slovaks and Czechs. The Czechoslovak government's failure to ease these tensions contributed mightily to the shape that the First Republic's demise took in 1938-39. In discussing this failure , the authors contend that only the Communist Party was capable of solving the problems that caused social and national dissatisfaction in Slovakia. The authors consider Slovak discontent as essentially a product of the ''bourgeois-democratic , capitalist system'' of the First �SLOVAKIA 103 Republic, with the Czech bourgeoisie as the main perpetrators of this discontent. This ruling class is accused of economically exploiting Slovakia, repressing manifestations of Slovak dissatisfaction, and ruling the country on the basis of centralism, with a complete disregard for Slovakia's special conditions and problems . To help rule Slovakia, this " ruling Czech bourgeoisie " fostered the idea of Czechoslovakism, that is, the notion that the Slovaks were not a distinct nation but rather members of a Czechdominated "Czechoslovak" nation. The authors sharply criticize Czechoslovakism, which they see as a reactionary ideology serving only to fan the flames of Slovak nationalism and to hamper Czechoslovak state unity in the face of the external threats of the 1930s. As allies of the ''ruling Czech bourgeoisie,' ' the so-called centralist parties in Slovakia, above all the Social Democrats and the Agrarians , come under attack in this volume. The Social Democrats are strongly criticized for their so-called reformist approach to Slovakia's social and economic ills , for placing the interests of the state ahead of the interests of the working class , and for staunchly supporting centralism and Czechoslovakism. The Agrarians are reproached for similar reasons, including an economic policy that favored the rural middle class of the expense of the working class and poorer peasants. The authors indeed point out that many Slovak Agrarians were lukewarm in their support for centralism and Czechoslovakism and tried to advance Slovakia's interests under the guise of "silent revision of centralism" or "regionalism." Nevertheless, the authors believe that by failing to distance themselves effectively from Prague and to solve Slovakia's economic problems, the centralist parties drove many Slovaks into the camp of Hlinka 's Slovak People 's Party (HSPP or L'udaks). The authors do not condemn the HSPP for its autonomist program and political opposition, but rather for " catering to the reactionary classes" at home and seeking ties with Czechoslovakia's enemies abroad. In their Marxist interpretation, the authors see the HSPP as the representative of those bourgeois elements that were dissatisfied with their political and economic position in Czechoslovakia. The fact that the HSPP had broad popular appeal �104 SLOVAKIA cutting across class boundaries is explained by the party's ability to exploit Slovakia's economic ills and national discontent demagogically in order to win votes. Although the authors condemn the HSPP's leadership, they are more lenient toward its rankand-file, whom they characterize as justly disaffected by the social and national situation in Slovakia but misled by L'udak propaganda. If the L'udaks were too reactionary to solve the Slovak Question, and the centralist parties too reformist and ''Czechoslovak,'' the Communist Party alone , according to this work, possessed the correct formula. In the authors' interpretation, the Communist Party was committed both to the distinctiveness of the Slovak nation and the integrity of the Czechoslovak state, which, after a socialist revolution and installation of a dictatorship of the proletariat, was to be set up on the basis of national equality and mutual respect between the Czech and Slovak nations. The party did not hold this position consistently from 1918 to 1945, but did take this stance during the Slovak National Uprising. The book depicts, although somewhat opaquely, the shifts in the party's nationality policy in the period under discussion and presents the party's position during the Uprising not as a mere tactical move but rather as the culmination of twenty-five years of Communist thinking al}d experience regarding the Slovak Question. Although the portrayal of the Communist Party in this volume is overwhelmingly positive , there is some criticism, especially of party centralism. The authors clearly side with those Slovak Communists, above all the Davists, who preferred a party that was more responsive to Slovak conditions to one that rigidly applied directives from the leadership in Prague. While centralism and "dogmatism" may be reproached, however, the authors never question the Communist Party's fundamental goals. The second part of this work deals with the Slovak state and World War II. This period is presented dichotomously. On the negative side is the Slovak state. Although the authors deem it "an acceptable alternative for the majority of the Slovak population in 1939-1941 from the constitutional point of view," they portray its L'udak leaders as fascists and opportunists, tools of German imperalism who tried but ultimately failed to win over the �SLOVAKIA 105 Slovak population via social demagoguery and exaggerated nationalism. On the positive side is the Slovak resistance movement, manifested above all in the Slovak National Uprising. According to the authors, the Uprising represented the progressive majority of the Slovak population. They claim that the Uprising was never defeated politically or militarily, but rather won out as the first stage of a democratic and national revolution in Slovakia. Although the authors acknowledge the role played by nonCommunists in the Slovak resistance, they repeatedly assert that Communist influence was paramount. The party gets credit forsuccessfully helping bring down the L'udak regime while at the same time resisting efforts of the Benes government in London to restore the pre-Munich Republic on its old sociopolitical bases. Not surprisingly, the authors also credit the Soviet Union with greatly assisting the Uprising. The authors have considerable sympathy for the selfdetermination of the Slovak nation, as their condemnation of centralism and Czechoslovakism attests . However , when this sympathy comes into conflict with their orthodox Marxist-Leninst line, the latter wins out. For example, the occupation of Slovakia by Bela Kun's army in 1919 is portrayed as a totally positive event for the Slovak population, and any suggestions that they may have constituted a restoration of Hungarian rule over the Slovaks are dismissed as myth. To the volume's credit, it provides an informative survey of social and economic developments in Slovakia. In addition, it devotes much attention to cultural history, including discussions of the growth of Slovak education, literature, art, and even film and radio. It also treats the cultural affairs of Slovakia's German , Magyar, and Ukrainian minorities. On the debit side, there is very little biographical information offered regarding the key figures in Slovak political life , the subchapters on diplomatic developments are completely and unequivocally pro-Soviet, and several important Western publications are absent from the relatively lengthly bibliography. As a comprehensive survey of some of the most crucial years in Slovak history, this installment of Dejiny Slovenska should interest all scholars of twentieth-century Slovak history . Not only �106 SLOVAKIA is it a source of much information, but it also presents the most up-to-date official view on controversial issues such as the Slovak Question, the Slovak state, and the Slovak National Uprising. Yeshayahu A. Jelinek. The Lust for Power: Nationalism, Slovakia, and the Communists, 1918-1948. "East European Monographs, No. CXXX. " Boulder, CO: East European Monographs , 1983. xi , 185 pp. Distributed by Columbia University Press. ROBERT K. EVANSON University of Missouri-Kansas City Kansas City, Missouri Students of Slovak history are greatly indebted to Yeshayahu Jelinek for his painstaking dissection of the response of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC) to ''the Slovak Question'' during the 1918-1948 period. Jelinek trudges admirably through the bewildering zigs and zags and general confusion of Communist nationality policies during the First, Second, and Third Czechoslovak Republics and the wartime Slovak Republic. It is well known that the political tasks of Czechoslovak Communism have often been complicated by the subjection of the KSC to Soviet supervision and interference. Slovak Communists faced an even tougher road in their efforts to expand their base of popular support within Slovakia, in part because their mentors in Prague were even more overbearing and less sensitive to Slovak national aspirations than were the Soviets. Czech Communist leaders tended to view Slovak nationalism as either an obstacle or a vehicle to their achievement of pow~r in Prague, depending on the moment. Their lack of understanding or respect for Slovak feelings was, of course, (ypical of Czech politicians of almost all ideological stripes. Not that Slovak Communists possessed any clear idea of how to handle the national question. Pulled in different directions by nationalist feelings and a desire to win popular support on the one hand , and by loyalty to the KSC and Moscow on the other, they adopted an array of "solutions" which were, as Jelinek notes, testimony to the failure of Communist ideology to address effec- �SLOVAKIA 107 tively the nationalist phenomenon. Different Slovak Communist spokesmen variously proposed the creation of a Slovak-Hungarian Soviet Republic, incorporation of Slovakia into the Soviet Union, complete independence, autonomous federative status within a unified Czechoslovakia, equality without autonomy , and extreme centralization under Prague 's control. Jelinek 's discussion provides essential background reading to Czech-Slovak tensions since 1948, including the tragic persecution of Slovak Communists during the 1950s and the renewal of Slovak demands for genuine federalism during the 1960s. Nationalism has been ·'a powerful force in Slovak Communism throughout the history of Czechoslovakia, and there is little reason to believe that the current quasi-federal formula will permanently sweep the issue of Slovak-Czech relations under the rug. Despite Jelinek 's yeoman service in delineating these matters , the book contains a number of typographical and some factual errors that should have been caught by the editor. Rudolf Slansky, for example, is twice identified as "Josef Slansky" (pp. 36, 72); and Viliam Siroky seems to be identified as a Czech - the language is ambiguous - on p . 40 , although later on he is characterized correctly as a Magyarized Slovak. On a more general level , this reviewer has two criticisms, one minor and one major. The period and events described by Jelinek are so complex that he could have helped the reader by more often stepping back to address the confusion and reorder the facts in summary form. Whenever such a broad overview is absent, the narrative unavoidably gets bogged down in the myraid of individuals, factions , and endless changes in party line that defined Communist nationality policies during the thirty years in question. When the author chooses to summarize , as in his excellent passage on the war years (pp. 40-41) and in his fine concluding chapter, the reader is greatly enlightened . More serious is Jelinek's tendency to lump all Communists together in his insistence that they regard nationalism as " a mere tool to achieve [power] " (p . 1). This is the author 's major thesis , but his book's evidence suggests rather that many Communists were confused about the Slovak issue and failed to reach a consensus about nationality policies . While Czech centralizers were �108 SLOVAKIA inclined to be cynical or fearful of Slovak nationalism, many Slovaks were genuine nationalists who took considerable risks to advocate their people's cause. Jelinek explicitly recognizes this fact on several occasions, as in his fascinating discussion of Communist cooperation with the rightwing L'udaks, and in his description of the Slovak National Uprising, neither of which can be regarded as a mere power tactic. The author's general thesis, therefore, is at odds with his narrative. Nonetheless, this book is a valuable and original contribution to the study of Slovak Communism. M. Mark Stolarik. Growing Up on the South Side: Three Generations of Slovaks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1880-1976. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press, 1985. 147 pp. JUNE GRANATIR ALEXANDER The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio In the preface to this work, M . Mark Stolarik states "that it is the responsibility of professional historians to also write the histories of particular ethnic groups for those groups'' and warns his readers that Growing Up on the South Side was written "only incidentally for fellow academics" (p. 13). Indeed, his research was partially supported by funds bequeathed for the purpose of writing a history of Bethlehem Slovaks for Bethlehem Slovaks. Growing Up on the South Side is too brief to offer an in-depth analysis of the Bethlehem Slovak population over a lengthy ninetysix-year period. Still, Stolarik touches upon important aspects of the history of that ethnic communtiy . He relies extensively on material generated by the Slovak community: fraternal and church records and publications, newspapers, and short histories written by Slovaks . He skillfully blends these sources with oral interviews with second- and third-generation Slovaks. Stolarik overlooks, however , the newspapers Narodne noviny and, with one minor exception, Slovensky hlasnik. His bibliography is somewhat dated because he does not cite relevant works, including his own, published after 1981. �SLOVAKIA 109 Although the author does not burden his narrative with statistics, tables, or theories , he generally succeeds in achieving his objective of writing for a more general , rather than an academic audience . On several occasions, either in the narrative or footnotes , he corrects factual errors that apparently heretofore have been accepted by Bethlehem Slovaks . However, by trying to avoid becoming bogged down in scholarly analysis , Stolarik, at times, forgets his responsibility to the general public as a professional historian. Indeed , he misses opportunities to use his scholarly expertise to investigate the veracity of some popularly-held beliefs or attitudes and is not always careful to use solid evidence to support some generalizations. For example , Stolarik rather nonchalantly refers to "the Irish police" as stopping fights at Slovak weddings (p. 82) . Were all the policemen in Bethlehem Irish , or were only Irish policemen sent to quiet down rowdy Slovak celebrations? Here statistics and footnotes are needed. Stolarik's nice composite picture of Slovak fraternal meetings drawn from the minutes of different lodges includes the suggestion that women disrupted meetings when they attended in their husbands' stead. This was a popular view held by Slovak males who opposed accepting females into lodges in the early twentieth century. How " often" did women actually delay meetings? Stolarik observes that secular lodges opened with the presidents warning '' all in attendance to behave themselves" (p . 40) . This presumably included both men and women present. Can women, then , be singled out as a particular problem? In both instances just cited , Stolarik's descriptions may be accurate, but statements by a professional historian that confirm ethnic and sexual stereotypes in the minds of a general audience require more concrete, explicit evidence . At times , Stolarik is also confusing because his discussion is too brief. For example , he relates that several factors gave rise to a large number of Slovak lodges in Bethlehem. Some lodges were formed on the basis of geographic origins, while the membership of others , he explains, reflected social standing in the Slovak community. Does this mean that Slovaks who joined the same lodge as fellow villagers but then subsequently attained a different social status in the community switched lodges? If this was the case, it has strong implications for further exploring the emergence �110 SLOVAKIA of class divisions within ethnic communities. The discussion of female occupations should also be expanded and clarified . It is not clear if the second- and third-generation working women he discusses (pp. 113, 115-17) were married or single . Did married women routinely work outside of the home? Such clarifications would have enhanced his discussion of the acculturation process among American-Slovaks. Also, since formal affiliation of the Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Church (founded in 1902) with the Missouri Synod did not occur until 1908, Stolarik's passing reference to 1902 as the date when Slovak Lutherans affiliated with that conservative body can create confusion. Finally, some Bethlehem Slovaks as well as scholars will surely disagree with some of Stolarik's generalizations about the Slovak experience in general and the Bethlehem experience in particular. Although Stolarik was concerned primarily with writing a history for Bethlehem Slovaks, his work does touch on issues of interest to professional scholars. His discussions of politics and social mobility support those scholars who suggest that social mobility in America can be gauged on different levels. While some Slovaks did not achieve social prominence in American society, they did achieve such prominence within their own ethnic community. His analysis of politics offers some insight into how immigrants dealt with, adjusted to, and influenced America's political structure. Overall, the author remains faithful to his objective of writing a history for Bethlehem Slovaks. In doing so, he avoids the trappings of filiopietism often evident in such ethnic histories. While careful not to offend their descendants, Stolarik, on occasion, provides critical judgments of individuals. Additionally, while he clearly regrets the ongoing demise of Slovak culture and the waning of ethnic identity that has taken place among Bethlehem Slovaks, he does not reduce his study to one of "Slovak contributions" and a celebration of Slovak culture in a propagan distic effort to stir ethnocentrism among second- and thirdgeneration Slovaks. Thus, w hile scholars will likely agree with Stolarik's own assessment that " traditional concerns of historians" generally remain beyond the scope of Growing Up on the South Side , Bethlehem Slovaks will find that Stolarik has done what he set out to do: write a readable English-language history for them. �SLOVAKIA 111 Ferenc Feher and Agnes Heller Hungary 1956 Revisited: The Message of a Revolution - A Quarter of a Century After. London: George Allen & Unwin , 1983 . xviii, 174 pp. PETER R. HRUBY Western Australian Institute of Technology Bentley, Australia The authors of this book left Hungary in 1977. Since then they have published a remarkable series of books, especially (together with George Markus) Dictatorship over Needs: A Study of Soviet Societies, also in 1983 . The present volume is a well written and passionately argued attempt to interpret the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 from a leftist and socialist radical point of view. The authors' thesis on the revolution is divided into two parts: its impact on the world, and on Hungary. There is hardly any doubt that the revolution was felt all over the world. Equally correct is the writers' conviction that because no substantial help was offered to the revolutionaries from the West , "the result was a major loss of face for the Western powers, a second moral Munich" (p. 15) . More questionable is their often repeated affirmation that the Hungarians rebelled equally against the Soviets as against the West, because during World War II the latter allowed Central and Eastern Europe to be incorporated into the Soviet sphere of influence. Only Istvan Bib6 and his " Draft of a compromise solution of the Hungarian question'' can be quoted in support of such a surprising assertion. Sure enough, most Central and East Europeans did not like the overwhelming Soviets interest and the shocking Western lack of interest in their fate and territories, but it is stretching the point to claim that ''the Hungarian revolution was a revolt against all signatories of the Yalta and Potsdam agreements" (p. 16) . Feher and Heller are on safer grounds when they assert that in 1956 the Americans lost a great opportunity by not offering to the Soviets a compromise by which Hungary would have been granted neutrality and the Soviet Union an end to the Cold War. The Soviet leaders were for a few crucial days divided about how to deal with the crisis, and the authors believe that the Soviets would have considered such an offer. �112 SLOVAKIA There follows a good discussion of "national communism, " and in this context Yugoslav leaders are blamed for their opportunist attitude toward the Hungarian revolution. Western Communist parties lost many members, fellow-travellers, and prestige in the process: "The events of October 1956 [sounded] the deathknell of the Popular Front policy" (p. 44). In their review of other East European Communist parties' reaction to the revolution, the writers express their support for "the idea of a confederation between the free nations of the region" (p. 62). In the second part of the book the authors stress the lack of democratic and liberal traditions in their native country. Several times they point out that only in Czechoslovakia was there a successful marriage of nationalism with such progressive tendencies. Although they believe that after both the First and Second World Wars Hungary was treated too harshly by the victors, they contend that only during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was a democratic, liberal, and socialist model being created in their country. One of the major points of the message should be seen in that historical development. Ferenc Feher and Agnes Heller would also like their readers to believe that after a long series of failed heroes of Hungarian history Imre Nagy should be accepted as a genuine hero , "forger, arbiter , martyr and symbol of a murdered revolution" (pp . 15 7-8). What fascinated this reviewers most was the obvious learning process experienced by extreme leftist radicals about the real substance of 'Soviet Commu nism and of its betrayal of the working people. The authors castigate not only Lenin, Trotsky , and Stalin, but also Deutscher and Sartre , among others, for trusting professional revolutionaries and manipulators more than the masses. From the authors ' arguments it is also clear that they themselves had to be transformed from typical radical intellectuals' positions of misuse of the wage earners to admiration for their democratic and pluralist hopes . They admit that only several years after the revolution were some of the w ishes and actions of the Hungarian people understood and accepted by them (e.g ., p . 92). The last pages of the volume are devoted to an excellent analysis of Kadarism and of the modernized sophisticated terror which is also well known in Czechoslovakia. �SLOVAKIA 113 Slovak readers will find occasional reference to Hungarian "bereft territories" (p. 149) and of the Hungarians expelled from Slovakia (pp. 50 -51). They might wonder who are the "Slovakians" (p . 51). Of much greater interest is the insight into the way leftist radical socialists inside of Hungary view the past and the future and what can be expected from them and their nation . Jozef Ciger-Hronsky. Jozef Mak. Translated by Andrew Cincura. Afterword by Peter Petro. Columbus: Slavica, 1984. 232 pp. WILLIAM E. HARKINS Columbia University New York, New York This volume is the first in a series of works of Slovak literature slated to be published by Slavica Publishers in Columbus, Ohio. Currently projected for publication are volumes by Hugolin Gavlovic and Bozena Timrava, as well as a volume of folk ballads. The project represents a notable break-through for the cause of Slovak literature in translation in this country . Jozef Ciger (1894-1960), who published under the pseudonym of Hronsky, is one of the great writers of Modern Slovak Literature, one comparatively neglected , presumably for ideological reasons. A village school teacher , Hronsky knew the Slovak peasants as perhaps no other Slovak writer did; in particular, he understood the mysticism of the peasantry and portrayed it in his works : During World War II he supported the nationalistic Tiso regime , and in 1945 emigrated to Argentina. Under the new Czechoslovak republic he was never mentioned, not to say published, along with a number of other nationalist writers . In 1970 his contemporary, the critic Alexander Matuska , published a monograph devoted to him. Jozef Mak was published in 1933. It is a novel of the Slovak village in the period of Hungarian oppression and the time of emigration to America. Maryarization and Emigration are portrayed as twin perils and twin temptations , for both seem to pro- �114 SLOVAKIA mise political or economic salvation to the poverty-ridden peasantry. The novel represents a unique blend of realism and symbolism, one hardly to be found among contemporary Czech writers, for instance, or even among other Slovak writers. Those aspects of the novel that pertain to individual characters and their fates are more symbolic, while the public and social facets of the story are realistic. The first are richer in metaphors , certainly while the latter are richer in metonyms. The blending of the two strains gave the author considerable difficulty , and it is the private, symbolic novel that is more memorable for the reader . The term "symbolic" is customarily used for fiction in the style of Jozef Mak , but the novel is actually as much mythic as symbolic. (Of course the two styles are closely interrelated.) The leading characters are archetypes who draw much of their being from an idealized metaphorical world close to folklore. Jozef Mak himself is an image of the alienated orphan, denied his inheritance, material as well as spiritual. The novel ends without his having found himself or his true destiny. Jozef Mak is born the illegitimate son of a poor peasant woman, to be ousted from the house and land by his worthless older, legitimate half brother. Still he grows up honest, hard working, and resourceful. He finally marries a crippled woman whom he seduces, a wife who provides a spiritual guide for him throughout his married life . But, exhausted from the weight of burdens, physical and spiritual, his wife Jula dies . Jozef is left alone at the end of the novel to endure and to plot his path through life alone. The wife Jula is certainly one of the great characters in Slovak literature. Her piety and meekness , and her endurance of her husband's deceptions, are entirely believable , as is the aura of spiritual beauty (in spite of physical deformity) with which the author invests her. The author's conception of such a character required great artistic imagination; Mak himself is hardly so successful. Perhaps his position as central character (and also as perceiving subject) in so much of the novel has precluded the writer from developing a firm, coherent image of him. Less sharp are the characters involved, positively or negative- �SLOVAKIA 115 ly , in their nation's political struggle , and it is evident that Hronsky had difficulties with the realistic side of the novel , partly because the struggle in question corresponds to the time of his boyhood, when he hardly could have succeeded in grasping its meaning. Thus the mythic, symbolic , mystical side of the novel is the stronger, and makes a powerful nostalgic imprint on the reader. Pavol Stevcek. Contemporary Slovak Literature . Translated by Ol 'ga Horska. Bratislava: Obzor, 1980. 122 pp. GERALDJ. SABO John Carroll University University Heights , Ohio Contemporary Slovak literature is often an unfamiliar area even to Slavic literary specialists, whereas writings of contemporary Czech authors from the same country are internationally known. Perhaps it is true , as one Slovak specialist in North America has stated , that Slovak literature is a Cinderella among the literatures of Europe that awaits the discovery of her true worth. The study under review is an attempt to dispel some of this unfamiliarity for an English-reading audience. In this book Stevcek discusses twenty-three writers of the post-1945 era. Twenty-one men are presented as poets and writers of prose and children's literature, but only two women are discussed and that in the area of children 's literature. Among the poets are Pavol Horov, Jan Kostra, Ladislav Novomesky, Milan Rufus, Jan Smrek, and Miroslav Valek; among the prose writers are Alfonz Bednar, Peter Jaros , Vladimir Minac, Vincent Sikula, and Frantisek Svantner. The first of six chapters sets the context for appreciating the work of these writers. In describing the development of this modern era in literature Stevcek employs a Marxist interpretation and even discusses briefly the features of literature written according to such a viewpoint. (The English here is rather stilted and contrived; if the translation is at fault, it is probably because it is a literal rendition of the author's diction and style , which in Slovak may be appropriate for such a work but becomes at times opaque in English translation .) In the remaining five �116 SLOVAKIA chapters, Stevcek considers respectively writers of poetry, prose, children's literature, drama, and literary studies and theoretical presentations. At the end of the chapters on poetry and prose, the author presents brief commentary on a number of other such contemporary writers in order to round out the presentation for these areas . In the chapter on poetry Stevcek fails to include Masa Hal 'amova. Why? Does not a poet who was at the time of this study an "Artist of Merit" deserve mention? (At the present time, she holds the title "National Artist.") This is a significant omission, especially as consideration of Hal'amova would also have increased the number of women presented . In the chapter on children's literature Stevcek includes two women, one of whom, Klara Jarunkova, could just as well have been discussed in the prose chapter. Indeed, she could have been included in both chapters . Likewise , L'ubomir Feldek should have been discussed for more than his contribution to children's literature. Some commentary on or at least mention of L'udo Zubek and Dominik Tatarka would also have been quite justified. Such additions to this study would certainly not have increased its size by much, and yet would have definitely enhanced its benefit to Slavic scholars and anyone interested in Slovak literature. Contemporary Slovak Literature is a noteworthy contribution from Slovakia that provides some basic information on a large number of writers. Such a publication in English is crucial if Slovak literature is to be able to assume its proper place in modern world literature . Given the paucity of such publications , this study should be helpful not only to specialists but also libraries. Given also the excellent literary specialists now writing in Slovakia, more such publications as the one above, with style and English rendition improved , should be rightly expected and published in the future. � 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 1985-86, Vol. 32 Description An account of the resource Vol. 32 (No. 58-59), 1985-86. 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 1985-86 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 REVIEWS 83 SLOVAKIA 85 Historicky casopis, 33 , 2 (1 985) . "K vel 'komoravskemu vyrociu. " Bratislava: Veda, 19 8 5. Anna Holla. Metod - ucitel' Slovienov. K 1100 vfrrociu umrtia {885-1985}. Martin: Matica slovenska , 1985 . THEODORIC J. ZUBEK, O.F.M. Pittsburgh , Pennsyl vania As the year 1985 approached , Slovak Christians both in Czechoslovakia and abroad wondered in what manner the 1, 100th anniversary of the death of St. Methodius would be observed in Slovakia. The two publications under review provide partial answers to that question. · Historicky casopis , the official organ of the Ustav historickych vied Slovenskej akademie vied , devoted an entire issue to the ' 'Great Moravian Anniversary. ' ' In their introduction, the editors concede that Methodius was ' 'the most important personality in the cultural history of Great Moravia." Further, they note that ''Marxist historiography values highly the work of Constantine and Methodius, who laid the foundations for the development of Slavic literature, which thereafter prevailed among the majority of the South and East Slavs ." However , they also maintain that although Marxist historiography cannot overstate the importance of these two men, it cannot view them only as " evangelizers of the faith." The cultural elements of the Cyrillo-Methodian heritage are, of course, undeniable. But it is equally undeniable that that legacy also - and primarily - includes tremendous religiou s significance for the Slavs in general and the Slovaks in particular. What this reviewer finds especially objectionable in this issue of Historicky casopis is the attempt to minimize the importance of the evangelical activity of Sts . Cyril and Methodius and to neglect the religious dimensions of their work. The cultural achievements of the saintly brothers were the result of their primary goal: to complete the Christianization of the Slavic peoples. This main goal of their mission is never properly recognized by the authors, and the names of Sts . Cyril and Methodius are never mentioned with their title of reverence , " Saint. " Furthermore, not a single arti- 86 SLOVAKIA cle is devoted specifically to St. Methodius in what is supposed to be a commemoration of the anniversary of his death! The first article , by Matus Kucera, assesses Great Moravia and the beginnings of Slovak national history. Although Kucera writes extensively about the era of Rastislav and Svatopluk, he fails to mention Sts. Cyril and Methodius by name as the founders of Christian civilization among the ancestors of the Slovaks. In his article on "fictions and facts" concerning the territorial development of Great Moravia, Peter Ratkos refutes the claims of Imre Boba and other historians that the territory of Great Moravia was situated around the Morava River in Serbia. According to Ratkos , Sirmium was probably not the actual see of Archbishop Methodius , because at that time Sirmium belonged to Bulgaria. Richard Marsina examines the diplomatic documents relating to the history of Great Moravia and their value as sources. He acknowledges the authenticity of seventeen diplomatic texts, mostly the preserved letters of Popes Adrian II, John VIII, Stephen V, and John IX, and eighteen lost documents (deperdita) mentioned in the authentic diplomatic papers and other reliable historical sources. The article which deals the most with St. Cyril is the one by Alexander Avenarius on the contribution of Byzantium to Great Moravian culture. The author explains St. Cyril's philosophy, classifies him as a liberal in his opposition to iconoclasm, and places him in the camp of the liberal patriarch Photius. Avenarius also describes the influence of Byzantine monasticism in Bohemia and Slovakia after the death of Svatopluk. The last two articles are not directly concerned with the work of Sts. Cyril and Metodius . Bohuslav Chropovsky and Alexander Ruttkay evaluate the most recent archeological excavations and situate geographically the extent of the Slovak ethnic group. Finally, Rudolf Krajcovic examines the very complicated issue of language in Great Moravia and its continuity with Slovak. The publication of the Matica slovenska, Metod - ucitel' Slovienov, is more germane to the commemoration of St. Methodius' anniversary than the articles in the Historicky casopis issue. It contains nineteen pages of printed text by Anna Holla and thirty-two photographic reproductions of archeological findings from the SLOVAKIA 87 Great Moravian era, copies of some Glagolitic and Cyrillic texts, and newer Slovak literary and pictorial works related to Sts. Cyril and Methodius. Holla's brief survey of St. Methodius and the whole CyrilloMethodian legacy in Czechoslovakia is a popular version based on contemporary scholarship. It reflects, not surprisingly, the distortions of present official Marxist historiography concerning the Great Moravian period. Holla characterizes Great Moravia as the first state common to the Czechs and Slovaks; and she emphasizes the cultural, social, and political activity of Sts. Cyril and Methodius and excludes or minimizes their missio.nary efforts. Holla' s assertion that Great Moravia was the first joint state of the Czechs and Slovaks is of dubious historical validity. By military force Svatopluk occupied the adjacent Slavic territories, among them Bohemia, and annexed them to his realm, but he did not incorporate them organically into Great Moravia. After his death in 894, the people in these occupied territories hastened to separate themselves from Great Moravia, searching for independence or joining new political alliances. The annexation of Bohemia to Great Moravia lasted less than twenty years, and after Svatopluk's death the Czechs found themselves again in the orbit of the Eastern Frankish (German) Empire. This reviewer must also take exception to Holla's statement that ''The basis of the missionary work of Constantine and Methodius in the Great Moravian Empire was their legal work, by which they eradicated Frankish church law and the unwritten common law of Great Moravia and substituted for it a strong legal order" (p. 6}. As has been mentioned, the basis of the CyrilloMethodian mission was the evangelization of the Slavs. Sts. Cyril and Methodius did not eliminate the church law which had been brought to the territory of Great Moravia by Irish-Scottish, Acquilean (Italian), and Bavarian missionaries; and they did not abolish the unwritten indigenous laws as long as they did not deviate from either Latin or Byzantine church and civil laws. In conclusion, the jubilee issue of Historicky casopis and the text by Anna Holla in the Matica slovenska publication suffer from gross deficiencies and omissions which stem from the antireligious bias of official Marxist historiography toward the legacy 88 SLOVAKIA of Sts. Cyril and Methodius . Only the Matica slovenska publication, with its well-selected, beautiful reproductions , can in a sense be considered as a tribute to the memory of St. Methodius in Slovakia. Julius Sopko. Stredoveke latinske k6dexy v slovensky ch kniiniciach. (Stredoveke k6dexy slovenskej proveniencie, I]. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1981. 304 pp. Julius Sopko. Stredoveke latinske k6dexy slovenskej proveniencie v Mad'arsku av Rumunsku. (Stredoveke k6dexy slovenskej proveniencie, II). Martin: Matica slovenska, 1982. 400 pp. GERALD J. SABO John Carroll University University Heights, Ohio This two-volume catalogue of codices comprises a listing of all extant medieval manuscripts produced on Slovak territory. Most were written in Latin and are similar to those found throughout medieval Europe. The subject matter pertains, for the most part, to religious faith and practice, and philosophy. Bibles, missals , antiphonaries , graduals , chant collections , sermons and related bilingual dictionaries, rules of a religious order, commentaries on religious topics, and philosophical studies are the kinds of writings found in these manuscripts. Occasionally among them are " secular" - non-religious or philosophical - texts , such as Gesta Romanorum (Feats of the Romans), Chronicon Dubnicense (The History of Dubnica), or Codex Justinian us: Digesta - Excerpta (Justinian's Law Code: Summaries and Excerpts) . Some of these manuscripts are preserved in Slovak archival repositories, while others are found in Hungary and Romania. In the two introductions of the first volume in Slovak and Latin , Sopko considers briefly the emergence and development of libraries and scriptoria on Slovak territory as well as the history of manuscript collections and their present status. He discusses the role of certain religious orders in the execution and collection of such manuscripts; among these are the Benedictines, Fran- SLOVAKIA 89 ciscans, Dominicans, Cistercians, Carthusians, and Premonstratensians (also known as Norbertines). Sopko also mentions the significant activity of the cathedral chapters in Nitra, Bratislava, and Spis that fostered the composing of manuscripts. Thirteen Slovak areas are listed as locations of repositories for such manuscripts: Banska Bystrica, Bardejov, Bratislava, Dolny Kubin, Jasov, Kezmarok, Kosice, Kremnica, Martin, Nitra, Presov, Spisska Kapitula , and Spisske Vlachy. These cities and towns, institutions in Bratislava and Kremnica contain the overwhelming majority of the 200 medieval manuscripts found on Slovak territory today. In Bratislava, the cathedral chapter library alone contains 82 such codices of the 135 found in the 6 repositories of this city. In Kremnica, the parish library contains 25 of 26 medieval codices in the city. In the second volume , 86 of 88 manuscripts preserved in Hungary are found in Budapest; the remaining 130 of the total 418 listed' in the two volumes are found in Alba Julia, Romania, in the former Batthyany library collection. In his introductions Sopko mentions the art of manuscript illumination that was well developed on Slovak territory . He includes at the end of both volumes photographic reproductions of some manuscripts, usually rendered in color, many of which also exemplify the art of illumination. One of the outstanding examples of manuscript writing and illumination is the ''Bratislava Missal,' ' which today is preserved in Alba Julia, Romania, as part of the former Batthyany library collection. This missal is described in the second volume of the catalogue (#400), and a color reproduction of one of its folio pages can be found at the end among the supplementary illustrations . (A book that presents the illumination aspect of medieval manuscripts in the Slovak area and that would complement this catalogue well is Stredoveka kniina mal 'ba na Slovensku by Alzbeta Giintherova and Jan Misianik published in two editions [1961 and 1977] by Tatran of Bratislava.) Sopko concludes each of the volumes with four lists: concordance of signatures , dated codices, first words of a codex, and a name and topic index. This two-volume catalogue by Sopko is primarily aimed at libraries and specialists in medieval culture and history. It presents 90 SLOVAKIA well the scholarly work that is often produced under the auspices of the Matica slovenska. Vysady miest a mesteciek na Slovensku {1238-1350}, I. Edited by L'ubomir Juck. Bratislava: Veda, 1984. 199 pp. Narodnostny vyvoj miest na Slovensku do roku 1918. K 600. vyrociu vydania vysad pre zilinskych Slovakov Edited by Richard Marsina. Martin: Osveta, 1984 . 275 pp. DAVID P. DANIEL ConcorcJti.a Seminary St. Louis, Missouri These two volumes reflect the breadth and depth of Slovak historical urban studies. They are both welcome additions to the growing body of scholarship on the history of urban life in Slovakia in the late medieval and early modern eras. The first, ''Privileges of the Cities and Towns in Slovakia (1238-1350)" was prepared as part of a long-term project planned by the Historical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences during the 1950's and early 1960's which set as its goal the editing and publication of historical documents from the earliest eras of Slovak history. This volume is the first dealing specifically with the charters and grants of legal privileges made to the emerging cities during the High Middle Ages, primarily by Hungarian monarchs. Information concerning the documents which have disappeared and/or the texts of those preserved were drawn from materials in the archives of Slovakia and throughout Central Europe. The volume begins with a general introduction indicating the methodological principles utilized in preparing it and some general comments on the types of documents included . The bulk of the book is devoted to a catalogue, in chronological order, of all the grants of privileges discovered; a brief description of their contents and context in Slovak; the text of the document, in so far as it is known in the original language of composition, Latin; and finally a listing of the provenance of each document. As such , this volume provides a fascinating and accessible entrance into SLOVAKIA 91 the historical development of the cities and towns which emerged on the territory of modern-day Slovakia during the High Middle Ages. They show that the economic strength of the towns grew in conjunction with the grants of economic and political privileges extended to them by the Hungarian monarchs. The towns sought to develop and protect their economic basis, manufacture, and trade by securing from the kings extensive rights of selfadministration and governance. The second volume, "Nationality Development of Cities in Slovakia to the Year 1918," is a collection of essays arranged according to the three thematic sections of the book: ''Nationality Development in Zilina"; "Nationality Development in the Towns of Slovakia''; and ''Nationality Development in Czech and Moravian Towns in the Middle Ages." However, despite the title, all but four of the sixteen studies treat the medieval and early modern periods. In the first section Marsina himself analyzes the privileges given to the Slovaks in Zilina in 1381; Julius Sopko attempts to identify the various individuals who made entries into the city record book of Zilina; Izidor Kotulic evaluates the language of the Zilina record book and other historical documents in Slovak; and Rudolf Kuchar examines the family names which appear in the Zilina record book. The studies of Peter Stansky on the structuring of nationalities in Zilina up to 1918 and of Pavol Hapak on the economic life and workers movement in Zilina during the last half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries conclude the section devoted specifically to the history of Zilina. In the second section Ferdinand Ulicny investigates the national groupings within the medieval cities of Slovakia; Jan Dorul'a examines the use of Slovak in the cities between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries; Anton Spiesz provides an analysis of Slovak artisan activity during the so-called later feudal period, the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries; and Jozef Vozaf evaluates the relationship between ethnic groups in the so-called montana or mining cities of central Slovakia during the same era. Ivan Chalupecky provides an analysis of ethnic relationships in the towns of Spis county for the century between 1550 to 1650, and Jana Skladana examines the oldest city books in Banovec nad Bebravou, dating from the sixteenth through the early eighteenth 92 SLOVAKIA centuries. Milan Podrimavsky concludes this section with an examination of the cities in Slovakia during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries . The third section is made up of just three essays: Frantisek Smahel's review of findings and perspectives of the research into ethnic relationships in Bohemian cities during the Late Middle Ages (thirteenth to fifteenth centuries); Ludmila Sulitkova's investigation of the ethnic relationships in the Moravian cities, especially the royal cities, during the Late Middle Ages; and Josef Zemlicka' s essay on the countryside , ethnicity, and the late medieval Bohemian cities. While it is impossible to examine these essays individually, it should be noted that not only do they reveal how much urban studies have come to dominate Slovak late medieval/early modern history research , but also the complexities of ethnic relationships in Slovakia during the same era. Slovaks took an active, if not always an appreciated, role in the life of the cities of Slovakia during the Middle Ages and were, especially but not merely in the smaller towns , significant in their economic and political life. It is to be hoped that these volumes will encourage American scholars to become much more active in more fully investigating late medieval and early modern Slovak history. Juraj Zudel. Stolice na Slovensku. Bratislava: Obzor, 1984. 200 pp. R. VLADIMIR BAUMGARTEN Tallahassee , Florida This book was written to provide a generaLhistory of the counties of Slovakia until 1849, when a modern centralized administration was imposed by Imperial decree in the so-called "Bach era". It may consequently be subtitled "Patterns of Feudalism''. Zudel summarizes characteristics common to all the Slovak districts, and then depicts both individual and regional peculiarities. The main theme is an analysis of the evolution of the counties under the feudal order. In the introductory section, Zudel points out that originally individual Slovak counties had SLOVAKIA 93 their own codes of law, but in all cases , in greater or lesser measure, these were eventually supplanted by more centralized government. Particular mention is made of the efforts of the Habsburgs, especially in the case of the Josephine reforms of the eighteenth century, to provide a uniform code of law for Hungary. These endeavors were only partially successful, and many of them were undone following the death of the King-Emperor in 1790 . Only in the aftermath of the 1848 revolution was it possible for enduring institutions of modern government to be established. Zudel points out that the 1848 experience may be characterized as a ''conflict of popular sovereignty''. The Hungarian reyolutionary leader Lajos Kossuth sought to protect the jealously-guarded privileges of individual counties, while at the same time using them as instruments of Magyarization in Upper Hungary. By contrast, the more conservative Hungarian reformer Istvan Szechenyi considered the county structure as antiquated, yet he opposed forced Magyarization. The archival sources consulted by the author are listed at the end of the introductory section, and a more general bibliography is included at the conclusion of the text. Zudel's introduction is followed by a survey of each individual county. These surveys include a summary of the territorial boundaries of each administration, the patterns of settlement and habitation , agricultural conditions, and cultural traditions . In cases where a county has been inhabited by more than one ethnic group, an additional section concerning ethnic relations is added . Although Zudel's presentation summarizes the counties in alphabetical order, any attempts at comparison and contrast are best served by examining the counties from a regional perspective. Two of the counties - Bratislava and Abauj - contained Slovakia's major metropolitan centers . In the case of the western county Bratislava, Zudel stresses its strategic location at the point where the Morava and Danube rivers converge. This location guaranteed that Bratislava was affected by the Hussite invasion. The author also mentions the presence of a Croatian element since the time of the Turkish wars. In the case of Abauj, which contains the eastern metropolis, Zudel indicates that the city of Kosice 94 SLOVAKIA was noteworthy for its traditionally oligarchical form of government. The southern Slovak counties of Gerner, Hant , Komarno , and Novohrad had the common denominators of all being ethnically mixed areas, plus serving as frontier zones in the HabsburgOttoman wars. Much the same treatment is accorded to Ostrihom, although the author also cites the latter for its significance in the Catholic Counterreformation. In the case of northern counties the author mentions that Liptov had lingering anti-feudal traditions, and also served as a stronghold for Slovak nationalism. Orava, in spite of its close geographic proximity to Liptov, evolved in the more traditional feudal pattern. Among central counties Nitra is particularly noted for having had a state organization which pre-dated the kingdom of Hungary; Tekov and Trencin are treated in a similar manner. In the case of the latter, Zudel also mentions the importance of the city of Zilina as a center of Slovak trade with the Czech lands, Silesia, and Prussia. Zvolen is noteworthy for its strategic location in defense of the fertile lowlands of southern Slovakia; the author also· mentions the influence of the Czech immigration following the Thirty Years War. Turiec is especially noted for having separated itself from Rakoczi's rising in the early eighteenth century . The author might have given this event more than passing treatment had he chosen to do so . The eastern counties of Slovakia present some of the most noteworthy peculiarities of all. Mention is made of the fact that the Hungarian king Sigismund mortgaged certain cities of Spis to Poland in the fifteenth century; they were returned to Hungary in the eighteenth. In spite of the fact that Saris was a major focal point for the Magyarization campaign, Zudel points out that the native Slovak nobility played a prominent role in public life. In the case of Zemplin county , the author mentions that the nobles long maintained a sense of autonomy , and consequently supported the Transylvanian rebels in the latter's struggle against the Habsburgs . Zudel also briefly summarizes the history of less " traditional" Slovak countries . After World War II much of the territory of Uz SLOVAKIA 95 county was transferred to the Ukrainian S.S.R., and the population of the area is today classified as Ukrainian. Zudel, however, mentions the role of the Slovak element in siding with the Hungarian nobles against their Habsburg kings. Turn.a is treated as an extension of Abauj county (with which it was long affiliated) , although the influence of political patterns emanating from Gerner is also mentioned. In his concluding chapter Zudel summarizes administrative realignments dating from Bach's regime in the 1850s. Since the terms stolica and zupa are often used interchangeably, the author makes a distinction here between velzupa , containing more than one stolica, and zupa, constituting a single district. This distinction is an important one, and the author would hav~ served his readers better by mentioning it in the earlier portion of the text. Although the text conveys the ideological spirit common to contemporary Czechoslovakia, the historical facts are presented in a straightforward manner. Zudel points out that contemporary Hungarian Marxist historiography is more favorably disposed towards Slovak demographic claims in Upper Hungary, and he makes liberal use of Hungarian source materials. The major weakness of the book lies less in what is said than in what remains unsaid. In reference to Abauj county, Zudel cites the Mongol invasion as a determining factor in population distribution; he fails to mention that Kosice was temporarily transferred to the jurisdiction of Transylvania by the Treaty of Linz in 1645. One especially glaring contradiction is found in the case of Saris. The author mentions a "pestilental epidemic" in the eighteenth century, but no mention is made of the cholera epidemic which convulsed Saris and other eastern Slovak counties in 1831. Since the latter event was accompanied by a peasant rising which greatly undermined feudal society, the omission is a particularly serious one . For the student who is already well-grounded in Slovak history , Stolice presents little that is original. But is serves as an adequate text within the limits which have been mentioned , and is especially useful as a reference guide to the individual districts . 96 SLOVAKIA Tvorcovia noveho Slovenska/ The Shaping of Modern Slovakia. Festschrift to the Seventieth Birthday of Dr. Joseph A. Mikus . Edited by Joseph Stasko. Cambridge, Canada: Friends of Good Books, 1982 . xv . 271 pp . GEORGE VIRSIK Monash University Clayton, Australia This collection of articles by Imrich Kruzliak, Joseph Stasko , Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Frantisek Vnuk, and the celebrant can be looked upon from two different perspectives . The first is readily apparent . Kruzliak's interpretive account of Slovak history from 1918 to 1948; Stasko's soul-searching reflections on the meaning of the Slovak national heritage; Kirschbaum's examination of Slovak student organizations and their aims in the interwar period; and Vnuk's analysis of Slovak diplomacy before the Salzburg event of 1940 all have one common denominator: either the role played by, or the contemporary views held by , Joseph A. Mikus. Mikus's own article , "The International System in Transition,'' is a study of the moral and legal principles underlying the pre~ent system of (soverign or not) states and nations , as well as an application and projection into the future of his own ideas, summarized by the view that "not territorially defined states , particularly multinational structures or empires, but nations in the ethnic and cultural sense are the real members of the international community.'' The other perspective becomes more apparent only after one has finished reading the book. With the exception of Vnuk, the authors have all by now reached, or almost reached , their seventieth birthdays. They are all well-known emigre writers ; political commentators, and interpreters of the Slovak cultural heritage . And - again perhaps with the exception of Vnuk - all the contributions are representative of the particular author's " Slovak creed .' ' They read as a personal legacy to the generation to follow. No Slovak intellectual of the younger generation can afford to ignore what they have to say. Politically and territorially, of course, there is only one Slovakia. But spiritually and culturally there is SLOVAKIA 97 also an alternative Slovakia, a Slovakia that many of us in the West (as well as some non-conformists in Slovakia) are proud to belong to , a Slovakia that would be unthinkable without its pioneers, and now seniors, like Mikus and Stasko, Kirschbaum, and Kruzliak. Thus it seems to me that - at least from the point of view of the new generation - the title of the book should have been something like " The Shape of a Slovakia We are Inheriting," meaning the spiritual and cultural shape of unofficial Slovakia forced to ''live in exile.'' To summarize: If one cannot read Slovak, it might be preferable to obtain just a reprint of Mikus' s English article rather than buy the whole book. But if one can read Slovak and is interested in Slovak matters, this book is a must. Slovak Politics: Essays on Slovak History in honour of Joseph M . Kirschbaum. Edited by Stanislav J. Kirschbaum. ClevelandRome: Slovak Institute, 1983. xviii, 381 pp. GEORGE VIRSIK Monash University Clayton , Australia This Festschrift dedicated to Joseph M. Kirschbaum offers nine articles on various political themes from Slovak history ranging from 1882 to about 1948 . It includes a brief appraisal of the celebrant's life and his contribution to Slovak politics by Charles Murin and a " select bibliography" of Kirschbaum 's publications written in exile. In the first article Edita Bosak deals with Czech-Slovak relations from 1882 to 1914, focusing on the student organization Detvan in Prague. Bosak sees Detvan "as a springboard and nursery for the young Slovak inteligentsia" as opposed to the "conservative Martin leadership ." Although she admits that "the amount of co-operation between Detvan and the Czechs was limited,'' she recognizes the resulting journal Hlas as "progressive," giving "wide distribution to many of the ideas that the students had already worked out in the debates in Detvan, 98 SLOVAKIA especially the idea of Czech-Slovak reciprocity." A comprehensive and unbiased study of Milan Hodza and his original political thinking (contrasted by his often controversial political associations that ended so sadly) is still missing from Slovak political literature . The article by Susan Mikula comes a long way toward such a study, but unfortunately it does not go beyond the year 1914. Still, her account of Hodza's Belvedere orientation and his attitude toward Magyars and Czechs seems to support those political thinkers who see him as the harbinger of contemporary Slovak aspirations toward Central European, or Danubian, Confederation. The contribution by Manfred Alexander is based on a study of the reports from the German Mission in Prague to the Foreign Office of the German Reich from 1918 to 1921. It contains over fifty pages of original documents related to Slovakia, published for the first time. Somehow, the documents make more interesting reading then the article itself. At least in one place the author's conclusions are hard to follow: It is true that Document 13 illustrates in many details the fact that Czech anti-clericalism was at the core of early Czech-Slovak frictions; and that it was the Catholic priests in Slovakia who raised the alarm, and often overreacted. But it seems to be a rather sweeping statement to claim that this is ',!valuable information indicating that the efforts made by the Slovak people to obtain autonomy did not originate spontaneously but were stirred up through agitation.'' Stanislav J. Kirschbaum's study of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party should certainly be read in conjunction with the German documents referred to above, especially by a non-specialist. It throws light on some points raised in the preceding article, and its systematic and more detached account well complements the subjectiveness and immediacy of the documents. The constitution of the Slovak Republic is analyzed by Karin Schmid. She comes to some mixed conclusions, perhaps best expressed in her own words: "If we consider every aspect of the Slovak Constitution - especially the role of the party on one hand, and on the other the control of the government by Parliament (although Parliament itself, in turn, was composed of only one party) - a comparison with what is known as 'socialist democracy' SLOVAKIA 99 suggests itself. It is tempting, on the model of this concept, to coin the term 'fascist democracy.' However, if we wish to avoid jargon and if we bear in mind that fascism completely rejects the concept of democracy, then the Slovak system can be best described as an authoritarian system with rather surprising democratic features." Lisa Guarda Nardini examines President Tiso's political program. The person of Dr. Jozef Tiso, more so than the Slovak Republic as such, symbolizes the Slovak tragedy during and after World War II: After forty years, most Slovaks are by now resigned to the fact that, given all the circumstances, there was not much chance for the six years of the Slovak Republic to end' differently. But only a few will maintain that Dr. Tiso did not deserve a better fate, a fairer treatment and trial, and less prejudice connected with his place in Slovak history. The article and its discerningly apologetic tone have to be seen in this light. To a certain extent, the same atmosphere permeates the next article on the foreign policy of the Slovak Republic by Milan S. Durica. Of special interest is the section on relations with the Holy See. Durica does not hesitate to state explicitly that "the sharpest dispute between the Slovak Government and the Vatican arose over the Jewish question." Stanislav J. Kirschbaum tackles the extremely complicated and controversial Slovak revolt of 1944. He points out two options that the Slovaks faced by the end of World War II. The first was "to remain true to their state" not excluding "the taking of whatever means were necessary, including changing the regime and the political system'' and hoping that ''the victorious powers would realize that independence was indeed what the nation desired.'' The second option was to return to the Czechoslovak Republic. He is realistic enought to admit that the first option called for an acute sense of timing, exceptional diplomacy, faith on the part of people, and above all capable leadership at the top. But even given the second option, Kirschbaum observes that ''had Benes not been so prejudiced against the Slovaks, but rather had taken into account the evolution of the Slovak nation ... much of the tragedy that befell the Slovak people from 1944 on might have been avoided.'' 100 SLOVAKIA Frantisek Vnuk elaborates on this theme in his article on Slovak-Czech relations between 1945 and 1948. It describes the situation and events in Slovakia prior to February 1948, and it makes very sad reading. As one has come to expect from Vnuk, it is thoroughly documented. But it is also concise and comprehensive enough to be recommended to all - notably younger generation Slovaks, but also Czechs - who wish to understand the reasons behind Slovak resentments and political distrust of their Czech neighbors . In this reviewer's opinion, there is an increasing need for a comprehensive, critical study of Slovak political history from 1918 to 1968 written by a younger generation of scholars free of the compulsion either to fit that story into prescribed ideological frames or to justify a posteriori one's own role or moral position. The publication under review has perhaps so far come closest to fulfilling that need. Frantisek Vnuk. Zivotopis Konstantina Culena. Cleveland: Slovak Institute , 1984. 247 pp. OWEN V. JOHNSON Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana For several years I have been trying to persuade several important Slovak figures representing different political persuasions to write their memoirs, to give us an intimate perspective on their youth, their education, and the development of their careers. Each of the three has resisted , perhaps fearing that to write memoirs means to declare one's public life to be over. This is unfortunate because when I have stumbled onto memoir material , such as a dozen unpublished essays by as many interwar and wartime Slovak journalists, they have been a rich mine of information that their authors could never have realized would be so important. Other than oral interviews, the second best source of personal information is the biography . From that perspective, this book about Konstantin Culen is to be welcomed. Published with the SLOVAKIA 101 support of Slovak-American activist Jan Beliansky a dozen years after completion of the manuscript, it traces the career of the headstrong Slovak publicist, amateur historian, diplomat, government official and emigre journalist. The author draws on his twenty-year correspondence with Culen, Culen's autobiographical "Posedenia," published in the early 1960s, and 15 short chapters that were parts of Culen's various unsuccessful efforts to write an autobiography. Vnuk makes no claim that this is a careful , complete, or scholarly biography. Nor does he promise any neutral and objective point-of-view, stating in the opening pages his respect and admiration for Culen. Vnuk asserts that the heart of the work is the la.s t section which describes Culen's work in exile - because it is the period he knows best. The historian will disagree. It is the first part (describing his youth and education) and to a lesser degree the second part (describing his twenty-year career in Slovakia) that more effectively transport the reader into the life of the periods they describe. This is so because it is precisely for those periods that Culen provided more of his own testimony about his life and times. We are reminded, for instance, that even though their eventual political views became quite different , many members of the Slovak intelligentsia initially were good friends of each other. Among Culen's early friends were such a diverse group as Vladimir Clementis, Julius Sefranek, Jan Golian, Ferdinand Jurgia, and Florian Tomanek. There are several references, too, to how important connections - Slovak or Czech - were in finding gainful employment. Particularly interesting is Vnuk's description of Culen's short career as a writer and reporter for Slovak, the daily Hlinkist organ. As with other institutions of the Slovak People 's Party, the newspaper staff reflected the splits among the different wings of the party. Eventually the splits led to Culen's dismissal from the staff. It foreshadowed his later ouster from the Slovak Government in July , 1940. The tragedy of Culen is that these divisions continued in emigration, and because he continued to be first and foremost a publicist, he became their victim. Despite a decade of service to 102 SLOVAKIA the Slovak press in North America, he was eventually forced out of all fulltime work in that area. During the last few years, Vnuk reports , Culen struggled to find gainful employment, eventually winding up as superintendent of a Brooklyn apartment house. He died in 1964. Miroslav Kropilak a kolektiv. Dejiny Slovenska V {1918-1945). Bratislava: Veda , 1985 . 612 pp. JAMES R. FELAK Bloomington, Indiana It would be hard to find a quarter century in Slovak history more eventful than the period from 1918 to 1945 . These years saw the creation, destruction , and re-creation of the Czechoslovak Republic , the emergence and disappearance of an independent Slovak state , a great economic crisis , and a world war. In this fifth volume of the new Dejiny Slovenska, a team of Slovak Marxist scholars provides the most extensive and detailed discussion of this period available in any language. Dejiny Slovenska Vis composed of two parts. The first covers Slovakia within the interwar Czechoslovak Republic; the second deals with the Slovak state and World War II. Each part is divided into chronologically based chapters, which in turn contain subchapters on themes like politics, foreign affairs , economics, social unrest, and developments within the Communist Party. In analyzing the interwar period, the authors focus on the so-called Slovak Question, that is , the place of Slovakia and the Slovak nation in a Czechoslovak state. This question involves a complex of political, economic , social , and cultural factors that gave rise to tensions between Slovaks and Czechs. The Czechoslovak government's failure to ease these tensions contributed mightily to the shape that the First Republic's demise took in 1938-39. In discussing this failure , the authors contend that only the Communist Party was capable of solving the problems that caused social and national dissatisfaction in Slovakia. The authors consider Slovak discontent as essentially a product of the ''bourgeois-democratic , capitalist system'' of the First SLOVAKIA 103 Republic, with the Czech bourgeoisie as the main perpetrators of this discontent. This ruling class is accused of economically exploiting Slovakia, repressing manifestations of Slovak dissatisfaction, and ruling the country on the basis of centralism, with a complete disregard for Slovakia's special conditions and problems . To help rule Slovakia, this " ruling Czech bourgeoisie " fostered the idea of Czechoslovakism, that is, the notion that the Slovaks were not a distinct nation but rather members of a Czechdominated "Czechoslovak" nation. The authors sharply criticize Czechoslovakism, which they see as a reactionary ideology serving only to fan the flames of Slovak nationalism and to hamper Czechoslovak state unity in the face of the external threats of the 1930s. As allies of the ''ruling Czech bourgeoisie,' ' the so-called centralist parties in Slovakia, above all the Social Democrats and the Agrarians , come under attack in this volume. The Social Democrats are strongly criticized for their so-called reformist approach to Slovakia's social and economic ills , for placing the interests of the state ahead of the interests of the working class , and for staunchly supporting centralism and Czechoslovakism. The Agrarians are reproached for similar reasons, including an economic policy that favored the rural middle class of the expense of the working class and poorer peasants. The authors indeed point out that many Slovak Agrarians were lukewarm in their support for centralism and Czechoslovakism and tried to advance Slovakia's interests under the guise of "silent revision of centralism" or "regionalism." Nevertheless, the authors believe that by failing to distance themselves effectively from Prague and to solve Slovakia's economic problems, the centralist parties drove many Slovaks into the camp of Hlinka 's Slovak People 's Party (HSPP or L'udaks). The authors do not condemn the HSPP for its autonomist program and political opposition, but rather for " catering to the reactionary classes" at home and seeking ties with Czechoslovakia's enemies abroad. In their Marxist interpretation, the authors see the HSPP as the representative of those bourgeois elements that were dissatisfied with their political and economic position in Czechoslovakia. The fact that the HSPP had broad popular appeal 104 SLOVAKIA cutting across class boundaries is explained by the party's ability to exploit Slovakia's economic ills and national discontent demagogically in order to win votes. Although the authors condemn the HSPP's leadership, they are more lenient toward its rankand-file, whom they characterize as justly disaffected by the social and national situation in Slovakia but misled by L'udak propaganda. If the L'udaks were too reactionary to solve the Slovak Question, and the centralist parties too reformist and ''Czechoslovak,'' the Communist Party alone , according to this work, possessed the correct formula. In the authors' interpretation, the Communist Party was committed both to the distinctiveness of the Slovak nation and the integrity of the Czechoslovak state, which, after a socialist revolution and installation of a dictatorship of the proletariat, was to be set up on the basis of national equality and mutual respect between the Czech and Slovak nations. The party did not hold this position consistently from 1918 to 1945, but did take this stance during the Slovak National Uprising. The book depicts, although somewhat opaquely, the shifts in the party's nationality policy in the period under discussion and presents the party's position during the Uprising not as a mere tactical move but rather as the culmination of twenty-five years of Communist thinking al}d experience regarding the Slovak Question. Although the portrayal of the Communist Party in this volume is overwhelmingly positive , there is some criticism, especially of party centralism. The authors clearly side with those Slovak Communists, above all the Davists, who preferred a party that was more responsive to Slovak conditions to one that rigidly applied directives from the leadership in Prague. While centralism and "dogmatism" may be reproached, however, the authors never question the Communist Party's fundamental goals. The second part of this work deals with the Slovak state and World War II. This period is presented dichotomously. On the negative side is the Slovak state. Although the authors deem it "an acceptable alternative for the majority of the Slovak population in 1939-1941 from the constitutional point of view," they portray its L'udak leaders as fascists and opportunists, tools of German imperalism who tried but ultimately failed to win over the SLOVAKIA 105 Slovak population via social demagoguery and exaggerated nationalism. On the positive side is the Slovak resistance movement, manifested above all in the Slovak National Uprising. According to the authors, the Uprising represented the progressive majority of the Slovak population. They claim that the Uprising was never defeated politically or militarily, but rather won out as the first stage of a democratic and national revolution in Slovakia. Although the authors acknowledge the role played by nonCommunists in the Slovak resistance, they repeatedly assert that Communist influence was paramount. The party gets credit forsuccessfully helping bring down the L'udak regime while at the same time resisting efforts of the Benes government in London to restore the pre-Munich Republic on its old sociopolitical bases. Not surprisingly, the authors also credit the Soviet Union with greatly assisting the Uprising. The authors have considerable sympathy for the selfdetermination of the Slovak nation, as their condemnation of centralism and Czechoslovakism attests . However , when this sympathy comes into conflict with their orthodox Marxist-Leninst line, the latter wins out. For example, the occupation of Slovakia by Bela Kun's army in 1919 is portrayed as a totally positive event for the Slovak population, and any suggestions that they may have constituted a restoration of Hungarian rule over the Slovaks are dismissed as myth. To the volume's credit, it provides an informative survey of social and economic developments in Slovakia. In addition, it devotes much attention to cultural history, including discussions of the growth of Slovak education, literature, art, and even film and radio. It also treats the cultural affairs of Slovakia's German , Magyar, and Ukrainian minorities. On the debit side, there is very little biographical information offered regarding the key figures in Slovak political life , the subchapters on diplomatic developments are completely and unequivocally pro-Soviet, and several important Western publications are absent from the relatively lengthly bibliography. As a comprehensive survey of some of the most crucial years in Slovak history, this installment of Dejiny Slovenska should interest all scholars of twentieth-century Slovak history . Not only 106 SLOVAKIA is it a source of much information, but it also presents the most up-to-date official view on controversial issues such as the Slovak Question, the Slovak state, and the Slovak National Uprising. Yeshayahu A. Jelinek. The Lust for Power: Nationalism, Slovakia, and the Communists, 1918-1948. "East European Monographs, No. CXXX. " Boulder, CO: East European Monographs , 1983. xi , 185 pp. Distributed by Columbia University Press. ROBERT K. EVANSON University of Missouri-Kansas City Kansas City, Missouri Students of Slovak history are greatly indebted to Yeshayahu Jelinek for his painstaking dissection of the response of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC) to ''the Slovak Question'' during the 1918-1948 period. Jelinek trudges admirably through the bewildering zigs and zags and general confusion of Communist nationality policies during the First, Second, and Third Czechoslovak Republics and the wartime Slovak Republic. It is well known that the political tasks of Czechoslovak Communism have often been complicated by the subjection of the KSC to Soviet supervision and interference. Slovak Communists faced an even tougher road in their efforts to expand their base of popular support within Slovakia, in part because their mentors in Prague were even more overbearing and less sensitive to Slovak national aspirations than were the Soviets. Czech Communist leaders tended to view Slovak nationalism as either an obstacle or a vehicle to their achievement of pow~r in Prague, depending on the moment. Their lack of understanding or respect for Slovak feelings was, of course, (ypical of Czech politicians of almost all ideological stripes. Not that Slovak Communists possessed any clear idea of how to handle the national question. Pulled in different directions by nationalist feelings and a desire to win popular support on the one hand , and by loyalty to the KSC and Moscow on the other, they adopted an array of "solutions" which were, as Jelinek notes, testimony to the failure of Communist ideology to address effec- SLOVAKIA 107 tively the nationalist phenomenon. Different Slovak Communist spokesmen variously proposed the creation of a Slovak-Hungarian Soviet Republic, incorporation of Slovakia into the Soviet Union, complete independence, autonomous federative status within a unified Czechoslovakia, equality without autonomy , and extreme centralization under Prague 's control. Jelinek 's discussion provides essential background reading to Czech-Slovak tensions since 1948, including the tragic persecution of Slovak Communists during the 1950s and the renewal of Slovak demands for genuine federalism during the 1960s. Nationalism has been ·'a powerful force in Slovak Communism throughout the history of Czechoslovakia, and there is little reason to believe that the current quasi-federal formula will permanently sweep the issue of Slovak-Czech relations under the rug. Despite Jelinek 's yeoman service in delineating these matters , the book contains a number of typographical and some factual errors that should have been caught by the editor. Rudolf Slansky, for example, is twice identified as "Josef Slansky" (pp. 36, 72); and Viliam Siroky seems to be identified as a Czech - the language is ambiguous - on p . 40 , although later on he is characterized correctly as a Magyarized Slovak. On a more general level , this reviewer has two criticisms, one minor and one major. The period and events described by Jelinek are so complex that he could have helped the reader by more often stepping back to address the confusion and reorder the facts in summary form. Whenever such a broad overview is absent, the narrative unavoidably gets bogged down in the myraid of individuals, factions , and endless changes in party line that defined Communist nationality policies during the thirty years in question. When the author chooses to summarize , as in his excellent passage on the war years (pp. 40-41) and in his fine concluding chapter, the reader is greatly enlightened . More serious is Jelinek's tendency to lump all Communists together in his insistence that they regard nationalism as " a mere tool to achieve [power] " (p . 1). This is the author 's major thesis , but his book's evidence suggests rather that many Communists were confused about the Slovak issue and failed to reach a consensus about nationality policies . While Czech centralizers were 108 SLOVAKIA inclined to be cynical or fearful of Slovak nationalism, many Slovaks were genuine nationalists who took considerable risks to advocate their people's cause. Jelinek explicitly recognizes this fact on several occasions, as in his fascinating discussion of Communist cooperation with the rightwing L'udaks, and in his description of the Slovak National Uprising, neither of which can be regarded as a mere power tactic. The author's general thesis, therefore, is at odds with his narrative. Nonetheless, this book is a valuable and original contribution to the study of Slovak Communism. M. Mark Stolarik. Growing Up on the South Side: Three Generations of Slovaks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1880-1976. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press, 1985. 147 pp. JUNE GRANATIR ALEXANDER The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio In the preface to this work, M . Mark Stolarik states "that it is the responsibility of professional historians to also write the histories of particular ethnic groups for those groups'' and warns his readers that Growing Up on the South Side was written "only incidentally for fellow academics" (p. 13). Indeed, his research was partially supported by funds bequeathed for the purpose of writing a history of Bethlehem Slovaks for Bethlehem Slovaks. Growing Up on the South Side is too brief to offer an in-depth analysis of the Bethlehem Slovak population over a lengthy ninetysix-year period. Still, Stolarik touches upon important aspects of the history of that ethnic communtiy . He relies extensively on material generated by the Slovak community: fraternal and church records and publications, newspapers, and short histories written by Slovaks . He skillfully blends these sources with oral interviews with second- and third-generation Slovaks. Stolarik overlooks, however , the newspapers Narodne noviny and, with one minor exception, Slovensky hlasnik. His bibliography is somewhat dated because he does not cite relevant works, including his own, published after 1981. SLOVAKIA 109 Although the author does not burden his narrative with statistics, tables, or theories , he generally succeeds in achieving his objective of writing for a more general , rather than an academic audience . On several occasions, either in the narrative or footnotes , he corrects factual errors that apparently heretofore have been accepted by Bethlehem Slovaks . However, by trying to avoid becoming bogged down in scholarly analysis , Stolarik, at times, forgets his responsibility to the general public as a professional historian. Indeed , he misses opportunities to use his scholarly expertise to investigate the veracity of some popularly-held beliefs or attitudes and is not always careful to use solid evidence to support some generalizations. For example , Stolarik rather nonchalantly refers to "the Irish police" as stopping fights at Slovak weddings (p. 82) . Were all the policemen in Bethlehem Irish , or were only Irish policemen sent to quiet down rowdy Slovak celebrations? Here statistics and footnotes are needed. Stolarik's nice composite picture of Slovak fraternal meetings drawn from the minutes of different lodges includes the suggestion that women disrupted meetings when they attended in their husbands' stead. This was a popular view held by Slovak males who opposed accepting females into lodges in the early twentieth century. How " often" did women actually delay meetings? Stolarik observes that secular lodges opened with the presidents warning '' all in attendance to behave themselves" (p . 40) . This presumably included both men and women present. Can women, then , be singled out as a particular problem? In both instances just cited , Stolarik's descriptions may be accurate, but statements by a professional historian that confirm ethnic and sexual stereotypes in the minds of a general audience require more concrete, explicit evidence . At times , Stolarik is also confusing because his discussion is too brief. For example , he relates that several factors gave rise to a large number of Slovak lodges in Bethlehem. Some lodges were formed on the basis of geographic origins, while the membership of others , he explains, reflected social standing in the Slovak community. Does this mean that Slovaks who joined the same lodge as fellow villagers but then subsequently attained a different social status in the community switched lodges? If this was the case, it has strong implications for further exploring the emergence 110 SLOVAKIA of class divisions within ethnic communities. The discussion of female occupations should also be expanded and clarified . It is not clear if the second- and third-generation working women he discusses (pp. 113, 115-17) were married or single . Did married women routinely work outside of the home? Such clarifications would have enhanced his discussion of the acculturation process among American-Slovaks. Also, since formal affiliation of the Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Church (founded in 1902) with the Missouri Synod did not occur until 1908, Stolarik's passing reference to 1902 as the date when Slovak Lutherans affiliated with that conservative body can create confusion. Finally, some Bethlehem Slovaks as well as scholars will surely disagree with some of Stolarik's generalizations about the Slovak experience in general and the Bethlehem experience in particular. Although Stolarik was concerned primarily with writing a history for Bethlehem Slovaks, his work does touch on issues of interest to professional scholars. His discussions of politics and social mobility support those scholars who suggest that social mobility in America can be gauged on different levels. While some Slovaks did not achieve social prominence in American society, they did achieve such prominence within their own ethnic community. His analysis of politics offers some insight into how immigrants dealt with, adjusted to, and influenced America's political structure. Overall, the author remains faithful to his objective of writing a history for Bethlehem Slovaks. In doing so, he avoids the trappings of filiopietism often evident in such ethnic histories. While careful not to offend their descendants, Stolarik, on occasion, provides critical judgments of individuals. Additionally, while he clearly regrets the ongoing demise of Slovak culture and the waning of ethnic identity that has taken place among Bethlehem Slovaks, he does not reduce his study to one of "Slovak contributions" and a celebration of Slovak culture in a propagan distic effort to stir ethnocentrism among second- and thirdgeneration Slovaks. Thus, w hile scholars will likely agree with Stolarik's own assessment that " traditional concerns of historians" generally remain beyond the scope of Growing Up on the South Side , Bethlehem Slovaks will find that Stolarik has done what he set out to do: write a readable English-language history for them. SLOVAKIA 111 Ferenc Feher and Agnes Heller Hungary 1956 Revisited: The Message of a Revolution - A Quarter of a Century After. London: George Allen & Unwin , 1983 . xviii, 174 pp. PETER R. HRUBY Western Australian Institute of Technology Bentley, Australia The authors of this book left Hungary in 1977. Since then they have published a remarkable series of books, especially (together with George Markus) Dictatorship over Needs: A Study of Soviet Societies, also in 1983 . The present volume is a well written and passionately argued attempt to interpret the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 from a leftist and socialist radical point of view. The authors' thesis on the revolution is divided into two parts: its impact on the world, and on Hungary. There is hardly any doubt that the revolution was felt all over the world. Equally correct is the writers' conviction that because no substantial help was offered to the revolutionaries from the West , "the result was a major loss of face for the Western powers, a second moral Munich" (p. 15) . More questionable is their often repeated affirmation that the Hungarians rebelled equally against the Soviets as against the West, because during World War II the latter allowed Central and Eastern Europe to be incorporated into the Soviet sphere of influence. Only Istvan Bib6 and his " Draft of a compromise solution of the Hungarian question'' can be quoted in support of such a surprising assertion. Sure enough, most Central and East Europeans did not like the overwhelming Soviets interest and the shocking Western lack of interest in their fate and territories, but it is stretching the point to claim that ''the Hungarian revolution was a revolt against all signatories of the Yalta and Potsdam agreements" (p. 16) . Feher and Heller are on safer grounds when they assert that in 1956 the Americans lost a great opportunity by not offering to the Soviets a compromise by which Hungary would have been granted neutrality and the Soviet Union an end to the Cold War. The Soviet leaders were for a few crucial days divided about how to deal with the crisis, and the authors believe that the Soviets would have considered such an offer. 112 SLOVAKIA There follows a good discussion of "national communism, " and in this context Yugoslav leaders are blamed for their opportunist attitude toward the Hungarian revolution. Western Communist parties lost many members, fellow-travellers, and prestige in the process: "The events of October 1956 [sounded] the deathknell of the Popular Front policy" (p. 44). In their review of other East European Communist parties' reaction to the revolution, the writers express their support for "the idea of a confederation between the free nations of the region" (p. 62). In the second part of the book the authors stress the lack of democratic and liberal traditions in their native country. Several times they point out that only in Czechoslovakia was there a successful marriage of nationalism with such progressive tendencies. Although they believe that after both the First and Second World Wars Hungary was treated too harshly by the victors, they contend that only during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was a democratic, liberal, and socialist model being created in their country. One of the major points of the message should be seen in that historical development. Ferenc Feher and Agnes Heller would also like their readers to believe that after a long series of failed heroes of Hungarian history Imre Nagy should be accepted as a genuine hero , "forger, arbiter , martyr and symbol of a murdered revolution" (pp . 15 7-8). What fascinated this reviewers most was the obvious learning process experienced by extreme leftist radicals about the real substance of 'Soviet Commu nism and of its betrayal of the working people. The authors castigate not only Lenin, Trotsky , and Stalin, but also Deutscher and Sartre , among others, for trusting professional revolutionaries and manipulators more than the masses. From the authors ' arguments it is also clear that they themselves had to be transformed from typical radical intellectuals' positions of misuse of the wage earners to admiration for their democratic and pluralist hopes . They admit that only several years after the revolution were some of the w ishes and actions of the Hungarian people understood and accepted by them (e.g ., p . 92). The last pages of the volume are devoted to an excellent analysis of Kadarism and of the modernized sophisticated terror which is also well known in Czechoslovakia. SLOVAKIA 113 Slovak readers will find occasional reference to Hungarian "bereft territories" (p. 149) and of the Hungarians expelled from Slovakia (pp. 50 -51). They might wonder who are the "Slovakians" (p . 51). Of much greater interest is the insight into the way leftist radical socialists inside of Hungary view the past and the future and what can be expected from them and their nation . Jozef Ciger-Hronsky. Jozef Mak. Translated by Andrew Cincura. Afterword by Peter Petro. Columbus: Slavica, 1984. 232 pp. WILLIAM E. HARKINS Columbia University New York, New York This volume is the first in a series of works of Slovak literature slated to be published by Slavica Publishers in Columbus, Ohio. Currently projected for publication are volumes by Hugolin Gavlovic and Bozena Timrava, as well as a volume of folk ballads. The project represents a notable break-through for the cause of Slovak literature in translation in this country . Jozef Ciger (1894-1960), who published under the pseudonym of Hronsky, is one of the great writers of Modern Slovak Literature, one comparatively neglected , presumably for ideological reasons. A village school teacher , Hronsky knew the Slovak peasants as perhaps no other Slovak writer did; in particular, he understood the mysticism of the peasantry and portrayed it in his works : During World War II he supported the nationalistic Tiso regime , and in 1945 emigrated to Argentina. Under the new Czechoslovak republic he was never mentioned, not to say published, along with a number of other nationalist writers . In 1970 his contemporary, the critic Alexander Matuska , published a monograph devoted to him. Jozef Mak was published in 1933. It is a novel of the Slovak village in the period of Hungarian oppression and the time of emigration to America. Maryarization and Emigration are portrayed as twin perils and twin temptations , for both seem to pro- 114 SLOVAKIA mise political or economic salvation to the poverty-ridden peasantry. The novel represents a unique blend of realism and symbolism, one hardly to be found among contemporary Czech writers, for instance, or even among other Slovak writers. Those aspects of the novel that pertain to individual characters and their fates are more symbolic, while the public and social facets of the story are realistic. The first are richer in metaphors , certainly while the latter are richer in metonyms. The blending of the two strains gave the author considerable difficulty , and it is the private, symbolic novel that is more memorable for the reader . The term "symbolic" is customarily used for fiction in the style of Jozef Mak , but the novel is actually as much mythic as symbolic. (Of course the two styles are closely interrelated.) The leading characters are archetypes who draw much of their being from an idealized metaphorical world close to folklore. Jozef Mak himself is an image of the alienated orphan, denied his inheritance, material as well as spiritual. The novel ends without his having found himself or his true destiny. Jozef Mak is born the illegitimate son of a poor peasant woman, to be ousted from the house and land by his worthless older, legitimate half brother. Still he grows up honest, hard working, and resourceful. He finally marries a crippled woman whom he seduces, a wife who provides a spiritual guide for him throughout his married life . But, exhausted from the weight of burdens, physical and spiritual, his wife Jula dies . Jozef is left alone at the end of the novel to endure and to plot his path through life alone. The wife Jula is certainly one of the great characters in Slovak literature. Her piety and meekness , and her endurance of her husband's deceptions, are entirely believable , as is the aura of spiritual beauty (in spite of physical deformity) with which the author invests her. The author's conception of such a character required great artistic imagination; Mak himself is hardly so successful. Perhaps his position as central character (and also as perceiving subject) in so much of the novel has precluded the writer from developing a firm, coherent image of him. Less sharp are the characters involved, positively or negative- SLOVAKIA 115 ly , in their nation's political struggle , and it is evident that Hronsky had difficulties with the realistic side of the novel , partly because the struggle in question corresponds to the time of his boyhood, when he hardly could have succeeded in grasping its meaning. Thus the mythic, symbolic , mystical side of the novel is the stronger, and makes a powerful nostalgic imprint on the reader. Pavol Stevcek. Contemporary Slovak Literature . Translated by Ol 'ga Horska. Bratislava: Obzor, 1980. 122 pp. GERALDJ. SABO John Carroll University University Heights , Ohio Contemporary Slovak literature is often an unfamiliar area even to Slavic literary specialists, whereas writings of contemporary Czech authors from the same country are internationally known. Perhaps it is true , as one Slovak specialist in North America has stated , that Slovak literature is a Cinderella among the literatures of Europe that awaits the discovery of her true worth. The study under review is an attempt to dispel some of this unfamiliarity for an English-reading audience. In this book Stevcek discusses twenty-three writers of the post-1945 era. Twenty-one men are presented as poets and writers of prose and children's literature, but only two women are discussed and that in the area of children 's literature. Among the poets are Pavol Horov, Jan Kostra, Ladislav Novomesky, Milan Rufus, Jan Smrek, and Miroslav Valek; among the prose writers are Alfonz Bednar, Peter Jaros , Vladimir Minac, Vincent Sikula, and Frantisek Svantner. The first of six chapters sets the context for appreciating the work of these writers. In describing the development of this modern era in literature Stevcek employs a Marxist interpretation and even discusses briefly the features of literature written according to such a viewpoint. (The English here is rather stilted and contrived; if the translation is at fault, it is probably because it is a literal rendition of the author's diction and style , which in Slovak may be appropriate for such a work but becomes at times opaque in English translation .) In the remaining five 116 SLOVAKIA chapters, Stevcek considers respectively writers of poetry, prose, children's literature, drama, and literary studies and theoretical presentations. At the end of the chapters on poetry and prose, the author presents brief commentary on a number of other such contemporary writers in order to round out the presentation for these areas . In the chapter on poetry Stevcek fails to include Masa Hal 'amova. Why? Does not a poet who was at the time of this study an "Artist of Merit" deserve mention? (At the present time, she holds the title "National Artist.") This is a significant omission, especially as consideration of Hal'amova would also have increased the number of women presented . In the chapter on children's literature Stevcek includes two women, one of whom, Klara Jarunkova, could just as well have been discussed in the prose chapter. Indeed, she could have been included in both chapters . Likewise , L'ubomir Feldek should have been discussed for more than his contribution to children's literature. Some commentary on or at least mention of L'udo Zubek and Dominik Tatarka would also have been quite justified. Such additions to this study would certainly not have increased its size by much, and yet would have definitely enhanced its benefit to Slavic scholars and anyone interested in Slovak literature. Contemporary Slovak Literature is a noteworthy contribution from Slovakia that provides some basic information on a large number of writers. Such a publication in English is crucial if Slovak literature is to be able to assume its proper place in modern world literature . Given the paucity of such publications , this study should be helpful not only to specialists but also libraries. Given also the excellent literary specialists now writing in Slovakia, more such publications as the one above, with style and English rendition improved , should be rightly expected and published in the future.  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 Book Reviews, Slovakia, Vol. 32 (No. 58-59) Description An account of the resource includes:<br /><ul><li><em>Historický časopis</em>, 33, 2 (1985), "K Veľkomoravskému výročiu," and Anna Hollá, <em>Metod - učiteľ Slovienov. K 1100 výročiu úmrtia (885-1985)</em> (Theodoric F. Zubek), p. 85</li> <li>Július Sopko, <em>Stredoveké latinské kódexy v slovenských knižniciach</em>, and <em>Stredoveké latinské kodexy slovenskej proveniencie v Maďarsku a v Rumunsku</em> (Gerald J. Sabo), p. 88</li> <li>Ľubomír Juck, ed., <em>Výsady miest a mestečiek na Slovensku</em>, and Richard Marsina, ed., <em>Národnostný vývoj miest na Slovensku</em> (David P. Daniel), p. 90</li> <li>Juraj Žudel, Stolice na Slovensku (R. Vladimir Baumgerten), p. 92</li> <li>Joseph Stasko, ed., <em>Tvorcovia nového Slovenskať - The Shaping of Modern Slovakia</em> (George Virsik), p. 96</li> <li>Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, ed., <em>Slovak Politics</em> (George Virsik), p. 97</li> <li>František Vnuk, <em>Životopis Konštantina Čulena</em> (Owen V. Johnson), p. 100</li> <li>Miroslav Kropilák a kolektív, <em>Dejiny Slovenska</em> V (James R. Felak), p. 102</li> <li>Yeshayahu A. Jelinek, <em>The Lust for Power</em> (Robert K. Evanson), p. 106</li> <li>M. Mark Stolarik, <em>Growing Up on the South Side</em> (June G. Alexander), p. 108</li> <li>Ferenc Féher &amp; Ágnes Heller, <em>Hungary 1956 Revisited</em> (Peter R. Hruby), p. 111</li> <li>Jozef Ciger-Hronský, <em>Jozef Mak</em> (William E. Harkins), p. 113</li> <li>Pavol Števček, <em>Contemporary Slovak Literature</em> (Gerald J. Sabo), p. 115</li> </ul> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Alexander, June Granatir, 1948- Baumgarten, R. Vladimir Daniel, David P., 1940-2020 Evanson, Robert Kent, 1944- Felak, James Ramon, 1957- Harkins, William Edward, 1921-2014 Hrubý, Petr, 1921-2017 Johnson, Owen V. Sabo, Gerald J., 1945–2020 Virsik, George Zúbek, Teodorik J., 1914-1988 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1985-86 LCNAF LCNAF+dates name SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/a086bddb4a2d2ec3a4e99a8e97533558.pdf e57a8aff85949ef83f5a4101189c6652 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 73 Excerpt from In Due Season (II) BY PAUL WILKES (Author's note: The year is 1899, the setting is a tiny, poor village in Eastern Slovakia.) ©Copyright, 1985 Paul Wilkes Metod burst through the door. "Mama, Papa, Pan .. . Pan .. Pan Vadasz. He's dead! I saw it right through the window." he said breathlessly. "Quiet, son!" Kubo said, his finger in front of his mouth, "your brother is sleeping ." "Papa, Papa," the boy whispered , "Rezso said Pan Vadasz just got up from his bed and lay down on the floor . . . " "I want no t~lk of death in this house ," Kubo said sternly. "None!" In those days , Vadasz was not the only one in the village of Zbudza to " lie between the beams ," showing that they no longer hoped to be cured. They, who had come from the earth, in their fevered and aching state, wished to return, knowing that every day they lived they were a burden to those who hoped to survive. Every day they required tending - and there was precious little time for this - and they needed nourishment. In many houses the bread was already crumbly from too much bark. In the next five days the somber bells of St. Joseph's tolled nine times; on one day three times, as the twins of Pani Gasparoyicova 's daughters died , one with the sunrise, the other just after the Angelus had rung . And before the sun set, Banik fell from his stool at the front of his house, blood running from his mouth . �74 SLOVAKIA Although the villagers were not sure if Banik had died from the cholera, he was buried along with the others in a shallow gully, far to the side of the cemetery. It had been set aside not for any health reason but for fear that the curse would somehow seep through the ground to infect the souls of villagers who now slept in peace. In those five days Belo ate no food, drank no water, his eyes grew dry and sunken in his face, and his every breath was a struggle, as if some great hand were pressing on his chest. Kubo did not leave the boy's side and barely ate himself. Only on the sixth day, when Belo was too weak even to cry did Kubo leave , returning a short while later. He had borrowed Loebl's horse and was going to take the boy to the nearest doctor, in Plavnica , a trip of some ten hours. Loebl had a friend there, a rabbi, who kept the special medicines that Jews used, and he asked Kubo to bring something for someone in his house, sick with the croup . Dusan, clenched teeth holding his pipe, fixed his eyes on Kubo. "You don't even know the way. What is this 'doktor' business? What do they know that we don't?" The old woman moved her head slowly in assent. ''When God calls, sinful humans must not hold on; it is His will. And that little one could die outside his own house ... it is not right.'' Zuzka said nothing. She pulled down another worn lambswool guba from the shelf above the bed and then her extra shawl. Into a small hemp sack she placed half a loaf of bread and an apple she had hidden away for the day that Belo would be well enough to eat it. Still without saying a word, she helped her husband bundle the child into the first guba , then the second, and tied the shawl into a sling around his shoulders . Neither Dusan nor Helena , nor the old woman , would help him, nor even look in his direction . About to leave, he said to their turned backs , " I ask for your prayers. Because if this child dies , I die .'' Zuzka gasped , putting her hand to her mouth, and his mother made a sign of the cross, here eyes turned toward the heaven her son had just challenged . As the first pellets of a freezing rain rattled against the windowpanes, Kubo rode into the black, moonless night. At first he �SLOVAKIA 75 went slowly, to be sure the child was secure on his back, then he kicked at the sides of the brown mare. The rain stung his face, blinding him at times. In the cold damp air of the night he could smell the child, the sickly sour brown odor that covered Belo each time another issue of water gurgled from his trembling bottom. Kubo could barely hear his breathing, and once when he looked over his shoulder into the dark bundle, he could hear nothing. He pulled the horse to a halt and listened for the breathing . After ·a painful pause, Belo drew in some air. By the time they reached the turnoff beyond the village of Svinne, the horse 's nostrils were flared, its gait slowed to little more than a walk. On both sides of Kubo's neck the shawl had worn against his skin, leaving an angry red bruise , beginning to weep droplets of blood. As the first gray light of morning began to outline the foothills and mighty Tatras beyond Kubo could see that he was approaching a town , for houses were closer and closer together. In the pale light he could see a low, sand-colored wall , covered with red tiles. At an opening in the wall a huge gateway marked with wrought iron twisted into the shapes of huge pheasants and flying geese , Kubo saw the town's vartas. ''Plavnica?'' " Yes ." "Doktor Stofcik?" One of the old man's eyes was frosted over, sightless , but the other eye regarded this strange rider with a huge bundle at his back, the collar of his jacket now soaked with blood. " Past the church, on the right. " Kubo looked over his shoulder and finally, as faint as the whisper of a summer wind on a hot day , came the breath of the child. " Sick one? " "Yes ," said Kubo , urging the horse over the cobblestones. " From where ?" the man called after him . ' 'Zbudza. '' ''Jesus and Mary! Go away!'' he screamed. Zbudza! Oh my God!" Waving his hands , the man ran after the slowly moving horse . �76 SLOVAKIA He caught up with Kubo and ran alongside. " Go! Get out! You bring the plague. OUT!" Kubo kicked at the sides of the horse, but the mare would not move faster. The old man grabbed at the horse 's tail and yanked, ending up on the cobblestones with a handful of long hairs. Howling like a wounded animal, he rose and grabbed again, this time holding on as the horse pulled him along the bumpy street. Shutters banged open along the square and heads popped out into the damp morning air. The old horse plodded on, slowed still more by his additional burden, past the church, past a row of houses the same color as the walls, each with a red-tile roof, and some with wooden signs hanging from wrought-iron posts. The old man let go of the tail and ran ahead to a house where a sign hung, stating: "Doktor Stofcik." He stabbed at the air in Kubo's direction. " ZBUDZA! CHOLERA! '' His voice resounded with stark terror down the narrow alley. A man appeared, rubbed his eyes, then put a tiny pair of okuliare on his nose. His wife, a bonnet over her hair, a single long braid tumbling over her shoulders, tied to pull him back in. ''My son is ill,'' Kubo said calmly and with respect. ' ' Some say it is the fever." Lather dripped from the horse's mouth and steam rose from its back. Kubo , his wet hair plastered askew on his forehead, his hands trembling on the reins, painfully moved his neck to peer into the bundle and to listen once more . "Haven't you heard , you fool?" the doctor shouted down to him. " Your village is infected. Epidemia! It 's cholera! No one is to leave. Help is on the way, yes, go home. Get out, immediately.'' "Go away! Leave us! Plague!" Other voices rained down upon the rider whose face was turned from them , transfixed on the dark opening in the guba . The shouting became even louder, the curses stronger as the head of the rider slowly turned and looked up toward the doctor's window. It was only when the doctor put up his hands. "Quiet, everyone, stop it! Now you, go back; I cannot treat your child. You will spread the epidemia if you stay one instant longer. " �SLOVAKIA 77 Kubo's hands trembled uncontrollably. He dropped the reins and buried his face in the rain-soaked sleeve of his jacket. When he looked up to the window once again tears were streaming down his face. "There is no need ," he said , "any longer." Kubo did not take the bundle from his back when he knocked on the door of the Jew Teitlebaum, nor did he say what it contained. He took the small vial of liquid, tucked it into his trousers, and mounted the horse. The Jew asked him if he wanted food or some dry clothes , but Kubo shook his head , paid him with Loebl's money , and turned the horse toward the village gate. When Pani Spisakova came to the Vlasek house,,to prepare the child for burial , Kubo would not let her touch him . He asked for the special bowl used for bathing the dead and told her she could leave . His family watched in stunned silence as Kubo, saying no more, heated the water and with a soft linen cloth careful1y washed the emaciated body. He took the small door from the grain bin and laid it between two benches and made a mattress of dry, fragrant straw. He dressed Belo in a fine white linen shirt, whose cuffs and collar Zuzka had embroidered in swirls of reds and yellows and blues, and laid him upon the straw. He worked throughout the day and until the morning light to make the coffin, and when he brought it into the house the black lacquer and the dozens of tiny painted rosebuds and linden blossoms were still wet. He gently lifted the child, as if Belo were sleeping, and placed him within. He draped the fine lace coverlet, which had been made by his great-grandmother, over the boy, leaving only his arms and face , with neatly combed hair, showing. In the coffin, Kubo carefully arranged the animals he had carved for Belo . Near the boy' s face, three proud roosters , a pig, then a cow, a horse , a vag6nik. The plow with a tiny piece of metal for a blade was pulled by the muscular ox and from its halter Kubo led the piece of twine under the coverlet, and wrapped it around the boy' s cold, stiff hands . His task completed, Kubo pulled up a chair beside the coffin and sat, the flickering candle lighting his face. Mourners came and touched him on the shoulder and offered their sympathies , �78 SLOVAKIA but he neither looked up from the still form in the black casket, nor did he talk. When Father Slobodnik entered on the morning of the third day, Kubo rose , genuflected before the priest and kissed his hand . Then he stood back, chin and cheeks dark with four days of growth, his eyes red but dry, his face so stricken with grief that not even his wife stood close to him as the old priest intoned the Latin prayers . There was a soft rustle of wood against wood. Then the sharp metallic sound of Kubo's hammer on the iron nails pierced the silence. Again and again the hammer came down, sure and true , and the green wood squeaked as the nails penetrated it. Sniffles became sobs and sobs soon aching moans before the high-pitched wails of the women of Zbudza filled the room, mourning the child and venting the fear each had for his own life and soul. Kubo carried the coffin in his arms toward the door, where he placed it on the doorstep three times before hoisting it to his shoulder. Then, as tradition dictated , Belo Vlasek, aged 18 months , left his house for the last time , feet first. As Kubo had asked, Franko Hruscak had dug the grave at the farthest end of the area that had been marked off for the victims of the plague. Under a young linden tree , a freshly turned mound of the dark, damp soil, studded with the stones and rocks that were -the bane of farmers, sat waiting to be returned to its rightful place. The ropes slid on the muddy ground, barely leaving a mark as the slight, small box, no larger or heavier than a baby 's cradle , was lowered into the hole. And one by one the people of Zbudza, from the smallest child to the eldest stara matka took handfulls of the moist dirt and threw it upon the coffin, each with the same ancient farewell: " That the earth will be light on you." The last was Kubo. His hand reached to the mound and taking but a few granules of the soil , he stood above the dark hole. His hand trembled as it hovered over the grave, and slowly balled into a tight fist. The gumless lips of old mouths moved in prayer, sending puffs of white into the damp air, and children shuffled restlessly , looking at their parents for a sign they could leave. Zuzka's face was buried in her handkerchief, her muffled sobs closer and closer together, her shoulders shuddering. �SLOVAKIA 79 Kubo's hand slowly tilted forward, and the dirt trickled through his fingers, falling soundlessly in to the grave. He stood there as if carved from stone, his open hand pleadingly outstretched as the mourners turned and began to walk back toward the village. Soon everyone had left except Kubo and his family. Dusan placed his hands on his son's shoulder. "Come, they'll all be waiting at the krcma for us . Loebl's very thankful for what you, did. He pays for the wake." "Soon, Father," Kubo said in a hoarse voice, his first words in three days. "Don't linger, son, the soul must depart. If you stand here, it becomes as grief-stricken as you; the box will fill up with the child's tears and the ghost will return. The dead m~st bury the dead and life must go on. '' ''I want to be with him for just a little while yet.'' "He's in a better place than us; you should be celebrating. Just think, he is well and pink and warm with Jesus and ... '' Kubo looked up to his father with the bloodshot eyes , from which no more tears could be wrung, his face like ashes in the blacksmith's forge . Dusan gathered the family and started down the hill . By the time Kubo walked through the door of the krcma, voices were already loud and thick with palenka, and old adversaries had found a new battle to wage. "We must send word to Bardejov, to Presov; we need medicine , a doktor immediately," the rich tar said, his finger stabbing at the smoky air. "Soon we'll all be dead of this thing, snuffed out like a hill of ants in a forest fire." "We pay our taxes to you, you thief, and what the hell do we get when we need help?" said Dusan, as he downed a large glass of beer. " You go! Now!" "Don't call me a thief, Vlasek. If you . . . " "Father, I want to speak to you." Kubo's voice was firm and strong , louder then he normally spoke , and the men who were talking at the tables turned toward him. "Well, speak, son, we have no secrets here ." �80 SLOVAKIA Kubo's eyes moved from man to man, then rested on his father. " I made a decision at my son's grave. No more of my children are going to be buried on that hill. Belo is the last. '' " For generations this is our resting place; where else is there , son? Please, don't speak now , your heart is still top heavy. " "I'm going to Amerika." As if a gong had been sounded, silence descended on the krcma. Dusan rose to his feet. " Don't confront your father as you are doing , not even on a day so sad as this one." Kubo's eyes did not blink. He did not look down. " You 're my son, my heir, you share my roof. You will do my bidding.'' ' 'I'm an heir to sickness and death and hunger and I want none of them." A low murmur of voices rippled through the room. " This isn't the time, son; besides, there is a tax and they mean to collect it these days. And fare . They don't take you for free on the boat. " "There's no better time, Father. I'll get the money somehow. " " I, who gave you life; this is my thanks? To spit in my face in front of the whole village , to take away my pride like this?" " I thank you for my life and I thank all of you for every kindness to me , -to Zuzka, my children. I'm not going to this Amerika forever; I'll come back someday and we'll again have land and food and live like humans , not some animals scraping for every morsel of food.' ' "To Amerika, eh? " A bitter smile tugged at the corners of Dusan 's mouth. " Just like you went to Perun 's Wood with the cows. Reaching for too much. Remember what happened then?" Kubo's large brown eyes blinked. For an instant he had to turn from his father 's hard stare. " You hit below the belt, Father." He fingered the rim of his klobuk , which he held in his hands . "But I have to try ," he said, returning his father's look. Dusan 's body sagged, his chest heaved, and he sighed aloud. ''I asked but one thing , son, all my life, and that is for you to bury me on that hill. This is too much? As you loved your Belicko I loved you. And now, this , this . . . " �SLOVAKIA 81 "It's not too much to ask, but I have to go ." "Then who's going to bury me? Who is going to tend the graves of your children?' ' In the back of the krcma Anastazia's eyes were bright, expectant. She leaned forward on the bench so as not to miss a single word. " I must live, my family must live. In your own words and the words of the Holy Scripture, God will tend to the graves. And the dead will bury the dead. '' �� SLOVAKIA 73 Excerpt from In Due Season (II) BY PAUL WILKES (Author's note: The year is 1899, the setting is a tiny, poor village in Eastern Slovakia.) ©Copyright, 1985 Paul Wilkes Metod burst through the door. "Mama, Papa, Pan .. . Pan .. Pan Vadasz. He's dead! I saw it right through the window." he said breathlessly. "Quiet, son!" Kubo said, his finger in front of his mouth, "your brother is sleeping ." "Papa, Papa," the boy whispered , "Rezso said Pan Vadasz just got up from his bed and lay down on the floor . . . " "I want no t~lk of death in this house ," Kubo said sternly. "None!" In those days , Vadasz was not the only one in the village of Zbudza to " lie between the beams ," showing that they no longer hoped to be cured. They, who had come from the earth, in their fevered and aching state, wished to return, knowing that every day they lived they were a burden to those who hoped to survive. Every day they required tending - and there was precious little time for this - and they needed nourishment. In many houses the bread was already crumbly from too much bark. In the next five days the somber bells of St. Joseph's tolled nine times; on one day three times, as the twins of Pani Gasparoyicova 's daughters died , one with the sunrise, the other just after the Angelus had rung . And before the sun set, Banik fell from his stool at the front of his house, blood running from his mouth . �74 SLOVAKIA Although the villagers were not sure if Banik had died from the cholera, he was buried along with the others in a shallow gully, far to the side of the cemetery. It had been set aside not for any health reason but for fear that the curse would somehow seep through the ground to infect the souls of villagers who now slept in peace. In those five days Belo ate no food, drank no water, his eyes grew dry and sunken in his face, and his every breath was a struggle, as if some great hand were pressing on his chest. Kubo did not leave the boy's side and barely ate himself. Only on the sixth day, when Belo was too weak even to cry did Kubo leave , returning a short while later. He had borrowed Loebl's horse and was going to take the boy to the nearest doctor, in Plavnica , a trip of some ten hours. Loebl had a friend there, a rabbi, who kept the special medicines that Jews used, and he asked Kubo to bring something for someone in his house, sick with the croup . Dusan, clenched teeth holding his pipe, fixed his eyes on Kubo. "You don't even know the way. What is this 'doktor' business? What do they know that we don't?" The old woman moved her head slowly in assent. ''When God calls, sinful humans must not hold on; it is His will. And that little one could die outside his own house ... it is not right.'' Zuzka said nothing. She pulled down another worn lambswool guba from the shelf above the bed and then her extra shawl. Into a small hemp sack she placed half a loaf of bread and an apple she had hidden away for the day that Belo would be well enough to eat it. Still without saying a word, she helped her husband bundle the child into the first guba , then the second, and tied the shawl into a sling around his shoulders . Neither Dusan nor Helena , nor the old woman , would help him, nor even look in his direction . About to leave, he said to their turned backs , " I ask for your prayers. Because if this child dies , I die .'' Zuzka gasped , putting her hand to her mouth, and his mother made a sign of the cross, here eyes turned toward the heaven her son had just challenged . As the first pellets of a freezing rain rattled against the windowpanes, Kubo rode into the black, moonless night. At first he �SLOVAKIA 75 went slowly, to be sure the child was secure on his back, then he kicked at the sides of the brown mare. The rain stung his face, blinding him at times. In the cold damp air of the night he could smell the child, the sickly sour brown odor that covered Belo each time another issue of water gurgled from his trembling bottom. Kubo could barely hear his breathing, and once when he looked over his shoulder into the dark bundle, he could hear nothing. He pulled the horse to a halt and listened for the breathing . After ·a painful pause, Belo drew in some air. By the time they reached the turnoff beyond the village of Svinne, the horse 's nostrils were flared, its gait slowed to little more than a walk. On both sides of Kubo's neck the shawl had worn against his skin, leaving an angry red bruise , beginning to weep droplets of blood. As the first gray light of morning began to outline the foothills and mighty Tatras beyond Kubo could see that he was approaching a town , for houses were closer and closer together. In the pale light he could see a low, sand-colored wall , covered with red tiles. At an opening in the wall a huge gateway marked with wrought iron twisted into the shapes of huge pheasants and flying geese , Kubo saw the town's vartas. ''Plavnica?'' " Yes ." "Doktor Stofcik?" One of the old man's eyes was frosted over, sightless , but the other eye regarded this strange rider with a huge bundle at his back, the collar of his jacket now soaked with blood. " Past the church, on the right. " Kubo looked over his shoulder and finally, as faint as the whisper of a summer wind on a hot day , came the breath of the child. " Sick one? " "Yes ," said Kubo , urging the horse over the cobblestones. " From where ?" the man called after him . ' 'Zbudza. '' ''Jesus and Mary! Go away!'' he screamed. Zbudza! Oh my God!" Waving his hands , the man ran after the slowly moving horse . �76 SLOVAKIA He caught up with Kubo and ran alongside. " Go! Get out! You bring the plague. OUT!" Kubo kicked at the sides of the horse, but the mare would not move faster. The old man grabbed at the horse 's tail and yanked, ending up on the cobblestones with a handful of long hairs. Howling like a wounded animal, he rose and grabbed again, this time holding on as the horse pulled him along the bumpy street. Shutters banged open along the square and heads popped out into the damp morning air. The old horse plodded on, slowed still more by his additional burden, past the church, past a row of houses the same color as the walls, each with a red-tile roof, and some with wooden signs hanging from wrought-iron posts. The old man let go of the tail and ran ahead to a house where a sign hung, stating: "Doktor Stofcik." He stabbed at the air in Kubo's direction. " ZBUDZA! CHOLERA! '' His voice resounded with stark terror down the narrow alley. A man appeared, rubbed his eyes, then put a tiny pair of okuliare on his nose. His wife, a bonnet over her hair, a single long braid tumbling over her shoulders, tied to pull him back in. ''My son is ill,'' Kubo said calmly and with respect. ' ' Some say it is the fever." Lather dripped from the horse's mouth and steam rose from its back. Kubo , his wet hair plastered askew on his forehead, his hands trembling on the reins, painfully moved his neck to peer into the bundle and to listen once more . "Haven't you heard , you fool?" the doctor shouted down to him. " Your village is infected. Epidemia! It 's cholera! No one is to leave. Help is on the way, yes, go home. Get out, immediately.'' "Go away! Leave us! Plague!" Other voices rained down upon the rider whose face was turned from them , transfixed on the dark opening in the guba . The shouting became even louder, the curses stronger as the head of the rider slowly turned and looked up toward the doctor's window. It was only when the doctor put up his hands. "Quiet, everyone, stop it! Now you, go back; I cannot treat your child. You will spread the epidemia if you stay one instant longer. " �SLOVAKIA 77 Kubo's hands trembled uncontrollably. He dropped the reins and buried his face in the rain-soaked sleeve of his jacket. When he looked up to the window once again tears were streaming down his face. "There is no need ," he said , "any longer." Kubo did not take the bundle from his back when he knocked on the door of the Jew Teitlebaum, nor did he say what it contained. He took the small vial of liquid, tucked it into his trousers, and mounted the horse. The Jew asked him if he wanted food or some dry clothes , but Kubo shook his head , paid him with Loebl's money , and turned the horse toward the village gate. When Pani Spisakova came to the Vlasek house,,to prepare the child for burial , Kubo would not let her touch him . He asked for the special bowl used for bathing the dead and told her she could leave . His family watched in stunned silence as Kubo, saying no more, heated the water and with a soft linen cloth careful1y washed the emaciated body. He took the small door from the grain bin and laid it between two benches and made a mattress of dry, fragrant straw. He dressed Belo in a fine white linen shirt, whose cuffs and collar Zuzka had embroidered in swirls of reds and yellows and blues, and laid him upon the straw. He worked throughout the day and until the morning light to make the coffin, and when he brought it into the house the black lacquer and the dozens of tiny painted rosebuds and linden blossoms were still wet. He gently lifted the child, as if Belo were sleeping, and placed him within. He draped the fine lace coverlet, which had been made by his great-grandmother, over the boy, leaving only his arms and face , with neatly combed hair, showing. In the coffin, Kubo carefully arranged the animals he had carved for Belo . Near the boy' s face, three proud roosters , a pig, then a cow, a horse , a vag6nik. The plow with a tiny piece of metal for a blade was pulled by the muscular ox and from its halter Kubo led the piece of twine under the coverlet, and wrapped it around the boy' s cold, stiff hands . His task completed, Kubo pulled up a chair beside the coffin and sat, the flickering candle lighting his face. Mourners came and touched him on the shoulder and offered their sympathies , �78 SLOVAKIA but he neither looked up from the still form in the black casket, nor did he talk. When Father Slobodnik entered on the morning of the third day, Kubo rose , genuflected before the priest and kissed his hand . Then he stood back, chin and cheeks dark with four days of growth, his eyes red but dry, his face so stricken with grief that not even his wife stood close to him as the old priest intoned the Latin prayers . There was a soft rustle of wood against wood. Then the sharp metallic sound of Kubo's hammer on the iron nails pierced the silence. Again and again the hammer came down, sure and true , and the green wood squeaked as the nails penetrated it. Sniffles became sobs and sobs soon aching moans before the high-pitched wails of the women of Zbudza filled the room, mourning the child and venting the fear each had for his own life and soul. Kubo carried the coffin in his arms toward the door, where he placed it on the doorstep three times before hoisting it to his shoulder. Then, as tradition dictated , Belo Vlasek, aged 18 months , left his house for the last time , feet first. As Kubo had asked, Franko Hruscak had dug the grave at the farthest end of the area that had been marked off for the victims of the plague. Under a young linden tree , a freshly turned mound of the dark, damp soil, studded with the stones and rocks that were -the bane of farmers, sat waiting to be returned to its rightful place. The ropes slid on the muddy ground, barely leaving a mark as the slight, small box, no larger or heavier than a baby 's cradle , was lowered into the hole. And one by one the people of Zbudza, from the smallest child to the eldest stara matka took handfulls of the moist dirt and threw it upon the coffin, each with the same ancient farewell: " That the earth will be light on you." The last was Kubo. His hand reached to the mound and taking but a few granules of the soil , he stood above the dark hole. His hand trembled as it hovered over the grave, and slowly balled into a tight fist. The gumless lips of old mouths moved in prayer, sending puffs of white into the damp air, and children shuffled restlessly , looking at their parents for a sign they could leave. Zuzka's face was buried in her handkerchief, her muffled sobs closer and closer together, her shoulders shuddering. �SLOVAKIA 79 Kubo's hand slowly tilted forward, and the dirt trickled through his fingers, falling soundlessly in to the grave. He stood there as if carved from stone, his open hand pleadingly outstretched as the mourners turned and began to walk back toward the village. Soon everyone had left except Kubo and his family. Dusan placed his hands on his son's shoulder. "Come, they'll all be waiting at the krcma for us . Loebl's very thankful for what you, did. He pays for the wake." "Soon, Father," Kubo said in a hoarse voice, his first words in three days. "Don't linger, son, the soul must depart. If you stand here, it becomes as grief-stricken as you; the box will fill up with the child's tears and the ghost will return. The dead m~st bury the dead and life must go on. '' ''I want to be with him for just a little while yet.'' "He's in a better place than us; you should be celebrating. Just think, he is well and pink and warm with Jesus and ... '' Kubo looked up to his father with the bloodshot eyes , from which no more tears could be wrung, his face like ashes in the blacksmith's forge . Dusan gathered the family and started down the hill . By the time Kubo walked through the door of the krcma, voices were already loud and thick with palenka, and old adversaries had found a new battle to wage. "We must send word to Bardejov, to Presov; we need medicine , a doktor immediately," the rich tar said, his finger stabbing at the smoky air. "Soon we'll all be dead of this thing, snuffed out like a hill of ants in a forest fire." "We pay our taxes to you, you thief, and what the hell do we get when we need help?" said Dusan, as he downed a large glass of beer. " You go! Now!" "Don't call me a thief, Vlasek. If you . . . " "Father, I want to speak to you." Kubo's voice was firm and strong , louder then he normally spoke , and the men who were talking at the tables turned toward him. "Well, speak, son, we have no secrets here ." �80 SLOVAKIA Kubo's eyes moved from man to man, then rested on his father. " I made a decision at my son's grave. No more of my children are going to be buried on that hill. Belo is the last. '' " For generations this is our resting place; where else is there , son? Please, don't speak now , your heart is still top heavy. " "I'm going to Amerika." As if a gong had been sounded, silence descended on the krcma. Dusan rose to his feet. " Don't confront your father as you are doing , not even on a day so sad as this one." Kubo's eyes did not blink. He did not look down. " You 're my son, my heir, you share my roof. You will do my bidding.'' ' 'I'm an heir to sickness and death and hunger and I want none of them." A low murmur of voices rippled through the room. " This isn't the time, son; besides, there is a tax and they mean to collect it these days. And fare . They don't take you for free on the boat. " "There's no better time, Father. I'll get the money somehow. " " I, who gave you life; this is my thanks? To spit in my face in front of the whole village , to take away my pride like this?" " I thank you for my life and I thank all of you for every kindness to me , -to Zuzka, my children. I'm not going to this Amerika forever; I'll come back someday and we'll again have land and food and live like humans , not some animals scraping for every morsel of food.' ' "To Amerika, eh? " A bitter smile tugged at the corners of Dusan 's mouth. " Just like you went to Perun 's Wood with the cows. Reaching for too much. Remember what happened then?" Kubo's large brown eyes blinked. For an instant he had to turn from his father 's hard stare. " You hit below the belt, Father." He fingered the rim of his klobuk , which he held in his hands . "But I have to try ," he said, returning his father's look. Dusan 's body sagged, his chest heaved, and he sighed aloud. ''I asked but one thing , son, all my life, and that is for you to bury me on that hill. This is too much? As you loved your Belicko I loved you. And now, this , this . . . " �SLOVAKIA 81 "It's not too much to ask, but I have to go ." "Then who's going to bury me? Who is going to tend the graves of your children?' ' In the back of the krcma Anastazia's eyes were bright, expectant. She leaned forward on the bench so as not to miss a single word. " I must live, my family must live. In your own words and the words of the Holy Scripture, God will tend to the graves. And the dead will bury the dead. '' �� 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 1985-86, Vol. 32 Description An account of the resource Vol. 32 (No. 58-59), 1985-86. 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 1985-86 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 73 Excerpt from In Due Season (II) BY PAUL WILKES (Author's note: The year is 1899, the setting is a tiny, poor village in Eastern Slovakia.) ©Copyright, 1985 Paul Wilkes Metod burst through the door. "Mama, Papa, Pan .. . Pan .. Pan Vadasz. He's dead! I saw it right through the window." he said breathlessly. "Quiet, son!" Kubo said, his finger in front of his mouth, "your brother is sleeping ." "Papa, Papa," the boy whispered , "Rezso said Pan Vadasz just got up from his bed and lay down on the floor . . . " "I want no t~lk of death in this house ," Kubo said sternly. "None!" In those days , Vadasz was not the only one in the village of Zbudza to " lie between the beams ," showing that they no longer hoped to be cured. They, who had come from the earth, in their fevered and aching state, wished to return, knowing that every day they lived they were a burden to those who hoped to survive. Every day they required tending - and there was precious little time for this - and they needed nourishment. In many houses the bread was already crumbly from too much bark. In the next five days the somber bells of St. Joseph's tolled nine times; on one day three times, as the twins of Pani Gasparoyicova 's daughters died , one with the sunrise, the other just after the Angelus had rung . And before the sun set, Banik fell from his stool at the front of his house, blood running from his mouth . 74 SLOVAKIA Although the villagers were not sure if Banik had died from the cholera, he was buried along with the others in a shallow gully, far to the side of the cemetery. It had been set aside not for any health reason but for fear that the curse would somehow seep through the ground to infect the souls of villagers who now slept in peace. In those five days Belo ate no food, drank no water, his eyes grew dry and sunken in his face, and his every breath was a struggle, as if some great hand were pressing on his chest. Kubo did not leave the boy's side and barely ate himself. Only on the sixth day, when Belo was too weak even to cry did Kubo leave , returning a short while later. He had borrowed Loebl's horse and was going to take the boy to the nearest doctor, in Plavnica , a trip of some ten hours. Loebl had a friend there, a rabbi, who kept the special medicines that Jews used, and he asked Kubo to bring something for someone in his house, sick with the croup . Dusan, clenched teeth holding his pipe, fixed his eyes on Kubo. "You don't even know the way. What is this 'doktor' business? What do they know that we don't?" The old woman moved her head slowly in assent. ''When God calls, sinful humans must not hold on; it is His will. And that little one could die outside his own house ... it is not right.'' Zuzka said nothing. She pulled down another worn lambswool guba from the shelf above the bed and then her extra shawl. Into a small hemp sack she placed half a loaf of bread and an apple she had hidden away for the day that Belo would be well enough to eat it. Still without saying a word, she helped her husband bundle the child into the first guba , then the second, and tied the shawl into a sling around his shoulders . Neither Dusan nor Helena , nor the old woman , would help him, nor even look in his direction . About to leave, he said to their turned backs , " I ask for your prayers. Because if this child dies , I die .'' Zuzka gasped , putting her hand to her mouth, and his mother made a sign of the cross, here eyes turned toward the heaven her son had just challenged . As the first pellets of a freezing rain rattled against the windowpanes, Kubo rode into the black, moonless night. At first he SLOVAKIA 75 went slowly, to be sure the child was secure on his back, then he kicked at the sides of the brown mare. The rain stung his face, blinding him at times. In the cold damp air of the night he could smell the child, the sickly sour brown odor that covered Belo each time another issue of water gurgled from his trembling bottom. Kubo could barely hear his breathing, and once when he looked over his shoulder into the dark bundle, he could hear nothing. He pulled the horse to a halt and listened for the breathing . After ·a painful pause, Belo drew in some air. By the time they reached the turnoff beyond the village of Svinne, the horse 's nostrils were flared, its gait slowed to little more than a walk. On both sides of Kubo's neck the shawl had worn against his skin, leaving an angry red bruise , beginning to weep droplets of blood. As the first gray light of morning began to outline the foothills and mighty Tatras beyond Kubo could see that he was approaching a town , for houses were closer and closer together. In the pale light he could see a low, sand-colored wall , covered with red tiles. At an opening in the wall a huge gateway marked with wrought iron twisted into the shapes of huge pheasants and flying geese , Kubo saw the town's vartas. ''Plavnica?'' " Yes ." "Doktor Stofcik?" One of the old man's eyes was frosted over, sightless , but the other eye regarded this strange rider with a huge bundle at his back, the collar of his jacket now soaked with blood. " Past the church, on the right. " Kubo looked over his shoulder and finally, as faint as the whisper of a summer wind on a hot day , came the breath of the child. " Sick one? " "Yes ," said Kubo , urging the horse over the cobblestones. " From where ?" the man called after him . ' 'Zbudza. '' ''Jesus and Mary! Go away!'' he screamed. Zbudza! Oh my God!" Waving his hands , the man ran after the slowly moving horse . 76 SLOVAKIA He caught up with Kubo and ran alongside. " Go! Get out! You bring the plague. OUT!" Kubo kicked at the sides of the horse, but the mare would not move faster. The old man grabbed at the horse 's tail and yanked, ending up on the cobblestones with a handful of long hairs. Howling like a wounded animal, he rose and grabbed again, this time holding on as the horse pulled him along the bumpy street. Shutters banged open along the square and heads popped out into the damp morning air. The old horse plodded on, slowed still more by his additional burden, past the church, past a row of houses the same color as the walls, each with a red-tile roof, and some with wooden signs hanging from wrought-iron posts. The old man let go of the tail and ran ahead to a house where a sign hung, stating: "Doktor Stofcik." He stabbed at the air in Kubo's direction. " ZBUDZA! CHOLERA! '' His voice resounded with stark terror down the narrow alley. A man appeared, rubbed his eyes, then put a tiny pair of okuliare on his nose. His wife, a bonnet over her hair, a single long braid tumbling over her shoulders, tied to pull him back in. ''My son is ill,'' Kubo said calmly and with respect. ' ' Some say it is the fever." Lather dripped from the horse's mouth and steam rose from its back. Kubo , his wet hair plastered askew on his forehead, his hands trembling on the reins, painfully moved his neck to peer into the bundle and to listen once more . "Haven't you heard , you fool?" the doctor shouted down to him. " Your village is infected. Epidemia! It 's cholera! No one is to leave. Help is on the way, yes, go home. Get out, immediately.'' "Go away! Leave us! Plague!" Other voices rained down upon the rider whose face was turned from them , transfixed on the dark opening in the guba . The shouting became even louder, the curses stronger as the head of the rider slowly turned and looked up toward the doctor's window. It was only when the doctor put up his hands. "Quiet, everyone, stop it! Now you, go back; I cannot treat your child. You will spread the epidemia if you stay one instant longer. " SLOVAKIA 77 Kubo's hands trembled uncontrollably. He dropped the reins and buried his face in the rain-soaked sleeve of his jacket. When he looked up to the window once again tears were streaming down his face. "There is no need ," he said , "any longer." Kubo did not take the bundle from his back when he knocked on the door of the Jew Teitlebaum, nor did he say what it contained. He took the small vial of liquid, tucked it into his trousers, and mounted the horse. The Jew asked him if he wanted food or some dry clothes , but Kubo shook his head , paid him with Loebl's money , and turned the horse toward the village gate. When Pani Spisakova came to the Vlasek house,,to prepare the child for burial , Kubo would not let her touch him . He asked for the special bowl used for bathing the dead and told her she could leave . His family watched in stunned silence as Kubo, saying no more, heated the water and with a soft linen cloth careful1y washed the emaciated body. He took the small door from the grain bin and laid it between two benches and made a mattress of dry, fragrant straw. He dressed Belo in a fine white linen shirt, whose cuffs and collar Zuzka had embroidered in swirls of reds and yellows and blues, and laid him upon the straw. He worked throughout the day and until the morning light to make the coffin, and when he brought it into the house the black lacquer and the dozens of tiny painted rosebuds and linden blossoms were still wet. He gently lifted the child, as if Belo were sleeping, and placed him within. He draped the fine lace coverlet, which had been made by his great-grandmother, over the boy, leaving only his arms and face , with neatly combed hair, showing. In the coffin, Kubo carefully arranged the animals he had carved for Belo . Near the boy' s face, three proud roosters , a pig, then a cow, a horse , a vag6nik. The plow with a tiny piece of metal for a blade was pulled by the muscular ox and from its halter Kubo led the piece of twine under the coverlet, and wrapped it around the boy' s cold, stiff hands . His task completed, Kubo pulled up a chair beside the coffin and sat, the flickering candle lighting his face. Mourners came and touched him on the shoulder and offered their sympathies , 78 SLOVAKIA but he neither looked up from the still form in the black casket, nor did he talk. When Father Slobodnik entered on the morning of the third day, Kubo rose , genuflected before the priest and kissed his hand . Then he stood back, chin and cheeks dark with four days of growth, his eyes red but dry, his face so stricken with grief that not even his wife stood close to him as the old priest intoned the Latin prayers . There was a soft rustle of wood against wood. Then the sharp metallic sound of Kubo's hammer on the iron nails pierced the silence. Again and again the hammer came down, sure and true , and the green wood squeaked as the nails penetrated it. Sniffles became sobs and sobs soon aching moans before the high-pitched wails of the women of Zbudza filled the room, mourning the child and venting the fear each had for his own life and soul. Kubo carried the coffin in his arms toward the door, where he placed it on the doorstep three times before hoisting it to his shoulder. Then, as tradition dictated , Belo Vlasek, aged 18 months , left his house for the last time , feet first. As Kubo had asked, Franko Hruscak had dug the grave at the farthest end of the area that had been marked off for the victims of the plague. Under a young linden tree , a freshly turned mound of the dark, damp soil, studded with the stones and rocks that were -the bane of farmers, sat waiting to be returned to its rightful place. The ropes slid on the muddy ground, barely leaving a mark as the slight, small box, no larger or heavier than a baby 's cradle , was lowered into the hole. And one by one the people of Zbudza, from the smallest child to the eldest stara matka took handfulls of the moist dirt and threw it upon the coffin, each with the same ancient farewell: " That the earth will be light on you." The last was Kubo. His hand reached to the mound and taking but a few granules of the soil , he stood above the dark hole. His hand trembled as it hovered over the grave, and slowly balled into a tight fist. The gumless lips of old mouths moved in prayer, sending puffs of white into the damp air, and children shuffled restlessly , looking at their parents for a sign they could leave. Zuzka's face was buried in her handkerchief, her muffled sobs closer and closer together, her shoulders shuddering. SLOVAKIA 79 Kubo's hand slowly tilted forward, and the dirt trickled through his fingers, falling soundlessly in to the grave. He stood there as if carved from stone, his open hand pleadingly outstretched as the mourners turned and began to walk back toward the village. Soon everyone had left except Kubo and his family. Dusan placed his hands on his son's shoulder. "Come, they'll all be waiting at the krcma for us . Loebl's very thankful for what you, did. He pays for the wake." "Soon, Father," Kubo said in a hoarse voice, his first words in three days. "Don't linger, son, the soul must depart. If you stand here, it becomes as grief-stricken as you; the box will fill up with the child's tears and the ghost will return. The dead m~st bury the dead and life must go on. '' ''I want to be with him for just a little while yet.'' "He's in a better place than us; you should be celebrating. Just think, he is well and pink and warm with Jesus and ... '' Kubo looked up to his father with the bloodshot eyes , from which no more tears could be wrung, his face like ashes in the blacksmith's forge . Dusan gathered the family and started down the hill . By the time Kubo walked through the door of the krcma, voices were already loud and thick with palenka, and old adversaries had found a new battle to wage. "We must send word to Bardejov, to Presov; we need medicine , a doktor immediately," the rich tar said, his finger stabbing at the smoky air. "Soon we'll all be dead of this thing, snuffed out like a hill of ants in a forest fire." "We pay our taxes to you, you thief, and what the hell do we get when we need help?" said Dusan, as he downed a large glass of beer. " You go! Now!" "Don't call me a thief, Vlasek. If you . . . " "Father, I want to speak to you." Kubo's voice was firm and strong , louder then he normally spoke , and the men who were talking at the tables turned toward him. "Well, speak, son, we have no secrets here ." 80 SLOVAKIA Kubo's eyes moved from man to man, then rested on his father. " I made a decision at my son's grave. No more of my children are going to be buried on that hill. Belo is the last. '' " For generations this is our resting place; where else is there , son? Please, don't speak now , your heart is still top heavy. " "I'm going to Amerika." As if a gong had been sounded, silence descended on the krcma. Dusan rose to his feet. " Don't confront your father as you are doing , not even on a day so sad as this one." Kubo's eyes did not blink. He did not look down. " You 're my son, my heir, you share my roof. You will do my bidding.'' ' 'I'm an heir to sickness and death and hunger and I want none of them." A low murmur of voices rippled through the room. " This isn't the time, son; besides, there is a tax and they mean to collect it these days. And fare . They don't take you for free on the boat. " "There's no better time, Father. I'll get the money somehow. " " I, who gave you life; this is my thanks? To spit in my face in front of the whole village , to take away my pride like this?" " I thank you for my life and I thank all of you for every kindness to me , -to Zuzka, my children. I'm not going to this Amerika forever; I'll come back someday and we'll again have land and food and live like humans , not some animals scraping for every morsel of food.' ' "To Amerika, eh? " A bitter smile tugged at the corners of Dusan 's mouth. " Just like you went to Perun 's Wood with the cows. Reaching for too much. Remember what happened then?" Kubo's large brown eyes blinked. For an instant he had to turn from his father 's hard stare. " You hit below the belt, Father." He fingered the rim of his klobuk , which he held in his hands . "But I have to try ," he said, returning his father's look. Dusan 's body sagged, his chest heaved, and he sighed aloud. ''I asked but one thing , son, all my life, and that is for you to bury me on that hill. This is too much? As you loved your Belicko I loved you. And now, this , this . . . " SLOVAKIA 81 "It's not too much to ask, but I have to go ." "Then who's going to bury me? Who is going to tend the graves of your children?' ' In the back of the krcma Anastazia's eyes were bright, expectant. She leaned forward on the bench so as not to miss a single word. " I must live, my family must live. In your own words and the words of the Holy Scripture, God will tend to the graves. And the dead will bury the dead. ''  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 Excerpt from "In Due Season" (II) Description An account of the resource Paul Wilkes Slovakia, Vol. 32 (No. 58-59), 1985-86 pp. 73-81 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wilkes, Paul, 1938- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1985-86 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/162cb2b35c1f7f1f59fdec97e143349b.pdf a4e333c84d5e20423e0ad2235c253997 PDF Text Text 34 SLOVAKIA Slovak-American Newspapers, 1885-1975: A Preliminary Listing M. MARK STOLARIK In 1983, as the centennial of the Slovak-American press approached , I decided to re-work Konstantin Culen's annotated bibliography Slovenske casopisy v Amerike (Cleveland: First Catholic Slovak Union , 1970) and tell the story as he would have had he not died prematurely in 1964 . Therefore , I literally took his book apart and put it back together again with the aid of a computer. This resulted in two analytical essays and the listing I am about to publish. The essays were: " The Slovak-American Press," [1885-1984] in Sally M. Miller ed., The Ethnic Press in the United States: A Historical Analy sis and Handbook (Westport, Ct.: Greenwood Press, 1987), and "At Home Abroad: The SlovakAmerican Press, 1885-1918 , " which is slated to appear in Owen V. Johnson 's edited volume entitled Mobilizing the Mobilized: The Role and Functions of the Mass Media in Eastern Europe. The list of Slovak-American newspapers published between 1885 and 1975 which follows is based upon Culen's book , cited above , and the late Michal Lacko's Slovak Bibliography Abroad, 1945-1965, and 1966-1975 published in Slovak Studies VII and XVII, Bibliografica 1 and 2 (Rome: Slovak Institute, 1967 and 1977) . Culen listed 246 titles in his book, but, upon close inspection, I discovered 39 titles that he could not verify or which should not have been listed because they were not Slovak newspapers. I subtracted these from the list. Furthermore, Lacko discovered 13 titles that Culen had missed and I added these, coming up with a grand total of 220 for the period 1885-1975 . There have probably �SLOVAKIA 35 been more than 220 Slovak-American newspapers in the period 1885-1975, but they remain to be discovered and verified. Also, Jozef Rydlo, who has taken over the duties of editor of Slovak Studies, is presently working on a Slovak Bibliography Abroad, 1976-1985 and his work will allow me, or someone else, to update the list to 1985. Meanwhile, here is how I prepared the list. I carefully read Culen's annotated bibliography and kept his definition of a newspaper as one that appeared at least quarterly. I then listed the title, the date and city it first appeared in, and also major subsequent cities if it moved, and the date it folded. This list (plus my analytical articles, cited abov~) supplements the work of Michal Potemra who published a Bibliografia slovenskych novin a casopisov do roku 1918 (Martin: Matica slovenska, 1958) and Maria Kipsova et. al . Bibliografia slovenskych a inorecovy ch novin a casopisov z rokov 1919-1938 (Martin: Matica slovenska, 1968) . I hope that students of SlovakAmerican history will find it useful. Slovak-American Newspapers, 1885-1975 1885 Bulletin (Pittsburgh , 1885-1886) 1886 Bulletin Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny (Pittsburgh, 1886-1922) 1887 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny 1888 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Nova vlast' (Streator , Ill ., 1888) Slovak v Amerike (Plymouth & New York , 1889) Zastava (Plymouth , Pa ., 1889) 1890 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Katolicke noviny Slovak v Amerike 1891 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Jednota (Cleveland , 1891) Katolicke noviny Slovak v Amerike 1889 1892 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Katolicke noviny (Hazleton , Pa ., 1889-1891) Robotnik (Connellsville , Pa ., 1889) Americky Slovak (Cleveland, 1892-1894) Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Jednota �36 SLOVAKIA Slovak v Amerike Slovenske listy (Jersey City, N .J., 1892) 1893 Americky Slovak Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Jednota Slovak v Amerike Slovenska svornost' (Connellsville , Pa., 1893-1897) 1894 Americky Slovak Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Cirkevne listy (Cleveland, 1894-1899) Fakla (New York City, 1894) Jednota Majak (Pittsburgh, 1894) Pravda (Connellsville , Pa., 1894-1896) Slovak v Arilerike Slovenska pravda (Freeland, Pa., 1984-1904) Slovenska svornost' Slovensky hlas (Pittsburgh, 1894-1898) 1895 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Cas (Nanticoke, Pa., 1895-1899) Cirkevne listy Jednota Katolik (Freeland , Pa., 1895-1898) Pravda Rodina (Cleveland, 1895) Slovak (New York City , 1895) Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenska svornost' Slovensky hlas 1896 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Cas Cirkevne listy Jednota Katolik Pravda Rarasek (Pittsburgh, 1896-1912) Sasok (Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 1896-1898) Slovak v Amerike Slovaktownske hlasy (Pittsburgh, 1896) Slovenska pravda Slovenska svornost' Slovensky hlas 1897 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Carodejnik (Cleveland, 1897-1898) Cas Cirkevne listy The Emmigrant (Pittsburgh , 1897) Jednota Katolik Mydlo (Wilkes-Barre , Pa., 1897-1898) Rarasek Sasok Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenska svornost' Slovenske noviny (Hazleton , Pa., 1897-1911) Slovensky hlas 1898 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Carodejnik Cas Cirkevne listy Jednota Katolik Mydlo Rarasek �SLOVAKIA Sasok Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlas 1899 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo (Wilkes-Barre, Pa ., 1899-1941 ; 1945) Cas Cirkevne listy Jednota Novy Cernoknaznik (Cleveland , 1899) Rarasek Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny 1900 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Cas Jednota Lutheran (Cleveland , 1900-1902) Rarasek Slaboda (Chicago, 1900-1901) Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik (Pittsburgh, 1900-1962) Slovensky Lutheran (Philadelphia, 1900) 1901 37 Slebodny Orel (New York, N.Y., 1901-1904) Slaboda Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny Slovensky dennik (Pittsburgh, 1901-1915) Slovensky hlasnik Viera (Cleveland , 1901-1902) 1902 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Jednota Lutheran Rarasek Slebodny ore! Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny Slovensky American (Pittsburgh, 1902-1903) Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky obcan (Bridgeport, Conn., 1902) Viera 1903 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Jednota Rarasek Slebodny ore! Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny Slovensky American Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Jednota Lutheran Naso novini (New York , N.Y., 1901) 1904 Rarasek Sip (Cleveland, 1901) Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny �38 SLOVAKIA Bratstvo Jednota Rarasek Robotnik (New York, N.Y., 1904) Slebodny V Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky sokol Slovensky tyzdennik Svedok (Pittsburgh , 1906Zornicka (Wilkes-Barre, Pa. , 1906-1907) 1907 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Hlas (Cleveland, 1907-1947) 1905 Jednota Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Katolicke Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Nasa zastava Rarasek Jednota Rovnost' l'udu Rarasek Slovak v Amerike Slovak v Amerike Slovenske noviny Slovenske noviny Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovensko-Americky zabavnik (Chicago , 1905-1912) Slovensky dennik Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin (Pittsburgh, Slovensky sokol (Perth Amboy , N .J., 1907-1962) 1905-1966) Slovensky pokrok Slovensky tyzdenmk (New York, Slovensky sokol N.Y ., 1905-1906) Svedok Sokol a narod (1905) Zensky svet (New York, N.Y., 1907-1908) Zornicka 1906 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny 1908 Bratstvo Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Jednota Bratstvo Katolicke Slovenske noviny Hlas (Chicago, 1906-1926) Nasa zastava (Bridgeport , Conn. , Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny 1906-1907) Krajan (Hazleton , Pa. , 1908) Rarasek Rovnost' l'udu (Chicago, 1906-1935) Rarasek Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Skola reci anglickej (Pittsburgh, Slovenske noviny 1908-1909) Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovak v Amerike Slovensky dennik Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky pokrok (New York , N.Y ., Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovensky dennik 1906-1911) �SLOVAKIA Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky narod (Cudahy , Wisc., 1908) Slovensky pokrok Slovensky sokol Svetlak Zensky svet Zivena (Pittsburgh, 19081909 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Hlas Jednota Katolfcke Slovenske noviny Rarasek Rovnost' l'udu Skala reci anglickej Slovak v Amerike Slovenske noviny Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky pokrok Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet (Clarksburg , W.Va ., 1909-1910) Svetlak Zivena 1910 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Hlas Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Kometa (Passaic, N.J. , 1910) Mladez (Pittsburgh , 1910-1911) Narodne noviny (Pittsburgh, 1910) Niva (Homestead, Pa., 1910-1911) Rarasek 39 Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovenske listy (Chicago, 1910) Slovenske noviny Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky pokrok Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Svetlak Youngstow nske Slovenske noviny (Youngstown, Ohio, 1910-1938) Zivena 1911 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Evanjelicky obzor (Cleveland, 1911-1912) Hlas Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol (Passaic , N.J., 1911) I.'.udovy dennik (Chicago , 1911-1917) Mladez Narodne noviny Niva Nova vlast' (Scranton, Pa ., 1911) Priatel' dietok (Passaic, N.J. , 1911) Rarasek Rovnost' l'udu Slovak a Amerike Slovenske noviny Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obzor (Passaic, N.J., 1911) Slovensky pokrok Slovensky soko l �40 SLOVAKIA Svedok Svornost' (Pittsburgh, 1911-1970} Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zivena 1912 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Evanjelicky obzor Hlas Jednota Juhozapadne noviny (Deslego , Mo. , 1912} Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krest'an (Uniontown , Pa., 1912-1932} I.:udovy dennik Narodne noviny Narodny dennik (Chicago, 1912} Priatel' dietok Rarasek Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan (Hazleton , Pa ., 1912-1947} Slovensky sokol Slovensky tyzdenmk (Cleveland, 1912} Svedok Svornost' Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zivena 1913 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Hlas Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan (New York, N.Y ., 1913-1921} Krest'an I.:udovy dennik Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik (New York, N .Y., 1913-1975) Osveta (Cleveland, 1913) Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovenske slovo (Chicago , 1913-1914) Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Viestnik (Chicago, 1913) Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zivena 1914 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Hlas Hlas svobody (New York, N.Y., 1914-1917) Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan Krest'an Kritika (Cleveland, 1914-1915) I.:udovy dennik Narodne noviny Narodny dennik (Pittsburgh, 1914-1916) Narodny Slovensky dennik (Chicago, 1914-1916) New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok �SLOVAKIA Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovenske slovo Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Oplna zdrzanlivost' (Hazleton , Pa ., 1914) Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota (Cleveland, 1914-1975) Zivena 1915 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Amerikansko-Slovensky bulletin (Pittsburgh , 1915) Amerikansko-Slovensky svet (Pittsburgh , 1915-1916) Besedy l'udu (New York, 1915-1917) Bratstvo Denny hlas (Cleveland, 1915-1925) Farnik (Monessen, Pa. , 1915-1916) Hlas Hlas svobody Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan Krest'an Kritika Kruh mladeze (Pittsburgh , 1915-1934) l.:udovy dennik Narodne noviny Narodny dennik Narodny Slovensky dennik New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena 1916 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Amerikansko-Slovensky svet Besedy l'udu Bratstvo Certik (Pittsburgh, 1916-1917) Denny hlas Farnik Hlas Hlas svobody Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan Krest'an Kruh mladeze l.:udovy dennik Narod (Pittsburgh, 1916) Narodne noviny Narodny dennik Narodny dennik (Pittsburgh, 1916-1924) Narodny slovensky dennik Nedel'a (Hazelton , Pa ., 1916) New Yorsky dennik Prehl'ad Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana (Scranton, Pa ., 1916-1972) Slovensky hlasnik 41 �42 SLOVAKIA Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky tyzdennik (Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 1916) Svetlak Svornost' Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena 1917 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Ave Maria (Cleveland, 1917Besedy l'udu (New York, N.Y., 1915-1917) Bratstvo Certik Chicagsky dennik (Chicago, 1917) Chicagsky Slovensky dennik (Chicago, 1917) Denny hlas Hlas Hlas svobody Jednota . Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan Krest'an Kruh mladeze I.:udovy dennik Narodne noviny Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Prehl'ad Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovenska mladez (Pittsburgh , 1917-1918) Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Sokolsky obzor (Chicago , 1917-1922) Svetlak Svornost' Tatran (Chicago, 1917-1937) Udalosti sveta (Hazleton, Pa., 1917-1919) Uradny organ (Braddock, Pa., 1917-1918) Vatra (Pittsburgh, 1917) Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena 1918 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa (Bridgeport , Conn., 1918-1952) Bratstvo Denny hlas Hlas Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan Krest'an Kruh mladeze Mlady Luteran (Streator, Ill., 1918-1941) Mudron district (Chicago , 1918) Narodne noviny Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Nave easy (Chicago, 1918-1945) Nave Slovensko (Pittsburgh, 1918-1922) Obzor Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku (Chicago, 1918-1920) Osadnik (Cleveland , 1918) Prehl'ad Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike �SLOVAKIA Slovenska mladez Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Sokolsky obzor Svedok Svornost' Tatran Udalosti sveta Oradny organ Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zurnal spojenych majnerov (Indianapolis , Ind., 1918) 1919 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Denny hlas . Dobry pastier (Munhall, Pa. , 1919) Hlas Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan Krest'an Kruh mladeze Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Nave Slovensko Obzor Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike 43 Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Sokolsky obzor Svetlak Svornost' Tatran Udalosti sveta Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1920 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cernoknaznik (Cleveland , 1920-1927) Ceskoslovensky legionar (Pittsburgh , 1920-1926) Clevelandska Slovenska jednota (Cleveland , 1920-1945) Denny hlas Dobry pastier Hlas Hlas Sv. Emanuela (Minneapolis , 1920) Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky Slovak (Chicago, 1920-1921) Katolicky sokol Krajan Krajan dzennik (New York, 1920-1921) Krest'an Kruh mladeze Mlady Luteran Narodne bratstvo (Cleveland , 1920) Narodne noviny �44 SLOVAKIA Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Nave Slovensko Obzor Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku Priatel' dietok Proletar (Cleveland, 1920-1921) Rovnost' l'udu Sion (Pittsburgh, 1920Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Sokolsky obzor Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 192 1 Amerikansk6-Slovenske noviny Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cernoknaznik Ceskoslovensky legionar Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Denny hlas Dobry pastier Hlas Host' (Chicago , 1921-1922) Jednota Jara (Middletown, Pa ., 1921-1964) Katolfcke Slovenske noviny Katolfcky Slovak Katolfcky sokol Krajan Krajan dzennik Krest'an Kruh mladeze Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Nave easy (Chicago, 1918-1945) Nave Slovensko Priatel' dietok Proletar Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Sokolsky obzor Svedok Svornost' Tatran Telegraf (Bridgeport, Conn., 1921-1923) Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1922 Americky Slovak (Pittsburgh , 1922) Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cernoknaznik Ceskoslovensky legionar Chicagsky Slovensky dennik (Chicago , 1922) Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Denny hlas Dobry pastier Hlas Host' �SLOVAKIA Jednota Jara Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Nave Slovensko Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Sokolsky obzor Studentska horlivost' (Lisle, Ill. , 1922-1923) Svedok Svornost' Tatran Telegraf Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Nova vlast' (Pittsburgh, 1923) Nave easy Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Studentska horlivost' Svedok Svornost' Tatran Telegraf Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1923 1924 Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cernoki\.aznik Ceskoslovensky legionar Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Denny hlas Dobry pastier Fialky (Danville, Pa., 1923-1970) Furdek (Middletown, Pa., Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cernoki\.aznik Caskoslovensky legionar Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica (Pittsburgh , 1924-1962) Denny hlas Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek 1923-1941) 45 �46 SLOVAKIA Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Listy Sv. Frantiska (Pittsburgh, 1924) Mlady Luteran Naradne noviny Narodny dennik Narodny tyzdennik (Pittsburgh , 1924) Nasa mladez (Chicago , 1924) New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Pokrokova jednota (McKees Rocks, Pa ., 1924-1935) Priatet' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska oqrana Slovensky bulletin (Bethlehem , Pa ., 1924-1929) Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1925 Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Denny hlas Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Listy Sv. Frantiska Mlady Luteran Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske slovo (Cleveland , 1925) Slovensky bulletin Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky narod (Schenectady, N.Y ., 1925) Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cernoknaznik Ceskoslovensky legionar Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo 1926 �SLOVAKIA Cernoknaznik Ceskoslovensky legiona.r Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Listy Sv. Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky bulletin Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet (Pittsburgh, Cernoknaznik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Listy Sv. Frantiska Mlady Luteran Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Pok.rokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sdruzeniar (Youngstown, Ohio, 1927) Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenska ozvena (Cleveland, 1927-1931) 1927 Slovensky bulletin Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svetlak Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Ave Maria 1926-1940) Slovo (Pittsburgh, 1926-19 37) Svetlak Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1928 47 �48 SLOVAKIA Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Li sty Sv . Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenska ozvena Slovensky bulletin Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky K,alvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1929 Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Listy Sv . Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Samostatnost' (McKeesport, Pa ., 1929-1939) Sion Slovak Manor obzor (Long Island, N.Y ., 1929) Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenska ozvena Slovenske noviny (New York , N.Y. , 1929-1943) Slovensky bulletin Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo �SLOVAKIA 1930 Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet (Cleveland, 1930-1962) Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Listy Sv . Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Samostatnost' Sion Slovak Orol (New York, N.Y., 1930) Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenska ozvena Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Sokolska straz (Pittsburgh, 1930-1931) Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zapadne hlasy (Milwaukee , 1930) Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1931 Ave Maria The Benedictine (Cleveland, 1931-1976) Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladze Listy Sv. Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny The Narrator (Milwaukee , 1931-1932) Nas svet (Chicago, 1931-1940) Nasa straz (Pittsburgh, 1931) New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenska ozvena Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin 49 �SLOVAKIA 50 Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Sokolska straz Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1932 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske Srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik (Riverside , Ill. , 1932- ) Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jed no ta Jara Kadel Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Lampas (Cleveland, 1932) Listy Sv . Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny The Narrator Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske slovenske noviny Zenska jed nota Zivena Zrkadlo 1933 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Kruh mladeze Listy Sv . Frantiska Mlady Luteran Naradne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennlk Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota �SLOVAKIA Pravda (Chicago , 193 3-1945} Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Samostatnost' Sion Slovak Democrat (New York , N.Y., 1933} Slovak V Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky soko l Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Wiconsinsky Slovak (Milwaukee, 1933-1936} Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1934 Americky Slovak (Cleveland , 1934-35} Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Detroitsky Slovak (Detroit, 1934} Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Kruh mladeze Listy Sv . Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Pravda Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Samostalnost' Sion Slovak (New York , N.Y ., 1934) Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenska revizia (Detriot , 1934} Slovenske novin y Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Wisconsinsky Slovak Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1935 Americky Slovak Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Bulletin Slovenskej ligy v Amerike (Pittsburgh, 1935-1937} Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota 51 �52 SLOVAKIA Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv . Frantiska I.:udovy dennik (Chicago, 1935-1945) Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Pravda Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Rozsieva/'.: (Gaines , Mich., 1935-1936) Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky ob/'.:an Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Wisconsinsky Slovak Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zahradka (Pittsburgh, 1935-1937) Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1936 Ave Maria The Benedictine Besiedky , Listy Americkych Slovakov (New York , N.Y., 1936) Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Bulletin Slovenskej ligy v Amerike Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota The Courier (Granite City, Ill ., 1936-1937) Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udovy dennik Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pravda a slavna nadej (Chicago, 1936) Pravda Priatel' dietok Rozsieva/'.: Rozsievac pravdy (Akron, Ohio , 1936) Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky ob/'.:an �SLOVAKIA Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Wisconsinsky Slovak Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zahradka Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1937 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Bulletin Slovenskej ligy v Amerike Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota The Courier Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Hlasnik (Akron , Ohio , 1937) Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udovy dennik Mlady Luteran Naradne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pravda Priatel' dietok Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zahradka Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1938 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udovy dennik Mlady Luteran Naradne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pravda Priatel' dietok 53 �54 SLOVAKIA Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Straz (Palmyra , Pa. , 1938) Svedok Svornost' Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1939 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udovy dennik Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pravda Priatel' dietok Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1940 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky soko l Listy Sv . Frantiska I.:udovy dennik Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pravda Priatel' dietok Roduverny Slovak (Chicago, 1940-1942) �SLOVAKIA Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenka (Chicago , 1940) Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obi':an Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1941 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I..:udovy dennik Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pravda Priatel' dietok Roduverny Slovak Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovanske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka (Pittsburgh , 1941Zrkadlo 1942 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jez isa Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas Hlas mladeze (New York , N.Y., 1942-1968) Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska Ludovy dennik Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pennsylvanska Slovenska jednota (Wilkes-Barre, 1942-1944) Pravda Priatel' dietok Roduvern y Slovak Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny 55 �56 SLOVAKIA Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornieka Zrkadlo 1943 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udovy denn'ik Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pennsylvanska Slovenska jednota Pravda Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Record (Pittsburgh, 1943) Slaboda (New York , N.Y., 1943) Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornieka Zrkadlo 1944 Ave Maria The Benedictine Boske srdce Jezisa Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udovy dennik The Lutheran Beacon (Pittsburgh, 1944-1970) Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pennsylvanska Slovenska jednota Pravda Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota �SLOVAKIA Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo Zornicka Zrkadlo 1945 1946 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo (Wilkes-Barre , Pa. , 1954) Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas Hlas mladeze Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska Cudove noviny (Chicago , 1945-1984) Cudovy dennik The Lutheran Beacon Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pravda Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Za tu nasu slovencinu (Scranton , Pa., 1945) Zenska jednota Zivena Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas Hlas mladeze Hlas slovenskej slobody (WilkesBarre , Pa ., 1946) Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv . Frantiska Cudove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Digest (Pittsburgh , 1946) Slovak Review (Middletown , Pa., 1946-1947) Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 57 �58 1947 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas Hlas ml adeze Jednota Jara Kadel Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I..:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Arnerike Slovak Review Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1948 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Dennica SLOVAKIA Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I..:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Naradny Slovensky tyzdennik (Chicago , 1948) New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak Bulletin (Pittsburgh, 1948) Slovak v Amerike Slovenska liga (Passaic , 1948) Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1949 Ave Maria The Benedictin e Bozske srdce Jez isa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Denni ca Dobry past ier Fialky Hla s ml adeze Jed nota Jara Kad et Katolicky sokol �SLOVAKIA Listy Sv. Frantiska l.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Newsletter (Middletown , Pa .. 1949-1958) Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny (Cleveland, 1949-1959) Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornii':ka Zrkadlo 1950 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cas (Washington , D.C., 1950-1959) Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas mladeze Jed no ta Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska l.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Narodne noviny New Yorsky' dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1951 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas mladeze Jed no ta Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv . Frantiska l.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Naradne novin y New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagl e (Bridgeport, Conn .. 1951) Slovak Newsletter 59 �60 Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornii'.:ka Zrkadlo 1952 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky so!<ol Listy Sv. Frantiska 1'.udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky soko l Svetlak SLOVAKIA Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1953 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Bulletin of the Slovak National Council Abroad (Middletown, Pa., 1953-1958) Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak (Maitland, Fla., 1953) Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska l'.udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota �SLOVAKIA Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1954 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Bulletin of the Slovak National Council Abroad Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jaro Kadel Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska l.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most (Cleveland, 1954Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jed nota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1955 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Bulletin of the Slovak National Council Abroad Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska l.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter . Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1956 Ave Maria The Benedictine 61 �62 SLOVAKIA Bratstvo Bulletin of the Slovak National Council Abroad Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Rozhl'ady (New York , N .Y., 1956-1959) Sion Slovak V Am'e rike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo The Benedictine Bratstvo Bulletin of the Slovak National Council Abroad Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Rozhl'ady Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1957 1958 Amerikansko-Slovensky kocur (Cleveland , 1957-1958) Ave Maria Amerikansko-Slovensky kocur Ave Maria The Benedictine �SLOVAKIA Bratstvo Bulletin of the Slovak National Council Abroad Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska l'.udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Rozhl'ady Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1959 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Li sty Sv. Frantiska l'.udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Rozhl'lady Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1960 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze 63 �64 Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Li sty Sv . Fran ti ska Ludove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1961 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most SLOVAKIA Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1962 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Calvin (Pittsburgh , 1962Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv . Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle �SLOVAKIA Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' United Lutheran (Pittsburgh, 1962- ) Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1963 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jaro Katolicky sokol Listy Sv . Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' United Luthera n Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1964 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Nardone noviny New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1965 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky 65 �66 Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy (Chicago, 1965Nase snahy (Chicago, 1965New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenske obrana Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1966 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine··Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Ciekevmk Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny SLOVAKIA ) ) Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1967 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Sokol Times (Perth Amboy, N.J ., 1967) �SLOVAKIA Svetlak Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1968 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska LUdove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest (New York , N.Y., 1968-1975) Sl~venska obrana Sokol Times Svetlak Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1969 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Li sty Sv . Frantiska Ludove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest Slovenska obrana Sokol Times Svedok Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1970 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky 67 �68 Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest Slovenska obrana Sokol times Svetlak Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota .Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1971 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik SLOVAKIA Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest Slovak a Svet (Chicago, 1971-72) Slovenska obrana Sokol Times Svetlak United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1972 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Fran ti ska I.:udove noviny Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slobodna tribuna (New York, N. Y. , 1972) Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest Slovak a Svet Slovenska obrana Sokol Times Svetlak �SLOVAKIA United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1973 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slobodna tribuna Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest Sokol Times Svedok United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1974 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Li sty Sv. Fran ti ska I.:udove noviny Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slobodna Tribuna Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest Sokol Times Svedok United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1975 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik 69 �70 Priatel' dietok Sion Slobodna tribuna Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Heritage (Detroit , 1975Slovak Press Digest SLOVAKIA Sokol Times Svetlak United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo �SLOVAKIA LITERATURE 71 �� 34 SLOVAKIA Slovak-American Newspapers, 1885-1975: A Preliminary Listing M. MARK STOLARIK In 1983, as the centennial of the Slovak-American press approached , I decided to re-work Konstantin Culen's annotated bibliography Slovenske casopisy v Amerike (Cleveland: First Catholic Slovak Union , 1970) and tell the story as he would have had he not died prematurely in 1964 . Therefore , I literally took his book apart and put it back together again with the aid of a computer. This resulted in two analytical essays and the listing I am about to publish. The essays were: " The Slovak-American Press," [1885-1984] in Sally M. Miller ed., The Ethnic Press in the United States: A Historical Analy sis and Handbook (Westport, Ct.: Greenwood Press, 1987), and "At Home Abroad: The SlovakAmerican Press, 1885-1918 , " which is slated to appear in Owen V. Johnson 's edited volume entitled Mobilizing the Mobilized: The Role and Functions of the Mass Media in Eastern Europe. The list of Slovak-American newspapers published between 1885 and 1975 which follows is based upon Culen's book , cited above , and the late Michal Lacko's Slovak Bibliography Abroad, 1945-1965, and 1966-1975 published in Slovak Studies VII and XVII, Bibliografica 1 and 2 (Rome: Slovak Institute, 1967 and 1977) . Culen listed 246 titles in his book, but, upon close inspection, I discovered 39 titles that he could not verify or which should not have been listed because they were not Slovak newspapers. I subtracted these from the list. Furthermore, Lacko discovered 13 titles that Culen had missed and I added these, coming up with a grand total of 220 for the period 1885-1975 . There have probably �SLOVAKIA 35 been more than 220 Slovak-American newspapers in the period 1885-1975, but they remain to be discovered and verified. Also, Jozef Rydlo, who has taken over the duties of editor of Slovak Studies, is presently working on a Slovak Bibliography Abroad, 1976-1985 and his work will allow me, or someone else, to update the list to 1985. Meanwhile, here is how I prepared the list. I carefully read Culen's annotated bibliography and kept his definition of a newspaper as one that appeared at least quarterly. I then listed the title, the date and city it first appeared in, and also major subsequent cities if it moved, and the date it folded. This list (plus my analytical articles, cited abov~) supplements the work of Michal Potemra who published a Bibliografia slovenskych novin a casopisov do roku 1918 (Martin: Matica slovenska, 1958) and Maria Kipsova et. al . Bibliografia slovenskych a inorecovy ch novin a casopisov z rokov 1919-1938 (Martin: Matica slovenska, 1968) . I hope that students of SlovakAmerican history will find it useful. Slovak-American Newspapers, 1885-1975 1885 Bulletin (Pittsburgh , 1885-1886) 1886 Bulletin Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny (Pittsburgh, 1886-1922) 1887 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny 1888 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Nova vlast' (Streator , Ill ., 1888) Slovak v Amerike (Plymouth & New York , 1889) Zastava (Plymouth , Pa ., 1889) 1890 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Katolicke noviny Slovak v Amerike 1891 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Jednota (Cleveland , 1891) Katolicke noviny Slovak v Amerike 1889 1892 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Katolicke noviny (Hazleton , Pa ., 1889-1891) Robotnik (Connellsville , Pa ., 1889) Americky Slovak (Cleveland, 1892-1894) Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Jednota �36 SLOVAKIA Slovak v Amerike Slovenske listy (Jersey City, N .J., 1892) 1893 Americky Slovak Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Jednota Slovak v Amerike Slovenska svornost' (Connellsville , Pa., 1893-1897) 1894 Americky Slovak Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Cirkevne listy (Cleveland, 1894-1899) Fakla (New York City, 1894) Jednota Majak (Pittsburgh, 1894) Pravda (Connellsville , Pa., 1894-1896) Slovak v Arilerike Slovenska pravda (Freeland, Pa., 1984-1904) Slovenska svornost' Slovensky hlas (Pittsburgh, 1894-1898) 1895 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Cas (Nanticoke, Pa., 1895-1899) Cirkevne listy Jednota Katolik (Freeland , Pa., 1895-1898) Pravda Rodina (Cleveland, 1895) Slovak (New York City , 1895) Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenska svornost' Slovensky hlas 1896 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Cas Cirkevne listy Jednota Katolik Pravda Rarasek (Pittsburgh, 1896-1912) Sasok (Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 1896-1898) Slovak v Amerike Slovaktownske hlasy (Pittsburgh, 1896) Slovenska pravda Slovenska svornost' Slovensky hlas 1897 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Carodejnik (Cleveland, 1897-1898) Cas Cirkevne listy The Emmigrant (Pittsburgh , 1897) Jednota Katolik Mydlo (Wilkes-Barre , Pa., 1897-1898) Rarasek Sasok Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenska svornost' Slovenske noviny (Hazleton , Pa., 1897-1911) Slovensky hlas 1898 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Carodejnik Cas Cirkevne listy Jednota Katolik Mydlo Rarasek �SLOVAKIA Sasok Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlas 1899 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo (Wilkes-Barre, Pa ., 1899-1941 ; 1945) Cas Cirkevne listy Jednota Novy Cernoknaznik (Cleveland , 1899) Rarasek Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny 1900 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Cas Jednota Lutheran (Cleveland , 1900-1902) Rarasek Slaboda (Chicago, 1900-1901) Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik (Pittsburgh, 1900-1962) Slovensky Lutheran (Philadelphia, 1900) 1901 37 Slebodny Orel (New York, N.Y., 1901-1904) Slaboda Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny Slovensky dennik (Pittsburgh, 1901-1915) Slovensky hlasnik Viera (Cleveland , 1901-1902) 1902 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Jednota Lutheran Rarasek Slebodny ore! Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny Slovensky American (Pittsburgh, 1902-1903) Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky obcan (Bridgeport, Conn., 1902) Viera 1903 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Jednota Rarasek Slebodny ore! Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny Slovensky American Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Jednota Lutheran Naso novini (New York , N.Y., 1901) 1904 Rarasek Sip (Cleveland, 1901) Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny �38 SLOVAKIA Bratstvo Jednota Rarasek Robotnik (New York, N.Y., 1904) Slebodny V Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky sokol Slovensky tyzdennik Svedok (Pittsburgh , 1906Zornicka (Wilkes-Barre, Pa. , 1906-1907) 1907 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Hlas (Cleveland, 1907-1947) 1905 Jednota Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Katolicke Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Nasa zastava Rarasek Jednota Rovnost' l'udu Rarasek Slovak v Amerike Slovak v Amerike Slovenske noviny Slovenske noviny Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovensko-Americky zabavnik (Chicago , 1905-1912) Slovensky dennik Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin (Pittsburgh, Slovensky sokol (Perth Amboy , N .J., 1907-1962) 1905-1966) Slovensky pokrok Slovensky tyzdenmk (New York, Slovensky sokol N.Y ., 1905-1906) Svedok Sokol a narod (1905) Zensky svet (New York, N.Y., 1907-1908) Zornicka 1906 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny 1908 Bratstvo Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Jednota Bratstvo Katolicke Slovenske noviny Hlas (Chicago, 1906-1926) Nasa zastava (Bridgeport , Conn. , Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny 1906-1907) Krajan (Hazleton , Pa. , 1908) Rarasek Rovnost' l'udu (Chicago, 1906-1935) Rarasek Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Skola reci anglickej (Pittsburgh, Slovenske noviny 1908-1909) Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovak v Amerike Slovensky dennik Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky pokrok (New York , N.Y ., Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovensky dennik 1906-1911) �SLOVAKIA Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky narod (Cudahy , Wisc., 1908) Slovensky pokrok Slovensky sokol Svetlak Zensky svet Zivena (Pittsburgh, 19081909 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Hlas Jednota Katolfcke Slovenske noviny Rarasek Rovnost' l'udu Skala reci anglickej Slovak v Amerike Slovenske noviny Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky pokrok Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet (Clarksburg , W.Va ., 1909-1910) Svetlak Zivena 1910 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Hlas Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Kometa (Passaic, N.J. , 1910) Mladez (Pittsburgh , 1910-1911) Narodne noviny (Pittsburgh, 1910) Niva (Homestead, Pa., 1910-1911) Rarasek 39 Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovenske listy (Chicago, 1910) Slovenske noviny Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky pokrok Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Svetlak Youngstow nske Slovenske noviny (Youngstown, Ohio, 1910-1938) Zivena 1911 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Evanjelicky obzor (Cleveland, 1911-1912) Hlas Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol (Passaic , N.J., 1911) I.'.udovy dennik (Chicago , 1911-1917) Mladez Narodne noviny Niva Nova vlast' (Scranton, Pa ., 1911) Priatel' dietok (Passaic, N.J. , 1911) Rarasek Rovnost' l'udu Slovak a Amerike Slovenske noviny Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obzor (Passaic, N.J., 1911) Slovensky pokrok Slovensky soko l �40 SLOVAKIA Svedok Svornost' (Pittsburgh, 1911-1970} Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zivena 1912 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Evanjelicky obzor Hlas Jednota Juhozapadne noviny (Deslego , Mo. , 1912} Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krest'an (Uniontown , Pa., 1912-1932} I.:udovy dennik Narodne noviny Narodny dennik (Chicago, 1912} Priatel' dietok Rarasek Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan (Hazleton , Pa ., 1912-1947} Slovensky sokol Slovensky tyzdenmk (Cleveland, 1912} Svedok Svornost' Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zivena 1913 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Hlas Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan (New York, N.Y ., 1913-1921} Krest'an I.:udovy dennik Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik (New York, N .Y., 1913-1975) Osveta (Cleveland, 1913) Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovenske slovo (Chicago , 1913-1914) Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Viestnik (Chicago, 1913) Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zivena 1914 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Hlas Hlas svobody (New York, N.Y., 1914-1917) Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan Krest'an Kritika (Cleveland, 1914-1915) I.:udovy dennik Narodne noviny Narodny dennik (Pittsburgh, 1914-1916) Narodny Slovensky dennik (Chicago, 1914-1916) New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok �SLOVAKIA Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovenske slovo Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Oplna zdrzanlivost' (Hazleton , Pa ., 1914) Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota (Cleveland, 1914-1975) Zivena 1915 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Amerikansko-Slovensky bulletin (Pittsburgh , 1915) Amerikansko-Slovensky svet (Pittsburgh , 1915-1916) Besedy l'udu (New York, 1915-1917) Bratstvo Denny hlas (Cleveland, 1915-1925) Farnik (Monessen, Pa. , 1915-1916) Hlas Hlas svobody Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan Krest'an Kritika Kruh mladeze (Pittsburgh , 1915-1934) l.:udovy dennik Narodne noviny Narodny dennik Narodny Slovensky dennik New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena 1916 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Amerikansko-Slovensky svet Besedy l'udu Bratstvo Certik (Pittsburgh, 1916-1917) Denny hlas Farnik Hlas Hlas svobody Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan Krest'an Kruh mladeze l.:udovy dennik Narod (Pittsburgh, 1916) Narodne noviny Narodny dennik Narodny dennik (Pittsburgh, 1916-1924) Narodny slovensky dennik Nedel'a (Hazelton , Pa ., 1916) New Yorsky dennik Prehl'ad Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana (Scranton, Pa ., 1916-1972) Slovensky hlasnik 41 �42 SLOVAKIA Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky tyzdennik (Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 1916) Svetlak Svornost' Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena 1917 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Ave Maria (Cleveland, 1917Besedy l'udu (New York, N.Y., 1915-1917) Bratstvo Certik Chicagsky dennik (Chicago, 1917) Chicagsky Slovensky dennik (Chicago, 1917) Denny hlas Hlas Hlas svobody Jednota . Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan Krest'an Kruh mladeze I.:udovy dennik Narodne noviny Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Prehl'ad Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovenska mladez (Pittsburgh , 1917-1918) Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Sokolsky obzor (Chicago , 1917-1922) Svetlak Svornost' Tatran (Chicago, 1917-1937) Udalosti sveta (Hazleton, Pa., 1917-1919) Uradny organ (Braddock, Pa., 1917-1918) Vatra (Pittsburgh, 1917) Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena 1918 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa (Bridgeport , Conn., 1918-1952) Bratstvo Denny hlas Hlas Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan Krest'an Kruh mladeze Mlady Luteran (Streator, Ill., 1918-1941) Mudron district (Chicago , 1918) Narodne noviny Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Nave easy (Chicago, 1918-1945) Nave Slovensko (Pittsburgh, 1918-1922) Obzor Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku (Chicago, 1918-1920) Osadnik (Cleveland , 1918) Prehl'ad Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike �SLOVAKIA Slovenska mladez Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Sokolsky obzor Svedok Svornost' Tatran Udalosti sveta Oradny organ Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zurnal spojenych majnerov (Indianapolis , Ind., 1918) 1919 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Denny hlas . Dobry pastier (Munhall, Pa. , 1919) Hlas Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan Krest'an Kruh mladeze Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Nave Slovensko Obzor Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike 43 Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Sokolsky obzor Svetlak Svornost' Tatran Udalosti sveta Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1920 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cernoknaznik (Cleveland , 1920-1927) Ceskoslovensky legionar (Pittsburgh , 1920-1926) Clevelandska Slovenska jednota (Cleveland , 1920-1945) Denny hlas Dobry pastier Hlas Hlas Sv. Emanuela (Minneapolis , 1920) Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky Slovak (Chicago, 1920-1921) Katolicky sokol Krajan Krajan dzennik (New York, 1920-1921) Krest'an Kruh mladeze Mlady Luteran Narodne bratstvo (Cleveland , 1920) Narodne noviny �44 SLOVAKIA Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Nave Slovensko Obzor Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku Priatel' dietok Proletar (Cleveland, 1920-1921) Rovnost' l'udu Sion (Pittsburgh, 1920Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Sokolsky obzor Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 192 1 Amerikansk6-Slovenske noviny Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cernoknaznik Ceskoslovensky legionar Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Denny hlas Dobry pastier Hlas Host' (Chicago , 1921-1922) Jednota Jara (Middletown, Pa ., 1921-1964) Katolfcke Slovenske noviny Katolfcky Slovak Katolfcky sokol Krajan Krajan dzennik Krest'an Kruh mladeze Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Nave easy (Chicago, 1918-1945) Nave Slovensko Priatel' dietok Proletar Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Sokolsky obzor Svedok Svornost' Tatran Telegraf (Bridgeport, Conn., 1921-1923) Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1922 Americky Slovak (Pittsburgh , 1922) Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cernoknaznik Ceskoslovensky legionar Chicagsky Slovensky dennik (Chicago , 1922) Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Denny hlas Dobry pastier Hlas Host' �SLOVAKIA Jednota Jara Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Nave Slovensko Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Sokolsky obzor Studentska horlivost' (Lisle, Ill. , 1922-1923) Svedok Svornost' Tatran Telegraf Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Nova vlast' (Pittsburgh, 1923) Nave easy Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Studentska horlivost' Svedok Svornost' Tatran Telegraf Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1923 1924 Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cernoki\.aznik Ceskoslovensky legionar Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Denny hlas Dobry pastier Fialky (Danville, Pa., 1923-1970) Furdek (Middletown, Pa., Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cernoki\.aznik Caskoslovensky legionar Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica (Pittsburgh , 1924-1962) Denny hlas Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek 1923-1941) 45 �46 SLOVAKIA Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Listy Sv. Frantiska (Pittsburgh, 1924) Mlady Luteran Naradne noviny Narodny dennik Narodny tyzdennik (Pittsburgh , 1924) Nasa mladez (Chicago , 1924) New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Pokrokova jednota (McKees Rocks, Pa ., 1924-1935) Priatet' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska oqrana Slovensky bulletin (Bethlehem , Pa ., 1924-1929) Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1925 Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Denny hlas Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Listy Sv. Frantiska Mlady Luteran Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske slovo (Cleveland , 1925) Slovensky bulletin Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky narod (Schenectady, N.Y ., 1925) Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cernoknaznik Ceskoslovensky legionar Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo 1926 �SLOVAKIA Cernoknaznik Ceskoslovensky legiona.r Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Listy Sv. Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky bulletin Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet (Pittsburgh, Cernoknaznik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Listy Sv. Frantiska Mlady Luteran Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Pok.rokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sdruzeniar (Youngstown, Ohio, 1927) Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenska ozvena (Cleveland, 1927-1931) 1927 Slovensky bulletin Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svetlak Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Ave Maria 1926-1940) Slovo (Pittsburgh, 1926-19 37) Svetlak Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1928 47 �48 SLOVAKIA Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Li sty Sv . Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenska ozvena Slovensky bulletin Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky K,alvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1929 Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Listy Sv . Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Samostatnost' (McKeesport, Pa ., 1929-1939) Sion Slovak Manor obzor (Long Island, N.Y ., 1929) Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenska ozvena Slovenske noviny (New York , N.Y. , 1929-1943) Slovensky bulletin Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo �SLOVAKIA 1930 Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet (Cleveland, 1930-1962) Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Listy Sv . Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Samostatnost' Sion Slovak Orol (New York, N.Y., 1930) Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenska ozvena Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Sokolska straz (Pittsburgh, 1930-1931) Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zapadne hlasy (Milwaukee , 1930) Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1931 Ave Maria The Benedictine (Cleveland, 1931-1976) Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladze Listy Sv. Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny The Narrator (Milwaukee , 1931-1932) Nas svet (Chicago, 1931-1940) Nasa straz (Pittsburgh, 1931) New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenska ozvena Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin 49 �SLOVAKIA 50 Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Sokolska straz Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1932 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske Srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik (Riverside , Ill. , 1932- ) Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jed no ta Jara Kadel Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Lampas (Cleveland, 1932) Listy Sv . Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny The Narrator Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske slovenske noviny Zenska jed nota Zivena Zrkadlo 1933 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Kruh mladeze Listy Sv . Frantiska Mlady Luteran Naradne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennlk Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota �SLOVAKIA Pravda (Chicago , 193 3-1945} Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Samostatnost' Sion Slovak Democrat (New York , N.Y., 1933} Slovak V Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky soko l Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Wiconsinsky Slovak (Milwaukee, 1933-1936} Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1934 Americky Slovak (Cleveland , 1934-35} Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Detroitsky Slovak (Detroit, 1934} Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Kruh mladeze Listy Sv . Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Pravda Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Samostalnost' Sion Slovak (New York , N.Y ., 1934) Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenska revizia (Detriot , 1934} Slovenske novin y Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Wisconsinsky Slovak Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1935 Americky Slovak Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Bulletin Slovenskej ligy v Amerike (Pittsburgh, 1935-1937} Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota 51 �52 SLOVAKIA Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv . Frantiska I.:udovy dennik (Chicago, 1935-1945) Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Pravda Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Rozsieva/'.: (Gaines , Mich., 1935-1936) Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky ob/'.:an Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Wisconsinsky Slovak Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zahradka (Pittsburgh, 1935-1937) Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1936 Ave Maria The Benedictine Besiedky , Listy Americkych Slovakov (New York , N.Y., 1936) Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Bulletin Slovenskej ligy v Amerike Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota The Courier (Granite City, Ill ., 1936-1937) Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udovy dennik Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pravda a slavna nadej (Chicago, 1936) Pravda Priatel' dietok Rozsieva/'.: Rozsievac pravdy (Akron, Ohio , 1936) Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky ob/'.:an �SLOVAKIA Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Wisconsinsky Slovak Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zahradka Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1937 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Bulletin Slovenskej ligy v Amerike Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota The Courier Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Hlasnik (Akron , Ohio , 1937) Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udovy dennik Mlady Luteran Naradne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pravda Priatel' dietok Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zahradka Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1938 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udovy dennik Mlady Luteran Naradne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pravda Priatel' dietok 53 �54 SLOVAKIA Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Straz (Palmyra , Pa. , 1938) Svedok Svornost' Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1939 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udovy dennik Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pravda Priatel' dietok Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1940 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky soko l Listy Sv . Frantiska I.:udovy dennik Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pravda Priatel' dietok Roduverny Slovak (Chicago, 1940-1942) �SLOVAKIA Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenka (Chicago , 1940) Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obi':an Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1941 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I..:udovy dennik Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pravda Priatel' dietok Roduverny Slovak Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovanske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka (Pittsburgh , 1941Zrkadlo 1942 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jez isa Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas Hlas mladeze (New York , N.Y., 1942-1968) Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska Ludovy dennik Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pennsylvanska Slovenska jednota (Wilkes-Barre, 1942-1944) Pravda Priatel' dietok Roduvern y Slovak Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny 55 �56 SLOVAKIA Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornieka Zrkadlo 1943 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udovy denn'ik Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pennsylvanska Slovenska jednota Pravda Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Record (Pittsburgh, 1943) Slaboda (New York , N.Y., 1943) Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornieka Zrkadlo 1944 Ave Maria The Benedictine Boske srdce Jezisa Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udovy dennik The Lutheran Beacon (Pittsburgh, 1944-1970) Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pennsylvanska Slovenska jednota Pravda Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota �SLOVAKIA Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo Zornicka Zrkadlo 1945 1946 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo (Wilkes-Barre , Pa. , 1954) Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas Hlas mladeze Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska Cudove noviny (Chicago , 1945-1984) Cudovy dennik The Lutheran Beacon Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pravda Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Za tu nasu slovencinu (Scranton , Pa., 1945) Zenska jednota Zivena Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas Hlas mladeze Hlas slovenskej slobody (WilkesBarre , Pa ., 1946) Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv . Frantiska Cudove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Digest (Pittsburgh , 1946) Slovak Review (Middletown , Pa., 1946-1947) Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 57 �58 1947 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas Hlas ml adeze Jednota Jara Kadel Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I..:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Arnerike Slovak Review Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1948 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Dennica SLOVAKIA Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I..:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Naradny Slovensky tyzdennik (Chicago , 1948) New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak Bulletin (Pittsburgh, 1948) Slovak v Amerike Slovenska liga (Passaic , 1948) Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1949 Ave Maria The Benedictin e Bozske srdce Jez isa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Denni ca Dobry past ier Fialky Hla s ml adeze Jed nota Jara Kad et Katolicky sokol �SLOVAKIA Listy Sv. Frantiska l.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Newsletter (Middletown , Pa .. 1949-1958) Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny (Cleveland, 1949-1959) Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornii':ka Zrkadlo 1950 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cas (Washington , D.C., 1950-1959) Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas mladeze Jed no ta Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska l.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Narodne noviny New Yorsky' dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1951 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas mladeze Jed no ta Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv . Frantiska l.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Naradne novin y New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagl e (Bridgeport, Conn .. 1951) Slovak Newsletter 59 �60 Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornii'.:ka Zrkadlo 1952 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky so!<ol Listy Sv. Frantiska 1'.udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky soko l Svetlak SLOVAKIA Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1953 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Bulletin of the Slovak National Council Abroad (Middletown, Pa., 1953-1958) Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak (Maitland, Fla., 1953) Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska l'.udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota �SLOVAKIA Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1954 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Bulletin of the Slovak National Council Abroad Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jaro Kadel Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska l.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most (Cleveland, 1954Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jed nota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1955 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Bulletin of the Slovak National Council Abroad Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska l.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter . Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1956 Ave Maria The Benedictine 61 �62 SLOVAKIA Bratstvo Bulletin of the Slovak National Council Abroad Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Rozhl'ady (New York , N .Y., 1956-1959) Sion Slovak V Am'e rike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo The Benedictine Bratstvo Bulletin of the Slovak National Council Abroad Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Rozhl'ady Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1957 1958 Amerikansko-Slovensky kocur (Cleveland , 1957-1958) Ave Maria Amerikansko-Slovensky kocur Ave Maria The Benedictine �SLOVAKIA Bratstvo Bulletin of the Slovak National Council Abroad Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska l'.udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Rozhl'ady Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1959 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Li sty Sv. Frantiska l'.udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Rozhl'lady Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1960 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze 63 �64 Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Li sty Sv . Fran ti ska Ludove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1961 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most SLOVAKIA Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1962 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Calvin (Pittsburgh , 1962Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv . Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle �SLOVAKIA Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' United Lutheran (Pittsburgh, 1962- ) Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1963 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jaro Katolicky sokol Listy Sv . Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' United Luthera n Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1964 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Nardone noviny New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1965 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky 65 �66 Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy (Chicago, 1965Nase snahy (Chicago, 1965New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenske obrana Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1966 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine··Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Ciekevmk Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny SLOVAKIA ) ) Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1967 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Sokol Times (Perth Amboy, N.J ., 1967) �SLOVAKIA Svetlak Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1968 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska LUdove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest (New York , N.Y., 1968-1975) Sl~venska obrana Sokol Times Svetlak Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1969 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Li sty Sv . Frantiska Ludove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest Slovenska obrana Sokol Times Svedok Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1970 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky 67 �68 Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest Slovenska obrana Sokol times Svetlak Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota .Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1971 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik SLOVAKIA Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest Slovak a Svet (Chicago, 1971-72) Slovenska obrana Sokol Times Svetlak United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1972 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Fran ti ska I.:udove noviny Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slobodna tribuna (New York, N. Y. , 1972) Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest Slovak a Svet Slovenska obrana Sokol Times Svetlak �SLOVAKIA United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1973 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slobodna tribuna Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest Sokol Times Svedok United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1974 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Li sty Sv. Fran ti ska I.:udove noviny Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slobodna Tribuna Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest Sokol Times Svedok United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1975 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik 69 �70 Priatel' dietok Sion Slobodna tribuna Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Heritage (Detroit , 1975Slovak Press Digest SLOVAKIA Sokol Times Svetlak United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo �SLOVAKIA LITERATURE 71 �� 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 1985-86, Vol. 32 Description An account of the resource Vol. 32 (No. 58-59), 1985-86. 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 1985-86 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 34 SLOVAKIA Slovak-American Newspapers, 1885-1975: A Preliminary Listing M. MARK STOLARIK In 1983, as the centennial of the Slovak-American press approached , I decided to re-work Konstantin Culen's annotated bibliography Slovenske casopisy v Amerike (Cleveland: First Catholic Slovak Union , 1970) and tell the story as he would have had he not died prematurely in 1964 . Therefore , I literally took his book apart and put it back together again with the aid of a computer. This resulted in two analytical essays and the listing I am about to publish. The essays were: " The Slovak-American Press," [1885-1984] in Sally M. Miller ed., The Ethnic Press in the United States: A Historical Analy sis and Handbook (Westport, Ct.: Greenwood Press, 1987), and "At Home Abroad: The SlovakAmerican Press, 1885-1918 , " which is slated to appear in Owen V. Johnson 's edited volume entitled Mobilizing the Mobilized: The Role and Functions of the Mass Media in Eastern Europe. The list of Slovak-American newspapers published between 1885 and 1975 which follows is based upon Culen's book , cited above , and the late Michal Lacko's Slovak Bibliography Abroad, 1945-1965, and 1966-1975 published in Slovak Studies VII and XVII, Bibliografica 1 and 2 (Rome: Slovak Institute, 1967 and 1977) . Culen listed 246 titles in his book, but, upon close inspection, I discovered 39 titles that he could not verify or which should not have been listed because they were not Slovak newspapers. I subtracted these from the list. Furthermore, Lacko discovered 13 titles that Culen had missed and I added these, coming up with a grand total of 220 for the period 1885-1975 . There have probably SLOVAKIA 35 been more than 220 Slovak-American newspapers in the period 1885-1975, but they remain to be discovered and verified. Also, Jozef Rydlo, who has taken over the duties of editor of Slovak Studies, is presently working on a Slovak Bibliography Abroad, 1976-1985 and his work will allow me, or someone else, to update the list to 1985. Meanwhile, here is how I prepared the list. I carefully read Culen's annotated bibliography and kept his definition of a newspaper as one that appeared at least quarterly. I then listed the title, the date and city it first appeared in, and also major subsequent cities if it moved, and the date it folded. This list (plus my analytical articles, cited abov~) supplements the work of Michal Potemra who published a Bibliografia slovenskych novin a casopisov do roku 1918 (Martin: Matica slovenska, 1958) and Maria Kipsova et. al . Bibliografia slovenskych a inorecovy ch novin a casopisov z rokov 1919-1938 (Martin: Matica slovenska, 1968) . I hope that students of SlovakAmerican history will find it useful. Slovak-American Newspapers, 1885-1975 1885 Bulletin (Pittsburgh , 1885-1886) 1886 Bulletin Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny (Pittsburgh, 1886-1922) 1887 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny 1888 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Nova vlast' (Streator , Ill ., 1888) Slovak v Amerike (Plymouth & New York , 1889) Zastava (Plymouth , Pa ., 1889) 1890 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Katolicke noviny Slovak v Amerike 1891 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Jednota (Cleveland , 1891) Katolicke noviny Slovak v Amerike 1889 1892 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Katolicke noviny (Hazleton , Pa ., 1889-1891) Robotnik (Connellsville , Pa ., 1889) Americky Slovak (Cleveland, 1892-1894) Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Jednota 36 SLOVAKIA Slovak v Amerike Slovenske listy (Jersey City, N .J., 1892) 1893 Americky Slovak Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Jednota Slovak v Amerike Slovenska svornost' (Connellsville , Pa., 1893-1897) 1894 Americky Slovak Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Cirkevne listy (Cleveland, 1894-1899) Fakla (New York City, 1894) Jednota Majak (Pittsburgh, 1894) Pravda (Connellsville , Pa., 1894-1896) Slovak v Arilerike Slovenska pravda (Freeland, Pa., 1984-1904) Slovenska svornost' Slovensky hlas (Pittsburgh, 1894-1898) 1895 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Cas (Nanticoke, Pa., 1895-1899) Cirkevne listy Jednota Katolik (Freeland , Pa., 1895-1898) Pravda Rodina (Cleveland, 1895) Slovak (New York City , 1895) Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenska svornost' Slovensky hlas 1896 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Cas Cirkevne listy Jednota Katolik Pravda Rarasek (Pittsburgh, 1896-1912) Sasok (Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 1896-1898) Slovak v Amerike Slovaktownske hlasy (Pittsburgh, 1896) Slovenska pravda Slovenska svornost' Slovensky hlas 1897 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Carodejnik (Cleveland, 1897-1898) Cas Cirkevne listy The Emmigrant (Pittsburgh , 1897) Jednota Katolik Mydlo (Wilkes-Barre , Pa., 1897-1898) Rarasek Sasok Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenska svornost' Slovenske noviny (Hazleton , Pa., 1897-1911) Slovensky hlas 1898 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Carodejnik Cas Cirkevne listy Jednota Katolik Mydlo Rarasek SLOVAKIA Sasok Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlas 1899 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo (Wilkes-Barre, Pa ., 1899-1941 ; 1945) Cas Cirkevne listy Jednota Novy Cernoknaznik (Cleveland , 1899) Rarasek Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny 1900 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Cas Jednota Lutheran (Cleveland , 1900-1902) Rarasek Slaboda (Chicago, 1900-1901) Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik (Pittsburgh, 1900-1962) Slovensky Lutheran (Philadelphia, 1900) 1901 37 Slebodny Orel (New York, N.Y., 1901-1904) Slaboda Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny Slovensky dennik (Pittsburgh, 1901-1915) Slovensky hlasnik Viera (Cleveland , 1901-1902) 1902 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Jednota Lutheran Rarasek Slebodny ore! Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny Slovensky American (Pittsburgh, 1902-1903) Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky obcan (Bridgeport, Conn., 1902) Viera 1903 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Jednota Rarasek Slebodny ore! Slovak v Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny Slovensky American Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Jednota Lutheran Naso novini (New York , N.Y., 1901) 1904 Rarasek Sip (Cleveland, 1901) Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny 38 SLOVAKIA Bratstvo Jednota Rarasek Robotnik (New York, N.Y., 1904) Slebodny V Amerike Slovenska pravda Slovenske noviny Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky sokol Slovensky tyzdennik Svedok (Pittsburgh , 1906Zornicka (Wilkes-Barre, Pa. , 1906-1907) 1907 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Hlas (Cleveland, 1907-1947) 1905 Jednota Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Katolicke Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Nasa zastava Rarasek Jednota Rovnost' l'udu Rarasek Slovak v Amerike Slovak v Amerike Slovenske noviny Slovenske noviny Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovensko-Americky zabavnik (Chicago , 1905-1912) Slovensky dennik Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin (Pittsburgh, Slovensky sokol (Perth Amboy , N .J., 1907-1962) 1905-1966) Slovensky pokrok Slovensky tyzdenmk (New York, Slovensky sokol N.Y ., 1905-1906) Svedok Sokol a narod (1905) Zensky svet (New York, N.Y., 1907-1908) Zornicka 1906 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny 1908 Bratstvo Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Jednota Bratstvo Katolicke Slovenske noviny Hlas (Chicago, 1906-1926) Nasa zastava (Bridgeport , Conn. , Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny 1906-1907) Krajan (Hazleton , Pa. , 1908) Rarasek Rovnost' l'udu (Chicago, 1906-1935) Rarasek Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Skola reci anglickej (Pittsburgh, Slovenske noviny 1908-1909) Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovak v Amerike Slovensky dennik Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky pokrok (New York , N.Y ., Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovensky dennik 1906-1911) SLOVAKIA Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky narod (Cudahy , Wisc., 1908) Slovensky pokrok Slovensky sokol Svetlak Zensky svet Zivena (Pittsburgh, 19081909 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Hlas Jednota Katolfcke Slovenske noviny Rarasek Rovnost' l'udu Skala reci anglickej Slovak v Amerike Slovenske noviny Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky pokrok Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet (Clarksburg , W.Va ., 1909-1910) Svetlak Zivena 1910 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Hlas Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Kometa (Passaic, N.J. , 1910) Mladez (Pittsburgh , 1910-1911) Narodne noviny (Pittsburgh, 1910) Niva (Homestead, Pa., 1910-1911) Rarasek 39 Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovenske listy (Chicago, 1910) Slovenske noviny Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky pokrok Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Svetlak Youngstow nske Slovenske noviny (Youngstown, Ohio, 1910-1938) Zivena 1911 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Evanjelicky obzor (Cleveland, 1911-1912) Hlas Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol (Passaic , N.J., 1911) I.'.udovy dennik (Chicago , 1911-1917) Mladez Narodne noviny Niva Nova vlast' (Scranton, Pa ., 1911) Priatel' dietok (Passaic, N.J. , 1911) Rarasek Rovnost' l'udu Slovak a Amerike Slovenske noviny Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obzor (Passaic, N.J., 1911) Slovensky pokrok Slovensky soko l 40 SLOVAKIA Svedok Svornost' (Pittsburgh, 1911-1970} Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zivena 1912 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Evanjelicky obzor Hlas Jednota Juhozapadne noviny (Deslego , Mo. , 1912} Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krest'an (Uniontown , Pa., 1912-1932} I.:udovy dennik Narodne noviny Narodny dennik (Chicago, 1912} Priatel' dietok Rarasek Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovensko-Americky zabavnik Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan (Hazleton , Pa ., 1912-1947} Slovensky sokol Slovensky tyzdenmk (Cleveland, 1912} Svedok Svornost' Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zivena 1913 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Hlas Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan (New York, N.Y ., 1913-1921} Krest'an I.:udovy dennik Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik (New York, N .Y., 1913-1975) Osveta (Cleveland, 1913) Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovenske slovo (Chicago , 1913-1914) Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Viestnik (Chicago, 1913) Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zivena 1914 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Bratstvo Hlas Hlas svobody (New York, N.Y., 1914-1917) Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan Krest'an Kritika (Cleveland, 1914-1915) I.:udovy dennik Narodne noviny Narodny dennik (Pittsburgh, 1914-1916) Narodny Slovensky dennik (Chicago, 1914-1916) New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok SLOVAKIA Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovenske slovo Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Oplna zdrzanlivost' (Hazleton , Pa ., 1914) Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota (Cleveland, 1914-1975) Zivena 1915 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Amerikansko-Slovensky bulletin (Pittsburgh , 1915) Amerikansko-Slovensky svet (Pittsburgh , 1915-1916) Besedy l'udu (New York, 1915-1917) Bratstvo Denny hlas (Cleveland, 1915-1925) Farnik (Monessen, Pa. , 1915-1916) Hlas Hlas svobody Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan Krest'an Kritika Kruh mladeze (Pittsburgh , 1915-1934) l.:udovy dennik Narodne noviny Narodny dennik Narodny Slovensky dennik New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovensky dennik Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena 1916 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Amerikansko-Slovensky svet Besedy l'udu Bratstvo Certik (Pittsburgh, 1916-1917) Denny hlas Farnik Hlas Hlas svobody Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan Krest'an Kruh mladeze l.:udovy dennik Narod (Pittsburgh, 1916) Narodne noviny Narodny dennik Narodny dennik (Pittsburgh, 1916-1924) Narodny slovensky dennik Nedel'a (Hazelton , Pa ., 1916) New Yorsky dennik Prehl'ad Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana (Scranton, Pa ., 1916-1972) Slovensky hlasnik 41 42 SLOVAKIA Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky tyzdennik (Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 1916) Svetlak Svornost' Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena 1917 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Ave Maria (Cleveland, 1917Besedy l'udu (New York, N.Y., 1915-1917) Bratstvo Certik Chicagsky dennik (Chicago, 1917) Chicagsky Slovensky dennik (Chicago, 1917) Denny hlas Hlas Hlas svobody Jednota . Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan Krest'an Kruh mladeze I.:udovy dennik Narodne noviny Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Prehl'ad Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike Slovenska mladez (Pittsburgh , 1917-1918) Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Sokolsky obzor (Chicago , 1917-1922) Svetlak Svornost' Tatran (Chicago, 1917-1937) Udalosti sveta (Hazleton, Pa., 1917-1919) Uradny organ (Braddock, Pa., 1917-1918) Vatra (Pittsburgh, 1917) Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena 1918 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa (Bridgeport , Conn., 1918-1952) Bratstvo Denny hlas Hlas Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan Krest'an Kruh mladeze Mlady Luteran (Streator, Ill., 1918-1941) Mudron district (Chicago , 1918) Narodne noviny Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Nave easy (Chicago, 1918-1945) Nave Slovensko (Pittsburgh, 1918-1922) Obzor Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku (Chicago, 1918-1920) Osadnik (Cleveland , 1918) Prehl'ad Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike SLOVAKIA Slovenska mladez Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Sokolsky obzor Svedok Svornost' Tatran Udalosti sveta Oradny organ Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zurnal spojenych majnerov (Indianapolis , Ind., 1918) 1919 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Denny hlas . Dobry pastier (Munhall, Pa. , 1919) Hlas Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krajan Krest'an Kruh mladeze Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Nave Slovensko Obzor Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Slovak v Amerike 43 Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Sokolsky obzor Svetlak Svornost' Tatran Udalosti sveta Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1920 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cernoknaznik (Cleveland , 1920-1927) Ceskoslovensky legionar (Pittsburgh , 1920-1926) Clevelandska Slovenska jednota (Cleveland , 1920-1945) Denny hlas Dobry pastier Hlas Hlas Sv. Emanuela (Minneapolis , 1920) Jednota Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky Slovak (Chicago, 1920-1921) Katolicky sokol Krajan Krajan dzennik (New York, 1920-1921) Krest'an Kruh mladeze Mlady Luteran Narodne bratstvo (Cleveland , 1920) Narodne noviny 44 SLOVAKIA Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Nave Slovensko Obzor Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku Priatel' dietok Proletar (Cleveland, 1920-1921) Rovnost' l'udu Sion (Pittsburgh, 1920Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Sokolsky obzor Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 192 1 Amerikansk6-Slovenske noviny Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cernoknaznik Ceskoslovensky legionar Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Denny hlas Dobry pastier Hlas Host' (Chicago , 1921-1922) Jednota Jara (Middletown, Pa ., 1921-1964) Katolfcke Slovenske noviny Katolfcky Slovak Katolfcky sokol Krajan Krajan dzennik Krest'an Kruh mladeze Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Nave easy (Chicago, 1918-1945) Nave Slovensko Priatel' dietok Proletar Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Sokolsky obzor Svedok Svornost' Tatran Telegraf (Bridgeport, Conn., 1921-1923) Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1922 Americky Slovak (Pittsburgh , 1922) Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cernoknaznik Ceskoslovensky legionar Chicagsky Slovensky dennik (Chicago , 1922) Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Denny hlas Dobry pastier Hlas Host' SLOVAKIA Jednota Jara Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Nave Slovensko Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Sokolsky obzor Studentska horlivost' (Lisle, Ill. , 1922-1923) Svedok Svornost' Tatran Telegraf Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Narodny dennik New Yorsky dennik Nova vlast' (Pittsburgh, 1923) Nave easy Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Studentska horlivost' Svedok Svornost' Tatran Telegraf Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1923 1924 Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cernoki\.aznik Ceskoslovensky legionar Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Denny hlas Dobry pastier Fialky (Danville, Pa., 1923-1970) Furdek (Middletown, Pa., Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cernoki\.aznik Caskoslovensky legionar Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica (Pittsburgh , 1924-1962) Denny hlas Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek 1923-1941) 45 46 SLOVAKIA Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Listy Sv. Frantiska (Pittsburgh, 1924) Mlady Luteran Naradne noviny Narodny dennik Narodny tyzdennik (Pittsburgh , 1924) Nasa mladez (Chicago , 1924) New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Pokrokova jednota (McKees Rocks, Pa ., 1924-1935) Priatet' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska oqrana Slovensky bulletin (Bethlehem , Pa ., 1924-1929) Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1925 Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Denny hlas Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Listy Sv. Frantiska Mlady Luteran Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske slovo (Cleveland , 1925) Slovensky bulletin Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky narod (Schenectady, N.Y ., 1925) Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cernoknaznik Ceskoslovensky legionar Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo 1926 SLOVAKIA Cernoknaznik Ceskoslovensky legiona.r Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicke Slovenske noviny Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Listy Sv. Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky bulletin Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet (Pittsburgh, Cernoknaznik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Listy Sv. Frantiska Mlady Luteran Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Pok.rokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sdruzeniar (Youngstown, Ohio, 1927) Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenska ozvena (Cleveland, 1927-1931) 1927 Slovensky bulletin Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svetlak Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Ave Maria 1926-1940) Slovo (Pittsburgh, 1926-19 37) Svetlak Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1928 47 48 SLOVAKIA Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Li sty Sv . Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenska ozvena Slovensky bulletin Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky K,alvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1929 Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Listy Sv . Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Samostatnost' (McKeesport, Pa ., 1929-1939) Sion Slovak Manor obzor (Long Island, N.Y ., 1929) Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenska ozvena Slovenske noviny (New York , N.Y. , 1929-1943) Slovensky bulletin Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo SLOVAKIA 1930 Ave Maria Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet (Cleveland, 1930-1962) Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Listy Sv . Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Samostatnost' Sion Slovak Orol (New York, N.Y., 1930) Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenska ozvena Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Sokolska straz (Pittsburgh, 1930-1931) Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zapadne hlasy (Milwaukee , 1930) Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1931 Ave Maria The Benedictine (Cleveland, 1931-1976) Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladze Listy Sv. Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny The Narrator (Milwaukee , 1931-1932) Nas svet (Chicago, 1931-1940) Nasa straz (Pittsburgh, 1931) New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenska ozvena Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin 49 SLOVAKIA 50 Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Sokolska straz Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1932 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske Srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik (Riverside , Ill. , 1932- ) Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jed no ta Jara Kadel Katolicky sokol Krest'an Kruh mladeze Lampas (Cleveland, 1932) Listy Sv . Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny The Narrator Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske slovenske noviny Zenska jed nota Zivena Zrkadlo 1933 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Kruh mladeze Listy Sv . Frantiska Mlady Luteran Naradne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennlk Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota SLOVAKIA Pravda (Chicago , 193 3-1945} Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Samostatnost' Sion Slovak Democrat (New York , N.Y., 1933} Slovak V Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky soko l Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Wiconsinsky Slovak (Milwaukee, 1933-1936} Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1934 Americky Slovak (Cleveland , 1934-35} Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Detroitsky Slovak (Detroit, 1934} Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Kruh mladeze Listy Sv . Frantiska Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Pravda Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Samostalnost' Sion Slovak (New York , N.Y ., 1934) Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenska revizia (Detriot , 1934} Slovenske novin y Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Wisconsinsky Slovak Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1935 Americky Slovak Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Bulletin Slovenskej ligy v Amerike (Pittsburgh, 1935-1937} Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota 51 52 SLOVAKIA Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv . Frantiska I.:udovy dennik (Chicago, 1935-1945) Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pokrokova jednota Pravda Priatel' dietok Rovnost' l'udu Rozsieva/'.: (Gaines , Mich., 1935-1936) Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky ob/'.:an Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Wisconsinsky Slovak Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zahradka (Pittsburgh, 1935-1937) Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1936 Ave Maria The Benedictine Besiedky , Listy Americkych Slovakov (New York , N.Y., 1936) Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Bulletin Slovenskej ligy v Amerike Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota The Courier (Granite City, Ill ., 1936-1937) Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udovy dennik Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pravda a slavna nadej (Chicago, 1936) Pravda Priatel' dietok Rozsieva/'.: Rozsievac pravdy (Akron, Ohio , 1936) Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky ob/'.:an SLOVAKIA Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Wisconsinsky Slovak Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zahradka Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1937 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Bulletin Slovenskej ligy v Amerike Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota The Courier Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Hlasnik (Akron , Ohio , 1937) Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udovy dennik Mlady Luteran Naradne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pravda Priatel' dietok Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Slovo Svedok Svornost' Tatran Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zahradka Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1938 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udovy dennik Mlady Luteran Naradne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pravda Priatel' dietok 53 54 SLOVAKIA Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Straz (Palmyra , Pa. , 1938) Svedok Svornost' Youngstownske Slovenske noviny Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1939 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udovy dennik Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pravda Priatel' dietok Samostatnost' Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1940 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky soko l Listy Sv . Frantiska I.:udovy dennik Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny Nas svet New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pravda Priatel' dietok Roduverny Slovak (Chicago, 1940-1942) SLOVAKIA Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenka (Chicago , 1940) Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obi':an Slovensky sokol Slovensky svet Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zrkadlo 1941 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Furdek Hlas Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I..:udovy dennik Mlady Luteran Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pravda Priatel' dietok Roduverny Slovak Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovanske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka (Pittsburgh , 1941Zrkadlo 1942 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jez isa Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas Hlas mladeze (New York , N.Y., 1942-1968) Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska Ludovy dennik Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pennsylvanska Slovenska jednota (Wilkes-Barre, 1942-1944) Pravda Priatel' dietok Roduvern y Slovak Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny 55 56 SLOVAKIA Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornieka Zrkadlo 1943 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udovy denn'ik Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pennsylvanska Slovenska jednota Pravda Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Record (Pittsburgh, 1943) Slaboda (New York , N.Y., 1943) Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornieka Zrkadlo 1944 Ave Maria The Benedictine Boske srdce Jezisa Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udovy dennik The Lutheran Beacon (Pittsburgh, 1944-1970) Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nave easy Osadne hlasy Pennsylvanska Slovenska jednota Pravda Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obean Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota SLOVAKIA Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo Zornicka Zrkadlo 1945 1946 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo (Wilkes-Barre , Pa. , 1954) Cirkevnik Clevelandska Slovenska jednota Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas Hlas mladeze Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska Cudove noviny (Chicago , 1945-1984) Cudovy dennik The Lutheran Beacon Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Nove easy Osadne hlasy Pravda Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Za tu nasu slovencinu (Scranton , Pa., 1945) Zenska jednota Zivena Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas Hlas mladeze Hlas slovenskej slobody (WilkesBarre , Pa ., 1946) Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv . Frantiska Cudove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Digest (Pittsburgh , 1946) Slovak Review (Middletown , Pa., 1946-1947) Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 57 58 1947 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas Hlas ml adeze Jednota Jara Kadel Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I..:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Arnerike Slovak Review Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky obcan Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1948 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Dennica SLOVAKIA Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I..:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Naradny Slovensky tyzdennik (Chicago , 1948) New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak Bulletin (Pittsburgh, 1948) Slovak v Amerike Slovenska liga (Passaic , 1948) Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1949 Ave Maria The Benedictin e Bozske srdce Jez isa Bratstvo Cirkevnik Denni ca Dobry past ier Fialky Hla s ml adeze Jed nota Jara Kad et Katolicky sokol SLOVAKIA Listy Sv. Frantiska l.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Newsletter (Middletown , Pa .. 1949-1958) Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny (Cleveland, 1949-1959) Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornii':ka Zrkadlo 1950 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cas (Washington , D.C., 1950-1959) Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas mladeze Jed no ta Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska l.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Narodne noviny New Yorsky' dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1951 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas mladeze Jed no ta Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv . Frantiska l.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Naradne novin y New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagl e (Bridgeport, Conn .. 1951) Slovak Newsletter 59 60 Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornii'.:ka Zrkadlo 1952 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bozske srdce Jezisa Bratstvo Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky so!<ol Listy Sv. Frantiska 1'.udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky soko l Svetlak SLOVAKIA Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1953 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Bulletin of the Slovak National Council Abroad (Middletown, Pa., 1953-1958) Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak (Maitland, Fla., 1953) Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska l'.udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota SLOVAKIA Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1954 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Bulletin of the Slovak National Council Abroad Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jaro Kadel Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska l.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most (Cleveland, 1954Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jed nota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1955 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Bulletin of the Slovak National Council Abroad Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska l.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter . Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1956 Ave Maria The Benedictine 61 62 SLOVAKIA Bratstvo Bulletin of the Slovak National Council Abroad Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Rozhl'ady (New York , N .Y., 1956-1959) Sion Slovak V Am'e rike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo The Benedictine Bratstvo Bulletin of the Slovak National Council Abroad Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Rozhl'ady Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1957 1958 Amerikansko-Slovensky kocur (Cleveland , 1957-1958) Ave Maria Amerikansko-Slovensky kocur Ave Maria The Benedictine SLOVAKIA Bratstvo Bulletin of the Slovak National Council Abroad Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska l'.udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Rozhl'ady Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Newsletter Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1959 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Cas Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jaro Kadet Katolicky sokol Li sty Sv. Frantiska l'.udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Rozhl'lady Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Slovenske noviny Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1960 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze 63 64 Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Li sty Sv . Fran ti ska Ludove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1961 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most SLOVAKIA Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svetlak Svornost' Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1962 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Calvin (Pittsburgh , 1962Cirkevnik Dennica Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Kadet Katolicky sokol Listy Sv . Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Naradne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle SLOVAKIA Slovenska obrana Slovensky hlasnik Slovensky Kalvin Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' United Lutheran (Pittsburgh, 1962- ) Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1963 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jaro Katolicky sokol Listy Sv . Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny New Yorsky dennik Osadne hlasy Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' United Luthera n Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1964 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Jara Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Nardone noviny New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1965 Ave Maria The Benedictine Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky 65 66 Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy (Chicago, 1965Nase snahy (Chicago, 1965New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenske obrana Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1966 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine··Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Ciekevmk Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny SLOVAKIA ) ) Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Slovensky sokol Svedok Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1967 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovenska obrana Sokol Times (Perth Amboy, N.J ., 1967) SLOVAKIA Svetlak Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1968 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Hlas mladeze Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska LUdove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest (New York , N.Y., 1968-1975) Sl~venska obrana Sokol Times Svetlak Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1969 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Li sty Sv . Frantiska Ludove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest Slovenska obrana Sokol Times Svedok Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1970 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Fialky 67 68 Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny The Lutheran Beacon Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest Slovenska obrana Sokol times Svetlak Svornost' United Lutheran Zenska jednota .Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1971 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik SLOVAKIA Priatel' dietok Sion Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest Slovak a Svet (Chicago, 1971-72) Slovenska obrana Sokol Times Svetlak United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1972 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Fran ti ska I.:udove noviny Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slobodna tribuna (New York, N. Y. , 1972) Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest Slovak a Svet Slovenska obrana Sokol Times Svetlak SLOVAKIA United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1973 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slobodna tribuna Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest Sokol Times Svedok United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1974 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Li sty Sv. Fran ti ska I.:udove noviny Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik Priatel' dietok Sion Slobodna Tribuna Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Press Digest Sokol Times Svedok United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo 1975 Ave Maria The Benedictine Benedictine Bulletin Bratstvo Calvin Cirkevnik Dobry pastier Floridsky Slovak Jednota Katolicky sokol Listy Sv. Frantiska I.:udove noviny Most Narodne noviny Nase hlasy Nase snahy New Yorsky dennik 69 70 Priatel' dietok Sion Slobodna tribuna Slovak v Amerike Slovak Eagle Slovak Heritage (Detroit , 1975Slovak Press Digest SLOVAKIA Sokol Times Svetlak United Lutheran Zenska jednota Zivena Zornicka Zrkadlo SLOVAKIA LITERATURE 71  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Slovak-American Newspapers, 1885-1975: A Preliminary Listing Description An account of the resource M. Mark Stolarik Slovakia, Vol. 32 (No. 58-59), 1985-86 pp. 34-70 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stolarik, M. Mark, 1943- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1985-86 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/fefdf2fe65fb24a9917b93ddea621275.pdf 54e1381f4acdff07d80d6fa6302c06c6 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 9 Stefan Osusky's Attempts to Establish Contacts with Slovakia in 1939: A Personal Memoir JOSEPH STASKO The following is the recollection of my experiences as a young Slovak student in Paris during the critical years 1938-1939. Although this "first person narrative" is necessarily somewhat colored by subjective impressions, it should nonetheless shed light on some hithertofore undisclosed and/or unanalyzed information relating to events and personalities of the period. 1 On the international scene, Hitler's daring diplomatic moves, combined with military pressure , brought about not only the Munich Agreement (September 29/ 30 , 1938) but also the resignation of President Edvard Benes (October 5, 1938), followed by the Zilina Agreement (October 6, 1938), by virtue of which the Slovaks achieved political autonomy . For me , as a politically active federalist (autonomist), the Zilina Agreement represented the fulfillment of the Slovak political struggle , the federation of Czecho-Slovakia. In the second half of October, 1938 , I returned to Slovakia to witness the implementation of Slovak autonomy. The new autonomous government of Slovakia had commenced with enthusiasm, national pride , and hope . This euphoric atmosphere, however , did not last for long. The loss of a large part of Slovak territory to Hungary by the Vienna Award of November 2 , 1938 was a tragic blow to the promising beginnings of Slovak self-rule . The overall mood in Slovakia was overshadowed by national grief, anger , and a feeling of powerlessness. �10 SLOVAKIA In the official circles of the Slovak government and among the general public there was no serious talk of separating Slovakia from the Czech lands. Both the government and judicial public viewed the Munich Agreement and the Vienna Award as diplomatic safeguards against Hitler's further penetration in Central Europe and also as an international guaranty against Hungarian territorial rapacity. There were, however, radical elements grouped around Alexander Mach, Karol Murgas, Jozef Jostiak, Jan Farkas , and Jan Dafc':lk who fomented anti-Czech feeling by ascribing the loss of Slovak territory to Benes and his policy toward Slovakia. In November, 1938, I returned to France convinced that the Slovaks considered their autonomy the satisfactory solution of their national and political interests. Before I left I was offered the assignment of foreign correspondent for the newspapers Slovak and Slovenska pravda , which I gladly accepted. By the end of November the Czechoslovak ambassador in France, Dr. Stefan Osusky, was returning to Paris from his visit to the newlyTelected president of Czecho-Slovakia , Dr. Emil Hacha and to the new foreign minister, Dr. Frantisek Chvalkovsky. As a foreign correspondent for the newspaper Slovak, I asked Osusky for an interview regarding his impressions of Czecho-Slovakia. Prior to the interview, he gave me a copy of his aide-memoire submitted to the French Foreign Office as a supplement to his official report. The main topics, as I recall, were descriptions of his audiences with President Hacha and Foreign Minister Chvalkovsky and of the apathy of the Czech people toward the latest tragic dismemberment of Bohemia in the Munich Agreement. Included in it was also a statement concerning the Slovak autonomous government's assurances of its wholehearted support for the Czecho-Slovak state. In my subsequent interview with Osusky he maintained that the French government had pledged to guarantee the security of the new Czecho-Slovakia. This part of the interview _was later published in the newspaper Slovak. After this interview with Osusky, my contacts with him became more frequent and proved to be very useful to me as a student and as a journalist. He encouraged me to study the question of minorities in Central Europe , offered me access to the embassy 's library, and invited me to the "five o'clock tea" on a �SLOVAKIA 11 regular weekly basis. He also arranged for me contacts with the Havas Press Agency, as well as with the newspaper Epoque, L'Oeuvre, and Le Temps . 2 In December, 1938, I was back in Slovakia on a journalistic assignment from Osusky to report on the Slovak parliamentary elections , held on December 18, 1938. After the opening of the first session of the new Slovak Parliament on January 19, 1939, I returned the next day to France. At one of our ''five o'clock tea'' meetings, Osusky explained his political views not only on international questions but on the internal problems of Czecho-Slovakia as well. He told me that although his position as the envoy of Czecho-Slovakia in Paris precluded his interference in the internal affairs of the state, he kept close contacts with many prominent politicians and expressed his political views freely. However, since he was unable to make public his own views, he suggested that I should try to put them in writing . I interpreted this as a mandate and asked 'him to set up dates for interviews on his position regarding political developments in Europe with a special focus on Central Europe and Czecho-Slovakia. On the basis of these interviews I submitted to him in February, 1939, a draft of "Dr. Osusky's Views and Opinions on the European Crisis.'' He approved my draft and asked me to supplement it with philosophical statements from his acceptance speech, delivered on February 5, 1936, on the occasion of his receipt of an honorary doctorate in law at the University of Dijon. I complied with his request. The resulting paper was reproduced for his Slovak friends; later a part of it was included in his booklet Cesko-Slovensko a jeho buducnost', which appeared in 1939. After the crisis of March, 1939, Osusky was looked upon as the only representative of Czecho-Slovakia in the free world who could claim the authority of a co-founder of the state. Following his refusal to deliver the Czecho-Slovak embassy in Paris to the Germans, he espoused the so-called ambassadorial theory of continuity, according to which he was the only legal representative of Czechoslovakia . Osusky's theory conflicted with the " presidential theory of continuity" of Benes, who considered himself the victim of Hitler's brutality and the sacrificial lamb of �12 SLOVAKIA the military and psychological weakness of France and Great Britain. The French government confirmed Osusky's legal status and continued to recognize him as the diplomatic representative of Post-Munich Czecho-Slovakia. Osusky felt himself destined for the leading role in the resistance against Hitler. At this historical juncture , however, Osusky found himself isolated, without trustworthy collaborators at the embassy and with no close connections with the Slovaks and their organizations in France. His relations with his Slovak countrymen in France were sparse and those with the Czechs lacked mutual trust. The only employee at the embassy who devotedly served Osusky was Stefan Moncek, the treasurer. Other Slovaks at the embassy - Dr. Vladimir Palic, Dr. Alexander Kunosi, and later Dr. Fedor Hodza - either stayed there for only a short time or tendered their allegiance to others. All other personnel at the embassy espoused Benes' views and conspired against Osusky. This politically precarious situation necessitated an immediate remedy in two directions: Osusky's relations with the Slovaks and their organizations in France; and the reshaping of his staff at the embassy. In the first half of April, 1939 , Osusky inquired about my connections with Slovak organizations in France and in Slovakia. He needed broader support for his leadership. For this purpose he planned to secure the confidence of his Slovak co-nationals in France. In order to improve his image as the representative, not only of the Czechs, but also of the Slovaks (who now lived in the Slovak state), he intended to attract political friends from Slovakia. To help carry out the first part of his plan I offered my assistance in arranging a gathering of Slovaks in Argenteuil , near Paris. There Osusky would deliver his first campaign speech on political issues in general and on Czech-Slovak relations in particular. The timing was opportune. After March 14, 1939 , the majority of Slovaks in France, who expressed their trust in Prime Minister Jozef Tiso's government, were denounced by the Czechs as traitors and as such were reported to the French authorities who then persecuted them as pro-Nazis. The presence of Ambassador Osusky at the gathering was an occasion to present Slovak complaints to him and to ask for protection. �SLOVAKIA 13 The gathering of French Slovaks took place in April, 1939, and was quite successful. Osusky's speech was reproduced in special leaflets, and parts were published in his Cesko-Slovensko ajeho buducnost'. On the whole, Osusky's address was favorably accepted by the Slovaks, especially his promise to protect thqse Slovaks who did not spread anti-French or anti-Czech propaganda. 3 The daily influx into France of Czech political and military emigrants caused Osusky much concern because practically all of them supported Benes. This may have been one of the main reasons why he entrusted me with a secret mission to visit Slovakia to contact his friends, former political leaders, many government officials, and leading personalities in the cultural and economic life of the Slovak state. Osusky indicated that he would like me to bring personal messages to some of his friends and inquire into the possibility of having contacts with them through Budapest. He also suggested that I travel to Hungary to survey the situation of the Slovaks in occupied Southern Slovakia and contact their leaders. I accepted this mission as a sign of personal trust and asked for a few days to prepare a more detailed program for his approval. At the outset of our discussion Osusky had pointed out that this trip was supposed to appear as if it were my own undertaking, but he promised to inform the French authorities of my status and procure a diplomatic visa for me. He did so promptly. Among the persons I was to see and deliver messages to were: Dr. Anton Stefanek, Professor at the University of Bratislava; General Rudolf Viest, Inspector-General of the Slovak Army; Dr. Samuel Osusky, Lutheran Bishop and cousin of Osusky; Lutheran Bishop Fedor Ruppeldt; Dr. Matej Murtin at the Hypotecna a komunalna banka in Bratislava; the lawyer Dr. Ivan Pietor; economists Dr. Peter Zat'ko and Dr. Vladimir Fajnor; and the General Director of the Slovenska narodna banka, Dr. Imrich Karvas . My assignment included also contacts with Dr. Milos Vanco, Dr. Jan Spisiak, and Jan Teplansky. Osusky explained his wish to build communications with Bratislava through a liaison in Budapest to be funded half by him and the other half by the Slovak side . As for possible discussions with government officials, I could act in my name only. Osusky 's name could be mentioned in con- �14 SLOVAKIA nection with his warning about the risk of war and the need for the cooperation of Slovakia with the West. All other questions that Osusky gave me were for Prime Minister Tiso alone. Among them was the question of the Slovaks in France and their eventual mobilization in case of war in military units of a Czecho-Slovak Army. Another question of importance for both Slovakia and Osusky was the establishing of Slovak diplomatic missions in the West equipped with proper personalities and far-reaching political perspectives. He suggested also that I discuss some matters with Foreign Minister Ferdinand Durcansky . Before I left France on April 27 , 1939 , I helped to organize the participation of Slovaks at the Second Reunion of the Czechs and Slovaks in France, which was planned for April 29-30 at the Czechoslovak Colony in Paris . Benes 's adherents planned to declare him the leader of the '' Second Czechoslovak Struggle Abroad ,'' thus eliminating Osusky for good from any leading role in the exile movement. The outcome of that meeting was transmitted to me in Bratislava by Stefan Moncek, who had been given my telephone number. This information was important to my mission because success depended on Osusky 's retention of his leadership position abroad. In Bratislava I met freely with my friends and colleagues . Some of them already held high state offices and enjoyed their positions in the full swing of their zeal, devotion , and industry . They seemed to be unaware of the danger of war and believed that their happy days would have no end. To my surprise, some of them thought that Hitler was satisfied with his annexations and that the risk of war had been thus eliminated . This naive credulity was confirmed by my visits with Propaganda Chief Sano Mach, the Hlinka Guard leaders Karol Murgas and Jan Dafcik, and the majority of my own friends. The glorification of Hitler by Dr. Vojtech Tuka in his May 1, 1939, speech at Primizial Plaza in Bratislava was an ominous sign, as was the elimination of Karol Sidor from Slovak political affairs. The next day I was granted an audience with Prime Minister Tiso. It was arranged through Dr. Juraj Rajec , whom I knew when he was the educational counselor in the student residence Svoradov. I was admitted to Tiso as a reporter for the newspaper Slovak in France . �SLOVAKIA 15 Sitting in the corner of his office , overlooking the Danube, Tiso looked tired and somewhat restrained. He asked me about my studies and my journalistic experience in France. After I answered those questions I described the difficult position of the Slovaks in France as outlined earlier. This led me to Ambassador Osusky and his activities. I reported to Tiso the full details of Osusky 's speech in Argenteuil, handed him the leaflets of the Center of the Czechs and Slovaks Abroad concerning recruitment in the event of war, and finally submitted to him the document ' 'Dr. Osusky 's Views and Opinions on the European Crisis.'' With regard to the possibility of war, I indicated that there were about 50 ,000 Slovaks in France who could be recruited into a Czechoslovak Army and who would have to fight against the Slovak state for Benes' type of Czechoslovakia. I also told Tiso that Osusky favored a federated Czecho-Slovakia but faced the determined opposition of the Czechs and of some Slovak centralists, the so-called Czechoslovaks. Osusky had a few friends among the Czechs, and not many among the Slovaks. He was willing to set up separate Slovak military units in France, alongside the Czech ones, under a unified command, but there were no Slovak officers. Tiso listened to my briefing and then remarked that he did not consider Osusky to be the representative of the Slovak cause in the West because Osusky did not know Slovakia and the Slovaks did not know Osusky. Next I inquired whether it was true that the situation of Slovakia after the Treaty of Protection with Germany , which had been characterized in France as total dependence upon Germany, was similar to the situation in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. He rose from his chair, approached the window facing the Danube , and asked me if I could see the cannons on the other side of the Danube, which were aimed directly at his windows . This ''protection,'' he said, did not prevent the Slovaks from losing Petrzalka (part of Bratislava), but it was still preferable to their being divided between the Magyars and the Poles. To my querry about the limits of Slovak freedom in making foreign contacts, he responded that the new government expected to be recognized by most European states very quickly. This would make it difficult for the Germans to interfere and would provide �16 SLOVAKIA a legal basis for foreign contacts. Durcansky would give me more details on this point. I was curious about relations with the Magyars, for I had heard that there was no reaction from the Slovak side to the atrocities committed by the Magyars in Komjatice, Slovensky Meder, and Surany. Tiso replied that according to the Treaty of Protection with Germany, the Slovaks could not unilaterally decide on retaliatory measures against the Magyars in Slovakia; the Slovaks were thus denied the right of reprisal, he said . On the other hand , the Treaty provided for German protection of Slovak territory against constant Magyar incursions. And so the Slovak position toward Hungary was dictated by those factors. I inquired if it would be possible to use the Slovaks in France for some kind of support of a Slovak cause in the West in the event of war. Tiso said that that was not an immediate worry. First France would have to recognize the Slovak State , after which there would be more time for such discussions. I told him that Osusky would have no objection to the French government granting the Slovak state de facto recognition. He saw such circumstances as being favorable for building a bridge between France and Slovakia, provided that the proper person were appointed as head of the Slovak consulate. Tiso indicated that I would receive the answer to this question from f>urcansky. Tiso suggested publishing a Slovak-French bulletin in France and the possibility of a cultural exchange. He referred me to Dr. Vojtech Brestensky, Secretary General of Slovenska liga , who would take care of it. In summarizing our discussion, Tiso reiterated his views , stressed the confidentiality of some of his remarks , and asked me about my immediate and future plans . I mentioned that I intended to visit Hungary to speak with Slovak representatives. He asked me if this had already been planned in Paris, which I affirmed. He concluded the interview with an invitation to contact him again before I left for France. That same day, in the Cafe Carlton, I was introduced by Vlado Houdek to Peter Pares , the British consul in Bratislava. He expressed a keen interest in my studies in France and my evaluation of the French political scene. He was eager to see me the next day at the same place, and I gladly consented. �SLOVAKIA 17 Later that day I was invited for dinner by Foreign Minister Durcansky at his private residence. To my surprise, he had already been informed of the issues discussed with the prime minister. Our friendly personal relations, based on close cooperation in the autonomist movement, allowed us to be absolutely frank with each other. After giving him an overall picture of French public opinion, I touched on the question of the Slovaks in France and also on Ambassador Osusky's actions. To this Durcansky added his brief analysis of the Slovak situation on the international level and outlined Slovak diplomatic ambitions. The discussion that followed could be summarized in the following points: I said that according to what I knew from Osusky and from the Polish embassy in Paris , the French and the British were hurridly mobilizing raw materials, increasing production of military hardware , building up public opinion against Hitler; in short they were preparing for war. In the diplomatic field , the French were repeating their pledges to stand by their treaties with Poland and Romania. Durcansky accepted the possibility of war but not earlier than in two years. As for the Slovaks in France, I asked if it could f10t be possible to organize them into a Slovak Legion and have them fight against Hitler and for the preservation of the Slovak state. Osusky, I continued, was opposed to Benes. He recognized a federated Czecho-Slovakia as the best form of government which would guarantee Slovak self-rule . Durcansky replied that he did not believe that France would agree on the formation of a Slovak Legion with the proviso that it fight for the preservation of the Slovak state. He, therefore, would accept the organization of Czech and Slovak military units under a unified command. This reasoning was parallel in general terms with that of Osusky 's. One of the most difficult questions , however, was where to find and how to commission 20 to 30 Slovak officers for this duty . This would be a political question of unforseeable complications. According to Durcansky , this could be done under different pretexts , such as through a cultural delegation, correspondents , students, businessmen, and the like. Under the present conditions, two things were required immediately: official recognition of Slovakia by the French government and money . As for the first �18 SLOVAKIA condition, Durcansky said that he had been already told by the French consul that recognition was on its way. The question of money would be solved by creation of the Institute for Slovaks Abroad , which for the time being would be associated with the Foreign Ministry. The money could be put aside from the ministerial budget. To do so , it would be necessary to prepare the statutes of the proposed Institute . He instructed me to meet the next day with Dr. Jozef Cieker, Dr. Vojtech Brestensky, Emil Rusko , and their experts to prepare the final text of the statutes. After Durcansky had read "Osusky's Views and Opinions on the European Crisis" and gone through the material I had brought with me, he indicated that Osusky 's position might help the Slovak cause in the West if he would be willing to cooperate with the Slovak consul in Paris , using him as a liaison with Slovakia . I asked Durcansky if he already had in mind such a person for such a delicate mission; he mentioned the name of Ing. Milan Harminic. More explicitly than Tiso , Durcansky gave me details regarding his dealings with the Germans. This I later put in writing and sent to Ambassador Osusky through the French consulate in Bratislava. From the organizational point of view, Durcansky considered the existing Catholic mission in France an excellent focus for rallying the Slovaks , not only on religious, but also on cultural and political grounds. He knew the Reverend Jan Futak, the Head of the mission, vaguely but expressed confidence in him. He promised to send money to France from the planned Institute to help publish a periodical bulletin in French and Slovak. As the editor he planned to appoint the Reverend Vojtech Klein, a Catholic priest known for his work in the social field and in the publishing trade. Before taking leave of Durcansky I informed him of my trip to Hungary and asked for his advice as to whom I should contact and what concrete steps I should take to gather detailed information on the situation of the Slovaks there . He referred me to Dr. Ludovit Obtulovic , a lawyer in Nave Zamky who was the leader of the Slovaks in the occupied territory of Southern Slovakia, and to the Reverand Imrich Ko sec , a Catholic priest in the nearby village of Banovska Kesa . �SLOVAKIA 19 Durcansky planned to build a direct line of communication between Bratislava and Paris through an employee of the Slovak embassy in Budapest . During the discussion it became apparent to me that this communication was supposed to be rather a personal link between Durcansky and the Catholic mission in Argenteuil. Consequently, I did not mention at this point that Osusky too was looking for a liaison with Slovakia through a confidant in Budapest. While Durcansky hoped to build bridges to the West without the intermediary link of Osusky , the latter planned to use his contacts with Slovakia for bringing his political friends into exile. Before I left for Hungary I learned that on May 4, 1939 Great Britain had extended de facto recognition to the Slovak state and had confirmed the present British consul in Bratislava, Pares , as its official representative. This greatly furthered Slovak self-confidence. A special permit to cross the Slovak-Hungariaii border was given to me at the Hungarian consulate in Bratislava at the recommendation of Monsignor Augustin Hladik, Canon of the Cathedral of St. Martin in Bratislava, with whom I had been in contact for some years. He also made the arrangement for my travel to Hungary by car with Count Janos Eszterhazy, who was the official representative of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia, in which capacity he was also a member of the Slovak Parliament. My first stop was at Dr. Obtulovic's office in Nave Zamky . With Obtulovic we visited the Reverend Imrich Kasee in Banovska Kesa and then traveled to Slovensky Meder and Komjatice; the next day we called on the Director of the Slovak gymnazium, Professor Jozef Hudec , and his colleague Professor lgnac Safar in the town of Surany. In all these villages I interviewed the Slovaks regarding the alleged atrocities committed by the Hungarian gendarmes against them for singing the Slovak national anthem and holding cultural meetings. After two days in Budapest , where I met with Professor Stefan Buran and others in the administration of Slovenska jednota, the Slovak newspaper which we wanted to become the journal of all Slovaks abroad and as such to be distributed also in France, I returned with Obtulovic to Bratislava. �20 SLOVAKIA I telephoned Durcansky to congratulate him on the British recognition of Slovakia. He sounded optimistic and explored possible ways to prompt the French government to recognize Slovakia as early as possible and thus establish legal contact with one more Western state. He invited Obtulovic and myself to see him the same day . At this meeting Durcansky suggested that Obtulovic go to Paris to investigate the possibility of obtaining early recognition of Slovakia and the accreditation of a Slovak consul in Paris. Through the intercession of Moncek, for whom I had prepared a confidential personal note, Obtulovic was to see Osusky and discuss with him the following: 1) The legal position of the Slovaks in France then and in case of war . Would Slovaks in France be mobilized into a Czechoslovak Army, or would they be recruited under the banner of a Slovak Legion? 2) A Slovak consulate in Paris and its relations to Osusky. 3) Would Osusky agree to communicate with Slovakia through the Slovak consulate in Paris , or would he suggest some other manner? 4) Distribution of Slovenska jednota among the Slovaks in France and possible cooperation with the editors of Slovenska jednota in Budapest. 5) ,'Publication of a Slovak-French Bulletin, by a neutral body , which could develop into a cultural and political organ for all Slovaks in France. For the time being it could be issued as a supplement to (Nas] Krajan, the organ of the Catholic mission in France. 6) Consider closer working relations between Osusky and the leadership of the Slovaks in Hungary. Obtulovic should propose to gather documentary. material on the Hungarian-German secret alliance with subsequent reference to Hitler's consent of the occupation of Southern Slovakia by the Hungarians. At this time I met with the British consul , Peter Pares , at the Hotel Carlton in Bratislava . I congratulated him on his confirmation as the British representative to the Slovak government. In response he mentioned that his French colleague had enjoyed very �SLOVAKIA 21 much talking with me. I was really surprized how quickly newsgathering in Bratislava functioned, because I had hardly returned from the French consulate. 4 The British rightly conjectured that my visit with Tiso and my trip to Hungary were somewhat connected with my mission from Osusky. He wanted to know more about these undertakings. Because of the risk involved. I remained cautious. A few days later I was invited by Obtulovic to join a ''fishing party" organized by him for Pares. This was a pleasant car trip from Bratislava to my native Orava and to Oravice, the region with brooks full of trout, a real haven for such a passionate fisherman as Pares. The three-day party was kept secret. We discussed mainly Slovak relations with the West. I was impressed by Pares' knowledge of the Slovak internal political scene. He showed a full understanding of the difficult international position of Slovakia and promised to keep his government informed about the real anti-Nazi feelings of the Slovaks. In his characterization of the leading Slovak politicians, he disapproved of Durcansky's precipitous acts and evident endeavors to prove the independence of Slovak diplomacy. On the other hand, Pares appreciated Tiso's policy and skill as shown in his dealings with internal as well as external affairs of state. Two communications sent by Pares to his superiors in London indicate the British consul's acute perceptions of the situation at this time and are worth quoting. 5 The first is a letter dated May 23, 1939 and reads as follows: Dear Troutbeck, Certain information has reached me from a reliable source which will, I think, interest you, but nevertheless, does not seem suitable for inclusion in a formal dispatch. I have been told by Dr. Obtulovic , who apparently enjoys the confidence of Dr. Tiso , that the Slovak government is keeping in contact with the group of Slovak exiles in Paris who are led by Dr. Osusky. A young student named Josef Stasko, who is studying at the Ecole des Sciences Politiques, has recently been in Bratislava and had an interview with Dr. Tiso. He has now returned to Paris and I understand that he is a bearer of a message �22 SLOVAKIA from the Slovak government. My French colleague knows that the young man is in touch with Slovaks in Paris, but I doubt if he is aware of his connection with the Slovak government. I understand that Dr. Tiso has given formal approval to the formation of a Slovak Legion in France and that this is the message conveyed by Stasko to Paris . The object of these maneuvers seems to be to maintain contact with the Western powers whilst pursuing a policy of co-operation with the Germans for as long as is necessary - in other words, the policy of the Czechs before and during the Great War. The Slovaks are growing very apprehensive now about the possibility of war. They do not expect Germany to win, but realize that they are powerless to refuse anything she might ask in the event of war. So they are trying to ensure the good will of the Western powers in advance by secretly approving the plans of the exiles. That this is not a policy favoured by a small group, but rather the concerted action of the Slovak leaders as a whole is, I think , shown by the fact that the persons concerned in it are not only Dr. Tiso , but also Dr. Obtulovic, the official Slovak minority leader in Hungary, and the partisan of Sidor. My knowledge of Slovak is not very reliable, but from something said in a convention at which I was present, I gained the impression that Dr. Durcansky, the proGerman Foreign Minister, also knows of Stasko's mission. There have been reports that Durcansky is dissatisfied with Germany's treatment of Slovakia so it is possible that my impression may be correct. Yours ever, P. Pares A few comments on Pares ' report are in order. First, the French consul could not tell his British colleague the full story about my connection with the Slovak government because I was warned by Osusky that he was in the service of Benes , and �SLOVAKIA 23 therefore, there could have been a risk of political intrigue . Second, in my talks with Pares I never mentioned to him the essence of my discussion with Tiso, so I presume Obtulovic had informed him about it. It is also true that Tiso did not give formal approval to the formation of a Slovak Legion in France; but it had been my personal feeling that he considered the possibility of such a need later, and that is why he had referred me to Durcansky for more discussion about this matter. The following telegram by the British consul in Bratislava to his superiors in London presumes a discrete and confidential discussion of Pares with Obtulovic and clearly confirms that the Paris-Bratislava connection was still alive. The two-hour conversation of Obtulovic with the French consul also suggests the importance of the issues discussed. Here is the full text of the telegram: Telegram (en clair) from His Majesty's Consul (Bratislava) 3rd June , 1939. Dr. Obtulovic , who accompanied Stasko to Paris (see my porvate [sic] letter to Mr. Troutbeck, dated 23rd May, a copy of which was sent to the Foreign Office under cover of my dispatch No. 39 of 23rd May) has just returned to Bratislava. He had an interview with Osusky, who appears to have succeeded in convincing him that the French treatment of Czecho-Slovakia last autumn was not a betrayal, but the result of the pressure of circumstances. Dr. Obtulovic seems to have returned a Francophil and his report will no doubt influence the Slovak Government in favour of the Western Powers. Osusky's arguments have also convinced him that Germany is not strong enough to break the forces confronting her and he is therefore concerned for the future of Slovakia in the event of a German collapse. He says that he is to return to Paris once more and will visit also Belgium. I presume that he will make contact with the Slovak colony in that country which is fairly numerous. Today he had a conversation lasting two hours with the French consul here, in the course of which it must be �24 SLOVAKIA assumed that he discussed the standpoint of the Slovak Government to the Slovak exiles in Paris . Copy sent to Paris. I have to add that Obtulovic traveled to Paris alone , because I still expected an audience with Prime Minister Tiso and a meeting with Foreign Minister Durcansky. It is not true that Obtulovic returned from Paris a Francophil, thanks to Osusky . Obtulovic was a Francophil before his trip. The same could be said about the statement that only Osusky's arguments had convinced Obtulovic of the possible German defeat. It was precisely this presumption of the Slovak government - that in the event of war, Germany would not win - which had prompted Obtulovic's trip to Paris. The plan was that Obtulovic would return to Paris and would visit his countrymen in Belgium. This did not take place , however , because the Germans took notice of his travels, tracked his whereabouts , and inquired about his motives at the Slovak Foreign Ministry. The details of the German intervention in this matter were sent to me by the Reverend Kasee at my address at the Slovak Catholic mission in Argenteuil. A few days later Obtul6vic and Kasee were expelled from Hungary and returned to Bratislava. Back in Bratislava, after the fishing trip , I contacted Dr. Anton Stefanek, for whom I had a letter and an oral message from Osusky. He seemed to have little confidence in Osusky and was totally dismayed by Benes . Concerning the situation in Slovakia , it was his view that for the time being Slovakia was thriving and was much better off than the Czech lands . Of course , all this was relative to Hitler's plans . In the event of war, Slovakia would be eradicated as a state and much damage would be done to the nation . He confessed that he did not intend to go into exile and that he had no advice as to what course of action to take. He did not believe that the future form of life in Central Europe would be the same as before and stated that even Czecho-Slovakia would have to be restructured if it wished to survive. He asked me about Hodza, who he expected to come forward with his idea of a Central European Federation. �SLOVAKIA 25 My message from Osusky concerned the possibility of a mutual exchange of reports on international and domestic developments. To this Stefanek did not react. He wanted me to meet his colleagues at the university, and he set up a date for this meeting in his office . As I recall, this took place two days later. At that meeting only four of these colleagues were present: Dr. Peter Gula, Dr. Branislav Varsik, Dr. Jan Stanislav, and Dr. J. K. (still living in Bratislava). The only positive suggestion made at that meeting was to organize an exchange of professors and students with France and then to create a clearing-house at the Institut Slave in Paris for Slovak literature. All those present considered the war inevitable; all believed that Hitler would not win; and all were willing to accept the Czecho-Slovak state only in a federal form. My report from this meeting was sent in a diplomatic pouch to Osusky through the French consulate . Another letter and message I delivered was to General Rudolf Viest, who was Inspector-General of the Slovak Army. He asked me first for my credentials, then told me to see him the next day. At our subsequent meeting I informed him that Ambassador Osusky would be glad to see him in Paris in order to organize a Czecho-Slovak Army. To this General Viest answered that he did not believe war would break out and that he would stay where he was. (I did not know at that time that he had already promised Benes that he would soon join him). 6 In the remaining days I busied myself seeing personalities from Slovak political, cultural, and economic life . Among others , I visited Dr. Vojtech Brestensky, Secretary General of Slovenska liga in Bratislava, who promised to send books, periodicals , films, pictures, and other cultural items to Paris. He also gave me some financial help and asked me to work in France for the Slovenska liga, represented then by Klement Sichmak. In Trnava I visited Monsignor Jan Pi:istenyi , the Director of the Spolok Sv. Vojtecha, who warmly received me. He gave me two packages of books for the Reverend Jan Futak in Argenteuil and also some financial assistance for lecturing among the Slovaks in France on behalf of Slovak religious awareness. At the "Slovensky klub" in the Cafe Redoute in Bratislava I met with the Minister of Economy , Dr. Gejza Medricky; Dr. Peter �26 SLOVAKIA Zat'ko of the Centrale of Slovak Industry; Dr. Alexander Hrncar of the Ministry of Finance; Dr. Imrich Karvas of the Slovak National Bank, and other economists. The invitation of this meeting had come from Medricky, whom I had known for some years in connection with autonomist political actions. The discussion concerned mostly the economy but also touched on politics. I included the main points of this debate in the report for Osusky. One of the most interesting, and at the same time most informative, meetings I had had in Bratislava was in the student residence Svoradov, where I met many of my colleagues. In their discussions they portrayed the events of March 14, 1939 with the utmost frankness. Most of them were adherents of Sidor and only a few supported the radical wing headed by Mach and Murgas. From their heated debate I learned that they did not consider Hitler to be a culprit but rather a ruthless politician. They expressed their doubts about the Western concept of European order. The West, they argued, had lost cultural preeminence, failed in political initiative , and)acked overall vitality. They dismissed the immediate danger of war and were quite philosophical about the future. To my outline of the Western mood of the public and a resolute resistance toward further concessions to Hitler, they offered a picture of Slovakia built on Christian principles and rallied politically around Tiso a·s the best safeguard against the eventualities of an armed peace. In sum, I was struck by two elements in Slovak political life: one was a real ambition to build the Slovak state as if it were an independent entity outside of the complexities of the European theater; the other was the unbelievable credulity in a simplified version of their capability for survival. There was an almost palpable feeling of nationalistic fervor everywhere . Listening to Foreign Minister Durcansky 's self-confidence and to his broadlybased diplomatic ambitions , I could not believe that he had taken the Treaty of Protection with Germany seriously. The German minority in Slovakia was small, their Nazism in most localities questionable, and as a political factor they did not play as yet a visible role. The overall mood of rural Slovakia was optimistic , almost careless in its disregard of international embroglios . �SLOVAKIA 27 Based on these experiences, it was difficult for me to draw a gloomy picture of the future, especially among those who achieved personal and material satisfaction, e.g., young Slovak intellectuals or businessmen who exploited fully the occasion of the revolutionary change. The Jewish question had been in the minds of the radicals in their newspapers or speeches , but their zealotry was tamed by the government's promotion of constructive primary economic projects . Prime Minister Tiso was considered a man of moral integrity , wise , and moderate. Sidor, on the other hand , was severely judged by both radicals for his lack of courage and by the '' old guard" for his indecisiveness. Durcansky was a "political technician,'' whose ideological armory supplied the energy for the running of the state machinery. He had a few followers and even fewer personal friends . Alexander Mach, Karol Murgas , Jan Farkas, Jozef Jostiak , Jan Dafcik, and others had some credit in the nation and among the students for their sacrifices in the past, but in this stage of rebuilding the Slovak society they represented a group of malcontents - radicals whose fighting spirit was not out of focus. Their pro-German leanings pushed them to the margin of the political stream. After Obtulovic left for Paris I remained a few more days in Slovakia for my second audience with Tiso and a meeting with Durcansky . In his monologue Tiso talked about the preservation of the Slovak state and believed that the West would concur with him in the self-determination principle , which, in his opinion, would respect the will of the people. He did not believe that Osusky would be willing to accept the existence of the Slovak state , but his struggle for a federal Czecho-Slovakia underlined the principle of self-determination. Tiso saw my point in stressing the political importance of the Slovak soldiers in France fighting against Hitler, but he hastened to add " and for the Slovak state .'' He repeated his original wish to send a '' cultural delegation " to France and advised me to remain in touch w ith the Slovak League in America , especially with Monsignor Francis Dubas . With these recommendations my audience with the prime minister ended. �28 SLOVAKIA With Foreign Minister Durcansky I discussed all the issues that had arisen during my visit to Slovakia. Durcansky planned to remain in contact with Paris through an employee of the Slovak embassy in Budapest, whose official assignment would be to communicate with the Slovak consulate in Paris. For the time being he intended to send some literature and messages to the Catholic mission in Argenteuil for the Reverend Futak. We also discussed at length the question of a Slovak Legion in France . Durcansky envisaged such a possible development . To this end he promised to send 15 to 20 ''students'' to Paris for the fall semester who could eventually become available for action in organizing the Slovaks as an independent military unit. The main object of my "mission" was to contact Osusky's friends and eventually to encourage them to go into exile. I talked with many of those whom Osusky suggested ! but none of them was willing to emigrate. This was the case with Emil Boleslav Lukac , Dr. Milos Vanco, Jan Teplansky, Dr. Martin Micura, Dr. Anton Stefanek, Dr. Peter Zat'ko, Dr. Alexander Hrncar , and Dr. Imrich Karvas. When asked to prepare and send to Osusky a statement on the situation in Slovakia and on plans for the future , not a single one of these individuals manifested any interest. I did not meet Bishops Osusky or Ruppeldt and those persons listed in the letters which they had picked up at the French consulate in Bratislava. I gathered all possible documents from Slovakia and sent them to Osusky in a diplomatic pouch through the French consul. Among the documents were a copy of the Schutzvertrag and the secret Protocols concerning the German claims in the territorial , economic, financial, or military field . Also included were my diary, packages for the Reverend Futak, photographs from occupied Southern Slovakia, brochures, proclamations, pamphlets , Hlinka Guard "orders," and various books and clippings from the daily press . Although I had planned to see Karol Sidor, I had no opportunity to do so. My message to him from Osusky was oral and involved a request for his comments on the March 14th events along with an invitation to join him in Paris. Sidor kept himself aloof from the public , and I was told that his movements were �SLOVAKIA 29 being monitored by the Gestapo. He therefore would not welcome my visit or interview. I had my passport restamped with the stamp of the Slovak Republic and returned safely to France. There I met Obtulovic, who had already spoken to the officials of the French Foreign Office and also with Osusky. The next day I gave Osusky a full report of my experiences in Slovakia and Hungary and also described my meetings with Osusky's friends and acquaintances. Osusky did not accept the idea that the Slovak consulate in Paris should be the communication link between him and Bratislava. He also was not in favor of a Slovak office in Paris, like Slovakotour, which could be used as a cover for the contacts with Bratislava. He did not make any qualified statement on mobilizing Slovaks in France into an independent Slovak military unit , but promised to fight for the right of the Slovaks to form their own units under Slovak officers in the framework of a CzechoSlovak Army. He touched vaguely on the question of the Slovaks in Hungary, postponing diplomatic steps for the postwar reshaping of Europe. Osusky was totally disappointed that there were no political leaders in Slovakia, especially from among the former officials of Czechoslo~akia, who manifested any interest of cooperation with the West and with him . Together with Obtulovic I visited Osusky the next evening. After repeating what he had told me, he openly asked Obtulovic if one of the leading Slovaks would be willing to join him. He stressed the diplomatic realities: the British and also the French might differentiate the fate of the Czechs and the Slovaks ; once war was declared, they would fight for the restoration of CzechoSlovakia. It was necessary, he said, on the part of the Slovak government to prepare an official memorandum indicating that the Slovaks had been acting under German pressure and that the Slovak state had been forced upon the Slovaks. Such a document could be interpreted as proof that whatever it did was justified to save the nation. He repeated again and again that he was resolutely opposed to the centralized form of Czechoslovakia and that his concept for the future was favorable to the Slovaks and acceptable to the West. This concept included the return of the occupied Southern Slovakia to the homeland. �30 SLOVAKIA Obtulovic responded with a more detailed explanation of the Slovak position and asked for time to reevaluate all aspects of the discussions with Tiso and Durcansky. It was agreed that Osusky would not hinder the work of the Slovak consul in Paris and that the Slovak government would send to Paris a persona grata to Osusky. Obtulovic stressed the question of the Slovaks in France in case of war, considering them to be an outpost of the Slovaks' true anti-Nazis feelings . He indicated that the Slovak government would send a "cultural delegation" and some " students" to France who would be advised to cooperate with the Slovaks in the United States organized in the Slovak League of America. Osusky did not reject the idea, but he claimed the allegiance of the Slovaks in the event of war to the leadership of the resistance. The contacts with Bratislava would continue, and Obtulovic would return to Paris as soon as the Slovak government , or rather Tiso and Durcansky, would consider it useful. There was a tacit understand.ing that Obtulovic would talk to Sidor and that both would meet Osusky's emissary in Budapest. There were, of course, differences in positions, but they were not insurmountable. One of them was the choice and location of the Slovak diplomatic personnel in the West, the other the insistence of Tiso on the preservation of the Slovak state . The surprisingly rapid development of the international crisis , however, prevented both the Slovak government and Osusky from establishing any direct contacts. Although France recognized the Slovak government de facto on July 14 , 1939, no Slovak consul in Paris was accredited. The contemplated candidate for this position, Ing . Milan Harminc , who presented himself personally at the French Foreign Office and was considered a leading pretender, had been in the meantime accredited as Slovak consul in London. Suggested for the Slovak consul in Paris was Dr. Bohdan Galvanek, whose proGerman leanings were generally known and who was flatly rejected by the French Foreign Office. Time lost in the protection of the accreditation process had been sufficiently long for the successful negative intervention of Czech politicians at the French Foreign Office . �SLOVAKIA 31 Gradually, with the arrival of more pro-Benes exiles in Paris, Osusky was losing hold of the leadership. By the end of August, 1939, after his discussion with Benes in London (August 24), he abandoned his firm Slovak stand on the independent Slovak military units and was instrumental in reaching an agreement with the French government (August 28) on the creation of a Czechoslovak Army in France with no independent Slovak units. The political consequences of this development buried Osusky as the leader of the Slovaks abroad and abolished all possible contacts with Slovakia. At this point my "mission" and my efforts to demonstrate Slovak anti-Nazi feelings to the West lost all meaning. NOTES 1 A more detailed discussion of this period will follow in further personal memoirs to be published by the author. 2 Dr. Stefan Osusky was born in Brezova pod Bradlom, Slovakia, on March 31, 1889 into a distinguished Lutheran family . After some harassment by the Magyars while in secondary school, he emigrated to the United States in 1906. He joined his sister in Chicago, where in 1915 he earned a doctorate in law from the University of Chicago . In 1916 he was named, together with Gustav Kosik, as a special delegate of the Slovak League of America to the CzechoSlovak Committee in Paris , headed by Dr. Edvard Benes. Next to Dr. Milan R. Stefanik, Osusky was the second leading Slovak who participated in winning recognition for the new state of Czecho-Slovakia. After the war Osusky represented Czechoslovakia at different international committees in Europe and eventually became the Czechoslovak ambassador in France (1921-1940) . His political views echoed in large part those of the first President of Czechoslovakia, Tomas G. Masaryk , whom Osusky greatly admired. He differed with Masaryk , however, on the question of the Czech and Slovak constitutional arrangement. Osusky was proud of his Slovak nationality and was sympathetic toward the Slovak movement for national self-determination . When Benes became president in 1935, Osusky expected to replace him as foreign minister. Benes, who disliked Osusky, named instead Dr. Kami! Krofta. Osusky remained in Paris bitterly resenting this " injustice. " Part of Osusky's political action in Paris after March , 1939 , is described in this memoir. While in Paris he enjoyed the political support of the French government, especially in his antagonism toward Benes. In London , however, he became totally isolated . His altercations with Benes in the London Czechoslovak exile government ended with a total break and animosity. After �32 SLOVAKIA the war Osusky emigrated to the United States , where he lectured occasionally and wrote an analysis of the democratic process in a thinking society entitled The Way of the Free (New York , 1951) . Among his earlier publications are Les Magyars et Pangermanistes (Paris , 1918) and George D. Herron , d6vernik Wilsonov pocas vojny (Brno, 1925) . While in Great Britain during World War II Osusky wrote political pamphlets - Pravda vit'azi (1942). "Rizena demokracie" pri praci (1942), Benes a Slovensko (1943). and Triedenie duchov nastalo (1943) - in which he sharply criticized Benes for his stubborn insistence on adhering to the old, centralized structure of Czechoslovakia . 3 The pertinent passage from Osusky's speech in Argenteuil reads as follows : '' . .. I hereby declare that a policy depriving the Slovak nation of its inalienable rights will never get my consent. Those Czechs and Slovaks who pursued such excessive centralism must publicly admit that their political conception has failed , is dead and rests in a tomb. Otherwise, the Slovaks will face similar ambitions for Czechoslovak unity with justified resistance . What matters now is the existence and future of Czecho-Slovakia . He who would threaten the Slovaks with centralism and persecution is the enemy of the restoration of the Republic , because without Slovakia there could nor would be Czecho-Slovakia. Finally, I must say to the Slovaks that the French authorities will tolerate no propaganda against France and for Nazism. As for myself, as an official representative of the Czecho-Slovak Republic , I will not protect those Slovaks who calumniate the Czechs, the Czecho-Slovak authorities and CzechoSlovakia. The Slovaks who look for the salvation of Slovakia in Hitler, should address themselves to him for livelihood and protection. They will fall into slavery instead of remaining free citizens . Only the Czecho-Slovak Republic will bring b.;ick freedom , independence, and the right to a dignified life to the Czechs and 'Slovaks. This is our conviction and our national belief.'' As quoted in Stefan Osusky, Cesko-Slovensko ajeho buducnost' (Paris , 1939). pp. 50-51 . 4 At the French consulate I picked up the mail sent to me from Paris . Osusky sent several personal letters to be delivered to Bishop Samuel Osusky , Bishop Fedor Ruppeldt , and Dr. Anton Stefanek, and a thick envelope of letters to be picked up later by someone mentioned in the delivered letters. There were also two reports: one , official from the embassy, dealing with the international situation; the other, a sketchy outline of the planned communication between Paris and Bratislava. 5 Documents FO 371 /22903 /338-39 and FO 371 /22903 /341 , British Foreign Office Files, Public Record Office, London. Copies of these documents were made available to me by Frantisek Vnuk . A Slovak translation of them can be found in Vnuk's Slovenska otazka na Zapade v rokoch 1939-1940 (Cleveland , 1974). pp. 54-56. 6 I met General Viest in Paris in the late summer of 1939 . He visited the " Political Club" Madame Sis. Once a week she received at her home invited guests of different political affiliations for open discussion. At such a friendly meeting General Viest made known his political allegiance to Benes . �SLOVAKIA 33 My next meeting with General Viest was in Beziers in Southern France at the Headquarters of the Czechoslovak Army. As a soldier at the nearby Czechoslovak Army Camp in Agde, I visited the Headquarters to plead for the Slovaks in the military prison, because they refused to fight for Benes's type of Czechoslovakia. (the "Fryvaldovsky Case"). General Viest did not allow me to see Fryvaldovsky and dismissed me without any answer. I submitted the complaint to the French Military Command . Although the outcome of this intervention was never revealed to me, Fryvaldovsky was repatriated to Slovakia in 1941. � SLOVAKIA 9 Stefan Osusky's Attempts to Establish Contacts with Slovakia in 1939: A Personal Memoir JOSEPH STASKO The following is the recollection of my experiences as a young Slovak student in Paris during the critical years 1938-1939. Although this "first person narrative" is necessarily somewhat colored by subjective impressions, it should nonetheless shed light on some hithertofore undisclosed and/or unanalyzed information relating to events and personalities of the period. 1 On the international scene, Hitler's daring diplomatic moves, combined with military pressure , brought about not only the Munich Agreement (September 29/ 30 , 1938) but also the resignation of President Edvard Benes (October 5, 1938), followed by the Zilina Agreement (October 6, 1938), by virtue of which the Slovaks achieved political autonomy . For me , as a politically active federalist (autonomist), the Zilina Agreement represented the fulfillment of the Slovak political struggle , the federation of Czecho-Slovakia. In the second half of October, 1938 , I returned to Slovakia to witness the implementation of Slovak autonomy. The new autonomous government of Slovakia had commenced with enthusiasm, national pride , and hope . This euphoric atmosphere, however , did not last for long. The loss of a large part of Slovak territory to Hungary by the Vienna Award of November 2 , 1938 was a tragic blow to the promising beginnings of Slovak self-rule . The overall mood in Slovakia was overshadowed by national grief, anger , and a feeling of powerlessness. �10 SLOVAKIA In the official circles of the Slovak government and among the general public there was no serious talk of separating Slovakia from the Czech lands. Both the government and judicial public viewed the Munich Agreement and the Vienna Award as diplomatic safeguards against Hitler's further penetration in Central Europe and also as an international guaranty against Hungarian territorial rapacity. There were, however, radical elements grouped around Alexander Mach, Karol Murgas, Jozef Jostiak, Jan Farkas , and Jan Dafc':lk who fomented anti-Czech feeling by ascribing the loss of Slovak territory to Benes and his policy toward Slovakia. In November, 1938, I returned to France convinced that the Slovaks considered their autonomy the satisfactory solution of their national and political interests. Before I left I was offered the assignment of foreign correspondent for the newspapers Slovak and Slovenska pravda , which I gladly accepted. By the end of November the Czechoslovak ambassador in France, Dr. Stefan Osusky, was returning to Paris from his visit to the newlyTelected president of Czecho-Slovakia , Dr. Emil Hacha and to the new foreign minister, Dr. Frantisek Chvalkovsky. As a foreign correspondent for the newspaper Slovak, I asked Osusky for an interview regarding his impressions of Czecho-Slovakia. Prior to the interview, he gave me a copy of his aide-memoire submitted to the French Foreign Office as a supplement to his official report. The main topics, as I recall, were descriptions of his audiences with President Hacha and Foreign Minister Chvalkovsky and of the apathy of the Czech people toward the latest tragic dismemberment of Bohemia in the Munich Agreement. Included in it was also a statement concerning the Slovak autonomous government's assurances of its wholehearted support for the Czecho-Slovak state. In my subsequent interview with Osusky he maintained that the French government had pledged to guarantee the security of the new Czecho-Slovakia. This part of the interview _was later published in the newspaper Slovak. After this interview with Osusky, my contacts with him became more frequent and proved to be very useful to me as a student and as a journalist. He encouraged me to study the question of minorities in Central Europe , offered me access to the embassy 's library, and invited me to the "five o'clock tea" on a �SLOVAKIA 11 regular weekly basis. He also arranged for me contacts with the Havas Press Agency, as well as with the newspaper Epoque, L'Oeuvre, and Le Temps . 2 In December, 1938, I was back in Slovakia on a journalistic assignment from Osusky to report on the Slovak parliamentary elections , held on December 18, 1938. After the opening of the first session of the new Slovak Parliament on January 19, 1939, I returned the next day to France. At one of our ''five o'clock tea'' meetings, Osusky explained his political views not only on international questions but on the internal problems of Czecho-Slovakia as well. He told me that although his position as the envoy of Czecho-Slovakia in Paris precluded his interference in the internal affairs of the state, he kept close contacts with many prominent politicians and expressed his political views freely. However, since he was unable to make public his own views, he suggested that I should try to put them in writing . I interpreted this as a mandate and asked 'him to set up dates for interviews on his position regarding political developments in Europe with a special focus on Central Europe and Czecho-Slovakia. On the basis of these interviews I submitted to him in February, 1939, a draft of "Dr. Osusky's Views and Opinions on the European Crisis.'' He approved my draft and asked me to supplement it with philosophical statements from his acceptance speech, delivered on February 5, 1936, on the occasion of his receipt of an honorary doctorate in law at the University of Dijon. I complied with his request. The resulting paper was reproduced for his Slovak friends; later a part of it was included in his booklet Cesko-Slovensko a jeho buducnost', which appeared in 1939. After the crisis of March, 1939, Osusky was looked upon as the only representative of Czecho-Slovakia in the free world who could claim the authority of a co-founder of the state. Following his refusal to deliver the Czecho-Slovak embassy in Paris to the Germans, he espoused the so-called ambassadorial theory of continuity, according to which he was the only legal representative of Czechoslovakia . Osusky's theory conflicted with the " presidential theory of continuity" of Benes, who considered himself the victim of Hitler's brutality and the sacrificial lamb of �12 SLOVAKIA the military and psychological weakness of France and Great Britain. The French government confirmed Osusky's legal status and continued to recognize him as the diplomatic representative of Post-Munich Czecho-Slovakia. Osusky felt himself destined for the leading role in the resistance against Hitler. At this historical juncture , however, Osusky found himself isolated, without trustworthy collaborators at the embassy and with no close connections with the Slovaks and their organizations in France. His relations with his Slovak countrymen in France were sparse and those with the Czechs lacked mutual trust. The only employee at the embassy who devotedly served Osusky was Stefan Moncek, the treasurer. Other Slovaks at the embassy - Dr. Vladimir Palic, Dr. Alexander Kunosi, and later Dr. Fedor Hodza - either stayed there for only a short time or tendered their allegiance to others. All other personnel at the embassy espoused Benes' views and conspired against Osusky. This politically precarious situation necessitated an immediate remedy in two directions: Osusky's relations with the Slovaks and their organizations in France; and the reshaping of his staff at the embassy. In the first half of April, 1939 , Osusky inquired about my connections with Slovak organizations in France and in Slovakia. He needed broader support for his leadership. For this purpose he planned to secure the confidence of his Slovak co-nationals in France. In order to improve his image as the representative, not only of the Czechs, but also of the Slovaks (who now lived in the Slovak state), he intended to attract political friends from Slovakia. To help carry out the first part of his plan I offered my assistance in arranging a gathering of Slovaks in Argenteuil , near Paris. There Osusky would deliver his first campaign speech on political issues in general and on Czech-Slovak relations in particular. The timing was opportune. After March 14, 1939 , the majority of Slovaks in France, who expressed their trust in Prime Minister Jozef Tiso's government, were denounced by the Czechs as traitors and as such were reported to the French authorities who then persecuted them as pro-Nazis. The presence of Ambassador Osusky at the gathering was an occasion to present Slovak complaints to him and to ask for protection. �SLOVAKIA 13 The gathering of French Slovaks took place in April, 1939, and was quite successful. Osusky's speech was reproduced in special leaflets, and parts were published in his Cesko-Slovensko ajeho buducnost'. On the whole, Osusky's address was favorably accepted by the Slovaks, especially his promise to protect thqse Slovaks who did not spread anti-French or anti-Czech propaganda. 3 The daily influx into France of Czech political and military emigrants caused Osusky much concern because practically all of them supported Benes. This may have been one of the main reasons why he entrusted me with a secret mission to visit Slovakia to contact his friends, former political leaders, many government officials, and leading personalities in the cultural and economic life of the Slovak state. Osusky indicated that he would like me to bring personal messages to some of his friends and inquire into the possibility of having contacts with them through Budapest. He also suggested that I travel to Hungary to survey the situation of the Slovaks in occupied Southern Slovakia and contact their leaders. I accepted this mission as a sign of personal trust and asked for a few days to prepare a more detailed program for his approval. At the outset of our discussion Osusky had pointed out that this trip was supposed to appear as if it were my own undertaking, but he promised to inform the French authorities of my status and procure a diplomatic visa for me. He did so promptly. Among the persons I was to see and deliver messages to were: Dr. Anton Stefanek, Professor at the University of Bratislava; General Rudolf Viest, Inspector-General of the Slovak Army; Dr. Samuel Osusky, Lutheran Bishop and cousin of Osusky; Lutheran Bishop Fedor Ruppeldt; Dr. Matej Murtin at the Hypotecna a komunalna banka in Bratislava; the lawyer Dr. Ivan Pietor; economists Dr. Peter Zat'ko and Dr. Vladimir Fajnor; and the General Director of the Slovenska narodna banka, Dr. Imrich Karvas . My assignment included also contacts with Dr. Milos Vanco, Dr. Jan Spisiak, and Jan Teplansky. Osusky explained his wish to build communications with Bratislava through a liaison in Budapest to be funded half by him and the other half by the Slovak side . As for possible discussions with government officials, I could act in my name only. Osusky 's name could be mentioned in con- �14 SLOVAKIA nection with his warning about the risk of war and the need for the cooperation of Slovakia with the West. All other questions that Osusky gave me were for Prime Minister Tiso alone. Among them was the question of the Slovaks in France and their eventual mobilization in case of war in military units of a Czecho-Slovak Army. Another question of importance for both Slovakia and Osusky was the establishing of Slovak diplomatic missions in the West equipped with proper personalities and far-reaching political perspectives. He suggested also that I discuss some matters with Foreign Minister Ferdinand Durcansky . Before I left France on April 27 , 1939 , I helped to organize the participation of Slovaks at the Second Reunion of the Czechs and Slovaks in France, which was planned for April 29-30 at the Czechoslovak Colony in Paris . Benes 's adherents planned to declare him the leader of the '' Second Czechoslovak Struggle Abroad ,'' thus eliminating Osusky for good from any leading role in the exile movement. The outcome of that meeting was transmitted to me in Bratislava by Stefan Moncek, who had been given my telephone number. This information was important to my mission because success depended on Osusky 's retention of his leadership position abroad. In Bratislava I met freely with my friends and colleagues . Some of them already held high state offices and enjoyed their positions in the full swing of their zeal, devotion , and industry . They seemed to be unaware of the danger of war and believed that their happy days would have no end. To my surprise, some of them thought that Hitler was satisfied with his annexations and that the risk of war had been thus eliminated . This naive credulity was confirmed by my visits with Propaganda Chief Sano Mach, the Hlinka Guard leaders Karol Murgas and Jan Dafcik, and the majority of my own friends. The glorification of Hitler by Dr. Vojtech Tuka in his May 1, 1939, speech at Primizial Plaza in Bratislava was an ominous sign, as was the elimination of Karol Sidor from Slovak political affairs. The next day I was granted an audience with Prime Minister Tiso. It was arranged through Dr. Juraj Rajec , whom I knew when he was the educational counselor in the student residence Svoradov. I was admitted to Tiso as a reporter for the newspaper Slovak in France . �SLOVAKIA 15 Sitting in the corner of his office , overlooking the Danube, Tiso looked tired and somewhat restrained. He asked me about my studies and my journalistic experience in France. After I answered those questions I described the difficult position of the Slovaks in France as outlined earlier. This led me to Ambassador Osusky and his activities. I reported to Tiso the full details of Osusky 's speech in Argenteuil, handed him the leaflets of the Center of the Czechs and Slovaks Abroad concerning recruitment in the event of war, and finally submitted to him the document ' 'Dr. Osusky 's Views and Opinions on the European Crisis.'' With regard to the possibility of war, I indicated that there were about 50 ,000 Slovaks in France who could be recruited into a Czechoslovak Army and who would have to fight against the Slovak state for Benes' type of Czechoslovakia. I also told Tiso that Osusky favored a federated Czecho-Slovakia but faced the determined opposition of the Czechs and of some Slovak centralists, the so-called Czechoslovaks. Osusky had a few friends among the Czechs, and not many among the Slovaks. He was willing to set up separate Slovak military units in France, alongside the Czech ones, under a unified command, but there were no Slovak officers. Tiso listened to my briefing and then remarked that he did not consider Osusky to be the representative of the Slovak cause in the West because Osusky did not know Slovakia and the Slovaks did not know Osusky. Next I inquired whether it was true that the situation of Slovakia after the Treaty of Protection with Germany , which had been characterized in France as total dependence upon Germany, was similar to the situation in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. He rose from his chair, approached the window facing the Danube , and asked me if I could see the cannons on the other side of the Danube, which were aimed directly at his windows . This ''protection,'' he said, did not prevent the Slovaks from losing Petrzalka (part of Bratislava), but it was still preferable to their being divided between the Magyars and the Poles. To my querry about the limits of Slovak freedom in making foreign contacts, he responded that the new government expected to be recognized by most European states very quickly. This would make it difficult for the Germans to interfere and would provide �16 SLOVAKIA a legal basis for foreign contacts. Durcansky would give me more details on this point. I was curious about relations with the Magyars, for I had heard that there was no reaction from the Slovak side to the atrocities committed by the Magyars in Komjatice, Slovensky Meder, and Surany. Tiso replied that according to the Treaty of Protection with Germany, the Slovaks could not unilaterally decide on retaliatory measures against the Magyars in Slovakia; the Slovaks were thus denied the right of reprisal, he said . On the other hand , the Treaty provided for German protection of Slovak territory against constant Magyar incursions. And so the Slovak position toward Hungary was dictated by those factors. I inquired if it would be possible to use the Slovaks in France for some kind of support of a Slovak cause in the West in the event of war. Tiso said that that was not an immediate worry. First France would have to recognize the Slovak State , after which there would be more time for such discussions. I told him that Osusky would have no objection to the French government granting the Slovak state de facto recognition. He saw such circumstances as being favorable for building a bridge between France and Slovakia, provided that the proper person were appointed as head of the Slovak consulate. Tiso indicated that I would receive the answer to this question from f>urcansky. Tiso suggested publishing a Slovak-French bulletin in France and the possibility of a cultural exchange. He referred me to Dr. Vojtech Brestensky, Secretary General of Slovenska liga , who would take care of it. In summarizing our discussion, Tiso reiterated his views , stressed the confidentiality of some of his remarks , and asked me about my immediate and future plans . I mentioned that I intended to visit Hungary to speak with Slovak representatives. He asked me if this had already been planned in Paris, which I affirmed. He concluded the interview with an invitation to contact him again before I left for France. That same day, in the Cafe Carlton, I was introduced by Vlado Houdek to Peter Pares , the British consul in Bratislava. He expressed a keen interest in my studies in France and my evaluation of the French political scene. He was eager to see me the next day at the same place, and I gladly consented. �SLOVAKIA 17 Later that day I was invited for dinner by Foreign Minister Durcansky at his private residence. To my surprise, he had already been informed of the issues discussed with the prime minister. Our friendly personal relations, based on close cooperation in the autonomist movement, allowed us to be absolutely frank with each other. After giving him an overall picture of French public opinion, I touched on the question of the Slovaks in France and also on Ambassador Osusky's actions. To this Durcansky added his brief analysis of the Slovak situation on the international level and outlined Slovak diplomatic ambitions. The discussion that followed could be summarized in the following points: I said that according to what I knew from Osusky and from the Polish embassy in Paris , the French and the British were hurridly mobilizing raw materials, increasing production of military hardware , building up public opinion against Hitler; in short they were preparing for war. In the diplomatic field , the French were repeating their pledges to stand by their treaties with Poland and Romania. Durcansky accepted the possibility of war but not earlier than in two years. As for the Slovaks in France, I asked if it could f10t be possible to organize them into a Slovak Legion and have them fight against Hitler and for the preservation of the Slovak state. Osusky, I continued, was opposed to Benes. He recognized a federated Czecho-Slovakia as the best form of government which would guarantee Slovak self-rule . Durcansky replied that he did not believe that France would agree on the formation of a Slovak Legion with the proviso that it fight for the preservation of the Slovak state. He, therefore, would accept the organization of Czech and Slovak military units under a unified command. This reasoning was parallel in general terms with that of Osusky 's. One of the most difficult questions , however, was where to find and how to commission 20 to 30 Slovak officers for this duty . This would be a political question of unforseeable complications. According to Durcansky , this could be done under different pretexts , such as through a cultural delegation, correspondents , students, businessmen, and the like. Under the present conditions, two things were required immediately: official recognition of Slovakia by the French government and money . As for the first �18 SLOVAKIA condition, Durcansky said that he had been already told by the French consul that recognition was on its way. The question of money would be solved by creation of the Institute for Slovaks Abroad , which for the time being would be associated with the Foreign Ministry. The money could be put aside from the ministerial budget. To do so , it would be necessary to prepare the statutes of the proposed Institute . He instructed me to meet the next day with Dr. Jozef Cieker, Dr. Vojtech Brestensky, Emil Rusko , and their experts to prepare the final text of the statutes. After Durcansky had read "Osusky's Views and Opinions on the European Crisis" and gone through the material I had brought with me, he indicated that Osusky 's position might help the Slovak cause in the West if he would be willing to cooperate with the Slovak consul in Paris , using him as a liaison with Slovakia . I asked Durcansky if he already had in mind such a person for such a delicate mission; he mentioned the name of Ing. Milan Harminic. More explicitly than Tiso , Durcansky gave me details regarding his dealings with the Germans. This I later put in writing and sent to Ambassador Osusky through the French consulate in Bratislava. From the organizational point of view, Durcansky considered the existing Catholic mission in France an excellent focus for rallying the Slovaks , not only on religious, but also on cultural and political grounds. He knew the Reverend Jan Futak, the Head of the mission, vaguely but expressed confidence in him. He promised to send money to France from the planned Institute to help publish a periodical bulletin in French and Slovak. As the editor he planned to appoint the Reverend Vojtech Klein, a Catholic priest known for his work in the social field and in the publishing trade. Before taking leave of Durcansky I informed him of my trip to Hungary and asked for his advice as to whom I should contact and what concrete steps I should take to gather detailed information on the situation of the Slovaks there . He referred me to Dr. Ludovit Obtulovic , a lawyer in Nave Zamky who was the leader of the Slovaks in the occupied territory of Southern Slovakia, and to the Reverand Imrich Ko sec , a Catholic priest in the nearby village of Banovska Kesa . �SLOVAKIA 19 Durcansky planned to build a direct line of communication between Bratislava and Paris through an employee of the Slovak embassy in Budapest . During the discussion it became apparent to me that this communication was supposed to be rather a personal link between Durcansky and the Catholic mission in Argenteuil. Consequently, I did not mention at this point that Osusky too was looking for a liaison with Slovakia through a confidant in Budapest. While Durcansky hoped to build bridges to the West without the intermediary link of Osusky , the latter planned to use his contacts with Slovakia for bringing his political friends into exile. Before I left for Hungary I learned that on May 4, 1939 Great Britain had extended de facto recognition to the Slovak state and had confirmed the present British consul in Bratislava, Pares , as its official representative. This greatly furthered Slovak self-confidence. A special permit to cross the Slovak-Hungariaii border was given to me at the Hungarian consulate in Bratislava at the recommendation of Monsignor Augustin Hladik, Canon of the Cathedral of St. Martin in Bratislava, with whom I had been in contact for some years. He also made the arrangement for my travel to Hungary by car with Count Janos Eszterhazy, who was the official representative of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia, in which capacity he was also a member of the Slovak Parliament. My first stop was at Dr. Obtulovic's office in Nave Zamky . With Obtulovic we visited the Reverend Imrich Kasee in Banovska Kesa and then traveled to Slovensky Meder and Komjatice; the next day we called on the Director of the Slovak gymnazium, Professor Jozef Hudec , and his colleague Professor lgnac Safar in the town of Surany. In all these villages I interviewed the Slovaks regarding the alleged atrocities committed by the Hungarian gendarmes against them for singing the Slovak national anthem and holding cultural meetings. After two days in Budapest , where I met with Professor Stefan Buran and others in the administration of Slovenska jednota, the Slovak newspaper which we wanted to become the journal of all Slovaks abroad and as such to be distributed also in France, I returned with Obtulovic to Bratislava. �20 SLOVAKIA I telephoned Durcansky to congratulate him on the British recognition of Slovakia. He sounded optimistic and explored possible ways to prompt the French government to recognize Slovakia as early as possible and thus establish legal contact with one more Western state. He invited Obtulovic and myself to see him the same day . At this meeting Durcansky suggested that Obtulovic go to Paris to investigate the possibility of obtaining early recognition of Slovakia and the accreditation of a Slovak consul in Paris. Through the intercession of Moncek, for whom I had prepared a confidential personal note, Obtulovic was to see Osusky and discuss with him the following: 1) The legal position of the Slovaks in France then and in case of war . Would Slovaks in France be mobilized into a Czechoslovak Army, or would they be recruited under the banner of a Slovak Legion? 2) A Slovak consulate in Paris and its relations to Osusky. 3) Would Osusky agree to communicate with Slovakia through the Slovak consulate in Paris , or would he suggest some other manner? 4) Distribution of Slovenska jednota among the Slovaks in France and possible cooperation with the editors of Slovenska jednota in Budapest. 5) ,'Publication of a Slovak-French Bulletin, by a neutral body , which could develop into a cultural and political organ for all Slovaks in France. For the time being it could be issued as a supplement to (Nas] Krajan, the organ of the Catholic mission in France. 6) Consider closer working relations between Osusky and the leadership of the Slovaks in Hungary. Obtulovic should propose to gather documentary. material on the Hungarian-German secret alliance with subsequent reference to Hitler's consent of the occupation of Southern Slovakia by the Hungarians. At this time I met with the British consul , Peter Pares , at the Hotel Carlton in Bratislava . I congratulated him on his confirmation as the British representative to the Slovak government. In response he mentioned that his French colleague had enjoyed very �SLOVAKIA 21 much talking with me. I was really surprized how quickly newsgathering in Bratislava functioned, because I had hardly returned from the French consulate. 4 The British rightly conjectured that my visit with Tiso and my trip to Hungary were somewhat connected with my mission from Osusky. He wanted to know more about these undertakings. Because of the risk involved. I remained cautious. A few days later I was invited by Obtulovic to join a ''fishing party" organized by him for Pares. This was a pleasant car trip from Bratislava to my native Orava and to Oravice, the region with brooks full of trout, a real haven for such a passionate fisherman as Pares. The three-day party was kept secret. We discussed mainly Slovak relations with the West. I was impressed by Pares' knowledge of the Slovak internal political scene. He showed a full understanding of the difficult international position of Slovakia and promised to keep his government informed about the real anti-Nazi feelings of the Slovaks. In his characterization of the leading Slovak politicians, he disapproved of Durcansky's precipitous acts and evident endeavors to prove the independence of Slovak diplomacy. On the other hand, Pares appreciated Tiso's policy and skill as shown in his dealings with internal as well as external affairs of state. Two communications sent by Pares to his superiors in London indicate the British consul's acute perceptions of the situation at this time and are worth quoting. 5 The first is a letter dated May 23, 1939 and reads as follows: Dear Troutbeck, Certain information has reached me from a reliable source which will, I think, interest you, but nevertheless, does not seem suitable for inclusion in a formal dispatch. I have been told by Dr. Obtulovic , who apparently enjoys the confidence of Dr. Tiso , that the Slovak government is keeping in contact with the group of Slovak exiles in Paris who are led by Dr. Osusky. A young student named Josef Stasko, who is studying at the Ecole des Sciences Politiques, has recently been in Bratislava and had an interview with Dr. Tiso. He has now returned to Paris and I understand that he is a bearer of a message �22 SLOVAKIA from the Slovak government. My French colleague knows that the young man is in touch with Slovaks in Paris, but I doubt if he is aware of his connection with the Slovak government. I understand that Dr. Tiso has given formal approval to the formation of a Slovak Legion in France and that this is the message conveyed by Stasko to Paris . The object of these maneuvers seems to be to maintain contact with the Western powers whilst pursuing a policy of co-operation with the Germans for as long as is necessary - in other words, the policy of the Czechs before and during the Great War. The Slovaks are growing very apprehensive now about the possibility of war. They do not expect Germany to win, but realize that they are powerless to refuse anything she might ask in the event of war. So they are trying to ensure the good will of the Western powers in advance by secretly approving the plans of the exiles. That this is not a policy favoured by a small group, but rather the concerted action of the Slovak leaders as a whole is, I think , shown by the fact that the persons concerned in it are not only Dr. Tiso , but also Dr. Obtulovic, the official Slovak minority leader in Hungary, and the partisan of Sidor. My knowledge of Slovak is not very reliable, but from something said in a convention at which I was present, I gained the impression that Dr. Durcansky, the proGerman Foreign Minister, also knows of Stasko's mission. There have been reports that Durcansky is dissatisfied with Germany's treatment of Slovakia so it is possible that my impression may be correct. Yours ever, P. Pares A few comments on Pares ' report are in order. First, the French consul could not tell his British colleague the full story about my connection with the Slovak government because I was warned by Osusky that he was in the service of Benes , and �SLOVAKIA 23 therefore, there could have been a risk of political intrigue . Second, in my talks with Pares I never mentioned to him the essence of my discussion with Tiso, so I presume Obtulovic had informed him about it. It is also true that Tiso did not give formal approval to the formation of a Slovak Legion in France; but it had been my personal feeling that he considered the possibility of such a need later, and that is why he had referred me to Durcansky for more discussion about this matter. The following telegram by the British consul in Bratislava to his superiors in London presumes a discrete and confidential discussion of Pares with Obtulovic and clearly confirms that the Paris-Bratislava connection was still alive. The two-hour conversation of Obtulovic with the French consul also suggests the importance of the issues discussed. Here is the full text of the telegram: Telegram (en clair) from His Majesty's Consul (Bratislava) 3rd June , 1939. Dr. Obtulovic , who accompanied Stasko to Paris (see my porvate [sic] letter to Mr. Troutbeck, dated 23rd May, a copy of which was sent to the Foreign Office under cover of my dispatch No. 39 of 23rd May) has just returned to Bratislava. He had an interview with Osusky, who appears to have succeeded in convincing him that the French treatment of Czecho-Slovakia last autumn was not a betrayal, but the result of the pressure of circumstances. Dr. Obtulovic seems to have returned a Francophil and his report will no doubt influence the Slovak Government in favour of the Western Powers. Osusky's arguments have also convinced him that Germany is not strong enough to break the forces confronting her and he is therefore concerned for the future of Slovakia in the event of a German collapse. He says that he is to return to Paris once more and will visit also Belgium. I presume that he will make contact with the Slovak colony in that country which is fairly numerous. Today he had a conversation lasting two hours with the French consul here, in the course of which it must be �24 SLOVAKIA assumed that he discussed the standpoint of the Slovak Government to the Slovak exiles in Paris . Copy sent to Paris. I have to add that Obtulovic traveled to Paris alone , because I still expected an audience with Prime Minister Tiso and a meeting with Foreign Minister Durcansky. It is not true that Obtulovic returned from Paris a Francophil, thanks to Osusky . Obtulovic was a Francophil before his trip. The same could be said about the statement that only Osusky's arguments had convinced Obtulovic of the possible German defeat. It was precisely this presumption of the Slovak government - that in the event of war, Germany would not win - which had prompted Obtulovic's trip to Paris. The plan was that Obtulovic would return to Paris and would visit his countrymen in Belgium. This did not take place , however , because the Germans took notice of his travels, tracked his whereabouts , and inquired about his motives at the Slovak Foreign Ministry. The details of the German intervention in this matter were sent to me by the Reverend Kasee at my address at the Slovak Catholic mission in Argenteuil. A few days later Obtul6vic and Kasee were expelled from Hungary and returned to Bratislava. Back in Bratislava, after the fishing trip , I contacted Dr. Anton Stefanek, for whom I had a letter and an oral message from Osusky. He seemed to have little confidence in Osusky and was totally dismayed by Benes . Concerning the situation in Slovakia , it was his view that for the time being Slovakia was thriving and was much better off than the Czech lands . Of course , all this was relative to Hitler's plans . In the event of war, Slovakia would be eradicated as a state and much damage would be done to the nation . He confessed that he did not intend to go into exile and that he had no advice as to what course of action to take. He did not believe that the future form of life in Central Europe would be the same as before and stated that even Czecho-Slovakia would have to be restructured if it wished to survive. He asked me about Hodza, who he expected to come forward with his idea of a Central European Federation. �SLOVAKIA 25 My message from Osusky concerned the possibility of a mutual exchange of reports on international and domestic developments. To this Stefanek did not react. He wanted me to meet his colleagues at the university, and he set up a date for this meeting in his office . As I recall, this took place two days later. At that meeting only four of these colleagues were present: Dr. Peter Gula, Dr. Branislav Varsik, Dr. Jan Stanislav, and Dr. J. K. (still living in Bratislava). The only positive suggestion made at that meeting was to organize an exchange of professors and students with France and then to create a clearing-house at the Institut Slave in Paris for Slovak literature. All those present considered the war inevitable; all believed that Hitler would not win; and all were willing to accept the Czecho-Slovak state only in a federal form. My report from this meeting was sent in a diplomatic pouch to Osusky through the French consulate . Another letter and message I delivered was to General Rudolf Viest, who was Inspector-General of the Slovak Army. He asked me first for my credentials, then told me to see him the next day. At our subsequent meeting I informed him that Ambassador Osusky would be glad to see him in Paris in order to organize a Czecho-Slovak Army. To this General Viest answered that he did not believe war would break out and that he would stay where he was. (I did not know at that time that he had already promised Benes that he would soon join him). 6 In the remaining days I busied myself seeing personalities from Slovak political, cultural, and economic life . Among others , I visited Dr. Vojtech Brestensky, Secretary General of Slovenska liga in Bratislava, who promised to send books, periodicals , films, pictures, and other cultural items to Paris. He also gave me some financial help and asked me to work in France for the Slovenska liga, represented then by Klement Sichmak. In Trnava I visited Monsignor Jan Pi:istenyi , the Director of the Spolok Sv. Vojtecha, who warmly received me. He gave me two packages of books for the Reverend Jan Futak in Argenteuil and also some financial assistance for lecturing among the Slovaks in France on behalf of Slovak religious awareness. At the "Slovensky klub" in the Cafe Redoute in Bratislava I met with the Minister of Economy , Dr. Gejza Medricky; Dr. Peter �26 SLOVAKIA Zat'ko of the Centrale of Slovak Industry; Dr. Alexander Hrncar of the Ministry of Finance; Dr. Imrich Karvas of the Slovak National Bank, and other economists. The invitation of this meeting had come from Medricky, whom I had known for some years in connection with autonomist political actions. The discussion concerned mostly the economy but also touched on politics. I included the main points of this debate in the report for Osusky. One of the most interesting, and at the same time most informative, meetings I had had in Bratislava was in the student residence Svoradov, where I met many of my colleagues. In their discussions they portrayed the events of March 14, 1939 with the utmost frankness. Most of them were adherents of Sidor and only a few supported the radical wing headed by Mach and Murgas. From their heated debate I learned that they did not consider Hitler to be a culprit but rather a ruthless politician. They expressed their doubts about the Western concept of European order. The West, they argued, had lost cultural preeminence, failed in political initiative , and)acked overall vitality. They dismissed the immediate danger of war and were quite philosophical about the future. To my outline of the Western mood of the public and a resolute resistance toward further concessions to Hitler, they offered a picture of Slovakia built on Christian principles and rallied politically around Tiso a·s the best safeguard against the eventualities of an armed peace. In sum, I was struck by two elements in Slovak political life: one was a real ambition to build the Slovak state as if it were an independent entity outside of the complexities of the European theater; the other was the unbelievable credulity in a simplified version of their capability for survival. There was an almost palpable feeling of nationalistic fervor everywhere . Listening to Foreign Minister Durcansky 's self-confidence and to his broadlybased diplomatic ambitions , I could not believe that he had taken the Treaty of Protection with Germany seriously. The German minority in Slovakia was small, their Nazism in most localities questionable, and as a political factor they did not play as yet a visible role. The overall mood of rural Slovakia was optimistic , almost careless in its disregard of international embroglios . �SLOVAKIA 27 Based on these experiences, it was difficult for me to draw a gloomy picture of the future, especially among those who achieved personal and material satisfaction, e.g., young Slovak intellectuals or businessmen who exploited fully the occasion of the revolutionary change. The Jewish question had been in the minds of the radicals in their newspapers or speeches , but their zealotry was tamed by the government's promotion of constructive primary economic projects . Prime Minister Tiso was considered a man of moral integrity , wise , and moderate. Sidor, on the other hand , was severely judged by both radicals for his lack of courage and by the '' old guard" for his indecisiveness. Durcansky was a "political technician,'' whose ideological armory supplied the energy for the running of the state machinery. He had a few followers and even fewer personal friends . Alexander Mach, Karol Murgas , Jan Farkas, Jozef Jostiak , Jan Dafcik, and others had some credit in the nation and among the students for their sacrifices in the past, but in this stage of rebuilding the Slovak society they represented a group of malcontents - radicals whose fighting spirit was not out of focus. Their pro-German leanings pushed them to the margin of the political stream. After Obtulovic left for Paris I remained a few more days in Slovakia for my second audience with Tiso and a meeting with Durcansky . In his monologue Tiso talked about the preservation of the Slovak state and believed that the West would concur with him in the self-determination principle , which, in his opinion, would respect the will of the people. He did not believe that Osusky would be willing to accept the existence of the Slovak state , but his struggle for a federal Czecho-Slovakia underlined the principle of self-determination. Tiso saw my point in stressing the political importance of the Slovak soldiers in France fighting against Hitler, but he hastened to add " and for the Slovak state .'' He repeated his original wish to send a '' cultural delegation " to France and advised me to remain in touch w ith the Slovak League in America , especially with Monsignor Francis Dubas . With these recommendations my audience with the prime minister ended. �28 SLOVAKIA With Foreign Minister Durcansky I discussed all the issues that had arisen during my visit to Slovakia. Durcansky planned to remain in contact with Paris through an employee of the Slovak embassy in Budapest, whose official assignment would be to communicate with the Slovak consulate in Paris. For the time being he intended to send some literature and messages to the Catholic mission in Argenteuil for the Reverend Futak. We also discussed at length the question of a Slovak Legion in France . Durcansky envisaged such a possible development . To this end he promised to send 15 to 20 ''students'' to Paris for the fall semester who could eventually become available for action in organizing the Slovaks as an independent military unit. The main object of my "mission" was to contact Osusky's friends and eventually to encourage them to go into exile. I talked with many of those whom Osusky suggested ! but none of them was willing to emigrate. This was the case with Emil Boleslav Lukac , Dr. Milos Vanco, Jan Teplansky, Dr. Martin Micura, Dr. Anton Stefanek, Dr. Peter Zat'ko, Dr. Alexander Hrncar , and Dr. Imrich Karvas. When asked to prepare and send to Osusky a statement on the situation in Slovakia and on plans for the future , not a single one of these individuals manifested any interest. I did not meet Bishops Osusky or Ruppeldt and those persons listed in the letters which they had picked up at the French consulate in Bratislava. I gathered all possible documents from Slovakia and sent them to Osusky in a diplomatic pouch through the French consul. Among the documents were a copy of the Schutzvertrag and the secret Protocols concerning the German claims in the territorial , economic, financial, or military field . Also included were my diary, packages for the Reverend Futak, photographs from occupied Southern Slovakia, brochures, proclamations, pamphlets , Hlinka Guard "orders," and various books and clippings from the daily press . Although I had planned to see Karol Sidor, I had no opportunity to do so. My message to him from Osusky was oral and involved a request for his comments on the March 14th events along with an invitation to join him in Paris. Sidor kept himself aloof from the public , and I was told that his movements were �SLOVAKIA 29 being monitored by the Gestapo. He therefore would not welcome my visit or interview. I had my passport restamped with the stamp of the Slovak Republic and returned safely to France. There I met Obtulovic, who had already spoken to the officials of the French Foreign Office and also with Osusky. The next day I gave Osusky a full report of my experiences in Slovakia and Hungary and also described my meetings with Osusky's friends and acquaintances. Osusky did not accept the idea that the Slovak consulate in Paris should be the communication link between him and Bratislava. He also was not in favor of a Slovak office in Paris, like Slovakotour, which could be used as a cover for the contacts with Bratislava. He did not make any qualified statement on mobilizing Slovaks in France into an independent Slovak military unit , but promised to fight for the right of the Slovaks to form their own units under Slovak officers in the framework of a CzechoSlovak Army. He touched vaguely on the question of the Slovaks in Hungary, postponing diplomatic steps for the postwar reshaping of Europe. Osusky was totally disappointed that there were no political leaders in Slovakia, especially from among the former officials of Czechoslo~akia, who manifested any interest of cooperation with the West and with him . Together with Obtulovic I visited Osusky the next evening. After repeating what he had told me, he openly asked Obtulovic if one of the leading Slovaks would be willing to join him. He stressed the diplomatic realities: the British and also the French might differentiate the fate of the Czechs and the Slovaks ; once war was declared, they would fight for the restoration of CzechoSlovakia. It was necessary, he said, on the part of the Slovak government to prepare an official memorandum indicating that the Slovaks had been acting under German pressure and that the Slovak state had been forced upon the Slovaks. Such a document could be interpreted as proof that whatever it did was justified to save the nation. He repeated again and again that he was resolutely opposed to the centralized form of Czechoslovakia and that his concept for the future was favorable to the Slovaks and acceptable to the West. This concept included the return of the occupied Southern Slovakia to the homeland. �30 SLOVAKIA Obtulovic responded with a more detailed explanation of the Slovak position and asked for time to reevaluate all aspects of the discussions with Tiso and Durcansky. It was agreed that Osusky would not hinder the work of the Slovak consul in Paris and that the Slovak government would send to Paris a persona grata to Osusky. Obtulovic stressed the question of the Slovaks in France in case of war, considering them to be an outpost of the Slovaks' true anti-Nazis feelings . He indicated that the Slovak government would send a "cultural delegation" and some " students" to France who would be advised to cooperate with the Slovaks in the United States organized in the Slovak League of America. Osusky did not reject the idea, but he claimed the allegiance of the Slovaks in the event of war to the leadership of the resistance. The contacts with Bratislava would continue, and Obtulovic would return to Paris as soon as the Slovak government , or rather Tiso and Durcansky, would consider it useful. There was a tacit understand.ing that Obtulovic would talk to Sidor and that both would meet Osusky's emissary in Budapest. There were, of course, differences in positions, but they were not insurmountable. One of them was the choice and location of the Slovak diplomatic personnel in the West, the other the insistence of Tiso on the preservation of the Slovak state . The surprisingly rapid development of the international crisis , however, prevented both the Slovak government and Osusky from establishing any direct contacts. Although France recognized the Slovak government de facto on July 14 , 1939, no Slovak consul in Paris was accredited. The contemplated candidate for this position, Ing . Milan Harminc , who presented himself personally at the French Foreign Office and was considered a leading pretender, had been in the meantime accredited as Slovak consul in London. Suggested for the Slovak consul in Paris was Dr. Bohdan Galvanek, whose proGerman leanings were generally known and who was flatly rejected by the French Foreign Office. Time lost in the protection of the accreditation process had been sufficiently long for the successful negative intervention of Czech politicians at the French Foreign Office . �SLOVAKIA 31 Gradually, with the arrival of more pro-Benes exiles in Paris, Osusky was losing hold of the leadership. By the end of August, 1939, after his discussion with Benes in London (August 24), he abandoned his firm Slovak stand on the independent Slovak military units and was instrumental in reaching an agreement with the French government (August 28) on the creation of a Czechoslovak Army in France with no independent Slovak units. The political consequences of this development buried Osusky as the leader of the Slovaks abroad and abolished all possible contacts with Slovakia. At this point my "mission" and my efforts to demonstrate Slovak anti-Nazi feelings to the West lost all meaning. NOTES 1 A more detailed discussion of this period will follow in further personal memoirs to be published by the author. 2 Dr. Stefan Osusky was born in Brezova pod Bradlom, Slovakia, on March 31, 1889 into a distinguished Lutheran family . After some harassment by the Magyars while in secondary school, he emigrated to the United States in 1906. He joined his sister in Chicago, where in 1915 he earned a doctorate in law from the University of Chicago . In 1916 he was named, together with Gustav Kosik, as a special delegate of the Slovak League of America to the CzechoSlovak Committee in Paris , headed by Dr. Edvard Benes. Next to Dr. Milan R. Stefanik, Osusky was the second leading Slovak who participated in winning recognition for the new state of Czecho-Slovakia. After the war Osusky represented Czechoslovakia at different international committees in Europe and eventually became the Czechoslovak ambassador in France (1921-1940) . His political views echoed in large part those of the first President of Czechoslovakia, Tomas G. Masaryk , whom Osusky greatly admired. He differed with Masaryk , however, on the question of the Czech and Slovak constitutional arrangement. Osusky was proud of his Slovak nationality and was sympathetic toward the Slovak movement for national self-determination . When Benes became president in 1935, Osusky expected to replace him as foreign minister. Benes, who disliked Osusky, named instead Dr. Kami! Krofta. Osusky remained in Paris bitterly resenting this " injustice. " Part of Osusky's political action in Paris after March , 1939 , is described in this memoir. While in Paris he enjoyed the political support of the French government, especially in his antagonism toward Benes. In London , however, he became totally isolated . His altercations with Benes in the London Czechoslovak exile government ended with a total break and animosity. After �32 SLOVAKIA the war Osusky emigrated to the United States , where he lectured occasionally and wrote an analysis of the democratic process in a thinking society entitled The Way of the Free (New York , 1951) . Among his earlier publications are Les Magyars et Pangermanistes (Paris , 1918) and George D. Herron , d6vernik Wilsonov pocas vojny (Brno, 1925) . While in Great Britain during World War II Osusky wrote political pamphlets - Pravda vit'azi (1942). "Rizena demokracie" pri praci (1942), Benes a Slovensko (1943). and Triedenie duchov nastalo (1943) - in which he sharply criticized Benes for his stubborn insistence on adhering to the old, centralized structure of Czechoslovakia . 3 The pertinent passage from Osusky's speech in Argenteuil reads as follows : '' . .. I hereby declare that a policy depriving the Slovak nation of its inalienable rights will never get my consent. Those Czechs and Slovaks who pursued such excessive centralism must publicly admit that their political conception has failed , is dead and rests in a tomb. Otherwise, the Slovaks will face similar ambitions for Czechoslovak unity with justified resistance . What matters now is the existence and future of Czecho-Slovakia . He who would threaten the Slovaks with centralism and persecution is the enemy of the restoration of the Republic , because without Slovakia there could nor would be Czecho-Slovakia. Finally, I must say to the Slovaks that the French authorities will tolerate no propaganda against France and for Nazism. As for myself, as an official representative of the Czecho-Slovak Republic , I will not protect those Slovaks who calumniate the Czechs, the Czecho-Slovak authorities and CzechoSlovakia. The Slovaks who look for the salvation of Slovakia in Hitler, should address themselves to him for livelihood and protection. They will fall into slavery instead of remaining free citizens . Only the Czecho-Slovak Republic will bring b.;ick freedom , independence, and the right to a dignified life to the Czechs and 'Slovaks. This is our conviction and our national belief.'' As quoted in Stefan Osusky, Cesko-Slovensko ajeho buducnost' (Paris , 1939). pp. 50-51 . 4 At the French consulate I picked up the mail sent to me from Paris . Osusky sent several personal letters to be delivered to Bishop Samuel Osusky , Bishop Fedor Ruppeldt , and Dr. Anton Stefanek, and a thick envelope of letters to be picked up later by someone mentioned in the delivered letters. There were also two reports: one , official from the embassy, dealing with the international situation; the other, a sketchy outline of the planned communication between Paris and Bratislava. 5 Documents FO 371 /22903 /338-39 and FO 371 /22903 /341 , British Foreign Office Files, Public Record Office, London. Copies of these documents were made available to me by Frantisek Vnuk . A Slovak translation of them can be found in Vnuk's Slovenska otazka na Zapade v rokoch 1939-1940 (Cleveland , 1974). pp. 54-56. 6 I met General Viest in Paris in the late summer of 1939 . He visited the " Political Club" Madame Sis. Once a week she received at her home invited guests of different political affiliations for open discussion. At such a friendly meeting General Viest made known his political allegiance to Benes . �SLOVAKIA 33 My next meeting with General Viest was in Beziers in Southern France at the Headquarters of the Czechoslovak Army. As a soldier at the nearby Czechoslovak Army Camp in Agde, I visited the Headquarters to plead for the Slovaks in the military prison, because they refused to fight for Benes's type of Czechoslovakia. (the "Fryvaldovsky Case"). General Viest did not allow me to see Fryvaldovsky and dismissed me without any answer. I submitted the complaint to the French Military Command . Although the outcome of this intervention was never revealed to me, Fryvaldovsky was repatriated to Slovakia in 1941. � 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 1985-86, Vol. 32 Description An account of the resource Vol. 32 (No. 58-59), 1985-86. 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 1985-86 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 9 Stefan Osusky's Attempts to Establish Contacts with Slovakia in 1939: A Personal Memoir JOSEPH STASKO The following is the recollection of my experiences as a young Slovak student in Paris during the critical years 1938-1939. Although this "first person narrative" is necessarily somewhat colored by subjective impressions, it should nonetheless shed light on some hithertofore undisclosed and/or unanalyzed information relating to events and personalities of the period. 1 On the international scene, Hitler's daring diplomatic moves, combined with military pressure , brought about not only the Munich Agreement (September 29/ 30 , 1938) but also the resignation of President Edvard Benes (October 5, 1938), followed by the Zilina Agreement (October 6, 1938), by virtue of which the Slovaks achieved political autonomy . For me , as a politically active federalist (autonomist), the Zilina Agreement represented the fulfillment of the Slovak political struggle , the federation of Czecho-Slovakia. In the second half of October, 1938 , I returned to Slovakia to witness the implementation of Slovak autonomy. The new autonomous government of Slovakia had commenced with enthusiasm, national pride , and hope . This euphoric atmosphere, however , did not last for long. The loss of a large part of Slovak territory to Hungary by the Vienna Award of November 2 , 1938 was a tragic blow to the promising beginnings of Slovak self-rule . The overall mood in Slovakia was overshadowed by national grief, anger , and a feeling of powerlessness. 10 SLOVAKIA In the official circles of the Slovak government and among the general public there was no serious talk of separating Slovakia from the Czech lands. Both the government and judicial public viewed the Munich Agreement and the Vienna Award as diplomatic safeguards against Hitler's further penetration in Central Europe and also as an international guaranty against Hungarian territorial rapacity. There were, however, radical elements grouped around Alexander Mach, Karol Murgas, Jozef Jostiak, Jan Farkas , and Jan Dafc':lk who fomented anti-Czech feeling by ascribing the loss of Slovak territory to Benes and his policy toward Slovakia. In November, 1938, I returned to France convinced that the Slovaks considered their autonomy the satisfactory solution of their national and political interests. Before I left I was offered the assignment of foreign correspondent for the newspapers Slovak and Slovenska pravda , which I gladly accepted. By the end of November the Czechoslovak ambassador in France, Dr. Stefan Osusky, was returning to Paris from his visit to the newlyTelected president of Czecho-Slovakia , Dr. Emil Hacha and to the new foreign minister, Dr. Frantisek Chvalkovsky. As a foreign correspondent for the newspaper Slovak, I asked Osusky for an interview regarding his impressions of Czecho-Slovakia. Prior to the interview, he gave me a copy of his aide-memoire submitted to the French Foreign Office as a supplement to his official report. The main topics, as I recall, were descriptions of his audiences with President Hacha and Foreign Minister Chvalkovsky and of the apathy of the Czech people toward the latest tragic dismemberment of Bohemia in the Munich Agreement. Included in it was also a statement concerning the Slovak autonomous government's assurances of its wholehearted support for the Czecho-Slovak state. In my subsequent interview with Osusky he maintained that the French government had pledged to guarantee the security of the new Czecho-Slovakia. This part of the interview _was later published in the newspaper Slovak. After this interview with Osusky, my contacts with him became more frequent and proved to be very useful to me as a student and as a journalist. He encouraged me to study the question of minorities in Central Europe , offered me access to the embassy 's library, and invited me to the "five o'clock tea" on a SLOVAKIA 11 regular weekly basis. He also arranged for me contacts with the Havas Press Agency, as well as with the newspaper Epoque, L'Oeuvre, and Le Temps . 2 In December, 1938, I was back in Slovakia on a journalistic assignment from Osusky to report on the Slovak parliamentary elections , held on December 18, 1938. After the opening of the first session of the new Slovak Parliament on January 19, 1939, I returned the next day to France. At one of our ''five o'clock tea'' meetings, Osusky explained his political views not only on international questions but on the internal problems of Czecho-Slovakia as well. He told me that although his position as the envoy of Czecho-Slovakia in Paris precluded his interference in the internal affairs of the state, he kept close contacts with many prominent politicians and expressed his political views freely. However, since he was unable to make public his own views, he suggested that I should try to put them in writing . I interpreted this as a mandate and asked 'him to set up dates for interviews on his position regarding political developments in Europe with a special focus on Central Europe and Czecho-Slovakia. On the basis of these interviews I submitted to him in February, 1939, a draft of "Dr. Osusky's Views and Opinions on the European Crisis.'' He approved my draft and asked me to supplement it with philosophical statements from his acceptance speech, delivered on February 5, 1936, on the occasion of his receipt of an honorary doctorate in law at the University of Dijon. I complied with his request. The resulting paper was reproduced for his Slovak friends; later a part of it was included in his booklet Cesko-Slovensko a jeho buducnost', which appeared in 1939. After the crisis of March, 1939, Osusky was looked upon as the only representative of Czecho-Slovakia in the free world who could claim the authority of a co-founder of the state. Following his refusal to deliver the Czecho-Slovak embassy in Paris to the Germans, he espoused the so-called ambassadorial theory of continuity, according to which he was the only legal representative of Czechoslovakia . Osusky's theory conflicted with the " presidential theory of continuity" of Benes, who considered himself the victim of Hitler's brutality and the sacrificial lamb of 12 SLOVAKIA the military and psychological weakness of France and Great Britain. The French government confirmed Osusky's legal status and continued to recognize him as the diplomatic representative of Post-Munich Czecho-Slovakia. Osusky felt himself destined for the leading role in the resistance against Hitler. At this historical juncture , however, Osusky found himself isolated, without trustworthy collaborators at the embassy and with no close connections with the Slovaks and their organizations in France. His relations with his Slovak countrymen in France were sparse and those with the Czechs lacked mutual trust. The only employee at the embassy who devotedly served Osusky was Stefan Moncek, the treasurer. Other Slovaks at the embassy - Dr. Vladimir Palic, Dr. Alexander Kunosi, and later Dr. Fedor Hodza - either stayed there for only a short time or tendered their allegiance to others. All other personnel at the embassy espoused Benes' views and conspired against Osusky. This politically precarious situation necessitated an immediate remedy in two directions: Osusky's relations with the Slovaks and their organizations in France; and the reshaping of his staff at the embassy. In the first half of April, 1939 , Osusky inquired about my connections with Slovak organizations in France and in Slovakia. He needed broader support for his leadership. For this purpose he planned to secure the confidence of his Slovak co-nationals in France. In order to improve his image as the representative, not only of the Czechs, but also of the Slovaks (who now lived in the Slovak state), he intended to attract political friends from Slovakia. To help carry out the first part of his plan I offered my assistance in arranging a gathering of Slovaks in Argenteuil , near Paris. There Osusky would deliver his first campaign speech on political issues in general and on Czech-Slovak relations in particular. The timing was opportune. After March 14, 1939 , the majority of Slovaks in France, who expressed their trust in Prime Minister Jozef Tiso's government, were denounced by the Czechs as traitors and as such were reported to the French authorities who then persecuted them as pro-Nazis. The presence of Ambassador Osusky at the gathering was an occasion to present Slovak complaints to him and to ask for protection. SLOVAKIA 13 The gathering of French Slovaks took place in April, 1939, and was quite successful. Osusky's speech was reproduced in special leaflets, and parts were published in his Cesko-Slovensko ajeho buducnost'. On the whole, Osusky's address was favorably accepted by the Slovaks, especially his promise to protect thqse Slovaks who did not spread anti-French or anti-Czech propaganda. 3 The daily influx into France of Czech political and military emigrants caused Osusky much concern because practically all of them supported Benes. This may have been one of the main reasons why he entrusted me with a secret mission to visit Slovakia to contact his friends, former political leaders, many government officials, and leading personalities in the cultural and economic life of the Slovak state. Osusky indicated that he would like me to bring personal messages to some of his friends and inquire into the possibility of having contacts with them through Budapest. He also suggested that I travel to Hungary to survey the situation of the Slovaks in occupied Southern Slovakia and contact their leaders. I accepted this mission as a sign of personal trust and asked for a few days to prepare a more detailed program for his approval. At the outset of our discussion Osusky had pointed out that this trip was supposed to appear as if it were my own undertaking, but he promised to inform the French authorities of my status and procure a diplomatic visa for me. He did so promptly. Among the persons I was to see and deliver messages to were: Dr. Anton Stefanek, Professor at the University of Bratislava; General Rudolf Viest, Inspector-General of the Slovak Army; Dr. Samuel Osusky, Lutheran Bishop and cousin of Osusky; Lutheran Bishop Fedor Ruppeldt; Dr. Matej Murtin at the Hypotecna a komunalna banka in Bratislava; the lawyer Dr. Ivan Pietor; economists Dr. Peter Zat'ko and Dr. Vladimir Fajnor; and the General Director of the Slovenska narodna banka, Dr. Imrich Karvas . My assignment included also contacts with Dr. Milos Vanco, Dr. Jan Spisiak, and Jan Teplansky. Osusky explained his wish to build communications with Bratislava through a liaison in Budapest to be funded half by him and the other half by the Slovak side . As for possible discussions with government officials, I could act in my name only. Osusky 's name could be mentioned in con- 14 SLOVAKIA nection with his warning about the risk of war and the need for the cooperation of Slovakia with the West. All other questions that Osusky gave me were for Prime Minister Tiso alone. Among them was the question of the Slovaks in France and their eventual mobilization in case of war in military units of a Czecho-Slovak Army. Another question of importance for both Slovakia and Osusky was the establishing of Slovak diplomatic missions in the West equipped with proper personalities and far-reaching political perspectives. He suggested also that I discuss some matters with Foreign Minister Ferdinand Durcansky . Before I left France on April 27 , 1939 , I helped to organize the participation of Slovaks at the Second Reunion of the Czechs and Slovaks in France, which was planned for April 29-30 at the Czechoslovak Colony in Paris . Benes 's adherents planned to declare him the leader of the '' Second Czechoslovak Struggle Abroad ,'' thus eliminating Osusky for good from any leading role in the exile movement. The outcome of that meeting was transmitted to me in Bratislava by Stefan Moncek, who had been given my telephone number. This information was important to my mission because success depended on Osusky 's retention of his leadership position abroad. In Bratislava I met freely with my friends and colleagues . Some of them already held high state offices and enjoyed their positions in the full swing of their zeal, devotion , and industry . They seemed to be unaware of the danger of war and believed that their happy days would have no end. To my surprise, some of them thought that Hitler was satisfied with his annexations and that the risk of war had been thus eliminated . This naive credulity was confirmed by my visits with Propaganda Chief Sano Mach, the Hlinka Guard leaders Karol Murgas and Jan Dafcik, and the majority of my own friends. The glorification of Hitler by Dr. Vojtech Tuka in his May 1, 1939, speech at Primizial Plaza in Bratislava was an ominous sign, as was the elimination of Karol Sidor from Slovak political affairs. The next day I was granted an audience with Prime Minister Tiso. It was arranged through Dr. Juraj Rajec , whom I knew when he was the educational counselor in the student residence Svoradov. I was admitted to Tiso as a reporter for the newspaper Slovak in France . SLOVAKIA 15 Sitting in the corner of his office , overlooking the Danube, Tiso looked tired and somewhat restrained. He asked me about my studies and my journalistic experience in France. After I answered those questions I described the difficult position of the Slovaks in France as outlined earlier. This led me to Ambassador Osusky and his activities. I reported to Tiso the full details of Osusky 's speech in Argenteuil, handed him the leaflets of the Center of the Czechs and Slovaks Abroad concerning recruitment in the event of war, and finally submitted to him the document ' 'Dr. Osusky 's Views and Opinions on the European Crisis.'' With regard to the possibility of war, I indicated that there were about 50 ,000 Slovaks in France who could be recruited into a Czechoslovak Army and who would have to fight against the Slovak state for Benes' type of Czechoslovakia. I also told Tiso that Osusky favored a federated Czecho-Slovakia but faced the determined opposition of the Czechs and of some Slovak centralists, the so-called Czechoslovaks. Osusky had a few friends among the Czechs, and not many among the Slovaks. He was willing to set up separate Slovak military units in France, alongside the Czech ones, under a unified command, but there were no Slovak officers. Tiso listened to my briefing and then remarked that he did not consider Osusky to be the representative of the Slovak cause in the West because Osusky did not know Slovakia and the Slovaks did not know Osusky. Next I inquired whether it was true that the situation of Slovakia after the Treaty of Protection with Germany , which had been characterized in France as total dependence upon Germany, was similar to the situation in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. He rose from his chair, approached the window facing the Danube , and asked me if I could see the cannons on the other side of the Danube, which were aimed directly at his windows . This ''protection,'' he said, did not prevent the Slovaks from losing Petrzalka (part of Bratislava), but it was still preferable to their being divided between the Magyars and the Poles. To my querry about the limits of Slovak freedom in making foreign contacts, he responded that the new government expected to be recognized by most European states very quickly. This would make it difficult for the Germans to interfere and would provide 16 SLOVAKIA a legal basis for foreign contacts. Durcansky would give me more details on this point. I was curious about relations with the Magyars, for I had heard that there was no reaction from the Slovak side to the atrocities committed by the Magyars in Komjatice, Slovensky Meder, and Surany. Tiso replied that according to the Treaty of Protection with Germany, the Slovaks could not unilaterally decide on retaliatory measures against the Magyars in Slovakia; the Slovaks were thus denied the right of reprisal, he said . On the other hand , the Treaty provided for German protection of Slovak territory against constant Magyar incursions. And so the Slovak position toward Hungary was dictated by those factors. I inquired if it would be possible to use the Slovaks in France for some kind of support of a Slovak cause in the West in the event of war. Tiso said that that was not an immediate worry. First France would have to recognize the Slovak State , after which there would be more time for such discussions. I told him that Osusky would have no objection to the French government granting the Slovak state de facto recognition. He saw such circumstances as being favorable for building a bridge between France and Slovakia, provided that the proper person were appointed as head of the Slovak consulate. Tiso indicated that I would receive the answer to this question from f>urcansky. Tiso suggested publishing a Slovak-French bulletin in France and the possibility of a cultural exchange. He referred me to Dr. Vojtech Brestensky, Secretary General of Slovenska liga , who would take care of it. In summarizing our discussion, Tiso reiterated his views , stressed the confidentiality of some of his remarks , and asked me about my immediate and future plans . I mentioned that I intended to visit Hungary to speak with Slovak representatives. He asked me if this had already been planned in Paris, which I affirmed. He concluded the interview with an invitation to contact him again before I left for France. That same day, in the Cafe Carlton, I was introduced by Vlado Houdek to Peter Pares , the British consul in Bratislava. He expressed a keen interest in my studies in France and my evaluation of the French political scene. He was eager to see me the next day at the same place, and I gladly consented. SLOVAKIA 17 Later that day I was invited for dinner by Foreign Minister Durcansky at his private residence. To my surprise, he had already been informed of the issues discussed with the prime minister. Our friendly personal relations, based on close cooperation in the autonomist movement, allowed us to be absolutely frank with each other. After giving him an overall picture of French public opinion, I touched on the question of the Slovaks in France and also on Ambassador Osusky's actions. To this Durcansky added his brief analysis of the Slovak situation on the international level and outlined Slovak diplomatic ambitions. The discussion that followed could be summarized in the following points: I said that according to what I knew from Osusky and from the Polish embassy in Paris , the French and the British were hurridly mobilizing raw materials, increasing production of military hardware , building up public opinion against Hitler; in short they were preparing for war. In the diplomatic field , the French were repeating their pledges to stand by their treaties with Poland and Romania. Durcansky accepted the possibility of war but not earlier than in two years. As for the Slovaks in France, I asked if it could f10t be possible to organize them into a Slovak Legion and have them fight against Hitler and for the preservation of the Slovak state. Osusky, I continued, was opposed to Benes. He recognized a federated Czecho-Slovakia as the best form of government which would guarantee Slovak self-rule . Durcansky replied that he did not believe that France would agree on the formation of a Slovak Legion with the proviso that it fight for the preservation of the Slovak state. He, therefore, would accept the organization of Czech and Slovak military units under a unified command. This reasoning was parallel in general terms with that of Osusky 's. One of the most difficult questions , however, was where to find and how to commission 20 to 30 Slovak officers for this duty . This would be a political question of unforseeable complications. According to Durcansky , this could be done under different pretexts , such as through a cultural delegation, correspondents , students, businessmen, and the like. Under the present conditions, two things were required immediately: official recognition of Slovakia by the French government and money . As for the first 18 SLOVAKIA condition, Durcansky said that he had been already told by the French consul that recognition was on its way. The question of money would be solved by creation of the Institute for Slovaks Abroad , which for the time being would be associated with the Foreign Ministry. The money could be put aside from the ministerial budget. To do so , it would be necessary to prepare the statutes of the proposed Institute . He instructed me to meet the next day with Dr. Jozef Cieker, Dr. Vojtech Brestensky, Emil Rusko , and their experts to prepare the final text of the statutes. After Durcansky had read "Osusky's Views and Opinions on the European Crisis" and gone through the material I had brought with me, he indicated that Osusky 's position might help the Slovak cause in the West if he would be willing to cooperate with the Slovak consul in Paris , using him as a liaison with Slovakia . I asked Durcansky if he already had in mind such a person for such a delicate mission; he mentioned the name of Ing. Milan Harminic. More explicitly than Tiso , Durcansky gave me details regarding his dealings with the Germans. This I later put in writing and sent to Ambassador Osusky through the French consulate in Bratislava. From the organizational point of view, Durcansky considered the existing Catholic mission in France an excellent focus for rallying the Slovaks , not only on religious, but also on cultural and political grounds. He knew the Reverend Jan Futak, the Head of the mission, vaguely but expressed confidence in him. He promised to send money to France from the planned Institute to help publish a periodical bulletin in French and Slovak. As the editor he planned to appoint the Reverend Vojtech Klein, a Catholic priest known for his work in the social field and in the publishing trade. Before taking leave of Durcansky I informed him of my trip to Hungary and asked for his advice as to whom I should contact and what concrete steps I should take to gather detailed information on the situation of the Slovaks there . He referred me to Dr. Ludovit Obtulovic , a lawyer in Nave Zamky who was the leader of the Slovaks in the occupied territory of Southern Slovakia, and to the Reverand Imrich Ko sec , a Catholic priest in the nearby village of Banovska Kesa . SLOVAKIA 19 Durcansky planned to build a direct line of communication between Bratislava and Paris through an employee of the Slovak embassy in Budapest . During the discussion it became apparent to me that this communication was supposed to be rather a personal link between Durcansky and the Catholic mission in Argenteuil. Consequently, I did not mention at this point that Osusky too was looking for a liaison with Slovakia through a confidant in Budapest. While Durcansky hoped to build bridges to the West without the intermediary link of Osusky , the latter planned to use his contacts with Slovakia for bringing his political friends into exile. Before I left for Hungary I learned that on May 4, 1939 Great Britain had extended de facto recognition to the Slovak state and had confirmed the present British consul in Bratislava, Pares , as its official representative. This greatly furthered Slovak self-confidence. A special permit to cross the Slovak-Hungariaii border was given to me at the Hungarian consulate in Bratislava at the recommendation of Monsignor Augustin Hladik, Canon of the Cathedral of St. Martin in Bratislava, with whom I had been in contact for some years. He also made the arrangement for my travel to Hungary by car with Count Janos Eszterhazy, who was the official representative of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia, in which capacity he was also a member of the Slovak Parliament. My first stop was at Dr. Obtulovic's office in Nave Zamky . With Obtulovic we visited the Reverend Imrich Kasee in Banovska Kesa and then traveled to Slovensky Meder and Komjatice; the next day we called on the Director of the Slovak gymnazium, Professor Jozef Hudec , and his colleague Professor lgnac Safar in the town of Surany. In all these villages I interviewed the Slovaks regarding the alleged atrocities committed by the Hungarian gendarmes against them for singing the Slovak national anthem and holding cultural meetings. After two days in Budapest , where I met with Professor Stefan Buran and others in the administration of Slovenska jednota, the Slovak newspaper which we wanted to become the journal of all Slovaks abroad and as such to be distributed also in France, I returned with Obtulovic to Bratislava. 20 SLOVAKIA I telephoned Durcansky to congratulate him on the British recognition of Slovakia. He sounded optimistic and explored possible ways to prompt the French government to recognize Slovakia as early as possible and thus establish legal contact with one more Western state. He invited Obtulovic and myself to see him the same day . At this meeting Durcansky suggested that Obtulovic go to Paris to investigate the possibility of obtaining early recognition of Slovakia and the accreditation of a Slovak consul in Paris. Through the intercession of Moncek, for whom I had prepared a confidential personal note, Obtulovic was to see Osusky and discuss with him the following: 1) The legal position of the Slovaks in France then and in case of war . Would Slovaks in France be mobilized into a Czechoslovak Army, or would they be recruited under the banner of a Slovak Legion? 2) A Slovak consulate in Paris and its relations to Osusky. 3) Would Osusky agree to communicate with Slovakia through the Slovak consulate in Paris , or would he suggest some other manner? 4) Distribution of Slovenska jednota among the Slovaks in France and possible cooperation with the editors of Slovenska jednota in Budapest. 5) ,'Publication of a Slovak-French Bulletin, by a neutral body , which could develop into a cultural and political organ for all Slovaks in France. For the time being it could be issued as a supplement to (Nas] Krajan, the organ of the Catholic mission in France. 6) Consider closer working relations between Osusky and the leadership of the Slovaks in Hungary. Obtulovic should propose to gather documentary. material on the Hungarian-German secret alliance with subsequent reference to Hitler's consent of the occupation of Southern Slovakia by the Hungarians. At this time I met with the British consul , Peter Pares , at the Hotel Carlton in Bratislava . I congratulated him on his confirmation as the British representative to the Slovak government. In response he mentioned that his French colleague had enjoyed very SLOVAKIA 21 much talking with me. I was really surprized how quickly newsgathering in Bratislava functioned, because I had hardly returned from the French consulate. 4 The British rightly conjectured that my visit with Tiso and my trip to Hungary were somewhat connected with my mission from Osusky. He wanted to know more about these undertakings. Because of the risk involved. I remained cautious. A few days later I was invited by Obtulovic to join a ''fishing party" organized by him for Pares. This was a pleasant car trip from Bratislava to my native Orava and to Oravice, the region with brooks full of trout, a real haven for such a passionate fisherman as Pares. The three-day party was kept secret. We discussed mainly Slovak relations with the West. I was impressed by Pares' knowledge of the Slovak internal political scene. He showed a full understanding of the difficult international position of Slovakia and promised to keep his government informed about the real anti-Nazi feelings of the Slovaks. In his characterization of the leading Slovak politicians, he disapproved of Durcansky's precipitous acts and evident endeavors to prove the independence of Slovak diplomacy. On the other hand, Pares appreciated Tiso's policy and skill as shown in his dealings with internal as well as external affairs of state. Two communications sent by Pares to his superiors in London indicate the British consul's acute perceptions of the situation at this time and are worth quoting. 5 The first is a letter dated May 23, 1939 and reads as follows: Dear Troutbeck, Certain information has reached me from a reliable source which will, I think, interest you, but nevertheless, does not seem suitable for inclusion in a formal dispatch. I have been told by Dr. Obtulovic , who apparently enjoys the confidence of Dr. Tiso , that the Slovak government is keeping in contact with the group of Slovak exiles in Paris who are led by Dr. Osusky. A young student named Josef Stasko, who is studying at the Ecole des Sciences Politiques, has recently been in Bratislava and had an interview with Dr. Tiso. He has now returned to Paris and I understand that he is a bearer of a message 22 SLOVAKIA from the Slovak government. My French colleague knows that the young man is in touch with Slovaks in Paris, but I doubt if he is aware of his connection with the Slovak government. I understand that Dr. Tiso has given formal approval to the formation of a Slovak Legion in France and that this is the message conveyed by Stasko to Paris . The object of these maneuvers seems to be to maintain contact with the Western powers whilst pursuing a policy of co-operation with the Germans for as long as is necessary - in other words, the policy of the Czechs before and during the Great War. The Slovaks are growing very apprehensive now about the possibility of war. They do not expect Germany to win, but realize that they are powerless to refuse anything she might ask in the event of war. So they are trying to ensure the good will of the Western powers in advance by secretly approving the plans of the exiles. That this is not a policy favoured by a small group, but rather the concerted action of the Slovak leaders as a whole is, I think , shown by the fact that the persons concerned in it are not only Dr. Tiso , but also Dr. Obtulovic, the official Slovak minority leader in Hungary, and the partisan of Sidor. My knowledge of Slovak is not very reliable, but from something said in a convention at which I was present, I gained the impression that Dr. Durcansky, the proGerman Foreign Minister, also knows of Stasko's mission. There have been reports that Durcansky is dissatisfied with Germany's treatment of Slovakia so it is possible that my impression may be correct. Yours ever, P. Pares A few comments on Pares ' report are in order. First, the French consul could not tell his British colleague the full story about my connection with the Slovak government because I was warned by Osusky that he was in the service of Benes , and SLOVAKIA 23 therefore, there could have been a risk of political intrigue . Second, in my talks with Pares I never mentioned to him the essence of my discussion with Tiso, so I presume Obtulovic had informed him about it. It is also true that Tiso did not give formal approval to the formation of a Slovak Legion in France; but it had been my personal feeling that he considered the possibility of such a need later, and that is why he had referred me to Durcansky for more discussion about this matter. The following telegram by the British consul in Bratislava to his superiors in London presumes a discrete and confidential discussion of Pares with Obtulovic and clearly confirms that the Paris-Bratislava connection was still alive. The two-hour conversation of Obtulovic with the French consul also suggests the importance of the issues discussed. Here is the full text of the telegram: Telegram (en clair) from His Majesty's Consul (Bratislava) 3rd June , 1939. Dr. Obtulovic , who accompanied Stasko to Paris (see my porvate [sic] letter to Mr. Troutbeck, dated 23rd May, a copy of which was sent to the Foreign Office under cover of my dispatch No. 39 of 23rd May) has just returned to Bratislava. He had an interview with Osusky, who appears to have succeeded in convincing him that the French treatment of Czecho-Slovakia last autumn was not a betrayal, but the result of the pressure of circumstances. Dr. Obtulovic seems to have returned a Francophil and his report will no doubt influence the Slovak Government in favour of the Western Powers. Osusky's arguments have also convinced him that Germany is not strong enough to break the forces confronting her and he is therefore concerned for the future of Slovakia in the event of a German collapse. He says that he is to return to Paris once more and will visit also Belgium. I presume that he will make contact with the Slovak colony in that country which is fairly numerous. Today he had a conversation lasting two hours with the French consul here, in the course of which it must be 24 SLOVAKIA assumed that he discussed the standpoint of the Slovak Government to the Slovak exiles in Paris . Copy sent to Paris. I have to add that Obtulovic traveled to Paris alone , because I still expected an audience with Prime Minister Tiso and a meeting with Foreign Minister Durcansky. It is not true that Obtulovic returned from Paris a Francophil, thanks to Osusky . Obtulovic was a Francophil before his trip. The same could be said about the statement that only Osusky's arguments had convinced Obtulovic of the possible German defeat. It was precisely this presumption of the Slovak government - that in the event of war, Germany would not win - which had prompted Obtulovic's trip to Paris. The plan was that Obtulovic would return to Paris and would visit his countrymen in Belgium. This did not take place , however , because the Germans took notice of his travels, tracked his whereabouts , and inquired about his motives at the Slovak Foreign Ministry. The details of the German intervention in this matter were sent to me by the Reverend Kasee at my address at the Slovak Catholic mission in Argenteuil. A few days later Obtul6vic and Kasee were expelled from Hungary and returned to Bratislava. Back in Bratislava, after the fishing trip , I contacted Dr. Anton Stefanek, for whom I had a letter and an oral message from Osusky. He seemed to have little confidence in Osusky and was totally dismayed by Benes . Concerning the situation in Slovakia , it was his view that for the time being Slovakia was thriving and was much better off than the Czech lands . Of course , all this was relative to Hitler's plans . In the event of war, Slovakia would be eradicated as a state and much damage would be done to the nation . He confessed that he did not intend to go into exile and that he had no advice as to what course of action to take. He did not believe that the future form of life in Central Europe would be the same as before and stated that even Czecho-Slovakia would have to be restructured if it wished to survive. He asked me about Hodza, who he expected to come forward with his idea of a Central European Federation. SLOVAKIA 25 My message from Osusky concerned the possibility of a mutual exchange of reports on international and domestic developments. To this Stefanek did not react. He wanted me to meet his colleagues at the university, and he set up a date for this meeting in his office . As I recall, this took place two days later. At that meeting only four of these colleagues were present: Dr. Peter Gula, Dr. Branislav Varsik, Dr. Jan Stanislav, and Dr. J. K. (still living in Bratislava). The only positive suggestion made at that meeting was to organize an exchange of professors and students with France and then to create a clearing-house at the Institut Slave in Paris for Slovak literature. All those present considered the war inevitable; all believed that Hitler would not win; and all were willing to accept the Czecho-Slovak state only in a federal form. My report from this meeting was sent in a diplomatic pouch to Osusky through the French consulate . Another letter and message I delivered was to General Rudolf Viest, who was Inspector-General of the Slovak Army. He asked me first for my credentials, then told me to see him the next day. At our subsequent meeting I informed him that Ambassador Osusky would be glad to see him in Paris in order to organize a Czecho-Slovak Army. To this General Viest answered that he did not believe war would break out and that he would stay where he was. (I did not know at that time that he had already promised Benes that he would soon join him). 6 In the remaining days I busied myself seeing personalities from Slovak political, cultural, and economic life . Among others , I visited Dr. Vojtech Brestensky, Secretary General of Slovenska liga in Bratislava, who promised to send books, periodicals , films, pictures, and other cultural items to Paris. He also gave me some financial help and asked me to work in France for the Slovenska liga, represented then by Klement Sichmak. In Trnava I visited Monsignor Jan Pi:istenyi , the Director of the Spolok Sv. Vojtecha, who warmly received me. He gave me two packages of books for the Reverend Jan Futak in Argenteuil and also some financial assistance for lecturing among the Slovaks in France on behalf of Slovak religious awareness. At the "Slovensky klub" in the Cafe Redoute in Bratislava I met with the Minister of Economy , Dr. Gejza Medricky; Dr. Peter 26 SLOVAKIA Zat'ko of the Centrale of Slovak Industry; Dr. Alexander Hrncar of the Ministry of Finance; Dr. Imrich Karvas of the Slovak National Bank, and other economists. The invitation of this meeting had come from Medricky, whom I had known for some years in connection with autonomist political actions. The discussion concerned mostly the economy but also touched on politics. I included the main points of this debate in the report for Osusky. One of the most interesting, and at the same time most informative, meetings I had had in Bratislava was in the student residence Svoradov, where I met many of my colleagues. In their discussions they portrayed the events of March 14, 1939 with the utmost frankness. Most of them were adherents of Sidor and only a few supported the radical wing headed by Mach and Murgas. From their heated debate I learned that they did not consider Hitler to be a culprit but rather a ruthless politician. They expressed their doubts about the Western concept of European order. The West, they argued, had lost cultural preeminence, failed in political initiative , and)acked overall vitality. They dismissed the immediate danger of war and were quite philosophical about the future. To my outline of the Western mood of the public and a resolute resistance toward further concessions to Hitler, they offered a picture of Slovakia built on Christian principles and rallied politically around Tiso a·s the best safeguard against the eventualities of an armed peace. In sum, I was struck by two elements in Slovak political life: one was a real ambition to build the Slovak state as if it were an independent entity outside of the complexities of the European theater; the other was the unbelievable credulity in a simplified version of their capability for survival. There was an almost palpable feeling of nationalistic fervor everywhere . Listening to Foreign Minister Durcansky 's self-confidence and to his broadlybased diplomatic ambitions , I could not believe that he had taken the Treaty of Protection with Germany seriously. The German minority in Slovakia was small, their Nazism in most localities questionable, and as a political factor they did not play as yet a visible role. The overall mood of rural Slovakia was optimistic , almost careless in its disregard of international embroglios . SLOVAKIA 27 Based on these experiences, it was difficult for me to draw a gloomy picture of the future, especially among those who achieved personal and material satisfaction, e.g., young Slovak intellectuals or businessmen who exploited fully the occasion of the revolutionary change. The Jewish question had been in the minds of the radicals in their newspapers or speeches , but their zealotry was tamed by the government's promotion of constructive primary economic projects . Prime Minister Tiso was considered a man of moral integrity , wise , and moderate. Sidor, on the other hand , was severely judged by both radicals for his lack of courage and by the '' old guard" for his indecisiveness. Durcansky was a "political technician,'' whose ideological armory supplied the energy for the running of the state machinery. He had a few followers and even fewer personal friends . Alexander Mach, Karol Murgas , Jan Farkas, Jozef Jostiak , Jan Dafcik, and others had some credit in the nation and among the students for their sacrifices in the past, but in this stage of rebuilding the Slovak society they represented a group of malcontents - radicals whose fighting spirit was not out of focus. Their pro-German leanings pushed them to the margin of the political stream. After Obtulovic left for Paris I remained a few more days in Slovakia for my second audience with Tiso and a meeting with Durcansky . In his monologue Tiso talked about the preservation of the Slovak state and believed that the West would concur with him in the self-determination principle , which, in his opinion, would respect the will of the people. He did not believe that Osusky would be willing to accept the existence of the Slovak state , but his struggle for a federal Czecho-Slovakia underlined the principle of self-determination. Tiso saw my point in stressing the political importance of the Slovak soldiers in France fighting against Hitler, but he hastened to add " and for the Slovak state .'' He repeated his original wish to send a '' cultural delegation " to France and advised me to remain in touch w ith the Slovak League in America , especially with Monsignor Francis Dubas . With these recommendations my audience with the prime minister ended. 28 SLOVAKIA With Foreign Minister Durcansky I discussed all the issues that had arisen during my visit to Slovakia. Durcansky planned to remain in contact with Paris through an employee of the Slovak embassy in Budapest, whose official assignment would be to communicate with the Slovak consulate in Paris. For the time being he intended to send some literature and messages to the Catholic mission in Argenteuil for the Reverend Futak. We also discussed at length the question of a Slovak Legion in France . Durcansky envisaged such a possible development . To this end he promised to send 15 to 20 ''students'' to Paris for the fall semester who could eventually become available for action in organizing the Slovaks as an independent military unit. The main object of my "mission" was to contact Osusky's friends and eventually to encourage them to go into exile. I talked with many of those whom Osusky suggested ! but none of them was willing to emigrate. This was the case with Emil Boleslav Lukac , Dr. Milos Vanco, Jan Teplansky, Dr. Martin Micura, Dr. Anton Stefanek, Dr. Peter Zat'ko, Dr. Alexander Hrncar , and Dr. Imrich Karvas. When asked to prepare and send to Osusky a statement on the situation in Slovakia and on plans for the future , not a single one of these individuals manifested any interest. I did not meet Bishops Osusky or Ruppeldt and those persons listed in the letters which they had picked up at the French consulate in Bratislava. I gathered all possible documents from Slovakia and sent them to Osusky in a diplomatic pouch through the French consul. Among the documents were a copy of the Schutzvertrag and the secret Protocols concerning the German claims in the territorial , economic, financial, or military field . Also included were my diary, packages for the Reverend Futak, photographs from occupied Southern Slovakia, brochures, proclamations, pamphlets , Hlinka Guard "orders," and various books and clippings from the daily press . Although I had planned to see Karol Sidor, I had no opportunity to do so. My message to him from Osusky was oral and involved a request for his comments on the March 14th events along with an invitation to join him in Paris. Sidor kept himself aloof from the public , and I was told that his movements were SLOVAKIA 29 being monitored by the Gestapo. He therefore would not welcome my visit or interview. I had my passport restamped with the stamp of the Slovak Republic and returned safely to France. There I met Obtulovic, who had already spoken to the officials of the French Foreign Office and also with Osusky. The next day I gave Osusky a full report of my experiences in Slovakia and Hungary and also described my meetings with Osusky's friends and acquaintances. Osusky did not accept the idea that the Slovak consulate in Paris should be the communication link between him and Bratislava. He also was not in favor of a Slovak office in Paris, like Slovakotour, which could be used as a cover for the contacts with Bratislava. He did not make any qualified statement on mobilizing Slovaks in France into an independent Slovak military unit , but promised to fight for the right of the Slovaks to form their own units under Slovak officers in the framework of a CzechoSlovak Army. He touched vaguely on the question of the Slovaks in Hungary, postponing diplomatic steps for the postwar reshaping of Europe. Osusky was totally disappointed that there were no political leaders in Slovakia, especially from among the former officials of Czechoslo~akia, who manifested any interest of cooperation with the West and with him . Together with Obtulovic I visited Osusky the next evening. After repeating what he had told me, he openly asked Obtulovic if one of the leading Slovaks would be willing to join him. He stressed the diplomatic realities: the British and also the French might differentiate the fate of the Czechs and the Slovaks ; once war was declared, they would fight for the restoration of CzechoSlovakia. It was necessary, he said, on the part of the Slovak government to prepare an official memorandum indicating that the Slovaks had been acting under German pressure and that the Slovak state had been forced upon the Slovaks. Such a document could be interpreted as proof that whatever it did was justified to save the nation. He repeated again and again that he was resolutely opposed to the centralized form of Czechoslovakia and that his concept for the future was favorable to the Slovaks and acceptable to the West. This concept included the return of the occupied Southern Slovakia to the homeland. 30 SLOVAKIA Obtulovic responded with a more detailed explanation of the Slovak position and asked for time to reevaluate all aspects of the discussions with Tiso and Durcansky. It was agreed that Osusky would not hinder the work of the Slovak consul in Paris and that the Slovak government would send to Paris a persona grata to Osusky. Obtulovic stressed the question of the Slovaks in France in case of war, considering them to be an outpost of the Slovaks' true anti-Nazis feelings . He indicated that the Slovak government would send a "cultural delegation" and some " students" to France who would be advised to cooperate with the Slovaks in the United States organized in the Slovak League of America. Osusky did not reject the idea, but he claimed the allegiance of the Slovaks in the event of war to the leadership of the resistance. The contacts with Bratislava would continue, and Obtulovic would return to Paris as soon as the Slovak government , or rather Tiso and Durcansky, would consider it useful. There was a tacit understand.ing that Obtulovic would talk to Sidor and that both would meet Osusky's emissary in Budapest. There were, of course, differences in positions, but they were not insurmountable. One of them was the choice and location of the Slovak diplomatic personnel in the West, the other the insistence of Tiso on the preservation of the Slovak state . The surprisingly rapid development of the international crisis , however, prevented both the Slovak government and Osusky from establishing any direct contacts. Although France recognized the Slovak government de facto on July 14 , 1939, no Slovak consul in Paris was accredited. The contemplated candidate for this position, Ing . Milan Harminc , who presented himself personally at the French Foreign Office and was considered a leading pretender, had been in the meantime accredited as Slovak consul in London. Suggested for the Slovak consul in Paris was Dr. Bohdan Galvanek, whose proGerman leanings were generally known and who was flatly rejected by the French Foreign Office. Time lost in the protection of the accreditation process had been sufficiently long for the successful negative intervention of Czech politicians at the French Foreign Office . SLOVAKIA 31 Gradually, with the arrival of more pro-Benes exiles in Paris, Osusky was losing hold of the leadership. By the end of August, 1939, after his discussion with Benes in London (August 24), he abandoned his firm Slovak stand on the independent Slovak military units and was instrumental in reaching an agreement with the French government (August 28) on the creation of a Czechoslovak Army in France with no independent Slovak units. The political consequences of this development buried Osusky as the leader of the Slovaks abroad and abolished all possible contacts with Slovakia. At this point my "mission" and my efforts to demonstrate Slovak anti-Nazi feelings to the West lost all meaning. NOTES 1 A more detailed discussion of this period will follow in further personal memoirs to be published by the author. 2 Dr. Stefan Osusky was born in Brezova pod Bradlom, Slovakia, on March 31, 1889 into a distinguished Lutheran family . After some harassment by the Magyars while in secondary school, he emigrated to the United States in 1906. He joined his sister in Chicago, where in 1915 he earned a doctorate in law from the University of Chicago . In 1916 he was named, together with Gustav Kosik, as a special delegate of the Slovak League of America to the CzechoSlovak Committee in Paris , headed by Dr. Edvard Benes. Next to Dr. Milan R. Stefanik, Osusky was the second leading Slovak who participated in winning recognition for the new state of Czecho-Slovakia. After the war Osusky represented Czechoslovakia at different international committees in Europe and eventually became the Czechoslovak ambassador in France (1921-1940) . His political views echoed in large part those of the first President of Czechoslovakia, Tomas G. Masaryk , whom Osusky greatly admired. He differed with Masaryk , however, on the question of the Czech and Slovak constitutional arrangement. Osusky was proud of his Slovak nationality and was sympathetic toward the Slovak movement for national self-determination . When Benes became president in 1935, Osusky expected to replace him as foreign minister. Benes, who disliked Osusky, named instead Dr. Kami! Krofta. Osusky remained in Paris bitterly resenting this " injustice. " Part of Osusky's political action in Paris after March , 1939 , is described in this memoir. While in Paris he enjoyed the political support of the French government, especially in his antagonism toward Benes. In London , however, he became totally isolated . His altercations with Benes in the London Czechoslovak exile government ended with a total break and animosity. After 32 SLOVAKIA the war Osusky emigrated to the United States , where he lectured occasionally and wrote an analysis of the democratic process in a thinking society entitled The Way of the Free (New York , 1951) . Among his earlier publications are Les Magyars et Pangermanistes (Paris , 1918) and George D. Herron , d6vernik Wilsonov pocas vojny (Brno, 1925) . While in Great Britain during World War II Osusky wrote political pamphlets - Pravda vit'azi (1942). "Rizena demokracie" pri praci (1942), Benes a Slovensko (1943). and Triedenie duchov nastalo (1943) - in which he sharply criticized Benes for his stubborn insistence on adhering to the old, centralized structure of Czechoslovakia . 3 The pertinent passage from Osusky's speech in Argenteuil reads as follows : '' . .. I hereby declare that a policy depriving the Slovak nation of its inalienable rights will never get my consent. Those Czechs and Slovaks who pursued such excessive centralism must publicly admit that their political conception has failed , is dead and rests in a tomb. Otherwise, the Slovaks will face similar ambitions for Czechoslovak unity with justified resistance . What matters now is the existence and future of Czecho-Slovakia . He who would threaten the Slovaks with centralism and persecution is the enemy of the restoration of the Republic , because without Slovakia there could nor would be Czecho-Slovakia. Finally, I must say to the Slovaks that the French authorities will tolerate no propaganda against France and for Nazism. As for myself, as an official representative of the Czecho-Slovak Republic , I will not protect those Slovaks who calumniate the Czechs, the Czecho-Slovak authorities and CzechoSlovakia. The Slovaks who look for the salvation of Slovakia in Hitler, should address themselves to him for livelihood and protection. They will fall into slavery instead of remaining free citizens . Only the Czecho-Slovak Republic will bring b.;ick freedom , independence, and the right to a dignified life to the Czechs and 'Slovaks. This is our conviction and our national belief.'' As quoted in Stefan Osusky, Cesko-Slovensko ajeho buducnost' (Paris , 1939). pp. 50-51 . 4 At the French consulate I picked up the mail sent to me from Paris . Osusky sent several personal letters to be delivered to Bishop Samuel Osusky , Bishop Fedor Ruppeldt , and Dr. Anton Stefanek, and a thick envelope of letters to be picked up later by someone mentioned in the delivered letters. There were also two reports: one , official from the embassy, dealing with the international situation; the other, a sketchy outline of the planned communication between Paris and Bratislava. 5 Documents FO 371 /22903 /338-39 and FO 371 /22903 /341 , British Foreign Office Files, Public Record Office, London. Copies of these documents were made available to me by Frantisek Vnuk . A Slovak translation of them can be found in Vnuk's Slovenska otazka na Zapade v rokoch 1939-1940 (Cleveland , 1974). pp. 54-56. 6 I met General Viest in Paris in the late summer of 1939 . He visited the " Political Club" Madame Sis. Once a week she received at her home invited guests of different political affiliations for open discussion. At such a friendly meeting General Viest made known his political allegiance to Benes . SLOVAKIA 33 My next meeting with General Viest was in Beziers in Southern France at the Headquarters of the Czechoslovak Army. As a soldier at the nearby Czechoslovak Army Camp in Agde, I visited the Headquarters to plead for the Slovaks in the military prison, because they refused to fight for Benes's type of Czechoslovakia. (the "Fryvaldovsky Case"). General Viest did not allow me to see Fryvaldovsky and dismissed me without any answer. I submitted the complaint to the French Military Command . Although the outcome of this intervention was never revealed to me, Fryvaldovsky was repatriated to Slovakia in 1941.  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 Štefan Osuský's Attempts to Establish Contacts with Slovakia in 1939: A Personal Memoir Description An account of the resource Joseph Stasko Slovakia, Vol. 32 (No. 58-59), 1985-86 pp. 9-33 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Staško, Jozef, 1917-1999 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1985-86 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/d97f04d4aa6e3f519fd92cf2286ee0a5.pdf f8110f0be2bce5adf4ef7afe7f8764af PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA Published By THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA ��SLOVAKIA VOLUME XXXII 1985-1986 NUMBERS 58-59 A scholarly annua l devoted to the history, literature , and culture of the Slovaks the world over. Editor M. MARK STOLARIK The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies Associate Editor THOMAS D. MARZIK Saint Joseph's University Editorial Board GEORGE J. DEMKO U.S. Department of State MICHAEL NOV AK American Enterprise Institute DAVID P. DANIEL Concordia Theological Seminary STANLEY Z. PECH University of British Columbia OWEN V. JOHNSON Indiana University NORMAL. RUDINSKY Oregon State University Slovak League Advisory Board DANIEL F. TANZONE EDWARD J. BEHUNCIK DRAGA DIVINSKA JOHN A . HOLY JOSEPH C. KRAJSA Publisher The Slovak League of America 870 Rifle Camp Road West Paterson , NJ 07424 Inquiries regarding subscriptions should be sent to the above address. The cost of a single issue is U.S. $6 .00 Manuscripts for poss ible publication and books for review should be se nt to M. Mark Stolarik, Editor, Slovakia, 700 Penfield Ave., Havertown , PA 19083. �Printed by JEDNOTA PRESS A Division of Jednota Communications, Inc. Middletown , Pennsylvania 17057 U.S .A. �SLOVAKIA 3 Table of Contents A Message from the President Daniel F. Tanzone .......... . ............... . ...... .. .. . . 5 HISTORY Stefan Osusky's Attempts to Establish Contacts with Slovakia in 1939: A Personal Memoir Joseph Stasko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Slovak-American Newspapers , 1885-1975: A Preliminary Listing M . Mark Stolarik ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 LITERATURE Excerpt from "In Due Season" (II) Paul Wilkes .... ... .. . ... . ..... .. . .......... . 73 REVIEWS Historicky tasopis , 33 , 2 (1985), "K Vel 'komoravskemu vyrociu," and Anna Holla , Metod - utitel' Slovienov. K 1100 vyrotiu umrtia {885-1985} Theodoric f. Zubek . 85 Julius Sopko , Stredoveke latinske k6dexy v slovenskych knizniciach, and Stredoveke latinskekodexy slovenskej proveniencie v Mad 'arsku av Rumunsku Gerald f. Sabo .................... 88 L'ubomir Juck , ed ., Vysady miest a mestetiek na Slovensku, and Richard Marsina, ed., Narodnostny vyvoj miest na Slovensku David P. Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Juraj Zudel, Stolice na Slovensku R. Vladimir Baumgerten 92 �4 SLOVAKIA Joseph Stasko , ed., Tvorcovia noveho Slovenskat' - The Shaping of Modern Slovakia 96 George Virsik Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, ed., Slovak Politics George Virsik 97 Frantisek Vnuk, Zivotopis Konstantrna Culena Owen V. Johnson 100 Miroslav Kropilak a kolektlv , Dejiny Slovenska V James R. Felak 102 Yeshayahu A. Jelinek, The Lust for Power Robert K. Evanson . . . . . . . . .. . ... . 106 M. Mark Stolarik , Growing Up on the South Side June G. Alexander 108 Ferenc Feher & Agnes Heller , Hungary 1956 Revisited Peter R . Hruby 111 Jozef Ciger-Hronsky, Jozef Mak William E. Harkins 113 Pavol Stevcek, Contemporary Slovak Literature Gerald J. Sabo 115 Contributors 11 7 Guidelines for Manuscripts 119 �SLOVAKIA 5 A Message from the President It is a distinct pleasure to introduce another excellent volume of Slovakia, a scholarly annual of the Slovak League of America, an organization founded in Cleveland in 1907 as the voice of most Slovak-American fraternals. Since its creation in 1951 by the late Philip Hrobak, editor of Jednota and President of the Slovak League of America, Slovakia has presented to the English-speaking world the often-neglected history and culture of one of Europe 's oldest nations . This 1985-1986 double issue offers the reader the opportunity to gain yet another glimpse of the life of the Slovaks, both at home and in diaspora . It honors the centennial of the Slovak press in America because our first newspaper arose in Pittsburgh in 1885. The 220 newspapers that followed (listed as they appeared each year by our editor, Dr. Stolarik) , testify to the vibrant and important chapter that the Slovak-American press played in the life of the Slovak nation. In diaspora the aspirations and ideals of the Slovaks received the necessary spark to ignite a movement for selfdetermination , the likes of which had not been seen for a thousand years. It is providential that in 1987 we celebrate the bicentennial of the United States Constitution. This document has had a farreaching impact on countries and peoples all over the world . In many ways the Constitution legitimized revolutions which brought freedom to numerous nations in various parts of the world . The Slovaks, too, learned from this document that they also had the right to seek their just and God-given rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They were inspired by this document to seek for their brothers and sisters in Slovakia the same freedom which belongs to all peoples . In conclusion, the Slovak League of America is pleased to publish such a wonderful volume of history and culture in the hope that Slovaks and non-Slovaks, free or not, may learn something of the rich heritage and culture of Slovakia and how its people contributed to the American cultural mosaic. DANIEL F. TANZONE , President Slovak League of America ��SLOVAKIA HISTORY 7 �� SLOVAKIA Published By THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA ��SLOVAKIA VOLUME XXXII 1985-1986 NUMBERS 58-59 A scholarly annua l devoted to the history, literature , and culture of the Slovaks the world over. Editor M. MARK STOLARIK The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies Associate Editor THOMAS D. MARZIK Saint Joseph's University Editorial Board GEORGE J. DEMKO U.S. Department of State MICHAEL NOV AK American Enterprise Institute DAVID P. DANIEL Concordia Theological Seminary STANLEY Z. PECH University of British Columbia OWEN V. JOHNSON Indiana University NORMAL. RUDINSKY Oregon State University Slovak League Advisory Board DANIEL F. TANZONE EDWARD J. BEHUNCIK DRAGA DIVINSKA JOHN A . HOLY JOSEPH C. KRAJSA Publisher The Slovak League of America 870 Rifle Camp Road West Paterson , NJ 07424 Inquiries regarding subscriptions should be sent to the above address. The cost of a single issue is U.S. $6 .00 Manuscripts for poss ible publication and books for review should be se nt to M. Mark Stolarik, Editor, Slovakia, 700 Penfield Ave., Havertown , PA 19083. �Printed by JEDNOTA PRESS A Division of Jednota Communications, Inc. Middletown , Pennsylvania 17057 U.S .A. �SLOVAKIA 3 Table of Contents A Message from the President Daniel F. Tanzone .......... . ............... . ...... .. .. . . 5 HISTORY Stefan Osusky's Attempts to Establish Contacts with Slovakia in 1939: A Personal Memoir Joseph Stasko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Slovak-American Newspapers , 1885-1975: A Preliminary Listing M . Mark Stolarik ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 LITERATURE Excerpt from "In Due Season" (II) Paul Wilkes .... ... .. . ... . ..... .. . .......... . 73 REVIEWS Historicky tasopis , 33 , 2 (1985), "K Vel 'komoravskemu vyrociu," and Anna Holla , Metod - utitel' Slovienov. K 1100 vyrotiu umrtia {885-1985} Theodoric f. Zubek . 85 Julius Sopko , Stredoveke latinske k6dexy v slovenskych knizniciach, and Stredoveke latinskekodexy slovenskej proveniencie v Mad 'arsku av Rumunsku Gerald f. Sabo .................... 88 L'ubomir Juck , ed ., Vysady miest a mestetiek na Slovensku, and Richard Marsina, ed., Narodnostny vyvoj miest na Slovensku David P. Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Juraj Zudel, Stolice na Slovensku R. Vladimir Baumgerten 92 �4 SLOVAKIA Joseph Stasko , ed., Tvorcovia noveho Slovenskat' - The Shaping of Modern Slovakia 96 George Virsik Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, ed., Slovak Politics George Virsik 97 Frantisek Vnuk, Zivotopis Konstantrna Culena Owen V. Johnson 100 Miroslav Kropilak a kolektlv , Dejiny Slovenska V James R. Felak 102 Yeshayahu A. Jelinek, The Lust for Power Robert K. Evanson . . . . . . . . .. . ... . 106 M. Mark Stolarik , Growing Up on the South Side June G. Alexander 108 Ferenc Feher & Agnes Heller , Hungary 1956 Revisited Peter R . Hruby 111 Jozef Ciger-Hronsky, Jozef Mak William E. Harkins 113 Pavol Stevcek, Contemporary Slovak Literature Gerald J. Sabo 115 Contributors 11 7 Guidelines for Manuscripts 119 �SLOVAKIA 5 A Message from the President It is a distinct pleasure to introduce another excellent volume of Slovakia, a scholarly annual of the Slovak League of America, an organization founded in Cleveland in 1907 as the voice of most Slovak-American fraternals. Since its creation in 1951 by the late Philip Hrobak, editor of Jednota and President of the Slovak League of America, Slovakia has presented to the English-speaking world the often-neglected history and culture of one of Europe 's oldest nations . This 1985-1986 double issue offers the reader the opportunity to gain yet another glimpse of the life of the Slovaks, both at home and in diaspora . It honors the centennial of the Slovak press in America because our first newspaper arose in Pittsburgh in 1885. The 220 newspapers that followed (listed as they appeared each year by our editor, Dr. Stolarik) , testify to the vibrant and important chapter that the Slovak-American press played in the life of the Slovak nation. In diaspora the aspirations and ideals of the Slovaks received the necessary spark to ignite a movement for selfdetermination , the likes of which had not been seen for a thousand years. It is providential that in 1987 we celebrate the bicentennial of the United States Constitution. This document has had a farreaching impact on countries and peoples all over the world . In many ways the Constitution legitimized revolutions which brought freedom to numerous nations in various parts of the world . The Slovaks, too, learned from this document that they also had the right to seek their just and God-given rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They were inspired by this document to seek for their brothers and sisters in Slovakia the same freedom which belongs to all peoples . In conclusion, the Slovak League of America is pleased to publish such a wonderful volume of history and culture in the hope that Slovaks and non-Slovaks, free or not, may learn something of the rich heritage and culture of Slovakia and how its people contributed to the American cultural mosaic. DANIEL F. TANZONE , President Slovak League of America ��SLOVAKIA HISTORY 7 �� 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 1985-86, Vol. 32 Description An account of the resource Vol. 32 (No. 58-59), 1985-86. 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 1985-86 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA Published By THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA SLOVAKIA VOLUME XXXII 1985-1986 NUMBERS 58-59 A scholarly annua l devoted to the history, literature , and culture of the Slovaks the world over. Editor M. MARK STOLARIK The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies Associate Editor THOMAS D. MARZIK Saint Joseph's University Editorial Board GEORGE J. DEMKO U.S. Department of State MICHAEL NOV AK American Enterprise Institute DAVID P. DANIEL Concordia Theological Seminary STANLEY Z. PECH University of British Columbia OWEN V. JOHNSON Indiana University NORMAL. RUDINSKY Oregon State University Slovak League Advisory Board DANIEL F. TANZONE EDWARD J. BEHUNCIK DRAGA DIVINSKA JOHN A . HOLY JOSEPH C. KRAJSA Publisher The Slovak League of America 870 Rifle Camp Road West Paterson , NJ 07424 Inquiries regarding subscriptions should be sent to the above address. The cost of a single issue is U.S. $6 .00 Manuscripts for poss ible publication and books for review should be se nt to M. Mark Stolarik, Editor, Slovakia, 700 Penfield Ave., Havertown , PA 19083. Printed by JEDNOTA PRESS A Division of Jednota Communications, Inc. Middletown , Pennsylvania 17057 U.S .A. SLOVAKIA 3 Table of Contents A Message from the President Daniel F. Tanzone .......... . ............... . ...... .. .. . . 5 HISTORY Stefan Osusky's Attempts to Establish Contacts with Slovakia in 1939: A Personal Memoir Joseph Stasko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Slovak-American Newspapers , 1885-1975: A Preliminary Listing M . Mark Stolarik ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 LITERATURE Excerpt from "In Due Season" (II) Paul Wilkes .... ... .. . ... . ..... .. . .......... . 73 REVIEWS Historicky tasopis , 33 , 2 (1985), "K Vel 'komoravskemu vyrociu," and Anna Holla , Metod - utitel' Slovienov. K 1100 vyrotiu umrtia {885-1985} Theodoric f. Zubek . 85 Julius Sopko , Stredoveke latinske k6dexy v slovenskych knizniciach, and Stredoveke latinskekodexy slovenskej proveniencie v Mad 'arsku av Rumunsku Gerald f. Sabo .................... 88 L'ubomir Juck , ed ., Vysady miest a mestetiek na Slovensku, and Richard Marsina, ed., Narodnostny vyvoj miest na Slovensku David P. Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Juraj Zudel, Stolice na Slovensku R. Vladimir Baumgerten 92 4 SLOVAKIA Joseph Stasko , ed., Tvorcovia noveho Slovenskat' - The Shaping of Modern Slovakia 96 George Virsik Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, ed., Slovak Politics George Virsik 97 Frantisek Vnuk, Zivotopis Konstantrna Culena Owen V. Johnson 100 Miroslav Kropilak a kolektlv , Dejiny Slovenska V James R. Felak 102 Yeshayahu A. Jelinek, The Lust for Power Robert K. Evanson . . . . . . . . .. . ... . 106 M. Mark Stolarik , Growing Up on the South Side June G. Alexander 108 Ferenc Feher & Agnes Heller , Hungary 1956 Revisited Peter R . Hruby 111 Jozef Ciger-Hronsky, Jozef Mak William E. Harkins 113 Pavol Stevcek, Contemporary Slovak Literature Gerald J. Sabo 115 Contributors 11 7 Guidelines for Manuscripts 119 SLOVAKIA 5 A Message from the President It is a distinct pleasure to introduce another excellent volume of Slovakia, a scholarly annual of the Slovak League of America, an organization founded in Cleveland in 1907 as the voice of most Slovak-American fraternals. Since its creation in 1951 by the late Philip Hrobak, editor of Jednota and President of the Slovak League of America, Slovakia has presented to the English-speaking world the often-neglected history and culture of one of Europe 's oldest nations . This 1985-1986 double issue offers the reader the opportunity to gain yet another glimpse of the life of the Slovaks, both at home and in diaspora . It honors the centennial of the Slovak press in America because our first newspaper arose in Pittsburgh in 1885. The 220 newspapers that followed (listed as they appeared each year by our editor, Dr. Stolarik) , testify to the vibrant and important chapter that the Slovak-American press played in the life of the Slovak nation. In diaspora the aspirations and ideals of the Slovaks received the necessary spark to ignite a movement for selfdetermination , the likes of which had not been seen for a thousand years. It is providential that in 1987 we celebrate the bicentennial of the United States Constitution. This document has had a farreaching impact on countries and peoples all over the world . In many ways the Constitution legitimized revolutions which brought freedom to numerous nations in various parts of the world . The Slovaks, too, learned from this document that they also had the right to seek their just and God-given rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They were inspired by this document to seek for their brothers and sisters in Slovakia the same freedom which belongs to all peoples . In conclusion, the Slovak League of America is pleased to publish such a wonderful volume of history and culture in the hope that Slovaks and non-Slovaks, free or not, may learn something of the rich heritage and culture of Slovakia and how its people contributed to the American cultural mosaic. DANIEL F. TANZONE , President Slovak League of America SLOVAKIA HISTORY 7  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. 32 (No. 58-59) Description An account of the resource includes A Message from the President (Daniel F. Tanzone) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Tanzone, Daniel F. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1985-86 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/b65cffd75f397ccd49994502a1821d5f.pdf 053b32f76ea02f89f5bfdd02c1c19fea PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 113 BOOKS AND ARTICLES RECEIVED (a) From Eastern Europe Anger, Jan, " Nektere vojensko-politicke aspekty obrany Ceskoslovenska v druhe polovine 30. let," Historicky easopis, 36 (No. 3, 1988). Avenarius , Alexander, " Stepne narody v Eur6pe: charakter a vyvoj avarskej spolocnosti," He., 36 (No . 2, 1988). Baranovsky, Michal, et. al., Dejiny Slovenska, VI (1945- 1960), Bratislava: Veda, 1988. Bartlova, Alena , "Integracny proces ceskoslovenskej ekonomiky v medzivojnovom obdobi," He., 36 (No. 3, 1988). Bobak, Jan, "Mad'arska otazka v Ceskoslovensku v rokoch 1945·1948," Slezsky sbornik, 85 (No . 1, 1987). Cambel, Samuel, "The Movement for the General Agrarian Reform in Slovakia in the Year 1945," Studia Historica Slovaca , 15 (1986). Cicaj, Viliam ed., Trnavska univerzita v slovenskych dejinach (Bratislava: Veda, 1987). Cierna-Lantayova, Dagmar, "Ceskoslovensko-mad'arska smluva z aprila 1949 v spojeneckom systeme socialistickych krajin," He., 35 (No. 4, 1987). Faltus, Jozef, "Development of Capitalist Industrialization of Slovakia and Its Problems," SHS, 15 (1986). Chovanec, Jaroslav , "Vznik a formovanie l'udovodemokratickeho a socialistickeho politickeho systemu v Ceskoslovensku ," He , 36 (No. 1, 1988). Deak, Ladislav , "Auton6mia Slovenska v planoch horthyovskeho Mad'arska v roku 1938," He , 36 (No . 3, 1988). Elias , Michal & Vojtech Sarluska compiled by, Narodna svetlica: vyber dokumentov k dejinam Matice slovenskej (Martin: Matica slovenska , 1988) . Fano , Stefan, "Ceskoslovensko-sovietske vzt'ahy v rokoch 1945-1948," He. , 36 (No . 1, 1988). Halaga, Ondrej R., ''Pakty vzajomnosti obchodnych stredisk Krakova a Ko sic,'' He ., 36 (No . 2, 1988) Hapak, Pavel, ''Fragen zur wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung der Slowakei am Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts," SHS., 15 (1986). Haviar, Stefan & Ivan Kucma, V pamiiti naroda. Kniha o Matici slovenskej (Martin: Matica slovenska, 1988). Holotikova, Zdenka , "Komunisticka strana Ceskoslovenska a ceskoslovenska statnost' ," He . 36 (no . 3, 1988) . Hubenak , Ladislav, "KSC a parlamentne vol'by v okt6bri 1929," He ., 35 (No. 4, 1987). Hrnko, Anton, Politicky vyvin, a protifasisticky odboj na Slovensku {1939-1941) , Bratislava: Veda, 1988. Huttova, Maria "Prispevok k dejinam Pravnickej akademie v Bratislave v rokoch �SLOVAKIA 114 1850-1874," Zbornik Slovenskeho narodneho muzea, Hist6ria 28, LXXXI (1988) . Kal'avsky, Michal, "Zrusenie cechov a problemy spolocensko-ekonomickej aktivizacie remeselnikov na Slovensku," Ibid. Karkus, Ondrej, comp., Dvadsat' rokov prace s krajanmi (k 20. vfrociu vzniku OZS MS} ., Martin: Matica slovenska, 1988. Kazimir, Stefan, "Der Fernhandel der Stadte in der Slowakei im 16. Jahrhundert," SHS, 15 (1986). Kollar, Jan, ''Riesenie problemu zasobovania a vyzivy na Slovensku v r. 1948,' ' Ht., 36 (No. 2, 1988). Kopcan, Vojtech, "The Last Stage of the Ottoman Rule in Slovakia," SHS, 15 (1986) . Kormuth, Dezider, Bibliografia clankov zo slovenskych novfn a casopisov, 1918-1945, Odbor 7. Obchod. Zv. 1. Hospodarstvo na Slovensku, 1918-1928 (Martin: Matica slovenska, 1986) . Kovac, Dusan, ''Myslienka ceskoslovenskej statnosti. Jej vznik a realizacia, '' He., 36 (No. 3, 1988). Krajcovicova, Natalia, "Triedne a socialne zapasy na Slovensku v dvadsiatych rokoch nasho storocia," He., 35 (No. 4, 1987). Macko , Pavel, "Podiel socialnej demokracie na utvareni politickeho systemu Ceskoslovenska v rokoch 1918-1929," He., 36 (No. 3, 1988) . Marsina, Richard, "La Lutte pour la liturgie slave dans la Grande Moravie (I..:hommage au 1100 anniversaire de la mort d'archeveque Method),'' SHS, 15 (1986). Matula, Vladimir, et. al., Dejiny Slovenska, II {1526-1848), Bratislava: Veda, 1987 . Ondrejka, Kliment, ed., fa som dobry remeselni.k: vyber remeselnickeho folk6ru (Bratislava: Mlade leta , 1987). Oslansky, Frantisek, "Vyznam cirkevnych desiatkov v stredoveku na Slovensku," He., 35 (No. 6 , 1987) . Petach, Emil, Dejiny mincovania v Kosiciach (Kosice: Vychodoslovenske vydavatel'stvo, 1986). Pet'kovsky, Ondrej, 200 Rokov Slovenskeho Evanjelickeho A. V. cirkevneho zboru v Aradaei, 1786-1986 (Aradac: SEAVCZ, 1986) . Pismi, Stefan, "Vznik Ceskoslovenskej republiky a kultura na Slovensku," Zbornik Slovenskeho narodneho muzea, Historia 28 , LXXXI (1988). Ratkos , Peter, "Vzt'ahy naddunajskych Slovanov a starych Mad'arov v rokoch 881-1018," He ., 35 (No. 6, 1987). Skladany, Marian, " Der Anteil des slowakischen Kupferwesens an der Verwollkommnung der Technologie der Verhiittung von Kupfer im 15. Jahrhundert ," SHS, 15 (1986) . Sladek, Zdenek, "K otazce financovani slovenskych burzoaznich politickych stran za prvni republiky," He ., 36 (No. 3, 1988) . Slovensky biograficky slovni.k (ad roku 833 do roku 1990}, II (E-J), Martin: Matica slovenska, 1987 . �SLOVAKIA 115 Sopko, Julius & Julius Valach eds., Nitriansky k6dex (Martin : Matica slovenska, 1987). _ _ _ _ , "O skolstve a vzdelanosti na Slovensku v stredoveku, " Ht ., 36 (No. 2, 1988) . Stanislav, Ivan, Zivot v slave. Rozpravanie profesorovi Janovi Stanislavovi (Banska Bystrica: SNP, 1987). Sutaj, Stefan, "Vznik Strany slobody a formovanie jej programu v prvych rokoch po oslobodenie," Ht., 36 (No. 1, 1988). Tomek, Frantisek, Z dejin revolutneho odboroveho hnutia na Slovensku v rokoch 1944-1948 (Bratislava: Praca , 1986). Varsik, Branislav, "Slovenske osidlenie v Gemeri a povod nazvu rieky Blh," He ., 35 (No . 4, 1987) . Zuberec, Vladimir, "Prvy slovensky robotnicky kalendai, " Zbornik Slovenskeho narodneho muzea . Historia 28, LXXXI (1988) . (b) From the West Dawisha, Karen, Eastern Europe, Gorbachev and Reform: The Great Challenge (New York: Cambridge U. Press, 1988). Durica, Milan S. , "The Historical Origins and Nature of Slovak Nationalism, " Slovak Studies XXIV (1984). _ _ _ _ , "Das historische Vermiichtnis Dr. Jozef Tisos ," Slowakei, XXIV (1986). Gavlovic , Hugolin, Valaska skola, ed. by Gerald J. Sabo. Introduction by I.:ubomir Durovic (Columbus: Slavica, 1988). Grebert , Arved , "Die Erkliirung der slowakischen Selbstiindigkeit am 14. Marz 1939," Slowakei, XXIV (1986) . Kirschbaum, Jozef M., ' 'Die Australien-Slowaken und die idee der slowakischen Selbstandigkeit, '' Ibid . Leff, Carol Skalnik, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia: The Making and Remaking of the State, 1918-1987 (Princeton: Princeton University Press , 1988) . Magocsi , Paul Robert, ''Religious Identity in the Carpathians ,'' Cross Currents, 7 (1988) . Mikus, Jozef A., "Zwei Historiker: Jan Mlynarik versus Viliam Plevza," Slowakei, XXIV (1986). Parak, Stephan, Die Schweiz und der Slowakische Staat 1939-1945 (Bern: Peter Lang , 1987). Rajnoch , Karl , " Das kulturelle Leben in der Slowakei nach der Reformation," Slovak Studies, XXIII (1983). Rebichini , Andrea , "I Greco-Catholici della Slovachia Orientale : storia e attualita ," Ibid . Stolarik, M. Mark , " From Field to Factory: The Historiography of Slovak Immigration to the U.S. and Canada (1976-1987) ," Ethnic Forum, 8 (No. 1, 1988). Vavrovic , Jozef, "Exercitia Joannes Palarik," Slovak Studies, XXIII (1983) . �116 SLOVAKIA Vnuk, Franmek, Mat' svoj stat znamena zivot: Politicka biografia Alexander Macha (Cleveland: Slovak Institute , 1987) . Vondracek, Thomas J. , Commentary on the Czechoslovak Civil Code (Hingham, MA: Kulver Academic Publishers , 1988) . Walters, E. Garrison, The Other Europe: Eastern Europe to 1945 (Syracuse University Press , 1988). Wilson , Paul , "Religious Movement in Czechoslovakia ," Cross Currents, 7 (1988). �SLOVAKIA 117 CONTRIBUTORS JOSEF KALVODA, Ph.D. (Columbia), is Professor of History and Political Science at Saint Joseph College, West Hartford, Connecticut. Author of many books and articles on Czechoslovakia, East Central Europe , and the Soviet Union, he recently published The Genesis of Czechoslovakia (1986). PATRICIA A. KRAFCIK, Ph.D., (Columbia) , currently teaches Russian language, literature, and folklore at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She is preparing other articles and a book on Janosik and the Carpathian brigand tradition, as well as an anthology of Slovak folk ballads. RAYMOND J. KUPKE, M.A., Cand. Phil. (Catholic Univer- sity), is a Roman Catholic priest and Archivist of the Diocese of Paterson. From 1979 to 1981 he was Vice Chancellor and Secretary to the Bishop of Paterson. He is the author of Living Stones: A History of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Paterson (1987). M. MARK STOLARIK, Ph .D. (Minnesota) is President of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies in Philadelphia. Author or editor of seven books and over thirty articles on American Slovaks , immigration, and ethnicity, he is editor of the Immigration History Newsletter and the annual Slovakia. He recently edited Forgotten Doors: The Other Ports of Entry to the United States (1988). �118 SLOVAKIA GUIDELINES FOR MANUSCRIPTS Manuscripts of articles for publication should be sent to the 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 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 editor. Unsolicited book reviews are not encouraged . Individuals who wish to review books should request them from the editor. They should send a 'curriculum vitae' with their request. ����THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA Organized in 1907 EDWARD J . BEHUNCIK , K.S.G. , Honorary President DANIEL F. TANZONE President JOHN A. HOLY Secretary-Treasurer JOSEPH J. TALAFOUS , Esq. Vice-President ANNE Z. SAROSY Vice-President PHILIP R. TUHY Vice-President Executive Committee Daniel F. Tanzone, Edward J . Behuncik , John A . Holy, Anna S. Granchay Joseph R. Kristofik , Steve J . Hruska , Cecilia Sarocky, Andrew F. Hudak , Jr. , Joseph Stefka , Stephen J . Kavulich , Justine Wesnak , Edward A. Zelenak , George N. Kantor , John Hvasta Anna M. Vizza , President, Ladies Auxiliary Auditors Joseph Valencik Mary Jacko Patrick Zelenak SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS AFFILIATED WITH THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK LADIES ASSOCIATION Cleveland , Ohio FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION OF THE U.S . AND CANADA Cleveland , Ohio SLOVAK CATHOLIC SOKOL Passaic , N .J . NATIONAL SLOVAK SOCIETY OF THE U.S.A. Pittsburgh , Pa . LADIES PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre , Pa. FIRST SLOVAK WREATH OF THE FREE EAGLE Bridgeport, Conn. SLOVAK NEWSPAPERMEN ' S ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Joseph C. Krajsa , K.S.G. , President THE SLOVAK GARDEN , INC. Andrew F. Hudak, Jr. , President Winter Park, Florida SLOVAKIA $6.00 per issue Printed By JEDNOTA PRESS A Division of Jednota Communications, Inc. Middletown , Pennsylvania 17057 U .S .A . � SLOVAKIA 113 BOOKS AND ARTICLES RECEIVED (a) From Eastern Europe Anger, Jan, " Nektere vojensko-politicke aspekty obrany Ceskoslovenska v druhe polovine 30. let," Historicky easopis, 36 (No. 3, 1988). Avenarius , Alexander, " Stepne narody v Eur6pe: charakter a vyvoj avarskej spolocnosti," He., 36 (No . 2, 1988). Baranovsky, Michal, et. al., Dejiny Slovenska, VI (1945- 1960), Bratislava: Veda, 1988. Bartlova, Alena , "Integracny proces ceskoslovenskej ekonomiky v medzivojnovom obdobi," He., 36 (No. 3, 1988). Bobak, Jan, "Mad'arska otazka v Ceskoslovensku v rokoch 1945·1948," Slezsky sbornik, 85 (No . 1, 1987). Cambel, Samuel, "The Movement for the General Agrarian Reform in Slovakia in the Year 1945," Studia Historica Slovaca , 15 (1986). Cicaj, Viliam ed., Trnavska univerzita v slovenskych dejinach (Bratislava: Veda, 1987). Cierna-Lantayova, Dagmar, "Ceskoslovensko-mad'arska smluva z aprila 1949 v spojeneckom systeme socialistickych krajin," He., 35 (No. 4, 1987). Faltus, Jozef, "Development of Capitalist Industrialization of Slovakia and Its Problems," SHS, 15 (1986). Chovanec, Jaroslav , "Vznik a formovanie l'udovodemokratickeho a socialistickeho politickeho systemu v Ceskoslovensku ," He , 36 (No. 1, 1988). Deak, Ladislav , "Auton6mia Slovenska v planoch horthyovskeho Mad'arska v roku 1938," He , 36 (No . 3, 1988). Elias , Michal & Vojtech Sarluska compiled by, Narodna svetlica: vyber dokumentov k dejinam Matice slovenskej (Martin: Matica slovenska , 1988) . Fano , Stefan, "Ceskoslovensko-sovietske vzt'ahy v rokoch 1945-1948," He. , 36 (No . 1, 1988). Halaga, Ondrej R., ''Pakty vzajomnosti obchodnych stredisk Krakova a Ko sic,'' He ., 36 (No . 2, 1988) Hapak, Pavel, ''Fragen zur wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung der Slowakei am Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts," SHS., 15 (1986). Haviar, Stefan & Ivan Kucma, V pamiiti naroda. Kniha o Matici slovenskej (Martin: Matica slovenska, 1988). Holotikova, Zdenka , "Komunisticka strana Ceskoslovenska a ceskoslovenska statnost' ," He . 36 (no . 3, 1988) . Hubenak , Ladislav, "KSC a parlamentne vol'by v okt6bri 1929," He ., 35 (No. 4, 1987). Hrnko, Anton, Politicky vyvin, a protifasisticky odboj na Slovensku {1939-1941) , Bratislava: Veda, 1988. Huttova, Maria "Prispevok k dejinam Pravnickej akademie v Bratislave v rokoch �SLOVAKIA 114 1850-1874," Zbornik Slovenskeho narodneho muzea, Hist6ria 28, LXXXI (1988) . Kal'avsky, Michal, "Zrusenie cechov a problemy spolocensko-ekonomickej aktivizacie remeselnikov na Slovensku," Ibid. Karkus, Ondrej, comp., Dvadsat' rokov prace s krajanmi (k 20. vfrociu vzniku OZS MS} ., Martin: Matica slovenska, 1988. Kazimir, Stefan, "Der Fernhandel der Stadte in der Slowakei im 16. Jahrhundert," SHS, 15 (1986). Kollar, Jan, ''Riesenie problemu zasobovania a vyzivy na Slovensku v r. 1948,' ' Ht., 36 (No. 2, 1988). Kopcan, Vojtech, "The Last Stage of the Ottoman Rule in Slovakia," SHS, 15 (1986) . Kormuth, Dezider, Bibliografia clankov zo slovenskych novfn a casopisov, 1918-1945, Odbor 7. Obchod. Zv. 1. Hospodarstvo na Slovensku, 1918-1928 (Martin: Matica slovenska, 1986) . Kovac, Dusan, ''Myslienka ceskoslovenskej statnosti. Jej vznik a realizacia, '' He., 36 (No. 3, 1988). Krajcovicova, Natalia, "Triedne a socialne zapasy na Slovensku v dvadsiatych rokoch nasho storocia," He., 35 (No. 4, 1987). Macko , Pavel, "Podiel socialnej demokracie na utvareni politickeho systemu Ceskoslovenska v rokoch 1918-1929," He., 36 (No. 3, 1988) . Marsina, Richard, "La Lutte pour la liturgie slave dans la Grande Moravie (I..:hommage au 1100 anniversaire de la mort d'archeveque Method),'' SHS, 15 (1986). Matula, Vladimir, et. al., Dejiny Slovenska, II {1526-1848), Bratislava: Veda, 1987 . Ondrejka, Kliment, ed., fa som dobry remeselni.k: vyber remeselnickeho folk6ru (Bratislava: Mlade leta , 1987). Oslansky, Frantisek, "Vyznam cirkevnych desiatkov v stredoveku na Slovensku," He., 35 (No. 6 , 1987) . Petach, Emil, Dejiny mincovania v Kosiciach (Kosice: Vychodoslovenske vydavatel'stvo, 1986). Pet'kovsky, Ondrej, 200 Rokov Slovenskeho Evanjelickeho A. V. cirkevneho zboru v Aradaei, 1786-1986 (Aradac: SEAVCZ, 1986) . Pismi, Stefan, "Vznik Ceskoslovenskej republiky a kultura na Slovensku," Zbornik Slovenskeho narodneho muzea, Historia 28 , LXXXI (1988). Ratkos , Peter, "Vzt'ahy naddunajskych Slovanov a starych Mad'arov v rokoch 881-1018," He ., 35 (No. 6, 1987). Skladany, Marian, " Der Anteil des slowakischen Kupferwesens an der Verwollkommnung der Technologie der Verhiittung von Kupfer im 15. Jahrhundert ," SHS, 15 (1986) . Sladek, Zdenek, "K otazce financovani slovenskych burzoaznich politickych stran za prvni republiky," He ., 36 (No. 3, 1988) . Slovensky biograficky slovni.k (ad roku 833 do roku 1990}, II (E-J), Martin: Matica slovenska, 1987 . �SLOVAKIA 115 Sopko, Julius & Julius Valach eds., Nitriansky k6dex (Martin : Matica slovenska, 1987). _ _ _ _ , "O skolstve a vzdelanosti na Slovensku v stredoveku, " Ht ., 36 (No. 2, 1988) . Stanislav, Ivan, Zivot v slave. Rozpravanie profesorovi Janovi Stanislavovi (Banska Bystrica: SNP, 1987). Sutaj, Stefan, "Vznik Strany slobody a formovanie jej programu v prvych rokoch po oslobodenie," Ht., 36 (No. 1, 1988). Tomek, Frantisek, Z dejin revolutneho odboroveho hnutia na Slovensku v rokoch 1944-1948 (Bratislava: Praca , 1986). Varsik, Branislav, "Slovenske osidlenie v Gemeri a povod nazvu rieky Blh," He ., 35 (No . 4, 1987) . Zuberec, Vladimir, "Prvy slovensky robotnicky kalendai, " Zbornik Slovenskeho narodneho muzea . Historia 28, LXXXI (1988) . (b) From the West Dawisha, Karen, Eastern Europe, Gorbachev and Reform: The Great Challenge (New York: Cambridge U. Press, 1988). Durica, Milan S. , "The Historical Origins and Nature of Slovak Nationalism, " Slovak Studies XXIV (1984). _ _ _ _ , "Das historische Vermiichtnis Dr. Jozef Tisos ," Slowakei, XXIV (1986). Gavlovic , Hugolin, Valaska skola, ed. by Gerald J. Sabo. Introduction by I.:ubomir Durovic (Columbus: Slavica, 1988). Grebert , Arved , "Die Erkliirung der slowakischen Selbstiindigkeit am 14. Marz 1939," Slowakei, XXIV (1986) . Kirschbaum, Jozef M., ' 'Die Australien-Slowaken und die idee der slowakischen Selbstandigkeit, '' Ibid . Leff, Carol Skalnik, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia: The Making and Remaking of the State, 1918-1987 (Princeton: Princeton University Press , 1988) . Magocsi , Paul Robert, ''Religious Identity in the Carpathians ,'' Cross Currents, 7 (1988) . Mikus, Jozef A., "Zwei Historiker: Jan Mlynarik versus Viliam Plevza," Slowakei, XXIV (1986). Parak, Stephan, Die Schweiz und der Slowakische Staat 1939-1945 (Bern: Peter Lang , 1987). Rajnoch , Karl , " Das kulturelle Leben in der Slowakei nach der Reformation," Slovak Studies, XXIII (1983). Rebichini , Andrea , "I Greco-Catholici della Slovachia Orientale : storia e attualita ," Ibid . Stolarik, M. Mark , " From Field to Factory: The Historiography of Slovak Immigration to the U.S. and Canada (1976-1987) ," Ethnic Forum, 8 (No. 1, 1988). Vavrovic , Jozef, "Exercitia Joannes Palarik," Slovak Studies, XXIII (1983) . �116 SLOVAKIA Vnuk, Franmek, Mat' svoj stat znamena zivot: Politicka biografia Alexander Macha (Cleveland: Slovak Institute , 1987) . Vondracek, Thomas J. , Commentary on the Czechoslovak Civil Code (Hingham, MA: Kulver Academic Publishers , 1988) . Walters, E. Garrison, The Other Europe: Eastern Europe to 1945 (Syracuse University Press , 1988). Wilson , Paul , "Religious Movement in Czechoslovakia ," Cross Currents, 7 (1988). �SLOVAKIA 117 CONTRIBUTORS JOSEF KALVODA, Ph.D. (Columbia), is Professor of History and Political Science at Saint Joseph College, West Hartford, Connecticut. Author of many books and articles on Czechoslovakia, East Central Europe , and the Soviet Union, he recently published The Genesis of Czechoslovakia (1986). PATRICIA A. KRAFCIK, Ph.D., (Columbia) , currently teaches Russian language, literature, and folklore at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She is preparing other articles and a book on Janosik and the Carpathian brigand tradition, as well as an anthology of Slovak folk ballads. RAYMOND J. KUPKE, M.A., Cand. Phil. (Catholic Univer- sity), is a Roman Catholic priest and Archivist of the Diocese of Paterson. From 1979 to 1981 he was Vice Chancellor and Secretary to the Bishop of Paterson. He is the author of Living Stones: A History of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Paterson (1987). M. MARK STOLARIK, Ph .D. (Minnesota) is President of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies in Philadelphia. Author or editor of seven books and over thirty articles on American Slovaks , immigration, and ethnicity, he is editor of the Immigration History Newsletter and the annual Slovakia. He recently edited Forgotten Doors: The Other Ports of Entry to the United States (1988). �118 SLOVAKIA GUIDELINES FOR MANUSCRIPTS Manuscripts of articles for publication should be sent to the 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 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 editor. Unsolicited book reviews are not encouraged . Individuals who wish to review books should request them from the editor. They should send a 'curriculum vitae' with their request. ����THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA Organized in 1907 EDWARD J . BEHUNCIK , K.S.G. , Honorary President DANIEL F. TANZONE President JOHN A. HOLY Secretary-Treasurer JOSEPH J. TALAFOUS , Esq. Vice-President ANNE Z. SAROSY Vice-President PHILIP R. TUHY Vice-President Executive Committee Daniel F. Tanzone, Edward J . Behuncik , John A . Holy, Anna S. Granchay Joseph R. Kristofik , Steve J . Hruska , Cecilia Sarocky, Andrew F. Hudak , Jr. , Joseph Stefka , Stephen J . Kavulich , Justine Wesnak , Edward A. Zelenak , George N. Kantor , John Hvasta Anna M. Vizza , President, Ladies Auxiliary Auditors Joseph Valencik Mary Jacko Patrick Zelenak SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS AFFILIATED WITH THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK LADIES ASSOCIATION Cleveland , Ohio FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION OF THE U.S . AND CANADA Cleveland , Ohio SLOVAK CATHOLIC SOKOL Passaic , N .J . NATIONAL SLOVAK SOCIETY OF THE U.S.A. Pittsburgh , Pa . LADIES PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre , Pa. FIRST SLOVAK WREATH OF THE FREE EAGLE Bridgeport, Conn. SLOVAK NEWSPAPERMEN ' S ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Joseph C. Krajsa , K.S.G. , President THE SLOVAK GARDEN , INC. Andrew F. Hudak, Jr. , President Winter Park, Florida SLOVAKIA $6.00 per issue Printed By JEDNOTA PRESS A Division of Jednota Communications, Inc. 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 1987-88, Vol. 33 Description An account of the resource Vol. 33 (No. 60-61), 1987-88. 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 1987-88 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 113 BOOKS AND ARTICLES RECEIVED (a) From Eastern Europe Anger, Jan, " Nektere vojensko-politicke aspekty obrany Ceskoslovenska v druhe polovine 30. let," Historicky easopis, 36 (No. 3, 1988). Avenarius , Alexander, " Stepne narody v Eur6pe: charakter a vyvoj avarskej spolocnosti," He., 36 (No . 2, 1988). Baranovsky, Michal, et. al., Dejiny Slovenska, VI (1945- 1960), Bratislava: Veda, 1988. Bartlova, Alena , "Integracny proces ceskoslovenskej ekonomiky v medzivojnovom obdobi," He., 36 (No. 3, 1988). Bobak, Jan, "Mad'arska otazka v Ceskoslovensku v rokoch 1945·1948," Slezsky sbornik, 85 (No . 1, 1987). Cambel, Samuel, "The Movement for the General Agrarian Reform in Slovakia in the Year 1945," Studia Historica Slovaca , 15 (1986). Cicaj, Viliam ed., Trnavska univerzita v slovenskych dejinach (Bratislava: Veda, 1987). Cierna-Lantayova, Dagmar, "Ceskoslovensko-mad'arska smluva z aprila 1949 v spojeneckom systeme socialistickych krajin," He., 35 (No. 4, 1987). Faltus, Jozef, "Development of Capitalist Industrialization of Slovakia and Its Problems," SHS, 15 (1986). Chovanec, Jaroslav , "Vznik a formovanie l'udovodemokratickeho a socialistickeho politickeho systemu v Ceskoslovensku ," He , 36 (No. 1, 1988). Deak, Ladislav , "Auton6mia Slovenska v planoch horthyovskeho Mad'arska v roku 1938," He , 36 (No . 3, 1988). Elias , Michal & Vojtech Sarluska compiled by, Narodna svetlica: vyber dokumentov k dejinam Matice slovenskej (Martin: Matica slovenska , 1988) . Fano , Stefan, "Ceskoslovensko-sovietske vzt'ahy v rokoch 1945-1948," He. , 36 (No . 1, 1988). Halaga, Ondrej R., ''Pakty vzajomnosti obchodnych stredisk Krakova a Ko sic,'' He ., 36 (No . 2, 1988) Hapak, Pavel, ''Fragen zur wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung der Slowakei am Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts," SHS., 15 (1986). Haviar, Stefan & Ivan Kucma, V pamiiti naroda. Kniha o Matici slovenskej (Martin: Matica slovenska, 1988). Holotikova, Zdenka , "Komunisticka strana Ceskoslovenska a ceskoslovenska statnost' ," He . 36 (no . 3, 1988) . Hubenak , Ladislav, "KSC a parlamentne vol'by v okt6bri 1929," He ., 35 (No. 4, 1987). Hrnko, Anton, Politicky vyvin, a protifasisticky odboj na Slovensku {1939-1941) , Bratislava: Veda, 1988. Huttova, Maria "Prispevok k dejinam Pravnickej akademie v Bratislave v rokoch SLOVAKIA 114 1850-1874," Zbornik Slovenskeho narodneho muzea, Hist6ria 28, LXXXI (1988) . Kal'avsky, Michal, "Zrusenie cechov a problemy spolocensko-ekonomickej aktivizacie remeselnikov na Slovensku," Ibid. Karkus, Ondrej, comp., Dvadsat' rokov prace s krajanmi (k 20. vfrociu vzniku OZS MS} ., Martin: Matica slovenska, 1988. Kazimir, Stefan, "Der Fernhandel der Stadte in der Slowakei im 16. Jahrhundert," SHS, 15 (1986). Kollar, Jan, ''Riesenie problemu zasobovania a vyzivy na Slovensku v r. 1948,' ' Ht., 36 (No. 2, 1988). Kopcan, Vojtech, "The Last Stage of the Ottoman Rule in Slovakia," SHS, 15 (1986) . Kormuth, Dezider, Bibliografia clankov zo slovenskych novfn a casopisov, 1918-1945, Odbor 7. Obchod. Zv. 1. Hospodarstvo na Slovensku, 1918-1928 (Martin: Matica slovenska, 1986) . Kovac, Dusan, ''Myslienka ceskoslovenskej statnosti. Jej vznik a realizacia, '' He., 36 (No. 3, 1988). Krajcovicova, Natalia, "Triedne a socialne zapasy na Slovensku v dvadsiatych rokoch nasho storocia," He., 35 (No. 4, 1987). Macko , Pavel, "Podiel socialnej demokracie na utvareni politickeho systemu Ceskoslovenska v rokoch 1918-1929," He., 36 (No. 3, 1988) . Marsina, Richard, "La Lutte pour la liturgie slave dans la Grande Moravie (I..:hommage au 1100 anniversaire de la mort d'archeveque Method),'' SHS, 15 (1986). Matula, Vladimir, et. al., Dejiny Slovenska, II {1526-1848), Bratislava: Veda, 1987 . Ondrejka, Kliment, ed., fa som dobry remeselni.k: vyber remeselnickeho folk6ru (Bratislava: Mlade leta , 1987). Oslansky, Frantisek, "Vyznam cirkevnych desiatkov v stredoveku na Slovensku," He., 35 (No. 6 , 1987) . Petach, Emil, Dejiny mincovania v Kosiciach (Kosice: Vychodoslovenske vydavatel'stvo, 1986). Pet'kovsky, Ondrej, 200 Rokov Slovenskeho Evanjelickeho A. V. cirkevneho zboru v Aradaei, 1786-1986 (Aradac: SEAVCZ, 1986) . Pismi, Stefan, "Vznik Ceskoslovenskej republiky a kultura na Slovensku," Zbornik Slovenskeho narodneho muzea, Historia 28 , LXXXI (1988). Ratkos , Peter, "Vzt'ahy naddunajskych Slovanov a starych Mad'arov v rokoch 881-1018," He ., 35 (No. 6, 1987). Skladany, Marian, " Der Anteil des slowakischen Kupferwesens an der Verwollkommnung der Technologie der Verhiittung von Kupfer im 15. Jahrhundert ," SHS, 15 (1986) . Sladek, Zdenek, "K otazce financovani slovenskych burzoaznich politickych stran za prvni republiky," He ., 36 (No. 3, 1988) . Slovensky biograficky slovni.k (ad roku 833 do roku 1990}, II (E-J), Martin: Matica slovenska, 1987 . SLOVAKIA 115 Sopko, Julius & Julius Valach eds., Nitriansky k6dex (Martin : Matica slovenska, 1987). _ _ _ _ , "O skolstve a vzdelanosti na Slovensku v stredoveku, " Ht ., 36 (No. 2, 1988) . Stanislav, Ivan, Zivot v slave. Rozpravanie profesorovi Janovi Stanislavovi (Banska Bystrica: SNP, 1987). Sutaj, Stefan, "Vznik Strany slobody a formovanie jej programu v prvych rokoch po oslobodenie," Ht., 36 (No. 1, 1988). Tomek, Frantisek, Z dejin revolutneho odboroveho hnutia na Slovensku v rokoch 1944-1948 (Bratislava: Praca , 1986). Varsik, Branislav, "Slovenske osidlenie v Gemeri a povod nazvu rieky Blh," He ., 35 (No . 4, 1987) . Zuberec, Vladimir, "Prvy slovensky robotnicky kalendai, " Zbornik Slovenskeho narodneho muzea . Historia 28, LXXXI (1988) . (b) From the West Dawisha, Karen, Eastern Europe, Gorbachev and Reform: The Great Challenge (New York: Cambridge U. Press, 1988). Durica, Milan S. , "The Historical Origins and Nature of Slovak Nationalism, " Slovak Studies XXIV (1984). _ _ _ _ , "Das historische Vermiichtnis Dr. Jozef Tisos ," Slowakei, XXIV (1986). Gavlovic , Hugolin, Valaska skola, ed. by Gerald J. Sabo. Introduction by I.:ubomir Durovic (Columbus: Slavica, 1988). Grebert , Arved , "Die Erkliirung der slowakischen Selbstiindigkeit am 14. Marz 1939," Slowakei, XXIV (1986) . Kirschbaum, Jozef M., ' 'Die Australien-Slowaken und die idee der slowakischen Selbstandigkeit, '' Ibid . Leff, Carol Skalnik, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia: The Making and Remaking of the State, 1918-1987 (Princeton: Princeton University Press , 1988) . Magocsi , Paul Robert, ''Religious Identity in the Carpathians ,'' Cross Currents, 7 (1988) . Mikus, Jozef A., "Zwei Historiker: Jan Mlynarik versus Viliam Plevza," Slowakei, XXIV (1986). Parak, Stephan, Die Schweiz und der Slowakische Staat 1939-1945 (Bern: Peter Lang , 1987). Rajnoch , Karl , " Das kulturelle Leben in der Slowakei nach der Reformation," Slovak Studies, XXIII (1983). Rebichini , Andrea , "I Greco-Catholici della Slovachia Orientale : storia e attualita ," Ibid . Stolarik, M. Mark , " From Field to Factory: The Historiography of Slovak Immigration to the U.S. and Canada (1976-1987) ," Ethnic Forum, 8 (No. 1, 1988). Vavrovic , Jozef, "Exercitia Joannes Palarik," Slovak Studies, XXIII (1983) . 116 SLOVAKIA Vnuk, Franmek, Mat' svoj stat znamena zivot: Politicka biografia Alexander Macha (Cleveland: Slovak Institute , 1987) . Vondracek, Thomas J. , Commentary on the Czechoslovak Civil Code (Hingham, MA: Kulver Academic Publishers , 1988) . Walters, E. Garrison, The Other Europe: Eastern Europe to 1945 (Syracuse University Press , 1988). Wilson , Paul , "Religious Movement in Czechoslovakia ," Cross Currents, 7 (1988). SLOVAKIA 117 CONTRIBUTORS JOSEF KALVODA, Ph.D. (Columbia), is Professor of History and Political Science at Saint Joseph College, West Hartford, Connecticut. Author of many books and articles on Czechoslovakia, East Central Europe , and the Soviet Union, he recently published The Genesis of Czechoslovakia (1986). PATRICIA A. KRAFCIK, Ph.D., (Columbia) , currently teaches Russian language, literature, and folklore at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She is preparing other articles and a book on Janosik and the Carpathian brigand tradition, as well as an anthology of Slovak folk ballads. RAYMOND J. KUPKE, M.A., Cand. Phil. (Catholic Univer- sity), is a Roman Catholic priest and Archivist of the Diocese of Paterson. From 1979 to 1981 he was Vice Chancellor and Secretary to the Bishop of Paterson. He is the author of Living Stones: A History of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Paterson (1987). M. MARK STOLARIK, Ph .D. (Minnesota) is President of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies in Philadelphia. Author or editor of seven books and over thirty articles on American Slovaks , immigration, and ethnicity, he is editor of the Immigration History Newsletter and the annual Slovakia. He recently edited Forgotten Doors: The Other Ports of Entry to the United States (1988). 118 SLOVAKIA GUIDELINES FOR MANUSCRIPTS Manuscripts of articles for publication should be sent to the 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 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 editor. Unsolicited book reviews are not encouraged . Individuals who wish to review books should request them from the editor. They should send a 'curriculum vitae' with their request. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA Organized in 1907 EDWARD J . BEHUNCIK , K.S.G. , Honorary President DANIEL F. TANZONE President JOHN A. HOLY Secretary-Treasurer JOSEPH J. TALAFOUS , Esq. Vice-President ANNE Z. SAROSY Vice-President PHILIP R. TUHY Vice-President Executive Committee Daniel F. Tanzone, Edward J . Behuncik , John A . Holy, Anna S. Granchay Joseph R. Kristofik , Steve J . Hruska , Cecilia Sarocky, Andrew F. Hudak , Jr. , Joseph Stefka , Stephen J . Kavulich , Justine Wesnak , Edward A. Zelenak , George N. Kantor , John Hvasta Anna M. Vizza , President, Ladies Auxiliary Auditors Joseph Valencik Mary Jacko Patrick Zelenak SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS AFFILIATED WITH THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK LADIES ASSOCIATION Cleveland , Ohio FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION OF THE U.S . AND CANADA Cleveland , Ohio SLOVAK CATHOLIC SOKOL Passaic , N .J . NATIONAL SLOVAK SOCIETY OF THE U.S.A. Pittsburgh , Pa . LADIES PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa . PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre , Pa. FIRST SLOVAK WREATH OF THE FREE EAGLE Bridgeport, Conn. SLOVAK NEWSPAPERMEN ' S ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Joseph C. Krajsa , K.S.G. , President THE SLOVAK GARDEN , INC. Andrew F. Hudak, Jr. , President Winter Park, Florida SLOVAKIA $6.00 per issue Printed By JEDNOTA PRESS A Division of Jednota Communications, Inc. 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. 33 (No. 60-61) Description An account of the resource includes Books and Articles Received; Contributors; Guidelines for Manuscripts Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-88 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/27a23a4d6968a40a1bf4ba992eb69ad3.pdf 5fc2abf9c66d5887ff4803f7b869e5e6 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA REVIEWS 87 ��SLOVAKIA 89 Vojtech Kopcan. Turecke nebezpecenstvo a Slovensko. Bratislava: Veda, 1986. 217 pp. R. VLADIMIR BAUMGARTEN Tallahassee, Florida This beautifully illustrated work presents an overview of Slovakia's position in the wars between the Turkish Ottomans and the Austrian Habsburgs. For purposes of convenience the author divides this historic conflict into several periods. The first period began with the Ottoman advance through the Balk~ns in the fifteenth century and climaxed with the historic battle of Mohac in 1526. The battle effectively broke the power of the old Hungarian kingdom, and marked the first attempt of the Habsburgs to gain the crown of Saint Stephen. Habsburg efforts were temporarily thwarted by Hungary's last national king Janos Zapolya (whose name is Slovakized by the author to Zapol'sky), but the kingdom was partitioned by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1541. At this point the Habsburgs gained western and northern Hungary, and the Slovak counties became a definite buffer against further Ottoman advance. Slovakia was only indirectly influenced by the Turkish wars in the first-mentioned phase, although Kopcan points to this period as a time when many Croats migrated to the Slovak counties. But the period between the partition of 1541 and the peace treaty of Edirne of 1568 entailed dramatic changes: an additional noble exodus from Turkish-occupied Hungary strengthened feudalism in the Slovak lands, and the Turks made increasing inroads into the mountain districts. The resumption of hostilities in the following two decades saw the rise of pro-Habsburg magnates - particularly the Pa.Iffy and Forgach families - who later played key roles in the history of Habsburg Hungary. By the early seventeenth century Transylvania was likewise making an impact on Upper Hungary. The principality's Protestant rulers, paying nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Porte, frequently sought and gained the support of the latter in their struggles against the Habsburgs. The Transylvanian forays brought great devastation to Slovakia, and also saw the transfer of Kosice and �90 SLOVAKIA the eastern Slovak counties to Transylvania's jurisdiction by the Treaty of Linz in 1645. An attempt by Transylvanian elements to shift to the Habsburg orbit in 1663 led directly to the high-tide mark of Turkish advance into Slovakia; the subsequent peace left the southern counties under direct Ottoman control. Habsburg misrule, the greed of Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa , and the ambitions of Transylvanian leader Imre Thokoly are all cited as factors in the campaign culminating in the great siege of Vienna in 1683. Most knowledgeable historians credit the great naval battle of Lepanto in 1571 as the real turning point of Ottoman fortunes, and Kopcan himself alludes to the significance of the event at the beginning of Chapter Four. But for Central Europe, including Slovakia, the breaking of the siege of Vienna was indeed a turning point. The intervention of Poland was decisive in driving the Turks from southern Slovakia and marked the retreat of Transylvanian power in the eastern counties. In keeping with official Czechoslovak historiography, Kopcan treats the liberation of Nave Zamky as a positive event, and, indeed, the book was written to mark the three hundredth anniversary. The results can scarcely be termed "socially progressive:" feudalism was not weakened, Habsburg absolutism was actually strengthened, and the cause of religious toleration received a severe setback. Kopcan's line of reasoning may be found in Chapter Nine, which serves as a kind of "balance sheet" of the Ottoman presence. The occupied ten:itories were viewed primarily as military frontier zones, and the heavy demands imposed upon the government reflected the same purpose. At least the Mohammedan invaders were replaced by rulers less foreign to the Slovaks , and the war shifted considerably further to the south. A number of the weaknesses of the book are scarcely those of the author's making. The complex course of events creates difficulties in distinguishing between one period and the next. The Slovak lands are treated as mere pawns in the struggle between the contesting powers - and this was indeed the case. But although Kopcan occasionally cites the roles of individual Slovak personalities, he might have given the counties greater attention. In large measure this weakness stems from his choice of source materials . Notes are applied liberally at the end of each chapter, �SLOVAKIA 91 and the sources consulted boast of fine studies emanating from numerous countries. But Kopcan might easily have relied more on contemporary Slovak county records. An examination of the Imperial War Archives in Vienna might also have yielded something genuinely original. For advanced students of Slovak history, the Habsburgs, and the Ottoman Empire alike, Turecke nebezpecenstvo presents no great revelations. But Kopcan masterfully ties together several interrelated themes, and the main topic has thus far received little attention in the West. The book may therefore serve as a springboard to more intensive studies of Slovakia's position durng the Turkish wars. Matej Bel: doba-iivot-dielo. Edited by Jan Tibensky. Bratislava: Veda, 1987. 414 pp. Pamatnica z oslav dvojsteho vyrocia Jana Holleho. Edited by Juraj Chovan. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1985 . 472 pp. GERALDJ. SABO John Carroll University University Heights, Ohio Matej Bel is a collection of scholarly papers presented at a conference on Bel (1684-1749) in December, 1983. The Historical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and the Slovak Society for the History of Science and Technology co-sponsored the conference, which was planned in honor of the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Matej Bel , an event highlighted in the UNESCO calendar for 1984. Bel was a prominent and talented Slovak scholar in many areas , as well as a Lutheran minister and promoter of Pietism. His role in Slovak and Magyar/Hungarian cultural history is well known in Central European scholarly circles. Regrettably , Bel is virtually unknown outside of them . The format of this volume continues to insure his inaccessibility to a wider scholarly or general audience. Indeed, this volume contrasts sharply and somewhat unfavorably with the memorial book on the Bernolak-Slovak poet Jan Holly. �92 SLOVAKIA The book on Holly was published under the auspices of the Matica slovenska in commemoration of the two hundredth anniversary of Holly's birth as noted by UNESCO in its 1985 calendar. Jan Holly (1785-1849) was a Roman Catholic priest and the outstanding poet of what is known as Bernolak-Slovak. This version of literary Slovak was codified by Anton Bernolak, another Catholic priest, in the late 1780's and early 1790's. Employing this codification, which became the writing form of Catholic Slovaks until sometime in the 1850's, Holly first translated classical poets and later created his own poetry in it. This book includes a chronology of Holly's life and works, written accounts of various celebrations in his honor, scholarly papers from a conference about him, and varia. It is a fitting tribute to a writer long neglected in contemporary Slovakia and but very recently properly heralded. The Holly memorial has some rather distinctive features. The Slovak text is usually followed by English and French summaries of varying length , with shorter Russian and German summaries of everything at the end of the volume. Such linguistic variety makes this book accessible to a very wide audience; this is not a typical Slovak publishing practice. By contrast, the Bel volume is completely in Slovak, with no summaries in any other language. Furthermore , the Holly memorial has sixteen color photographs while the reproductions in the Bel volume are all in black and white. Both books have colored dust jackets, but the Holly book, unlike the Bel volume, has reproduced on the inside cover, front and back, some well-known historic scenes. One is of Bernolak presenting his codification to the Trnava primate and to the Catholic seminarians in Bratislava; the other has the Lutheran pastor and scholar I.:udovit Shir and his followers presenting their codification ideas to Holly. Such elaborate binding was not really necessary but it indicates the degree to which contemporary Slovak cultured society wished to honor Holly. The books were also published in disproportionate numbers: 7,500 Holly books versus only 800 on Bel. Unlike the Bel volume, the Holly book includes indices that enhance its scholarly value. The final contrast is even more striking. The Holly conference was held in 1985 �SLOVAKIA 93 and the memorial book appeared in the same year! The Bel conference took place in 1983 and the papers were not published until 1987. In spite of the publisher's slights, the Bel volume is excellent, as one might expect from its editor, the distinguished historian Jan Tibensky. This collection of papers is divided into six main topic areas among which are distributed forty-four presentations of varying size. The topic areas are: the era, life, and world view of Matej Bel; Bel as a pedagogue; the great counry-wide project of Matej Bel and his attempts at organizing the scholarly life of the Hungarian state; the Notitia and Adparatus as realizations of Matej Bel's country-wide program; the peoples of the old Hungarian state in his writings; and his final message and bequest. In addition to some introductory comments, Jan Tibensky contributed five of the articles; the remaining 39 are primarily by Slovak specialists from many fields. For some strange reason the authors are noted on the bottom of the first page of their articles, and not in the Table of Contents. There is also a laudable wealth of material in the Holly memorial book. One section contains 23 scholarly papers from the conference on Holly, plus introductory and concluding comments by Karol Rosenbaum. Of greatest interest to me in literature and cultural history were the following: Jan Tibensky's paper on the great Moravian and Cyrillomethodian tradition in the writings of Jan Holly; Zdenka Sojkova's discussion of Holly's reception and influence in the Czech lands; Viliam Turcany's consideration of Holly's poetic language; as well as that of Frantisek Straus, and Katarina Habovstiakova's discussion of Holly and BernolakSlovak. The appendices - a select bibliography, a listing of Holly's manuscripts, a name and place index - will be helpful to interested readers. The scholar fortunate enough to obtain copies of both books, especially the smaller Bel volume , will possess an abundance of material on Slovak cultural history of the 18th and 19th, and even of the 20th centuries. Such high-quality books are not often found in Slovak studies. Their respective editors and contributors are to be commended for making two prominent cultural figures more accessible to the Slavic scholarly community. �94 SLOVAKIA Hugolin Gavlovic {1712-1787}. Introduction by Michal Elias. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1987. 17 photographs, 11 pp. GERALDJ. SABO John Carroll University University Heights, Ohio This fotosubor was published in commemoration of the two hundredth anniversary of the death of Hugolin Gavlovic, a Franciscan priest who was a major Slovak writer of the eighteenth century. Michal Elias' introduction is written in a popular, somewhat scholarly style in order to make his comments accessible to a wideranging reading public. Highlighted is Gavlovic's Valaska Skala, an extensive poem of some eighteen thousand verses . Gavlovic and his writings are presented in the context of other Franciscans of his time as well as of those active in the Pruske Franciscan house, not far from Trencin, where Gavlovic wrote many of his works. It is praiseworthy that Matica slovenska has sought to distinguish Gavlovic, none of whose writings have been published accurately or in their entirety - even some very small ones in Slovakia at the present time. Certainly, it adds to his distinction by UNESCO, which incorporated the anniversary of Gavlovic's death into its 1987 calendar. The difficulty is that some of Elias' material is confusing and inaccurate or not as complete as it might have been. Certain writings - Adamowa Promena and Katechyzmus, for example - attributed traditionally to Gavlovic and so noted by Elias - are today no longer believed to have been written by Gavlovic. Just a half year after the publication of this fotosubor, Gizela Slavkovska-Gafrikova published a listing of Gavlovic's writings and a rather detailed biography, more complete and accurate than that of Elias , in "Zivotopisne a bibliograficke otazniky Hugolina Gavlovica," Slovenska literatura , Vol. 34, No. 6, pp. 348-361. It is regrettable that these two specialists could not have collaborated on Gavlovic's biographical data. Then perhaps there would have been expressed at least some reservation about whether Gavlovic was a tutor for the Madocany children near the end of his life; that he was so is still claimed without any real �SLOVAKIA 95 substantiation. Qualifications even in so popularly written a work as Elias' have a definite place. In his citations from Valaska Skala, Elias, like every other modern Slovak editor including Slavkovska-Gafrikova, has a text with a dlien , something that Gavlovic never used in his writings, and in places that certainly do not correspond with modern Slovak usage. Since the autographs of all of Gavlovic's extant writings are preserved at Matica slovenska in Martin, Elias should have consulted these originals before producing the texts in the fotosubor. Even Slavkovska-Gafrikova, in her June, 1987 publication Hugolin Gavlovic Naucenia o Dobrych Mravoch r does no better though she should certainly have been very familiar with the autographs of Gavlovic. Why modern Slovak editors like Elias and Slavkovska-Gafrikova persist in such reproduction of Gavlovic's writings is baffling . Indeed, photographs of various Gavlovic autographs included in the fotosubor are clear evidence that Gavlovic did not use a dlien, and a miikcen only irregularly with a "t" or "n." Whatever the nature of the intended audience, the original text accompanied by a modern rendition is preferable where so little of the autograph(s) is cited. The cover of the fotosubor is a striking watercolor by the outstanding contemporary painter Albin Brunovsky, some of whose paintings and drawings have been on exhibit in various American locations during 1988. The photographs related directly to Gavlovic's life and writings are good and give the reader a reasonable acquaintance with so important a writer. Matica slovenska, and Dr. Elias, are to be commended for their efforts in producing this fotosubor and , hopefully in the future, may correct some of its inadequacies. Dejiny Slovenska, JV, (ad konca 19. star. do roku 1918} Pavel Hapak, et. al. Bratislava: Veda, 1986. 534 pp. MICHAEL J. KOPANIC , JR. University of Akron , Ohio This is the fourth in the series entitled Dejiny Slovenska , which is the most recent multi-volume survey of Slovak history �96 SLOVAKIA to come out of the Slovak Socialist Republic. A group of leading Slovak scholars authored this book which is woven together fairly coherently for a collaborative effort. Volume IV outlines the major trends in Slovak politics, society, culture , and the economy from 1900 until the establishment of the Czecho-Slovak Republic in 1918. The authors also attempt to place Slovak history in the international setting of a Europe on the brink of revolutionary changes . Some of the strongest sections in the book are the summaries of the macroeconomic and microeconomic development of prewar industries, financial institutions, services, and agriculture in Slovakia. Useful tables and statistics are included. Likewise, the authors provide an analysis of each social class and the nationalities (except for the Carpathian Germans). In politics, the authors (especially J. Butvin) stress the disunity of the Slovak parties which prevented a common front to counter the strong Magyarization pressures that accelerated after the passage of the Apponyi Education Acts of 1907. Despite the authors' noteworthy achievements, the volume is not without its shortcomings. In the bibliography there is an obvious neglect of post-World War II Western studies and emigre literature on Slovakia (for example, Hrusovsky, Kirschbaum, Mikula, and others). Emigration to America, and elsewhere, could have been more carefully analyzed, especially its impact on political self-awareness in Slovakia. The wave of emigration, communications with friends and relatives, and the return of Slovaks from America to their homeland gradually raised the national and political consciousness of common folk throughout Slovakia and helped propel the movement to seek an alternative state in association with the Czechs. As in many other studies from contemporary Czechoslovakia, there is a marked emphasis upon Slovak labor history and the influence of the working class both before and during World War I. The authors (especially Pavel Hapak) underline the rising significance of the Slovak Social Democratic Party, the trade unions, and the impact of such organizations as spevokoly (singing societies) in promoting Slovak national awareness and class consciousness. The authors aptly illustrate the nationality con- �SLOVAKIA 97 flicts of Magyar chauvinism among Hungarian Social Democratic leaders. However, the reader must be wary of any tendency to overexaggerate the significance of the workers' movement. As Pavel Hapak points out (p. 258), no more than 6,346 Slovaks belonged to the Slovak Social Democratic organization in Hungary at its peak in 1907. More Slovaks were organizing in larger cities such as Budapest and Vienna, but we still lack detailed studies of these experiences. These pre-war experiences reached a fruition in the latter stages of World War I and resulted in a surge of political and labor activism which is described in the 1917-18 period. As in many other Marxist histories, the authors ascribe too much influence to the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 rather than to the March Russian Revolution which marked the beginning of the end for the old regimes of Europe. Despite the concerns of the authors with the lower classes, they do not provide a good sense of what it was like to be a worker, a peasant, or a migratory laborer. Too often the authors stress social history more from an institutional and statistical angle, rather than presenting us with a close-up of what life was really like for the average person in Slovakia. Most obvious is the neglect of the Slovak people's association with their churches, the center of village life. What did Slovak people value most highly in their hierarchy of priorities, and how and why were these values changing? The authors do not tell us. In a book which concentrates on a such narrow period, the authors could have presented a much better portrait of some of the leading personalities in Slovakia such as Pavel Blaho, Andrej Hlinka, or Emanuel Lehocky. Frequently, the reader obtains only a one-dimensional aspect of a person's life, usually his political or labor movement activities. A sense of what the total person was like is missing . Although the book contains a good bibliography of published books and articles and a bibliographic essay, the authors did not footnote their work. Footnotes would have been a useful addition for students of modern Slovak history. The book also lacks maps and a subject index (only a name and place index are included) which should accompany a work of this nature . �98 SLOVAKIA Finally, the authors did not attempt to write any conclusions about the meaning of Slovak history in the period covered. Although such a task is always difficult in a collaborative work, this would have given the study more unity . If there is any common theme which pervades the study, it is the alliance of Magyar financial capital with a noble ruling class which was bent on Magyarizing and exploiting Slovak peasants and blue-collar workers. These criticisms should not discourage one from obtaining the volume. The book is a valuable and useful reference tool for the library of any scholar of Slovak history. Many topics such as literature, labor, economic, and political history are well summarized in a readable style, and the interpretations are more objective than many earlier Marxist studies. This is surely the best available detailed survey of Slovakia in the early twentieth century. Stephan Parak. Die Schweiz und der Slowakische Staat. Bern: Peter Lang (Europaische Hochschulschriften Ill/339), 1987, 308 pp. STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM York University, Glendon College Toronto, Canada Once in a while , a pearl is dropped on the lap of scholars. All the necessary ingredients are there: a relatively unknown topic, thorough research, a scholarly approach, the proper use of references, balanced conclusions and a challenge to conventional wisdom. Such is Stephan Parak's study of the political and economic relations between two small states in wartime, Slovakia and Switzerland. It is not necessary to belabour the point that the Slovak Republic does not generally enjoy a good reputation in Western scholarship. Created at a time when Germany was bent on redrawing the map of Central Europe, allied to it in war, involved in the persecution of the Jews and occupied in the end by one of the Allied powers , the Slovak state belonged to the camp of the van- �SLOVAKIA 99 quished and suffered as a result the inevitable consequences of unconditional defeat. This outcome has guided many scholars who see more virtue in triumphalism than in the accurate reconstruction of the past. Whatever may be the merits of the debate whether the Slovak Diet should have proclaimed Slovakia's independence on 14 March 1939, the fact is that on that day a new state appeared on the political map of Europe. Its leaders were determined to use the opportunity not only to safeguard the well-being of the nation , but also to ensure its growth and development. That there was great German pressure in Slovak political life, that the Slovak leaders took decisions contrary to the Christian philosophy of their party, that the Slovak economy fuelled the German war effort were all facts of the political life of this small state next to an expansionist ideological regime; equally true is the fact that this state sought to withstand and diminish some of these pressures and to lead the life of a small country which needs good relations with others to survive and thrive . Parak's study looks at both of these themes in his examination of the relations between Slovakia and Switzerland. The first influenced the question of the diplomatic recognition of Slovakia. It was settled as much by the Swiss interpretation of international law as by Bern's appraisal of the power constellation in Europe in 1939 . The Swiss " tacit recognition" of Slovakia reflected this as did the break of relations in 1945 and the recognition of the renewed state of Czechoslovakia. On the Slovak side, it was clearly most important to achieve the best diplomatic status possible , something which the Swiss were unwilling to grant, especially in wartime. Parak documents and analyzes this question not only thoroughly, but in an intelligent and balanced way. The diplomatic tug-of-war between these two states did not prevent on the other hand important economic and cultural relations. A good part of this study concentrates on the scope and the benefits of these relations to both states. It makes all the more fascinating reading as these relations were being carried out while the rest of Europe was at war. The extent to which Slovakia could exist as an independent state is made quite clear by these relations. The author also devotes an entire chapter on the role of �100 SLOVAKIA Switzerland in the fate of the Slovak Jews. His approach is factual and sensitive. He notes that in 1942, neither the Swiss government, nor the Red Cross lodged a protest against the deportations of Slovak Jews to Poland. Yet Swiss representatives in Slovakia were also very active in protecting Jews who were important for economic and commercial reasons and they intervened with Slovak authorities to see that presidential exceptions were granted to them. After the 1944 revolt the situation was reversed. The meaning of the German Final Solution was then clear; the Swiss government and the Red Cross lodged protects against the deportations. But neither they nor the Slovak government could do anything - even protect those who had been granted presidential exceptions - as the Germans were now in control in Slovakia. Nevertheless many Swiss, including diplomatic representatives, with the support of the Slovak Red Cross and Church circles , were able personally to extend refuge to individual Jews . In the light of this record Parak asks whether the Swiss might have had more success if they had been more active on the official diplomatic level. He concludes: "One is left with the impression that on the Swiss side not all available opportunities were exhausted to save Slovak Jews in the Second World War" (p . 215). In his overall conclusion Parak considers that the relations between these two states, like those of great powers, were determined by national interest as well as by their perception of the international situation. This is an interesting conclusion, not for Switzerland where to most it must seem self-evident, but for Slovakia where a perception still lingers among scholars that its policies and activities were dictated entirely by Berlin. Yet such a challenge to conventional wisdom is the normal outcome of this study. That is not the least of its merits. This is a published doctoral dissertation as required by European universities (in this case the University of Basel) for the obtaining of the degree. Given its excellence, it should be translated into English; it needs very few modifications . Above all , it certainly deserves to be read by as wide a public as possible . �SLOVAKIA 101 Carol Skalnik Leff. National Conflict in Czechoslovakia: The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918-1987. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1988. xi, 304 pp. JAMES FELAK Bloomington, Indiana A persistent theme in the history of Czechoslovakia has been the Slovak quest for autonomy. In her book National Conflict in Czechoslovakia: The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918-1917, Carol Skalnik Leff examines this crucial issue from 1918 to the present. She deals above all with the Slovak question as manifested in the First Czechoslovak Republic and in the Communist state between 1948 and 1968, stressing similarities in how both the democratic and the Communist regimes handled the issue of autonomy. In the interwar democracy as well as the postwar Communist state, Leff sees certain impediments to autonomy. In both states, Czechoslovakia's leaders believed that modernization, not autonomy, would solve the Slovak question. In the First Republic, Masaryk and other Czechoslovak leaders explained Slovak discontent as the product of Hungarian influence and believed that one only had to develop Slovakia culturally in order for the Slovaks to assimilate to a ''Czechoslovak'' nation. The Communist regime saw Slovakia's backwardness as a function of economics. It believed that economic modernization would solve the Slovak question by effecting a zblizenie, a drawing together of Czechs and Slovaks in a comon culture. Both attempts failed. All they did was raise Slovak expectations and produce a more skilled and sophisticated nationalist leadership, better able to articulate Slovak discontent. Another similarity between the two regimes, according to Leff, was the systemic obstacles they presented to autonomy. Although the First Republic's parliamentary system and relative freedom of expression gave the autonomist Slovak People's Party a public and parliamentary podium from which to advocate its autonomist program, the structure of the system guaranteed that autonomist concerns would not be addressed seriously by the �102 SLOVAKIA government. The system of proportional representation, reflected in the so-called Petka, meant that the chances for the opposition to come to power were slim and that the government's main priority was those issues that could potentially affect the viability of the coalition. The government had little incentive to take up disruptive issues advocated only by parties outside the coalition. Although it officially recognized the Slovak nation, Communist Czechoslovakia likewise presented impediments for the Slovak autonomy movement. The liquidation of organized opposition and free expression, an ideological commitment to centralism, and bureaucratic rigidity all had a negative influence on the prospects for Slovak autonomy . Leff ascribes persistent tensions between Czechs and Slovaks to an '' ethos of mutual betrayal''. Because Slovak nationalists had little hope for realizing autonomy under the interwar and post-1948 regimes, they sought to further their aims during times of crisis. Autonomist Slovaks took advantage of the periods when Prague, under fire from without, needed to consolidate its position at home. However, because the Slovaks got autonomy in the wake of the Munich agreement and federation in the wake of the Soviet invasion, many Czechs regarded the Slovaks as doubledealers willing to exploit the republic's troubles and do business with its external enemies for their own selfish ends. This, coupled with a perceived ingratitude on the part of the Slovaks, who seemed not to appreciate the Czech contributions to Slovakia's cultural and economic advancement, led Czechs to accuse Slovaks of betrayal. Many Slovaks, on the other hand, resented what they saw as a string of broken promises and a patronizing attitude toward them on the part of the Czechs. Leff gives a mixed review of the post-1968 federalist Czechoslovakia. She claims it has not fully solved the Slovak question, which remains "deeply, and perhaps irreversibly, woven into the fabric of Czechoslovak politics as usual.'' One might ask whether Slovaks can ever enjoy autonomy in a system that gives the population no control over who its leaders are or what policies those leaders pursue. . There are two drawbacks with Leff' s work that ought to be · pointed out. First, although she correctly mentions that �SLOVAKIA 103 · geopolitical factors played a role in the Czech refusal to grant Slovakia autonomy, she fails to elaborate sufficiently on this important point. Secondly, her use of sociological jargon and attempt to test certain social science theories sometimes tends to obfuscate rather than illuminate the question at hand. These shortcomings aside, Leff has presented a thoughtful analysis of a very complicated problem. Her work is balanced and insightful and she advances a number of valid arguments. Leff has confirmed the fact that it is possible to do worthwbile research on twentieth century Czechoslovakia without a visit to Czech and Slovak archives . Her book is recommended reading for those interested in the Slovak question and Czechoslovakia's history and politics in general. Pavol Petruf. USA a studena vojna (Politika americkeho imperializmu v Europe 1945-1949. Bratislava: Pravda, 1985. 280 pp. STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM York University, Glendon College Toronto, Canada One's first impression after reading this book is that the American school of historical revisionism has found a positive echo among Marxist scholars in Eastern Europe. This detailed study of American foreign policy in the immediate post-war years will, therefore, interest readers and students behind the Iron Curtain for whom access to Western scholarship is still restricted. It may also be seen as an indication of an attempt at openness in scholarship, certainly among Slovak Marxist academics, even though the first footnote is to a Soviet source (the Great Soviet Encyclopedia no less), a practice that was de rigueur during the Stalinist years. However, the Western reader will find nothing new and certainly no original interpretation of the origins of the Cold War. Unlike many revisionist historians, Petruf has not produced a study based primarily, if not uniquely, on documentary evidence. Rather, his sources are a mixture of published American �104 SLOVAKIA documents, Soviet and Czech volumes of documents, and Marxist and Western studies. A few American authors are favored and even quoted extensively. Unfortunately there are some liberties with the translations, which does not do credit to the book. But this is a minor problem which is attenuated by the detailed presentation of American foreign policy during the years 1944-1949. Petruf's central thesis is that during the war governing circles in the United States had worked out a strategic plan that would enable the United States to control most of the planet in the postwar world. The United States would use economic, social and political means to establish this hegemony. Their only obstacle was the Soviet Unon, which had come out of the war as a superpower and whose foreign policy was one that emphasized democracy and non-intervention in the internal affairs of a state. Accordingly, American foreign policy became bitterly anti-Soviet and anti-Communist. In the Cold War which ensued the aim of Washington was not only to contain the Soviet Union, but also to hold back the Moscow-led world revolutionary movement which had arisen after the war. The result, according to Petruf, was that ''war - whether as a threat or reality - became firmly anchored in the minds of the people as an inevitable aspect of life in the 20th century .... [But] It did not prevent the growth of the strength ahd international authority of the Soviet Union, the appearance of a world socialist system and the development of the world revolutionary and national liberation movement" (pp. 269-270). In six chapters the author unfolds his thesis by looking at American policy toward Central and Southeastern Europe; the shift from cooperaton to confrontaton between the USA and the USSR; the question of Germany; the Truman Doctrine and the policy of containment; the preparations, essence and goals of the Marshall plan; and the creation of NATO. The discussion in each chapter is thorough , even if presented with a certain slant. Among the main actors the author holds reponsible for the Cold War are Truman, Kennan , Acheson, Byrnes, Forrestal and Churchill. According to Petruf, these men had moved away from Roosevelt's policy of cooperation with the USSR and , backed by American �SLOVAKIA 105 right-wing circles, opted for a hard line policy toward the Soviet Union. The book's main weakness, which disqualifies it as a work of serious scholarship, is not only the author's strident tone towards the United States, but also his adulatory approach to the Soviet Union. Not only is there no criticism of Soviet policy, but Kremlin decisions and actions which did more than just contribute to the unfolding of the Cold War are deliberately ignored. For example , in his discussion of the reasons for the reversal of Czechoslovakia's decision to partake in the discussions on the Marshall Plan, he does not mention that on 9 July 1947 a-Czechoslovak delegation composed of Gottwald , Drtina and Masaryk was in Moscow where Stalin informed them that the Czechoslovak acceptance of the Marshall Plan would be considered as an action hostile to the USSR. Petruf writes: "When in the meantime it became clear that the Marshall Plan was essentially directed at the independence and sovereignty of the participating countries, Czechoslovakia revised its initial decision and withdrew its participation in the Paris discussions" (p . 229) . It is a pity that such a thorough study had to be spoiled because of ideological predilections. Marxist scholars will not convince anyone of the validity of their point of view as long as they continue to be unable to take a broader critical look at the events they examine. June Granatir Alexander. The Immigrant Church and Community: Pittsburgh's Slovak Catholics and Lutherans, 1880-1915. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press , 1987. xxxii , 198 pp. M. MARK STOLARIK The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies Philadelphia , Pennsylvania In this revised Ph.D. dissertation, June Alexander set out "to bring to light the complex interplay of factors that led to the creation of ethnic parishes in American cities at the turn of the century" (p. xviii). �106 SLOVAKIA The essence of the book is that Roman Catholic Slovaks, while experiencing some local and internal problems while establishing their churches, had basically no quarrels with the local church hierarchy, whereas Lutheran Slovaks experienced major problems with their clerical leaders because the latter tried to impose a new orthodoxy upon their parishioners. To prove her point Alexander focused upon the four Roman Catholic and one Lutheran parish founded by Slovak immigrants in Pittsburgh between 1895 and 1915. She gave a bit of the religious background of the immigrants, told how they established fraternals in the United States and how these , in turn, led in establishing the parishes , and then traced the actual story of each parish to 1915. Meanwhile, she also discussed the rise of lay initiative among Slovak immigrants, their regionalism and nationalism (or lack of it) , and how these kept the various communities divided. Alexander concluded that the story of Slovak immigration to Pittsburgh is one of coming together to form fraternals and parishes. While the immigrants achieved these goals they did so differently, with the Roman Catholics acting rather harmoniously while the Lutherans were rent by dogmatic divisions. The net result was that the five parishes became communities unto themselves, divided ultimately by regionalism , dialectical and religious differences. While this is a competent study of the creation of five immigrant parishes over a twenty year period at the turn of the century , it has serious limitations . Alexander either did not realize (or chose to ignore) that when one studies ethnic parishes , one has to do so within the context of the local church body. For instance, when dealing with Pittsburgh Slovak Roman Catholics , she should have looked at their story within the diocese of Pittsburgh, which is the natural religious boundary of the area, not the borders of the city . Had she done so she might have noticed that two Slovak Roman Catholic parishes within the diocese (St . Anne 's in Homestead , in 1909, and Sts. Cyril and Methodius in McKeesport, in 1922) seceded from the Roman Catholic Church and joined the independent Polish National Catholic Church. Since there were only a half dozen such secessions among Slovak �SLOVAKIA 107 Roman Catholic parishes in the United States at the turn of the century, there had to be plenty of problems between the Roman Catholic Hierarchy and Slovak immigrants in the Pittsburgh diocese. That is why Alexander's characterizaiton of Slovak Catholic immigrant relations with the local Hierarchy as being ones of "assertive deference" rings very false. Furthermore, Alexander makes certain assertions about the Old World experience of Slovaks which rest upon shaky evidence. In denying lay involvement in parish affairs in Slovakia, or OldWorld experiences of fraternalism, she relies too much on the contemporary observations of secular leaders, who were voicing uninformed opinions, or on the questionable memories of eleven informants, some of whom were born in America and others who must have been children when they immigrated here. How could such people possibly know anything about such complicated subjects as lay initiative or lodge creation in Slovakia? Indeed, there is to date no professional history of the various religions in Slovakia, nor has anyone covered the history of fraternal-benefit societies in Slovakia, which, contrary to Alexander's assertions, did exist there and can be traced back to 1460 A .D. Unfortunately, in today's Communist Slovakia those historians who are still allowed to practice their craft cannot write about the Churches (except in a pejorative way), nor can they focus on non-socialist movements. The only scholars who have touched upon these sensitive matters are Timothy L. Smith and his students and Alexander has chosen to either ignore their work, which was based upon solid research in Slovak archives, or she has chosen to disagree with their findings, without any substantial proof to refute them. Thus, while Alexander's book provides us with a glimpse of Slovak parish and community life in turn-of-the-century Pittsburgh , it suffers from too narrow a perspective that ultimately distorts the larger picture of both Slovak and Slovak-American history . �108 SLOVAKIA Kratky slovnik slovenskeho jazyka. Jan Kacala, Maria Pisarcikova et. al. Bratislava: Veda, 1987. 592 pp. JOHN M. KOCHIK Scottsdale, Arizona This invaluable reference work is presented by SA V - the Slovak Academy of Sciences through its I:udovft Stur Linguistics Institute as the second in its series of Slovak language lexicons in a new single-volume. It is intended for the professional as well as for the average user as a source of information about the vocabularly of present-day Slovak, and as it evolved over the past forty years of its socialist development. This single-volume is labeled "short (kratky)/concise (strucny)" in contrast with SA Vs earlier multi-volume dictionary. The first five-volume Dictionary of the Slovak Language (1959-68) has been sold out. The core of the new Slovnik is the more than 500 pages devoted to its A to Z vocabulary numbering more than 50,000 entries. The information derives not only from the 5,000,000 citations available from the SA V Linguistics Institute's card-catalog but also from others collected since the publication of the first academic Slovnik and still more gleaned from belles lettres, special literature, publications, as well as the results of vast research in contemporary Slovak linguistics. The prepifratory material - those pages preceding the A to Z vocabulary - contains two sections: The Basic Principles of Lexicography, and Abbreviations & Symbols. A noteworthy feature of the vocabulary section is the incorporation and domestication of loan-words in what is termed the process of "internationalization'' (p. 11) of the language. To illustrate this flooding process, five words-in-a-row listed (p. 9) are: dzinsy "jeans," blue- , dzip "jeep," dziu-dzicu "jiu-kitsu," dzob "job," dzokej "jockey," horse- . Among others are (here paginated): bonsaj "banzai" miniature-tree /Japanese/ (51), kibic "kibitz," in cards /Yiddish/ (152), zardiniera "giardiniera" wide flower-pot /Italian/ (582). Among the unexpectedly unexplainable omissions is: ukrajinsky ''Ukrainian,'' whereas the following are listed in the text: �SLOVAKIA 109 bielorusky "Bielorussian" (47), estonsky "Estonian" (98), litovsky "Lithuanian" (184), lotyssky "Latvian" (185), polabsky "Polabian" (306) . The Slovnfk is the product of a collaborative effort by SA V's experts mentioned opposite the main title-page. Those who assiduously prepared this long-awaited lexicon can be proud of their achievements. The Slovnik is an invaluable, readable, handy reference work of contemporary Slovak language. Another, the second, step forward in Slovak lexicography. Apart from its precious contents, the book's binding is disappointingly fragile and.'brittle! Ludvik Patera. Alexander Matuska. Praha: Melantrich, 1985, 440 pp . LOUISE B. HAMMER Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana The Slovak literary critic Alexander Matuska (1910-1975) is known to American students of Czech and Slovak literature for his essay on Karel Capek, Clovek proti skaze (1963), which was published in English as Man Against Destruction (1981) , and for his book J.C. Hronsky (1970) published in Bratislava. Matuska's participation in Slovak intellectual and literary life began in the nineteen thirties and continued throughout his life. His Vy brane spisy (1972-1978) were published in four volumes in Bratislava. As one of the leading literary critics in Czechoslovakia, Matuska had an abiding interest in both Slovak and Czech literature, and was cognizant of the connection between national literatures and world literature. The knowledgeable Czech Slovakist Ludvik Patera, who teaches Slovak literature at Charles University, has written the first monograph on Matuska. Patera 's treatise appears as the seventysixth volume in the series Odkazu pokrokovych osobnisti nasi minulosti. The book consists of two main parts: the first (265 pages) contains Patera's well documented and reliable presenta- �110 SLOVAKIA tion of the chronological development of Matuska's life and work; the second presents a selection of Matuska's writings, which have been translated into Czech. Separating these two parts are thirtytwo pages of photographs, which include facsimiles ofMatuska's published work, manuscripts and letters. The totality of Matuska's activity emerges through Patera's method of combining biographical and literary data. Interspersed among the excerpts from Matuska's critical works are quotes from interviews with him that were published in Slovenske pohl'ady in the seventies . Patera skillfully weaves these quotations into his text, and allows the reader to learn of the life experiences that influenced Matuska' s development as a human being and as a literary critic. Patera 's research on Matuska's student years in Prague increases our understanding of the societal forces that had a great impact on young intellectuals during the inter-war period. While enrolled at Charles University , Matuska was associated with the group R10 (along with Jan Kostra, Dobroslav Chrobak, Michal Chorvath and others). This group was known as " The Young Davists, " the name stemming from their journal Dav, to which they actively contributed. During his student days , Matuska was greatly influenced by the ideas of the Czech critic and artist, F .X. Salda. They found common ground on various points. Neither supported the official view of that time, which claimed the existence of a Czechoslovak language with two versions, the Czech version and the Slovak version (pp. 27-28). They agreed that merging the two languages would only weaken and impoverish them both. As various scholars have pointed out, Slovak was at a disadvantage in the linguistic relationship between Czech and Slovak during the inter-war period , since efforts to bring the two languages together habitually led in the direction of Czech, to the detriment of Slovak. The author's enthusiasm for his subject is evident throughout this well written and richly documented book. It is a welcome contribution to the field of literary history and criticism. In addition , Patera's book contains useful bibliographic information on Matuska's work, corrections of errors that appeared in some earlier editions , and an index of names at the end. �SLOVAKIA 111 Il'ja Cicvak. Vyvolavanie slnka. Ottawa, Canada: Spolocnost' priatel'ov slovenskej literatury, 1984. YVONNE GRABOWSKI York University Toronto, Canada This is a very attractively-presented volume. The motto of the book, taken from Plato, illustrates the author's conviction that people strive for ideals which are most often unattainable. The same idea is expressed in the title of the novel - The Summoning of the Sun - and reinforced by an excellent illustration on the title page by Miro Malis, representing a modern day Sisyphus pushing the sun up the mountain. This Platonic view of the world is fundamentally opposed to the Marxist concept of the universe. It is most probably this difference of perception that accounts for the fact that Cicvak now lives and writes in Canada and not in Czechoslovakia. The novel tells us of the attempts made by individuals, and especially the main character James, to evoke the sun, to find a modicum of happiness in a totalitarian, cruel society. And it is a sad comment on this society that when the sun finally appears at the end of the novel, James cannot enjoy the magnificent view because he has died from the effects of a bullet he received during a peaceful political demonstration. However, in Cicvak's novel, life's frustrations are not limited to James. Every character that appears in the book has been affected one way or another, thwarted in his aspirations, mocked in his most sacred beliefs, slandered, unjustly imprisoned or exploited. Only utter opportunists seem to be able to survive somehow in this climate. Cicvak portrays human lives that are spent looking for peace and happiness, unable to successfully accomplish this quest. Fate, circumstances, or other people always intervene to warp human hopes and expectations . Older people know this truth, but the young approach life with great intensity and a naive trust which gets cruelly deceived in the end. Cicvak's novel is more than a story about the suffering of people in Czechoslovakia under Communist rule. It is also a sad �112 SLOVAKIA parable about life's unfulfilled dreams and shattered hopes. In the end it does not matter that the unnamed "statnik" in the novel has been deprived of his lucrative position - the system that produced him will stay on and life will continue essentially as before. This conclusion finds its reinforcement in the previous events of the novel where the injustices that have been committed against the generation of the parents are repeated in the generation of their sons and daughters. Several recurring motifs in the novel reinforce the unity and central idea of the plot. The main one is, of course, the motif of the sun - a potent symbol - which appears only too rarely throughout the story. Time also plays an important part in the book. All through the novel we became intensely aware of its passing, and the passing of history. Loneliness is another strong theme. People closest to the characters are rarely near when needed. Those that are around are incapable of relating totally. This is a sad book, but a very well-written one. It skillfully unites the plot and the imagery to imbue us with the sense of shattered young dreams and impending death. � SLOVAKIA REVIEWS 87 ��SLOVAKIA 89 Vojtech Kopcan. Turecke nebezpecenstvo a Slovensko. Bratislava: Veda, 1986. 217 pp. R. VLADIMIR BAUMGARTEN Tallahassee, Florida This beautifully illustrated work presents an overview of Slovakia's position in the wars between the Turkish Ottomans and the Austrian Habsburgs. For purposes of convenience the author divides this historic conflict into several periods. The first period began with the Ottoman advance through the Balk~ns in the fifteenth century and climaxed with the historic battle of Mohac in 1526. The battle effectively broke the power of the old Hungarian kingdom, and marked the first attempt of the Habsburgs to gain the crown of Saint Stephen. Habsburg efforts were temporarily thwarted by Hungary's last national king Janos Zapolya (whose name is Slovakized by the author to Zapol'sky), but the kingdom was partitioned by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1541. At this point the Habsburgs gained western and northern Hungary, and the Slovak counties became a definite buffer against further Ottoman advance. Slovakia was only indirectly influenced by the Turkish wars in the first-mentioned phase, although Kopcan points to this period as a time when many Croats migrated to the Slovak counties. But the period between the partition of 1541 and the peace treaty of Edirne of 1568 entailed dramatic changes: an additional noble exodus from Turkish-occupied Hungary strengthened feudalism in the Slovak lands, and the Turks made increasing inroads into the mountain districts. The resumption of hostilities in the following two decades saw the rise of pro-Habsburg magnates - particularly the Pa.Iffy and Forgach families - who later played key roles in the history of Habsburg Hungary. By the early seventeenth century Transylvania was likewise making an impact on Upper Hungary. The principality's Protestant rulers, paying nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Porte, frequently sought and gained the support of the latter in their struggles against the Habsburgs. The Transylvanian forays brought great devastation to Slovakia, and also saw the transfer of Kosice and �90 SLOVAKIA the eastern Slovak counties to Transylvania's jurisdiction by the Treaty of Linz in 1645. An attempt by Transylvanian elements to shift to the Habsburg orbit in 1663 led directly to the high-tide mark of Turkish advance into Slovakia; the subsequent peace left the southern counties under direct Ottoman control. Habsburg misrule, the greed of Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa , and the ambitions of Transylvanian leader Imre Thokoly are all cited as factors in the campaign culminating in the great siege of Vienna in 1683. Most knowledgeable historians credit the great naval battle of Lepanto in 1571 as the real turning point of Ottoman fortunes, and Kopcan himself alludes to the significance of the event at the beginning of Chapter Four. But for Central Europe, including Slovakia, the breaking of the siege of Vienna was indeed a turning point. The intervention of Poland was decisive in driving the Turks from southern Slovakia and marked the retreat of Transylvanian power in the eastern counties. In keeping with official Czechoslovak historiography, Kopcan treats the liberation of Nave Zamky as a positive event, and, indeed, the book was written to mark the three hundredth anniversary. The results can scarcely be termed "socially progressive:" feudalism was not weakened, Habsburg absolutism was actually strengthened, and the cause of religious toleration received a severe setback. Kopcan's line of reasoning may be found in Chapter Nine, which serves as a kind of "balance sheet" of the Ottoman presence. The occupied ten:itories were viewed primarily as military frontier zones, and the heavy demands imposed upon the government reflected the same purpose. At least the Mohammedan invaders were replaced by rulers less foreign to the Slovaks , and the war shifted considerably further to the south. A number of the weaknesses of the book are scarcely those of the author's making. The complex course of events creates difficulties in distinguishing between one period and the next. The Slovak lands are treated as mere pawns in the struggle between the contesting powers - and this was indeed the case. But although Kopcan occasionally cites the roles of individual Slovak personalities, he might have given the counties greater attention. In large measure this weakness stems from his choice of source materials . Notes are applied liberally at the end of each chapter, �SLOVAKIA 91 and the sources consulted boast of fine studies emanating from numerous countries. But Kopcan might easily have relied more on contemporary Slovak county records. An examination of the Imperial War Archives in Vienna might also have yielded something genuinely original. For advanced students of Slovak history, the Habsburgs, and the Ottoman Empire alike, Turecke nebezpecenstvo presents no great revelations. But Kopcan masterfully ties together several interrelated themes, and the main topic has thus far received little attention in the West. The book may therefore serve as a springboard to more intensive studies of Slovakia's position durng the Turkish wars. Matej Bel: doba-iivot-dielo. Edited by Jan Tibensky. Bratislava: Veda, 1987. 414 pp. Pamatnica z oslav dvojsteho vyrocia Jana Holleho. Edited by Juraj Chovan. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1985 . 472 pp. GERALDJ. SABO John Carroll University University Heights, Ohio Matej Bel is a collection of scholarly papers presented at a conference on Bel (1684-1749) in December, 1983. The Historical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and the Slovak Society for the History of Science and Technology co-sponsored the conference, which was planned in honor of the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Matej Bel , an event highlighted in the UNESCO calendar for 1984. Bel was a prominent and talented Slovak scholar in many areas , as well as a Lutheran minister and promoter of Pietism. His role in Slovak and Magyar/Hungarian cultural history is well known in Central European scholarly circles. Regrettably , Bel is virtually unknown outside of them . The format of this volume continues to insure his inaccessibility to a wider scholarly or general audience. Indeed, this volume contrasts sharply and somewhat unfavorably with the memorial book on the Bernolak-Slovak poet Jan Holly. �92 SLOVAKIA The book on Holly was published under the auspices of the Matica slovenska in commemoration of the two hundredth anniversary of Holly's birth as noted by UNESCO in its 1985 calendar. Jan Holly (1785-1849) was a Roman Catholic priest and the outstanding poet of what is known as Bernolak-Slovak. This version of literary Slovak was codified by Anton Bernolak, another Catholic priest, in the late 1780's and early 1790's. Employing this codification, which became the writing form of Catholic Slovaks until sometime in the 1850's, Holly first translated classical poets and later created his own poetry in it. This book includes a chronology of Holly's life and works, written accounts of various celebrations in his honor, scholarly papers from a conference about him, and varia. It is a fitting tribute to a writer long neglected in contemporary Slovakia and but very recently properly heralded. The Holly memorial has some rather distinctive features. The Slovak text is usually followed by English and French summaries of varying length , with shorter Russian and German summaries of everything at the end of the volume. Such linguistic variety makes this book accessible to a very wide audience; this is not a typical Slovak publishing practice. By contrast, the Bel volume is completely in Slovak, with no summaries in any other language. Furthermore , the Holly memorial has sixteen color photographs while the reproductions in the Bel volume are all in black and white. Both books have colored dust jackets, but the Holly book, unlike the Bel volume, has reproduced on the inside cover, front and back, some well-known historic scenes. One is of Bernolak presenting his codification to the Trnava primate and to the Catholic seminarians in Bratislava; the other has the Lutheran pastor and scholar I.:udovit Shir and his followers presenting their codification ideas to Holly. Such elaborate binding was not really necessary but it indicates the degree to which contemporary Slovak cultured society wished to honor Holly. The books were also published in disproportionate numbers: 7,500 Holly books versus only 800 on Bel. Unlike the Bel volume, the Holly book includes indices that enhance its scholarly value. The final contrast is even more striking. The Holly conference was held in 1985 �SLOVAKIA 93 and the memorial book appeared in the same year! The Bel conference took place in 1983 and the papers were not published until 1987. In spite of the publisher's slights, the Bel volume is excellent, as one might expect from its editor, the distinguished historian Jan Tibensky. This collection of papers is divided into six main topic areas among which are distributed forty-four presentations of varying size. The topic areas are: the era, life, and world view of Matej Bel; Bel as a pedagogue; the great counry-wide project of Matej Bel and his attempts at organizing the scholarly life of the Hungarian state; the Notitia and Adparatus as realizations of Matej Bel's country-wide program; the peoples of the old Hungarian state in his writings; and his final message and bequest. In addition to some introductory comments, Jan Tibensky contributed five of the articles; the remaining 39 are primarily by Slovak specialists from many fields. For some strange reason the authors are noted on the bottom of the first page of their articles, and not in the Table of Contents. There is also a laudable wealth of material in the Holly memorial book. One section contains 23 scholarly papers from the conference on Holly, plus introductory and concluding comments by Karol Rosenbaum. Of greatest interest to me in literature and cultural history were the following: Jan Tibensky's paper on the great Moravian and Cyrillomethodian tradition in the writings of Jan Holly; Zdenka Sojkova's discussion of Holly's reception and influence in the Czech lands; Viliam Turcany's consideration of Holly's poetic language; as well as that of Frantisek Straus, and Katarina Habovstiakova's discussion of Holly and BernolakSlovak. The appendices - a select bibliography, a listing of Holly's manuscripts, a name and place index - will be helpful to interested readers. The scholar fortunate enough to obtain copies of both books, especially the smaller Bel volume , will possess an abundance of material on Slovak cultural history of the 18th and 19th, and even of the 20th centuries. Such high-quality books are not often found in Slovak studies. Their respective editors and contributors are to be commended for making two prominent cultural figures more accessible to the Slavic scholarly community. �94 SLOVAKIA Hugolin Gavlovic {1712-1787}. Introduction by Michal Elias. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1987. 17 photographs, 11 pp. GERALDJ. SABO John Carroll University University Heights, Ohio This fotosubor was published in commemoration of the two hundredth anniversary of the death of Hugolin Gavlovic, a Franciscan priest who was a major Slovak writer of the eighteenth century. Michal Elias' introduction is written in a popular, somewhat scholarly style in order to make his comments accessible to a wideranging reading public. Highlighted is Gavlovic's Valaska Skala, an extensive poem of some eighteen thousand verses . Gavlovic and his writings are presented in the context of other Franciscans of his time as well as of those active in the Pruske Franciscan house, not far from Trencin, where Gavlovic wrote many of his works. It is praiseworthy that Matica slovenska has sought to distinguish Gavlovic, none of whose writings have been published accurately or in their entirety - even some very small ones in Slovakia at the present time. Certainly, it adds to his distinction by UNESCO, which incorporated the anniversary of Gavlovic's death into its 1987 calendar. The difficulty is that some of Elias' material is confusing and inaccurate or not as complete as it might have been. Certain writings - Adamowa Promena and Katechyzmus, for example - attributed traditionally to Gavlovic and so noted by Elias - are today no longer believed to have been written by Gavlovic. Just a half year after the publication of this fotosubor, Gizela Slavkovska-Gafrikova published a listing of Gavlovic's writings and a rather detailed biography, more complete and accurate than that of Elias , in "Zivotopisne a bibliograficke otazniky Hugolina Gavlovica," Slovenska literatura , Vol. 34, No. 6, pp. 348-361. It is regrettable that these two specialists could not have collaborated on Gavlovic's biographical data. Then perhaps there would have been expressed at least some reservation about whether Gavlovic was a tutor for the Madocany children near the end of his life; that he was so is still claimed without any real �SLOVAKIA 95 substantiation. Qualifications even in so popularly written a work as Elias' have a definite place. In his citations from Valaska Skala, Elias, like every other modern Slovak editor including Slavkovska-Gafrikova, has a text with a dlien , something that Gavlovic never used in his writings, and in places that certainly do not correspond with modern Slovak usage. Since the autographs of all of Gavlovic's extant writings are preserved at Matica slovenska in Martin, Elias should have consulted these originals before producing the texts in the fotosubor. Even Slavkovska-Gafrikova, in her June, 1987 publication Hugolin Gavlovic Naucenia o Dobrych Mravoch r does no better though she should certainly have been very familiar with the autographs of Gavlovic. Why modern Slovak editors like Elias and Slavkovska-Gafrikova persist in such reproduction of Gavlovic's writings is baffling . Indeed, photographs of various Gavlovic autographs included in the fotosubor are clear evidence that Gavlovic did not use a dlien, and a miikcen only irregularly with a "t" or "n." Whatever the nature of the intended audience, the original text accompanied by a modern rendition is preferable where so little of the autograph(s) is cited. The cover of the fotosubor is a striking watercolor by the outstanding contemporary painter Albin Brunovsky, some of whose paintings and drawings have been on exhibit in various American locations during 1988. The photographs related directly to Gavlovic's life and writings are good and give the reader a reasonable acquaintance with so important a writer. Matica slovenska, and Dr. Elias, are to be commended for their efforts in producing this fotosubor and , hopefully in the future, may correct some of its inadequacies. Dejiny Slovenska, JV, (ad konca 19. star. do roku 1918} Pavel Hapak, et. al. Bratislava: Veda, 1986. 534 pp. MICHAEL J. KOPANIC , JR. University of Akron , Ohio This is the fourth in the series entitled Dejiny Slovenska , which is the most recent multi-volume survey of Slovak history �96 SLOVAKIA to come out of the Slovak Socialist Republic. A group of leading Slovak scholars authored this book which is woven together fairly coherently for a collaborative effort. Volume IV outlines the major trends in Slovak politics, society, culture , and the economy from 1900 until the establishment of the Czecho-Slovak Republic in 1918. The authors also attempt to place Slovak history in the international setting of a Europe on the brink of revolutionary changes . Some of the strongest sections in the book are the summaries of the macroeconomic and microeconomic development of prewar industries, financial institutions, services, and agriculture in Slovakia. Useful tables and statistics are included. Likewise, the authors provide an analysis of each social class and the nationalities (except for the Carpathian Germans). In politics, the authors (especially J. Butvin) stress the disunity of the Slovak parties which prevented a common front to counter the strong Magyarization pressures that accelerated after the passage of the Apponyi Education Acts of 1907. Despite the authors' noteworthy achievements, the volume is not without its shortcomings. In the bibliography there is an obvious neglect of post-World War II Western studies and emigre literature on Slovakia (for example, Hrusovsky, Kirschbaum, Mikula, and others). Emigration to America, and elsewhere, could have been more carefully analyzed, especially its impact on political self-awareness in Slovakia. The wave of emigration, communications with friends and relatives, and the return of Slovaks from America to their homeland gradually raised the national and political consciousness of common folk throughout Slovakia and helped propel the movement to seek an alternative state in association with the Czechs. As in many other studies from contemporary Czechoslovakia, there is a marked emphasis upon Slovak labor history and the influence of the working class both before and during World War I. The authors (especially Pavel Hapak) underline the rising significance of the Slovak Social Democratic Party, the trade unions, and the impact of such organizations as spevokoly (singing societies) in promoting Slovak national awareness and class consciousness. The authors aptly illustrate the nationality con- �SLOVAKIA 97 flicts of Magyar chauvinism among Hungarian Social Democratic leaders. However, the reader must be wary of any tendency to overexaggerate the significance of the workers' movement. As Pavel Hapak points out (p. 258), no more than 6,346 Slovaks belonged to the Slovak Social Democratic organization in Hungary at its peak in 1907. More Slovaks were organizing in larger cities such as Budapest and Vienna, but we still lack detailed studies of these experiences. These pre-war experiences reached a fruition in the latter stages of World War I and resulted in a surge of political and labor activism which is described in the 1917-18 period. As in many other Marxist histories, the authors ascribe too much influence to the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 rather than to the March Russian Revolution which marked the beginning of the end for the old regimes of Europe. Despite the concerns of the authors with the lower classes, they do not provide a good sense of what it was like to be a worker, a peasant, or a migratory laborer. Too often the authors stress social history more from an institutional and statistical angle, rather than presenting us with a close-up of what life was really like for the average person in Slovakia. Most obvious is the neglect of the Slovak people's association with their churches, the center of village life. What did Slovak people value most highly in their hierarchy of priorities, and how and why were these values changing? The authors do not tell us. In a book which concentrates on a such narrow period, the authors could have presented a much better portrait of some of the leading personalities in Slovakia such as Pavel Blaho, Andrej Hlinka, or Emanuel Lehocky. Frequently, the reader obtains only a one-dimensional aspect of a person's life, usually his political or labor movement activities. A sense of what the total person was like is missing . Although the book contains a good bibliography of published books and articles and a bibliographic essay, the authors did not footnote their work. Footnotes would have been a useful addition for students of modern Slovak history. The book also lacks maps and a subject index (only a name and place index are included) which should accompany a work of this nature . �98 SLOVAKIA Finally, the authors did not attempt to write any conclusions about the meaning of Slovak history in the period covered. Although such a task is always difficult in a collaborative work, this would have given the study more unity . If there is any common theme which pervades the study, it is the alliance of Magyar financial capital with a noble ruling class which was bent on Magyarizing and exploiting Slovak peasants and blue-collar workers. These criticisms should not discourage one from obtaining the volume. The book is a valuable and useful reference tool for the library of any scholar of Slovak history. Many topics such as literature, labor, economic, and political history are well summarized in a readable style, and the interpretations are more objective than many earlier Marxist studies. This is surely the best available detailed survey of Slovakia in the early twentieth century. Stephan Parak. Die Schweiz und der Slowakische Staat. Bern: Peter Lang (Europaische Hochschulschriften Ill/339), 1987, 308 pp. STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM York University, Glendon College Toronto, Canada Once in a while , a pearl is dropped on the lap of scholars. All the necessary ingredients are there: a relatively unknown topic, thorough research, a scholarly approach, the proper use of references, balanced conclusions and a challenge to conventional wisdom. Such is Stephan Parak's study of the political and economic relations between two small states in wartime, Slovakia and Switzerland. It is not necessary to belabour the point that the Slovak Republic does not generally enjoy a good reputation in Western scholarship. Created at a time when Germany was bent on redrawing the map of Central Europe, allied to it in war, involved in the persecution of the Jews and occupied in the end by one of the Allied powers , the Slovak state belonged to the camp of the van- �SLOVAKIA 99 quished and suffered as a result the inevitable consequences of unconditional defeat. This outcome has guided many scholars who see more virtue in triumphalism than in the accurate reconstruction of the past. Whatever may be the merits of the debate whether the Slovak Diet should have proclaimed Slovakia's independence on 14 March 1939, the fact is that on that day a new state appeared on the political map of Europe. Its leaders were determined to use the opportunity not only to safeguard the well-being of the nation , but also to ensure its growth and development. That there was great German pressure in Slovak political life, that the Slovak leaders took decisions contrary to the Christian philosophy of their party, that the Slovak economy fuelled the German war effort were all facts of the political life of this small state next to an expansionist ideological regime; equally true is the fact that this state sought to withstand and diminish some of these pressures and to lead the life of a small country which needs good relations with others to survive and thrive . Parak's study looks at both of these themes in his examination of the relations between Slovakia and Switzerland. The first influenced the question of the diplomatic recognition of Slovakia. It was settled as much by the Swiss interpretation of international law as by Bern's appraisal of the power constellation in Europe in 1939 . The Swiss " tacit recognition" of Slovakia reflected this as did the break of relations in 1945 and the recognition of the renewed state of Czechoslovakia. On the Slovak side, it was clearly most important to achieve the best diplomatic status possible , something which the Swiss were unwilling to grant, especially in wartime. Parak documents and analyzes this question not only thoroughly, but in an intelligent and balanced way. The diplomatic tug-of-war between these two states did not prevent on the other hand important economic and cultural relations. A good part of this study concentrates on the scope and the benefits of these relations to both states. It makes all the more fascinating reading as these relations were being carried out while the rest of Europe was at war. The extent to which Slovakia could exist as an independent state is made quite clear by these relations. The author also devotes an entire chapter on the role of �100 SLOVAKIA Switzerland in the fate of the Slovak Jews. His approach is factual and sensitive. He notes that in 1942, neither the Swiss government, nor the Red Cross lodged a protest against the deportations of Slovak Jews to Poland. Yet Swiss representatives in Slovakia were also very active in protecting Jews who were important for economic and commercial reasons and they intervened with Slovak authorities to see that presidential exceptions were granted to them. After the 1944 revolt the situation was reversed. The meaning of the German Final Solution was then clear; the Swiss government and the Red Cross lodged protects against the deportations. But neither they nor the Slovak government could do anything - even protect those who had been granted presidential exceptions - as the Germans were now in control in Slovakia. Nevertheless many Swiss, including diplomatic representatives, with the support of the Slovak Red Cross and Church circles , were able personally to extend refuge to individual Jews . In the light of this record Parak asks whether the Swiss might have had more success if they had been more active on the official diplomatic level. He concludes: "One is left with the impression that on the Swiss side not all available opportunities were exhausted to save Slovak Jews in the Second World War" (p . 215). In his overall conclusion Parak considers that the relations between these two states, like those of great powers, were determined by national interest as well as by their perception of the international situation. This is an interesting conclusion, not for Switzerland where to most it must seem self-evident, but for Slovakia where a perception still lingers among scholars that its policies and activities were dictated entirely by Berlin. Yet such a challenge to conventional wisdom is the normal outcome of this study. That is not the least of its merits. This is a published doctoral dissertation as required by European universities (in this case the University of Basel) for the obtaining of the degree. Given its excellence, it should be translated into English; it needs very few modifications . Above all , it certainly deserves to be read by as wide a public as possible . �SLOVAKIA 101 Carol Skalnik Leff. National Conflict in Czechoslovakia: The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918-1987. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1988. xi, 304 pp. JAMES FELAK Bloomington, Indiana A persistent theme in the history of Czechoslovakia has been the Slovak quest for autonomy. In her book National Conflict in Czechoslovakia: The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918-1917, Carol Skalnik Leff examines this crucial issue from 1918 to the present. She deals above all with the Slovak question as manifested in the First Czechoslovak Republic and in the Communist state between 1948 and 1968, stressing similarities in how both the democratic and the Communist regimes handled the issue of autonomy. In the interwar democracy as well as the postwar Communist state, Leff sees certain impediments to autonomy. In both states, Czechoslovakia's leaders believed that modernization, not autonomy, would solve the Slovak question. In the First Republic, Masaryk and other Czechoslovak leaders explained Slovak discontent as the product of Hungarian influence and believed that one only had to develop Slovakia culturally in order for the Slovaks to assimilate to a ''Czechoslovak'' nation. The Communist regime saw Slovakia's backwardness as a function of economics. It believed that economic modernization would solve the Slovak question by effecting a zblizenie, a drawing together of Czechs and Slovaks in a comon culture. Both attempts failed. All they did was raise Slovak expectations and produce a more skilled and sophisticated nationalist leadership, better able to articulate Slovak discontent. Another similarity between the two regimes, according to Leff, was the systemic obstacles they presented to autonomy. Although the First Republic's parliamentary system and relative freedom of expression gave the autonomist Slovak People's Party a public and parliamentary podium from which to advocate its autonomist program, the structure of the system guaranteed that autonomist concerns would not be addressed seriously by the �102 SLOVAKIA government. The system of proportional representation, reflected in the so-called Petka, meant that the chances for the opposition to come to power were slim and that the government's main priority was those issues that could potentially affect the viability of the coalition. The government had little incentive to take up disruptive issues advocated only by parties outside the coalition. Although it officially recognized the Slovak nation, Communist Czechoslovakia likewise presented impediments for the Slovak autonomy movement. The liquidation of organized opposition and free expression, an ideological commitment to centralism, and bureaucratic rigidity all had a negative influence on the prospects for Slovak autonomy . Leff ascribes persistent tensions between Czechs and Slovaks to an '' ethos of mutual betrayal''. Because Slovak nationalists had little hope for realizing autonomy under the interwar and post-1948 regimes, they sought to further their aims during times of crisis. Autonomist Slovaks took advantage of the periods when Prague, under fire from without, needed to consolidate its position at home. However, because the Slovaks got autonomy in the wake of the Munich agreement and federation in the wake of the Soviet invasion, many Czechs regarded the Slovaks as doubledealers willing to exploit the republic's troubles and do business with its external enemies for their own selfish ends. This, coupled with a perceived ingratitude on the part of the Slovaks, who seemed not to appreciate the Czech contributions to Slovakia's cultural and economic advancement, led Czechs to accuse Slovaks of betrayal. Many Slovaks, on the other hand, resented what they saw as a string of broken promises and a patronizing attitude toward them on the part of the Czechs. Leff gives a mixed review of the post-1968 federalist Czechoslovakia. She claims it has not fully solved the Slovak question, which remains "deeply, and perhaps irreversibly, woven into the fabric of Czechoslovak politics as usual.'' One might ask whether Slovaks can ever enjoy autonomy in a system that gives the population no control over who its leaders are or what policies those leaders pursue. . There are two drawbacks with Leff' s work that ought to be · pointed out. First, although she correctly mentions that �SLOVAKIA 103 · geopolitical factors played a role in the Czech refusal to grant Slovakia autonomy, she fails to elaborate sufficiently on this important point. Secondly, her use of sociological jargon and attempt to test certain social science theories sometimes tends to obfuscate rather than illuminate the question at hand. These shortcomings aside, Leff has presented a thoughtful analysis of a very complicated problem. Her work is balanced and insightful and she advances a number of valid arguments. Leff has confirmed the fact that it is possible to do worthwbile research on twentieth century Czechoslovakia without a visit to Czech and Slovak archives . Her book is recommended reading for those interested in the Slovak question and Czechoslovakia's history and politics in general. Pavol Petruf. USA a studena vojna (Politika americkeho imperializmu v Europe 1945-1949. Bratislava: Pravda, 1985. 280 pp. STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM York University, Glendon College Toronto, Canada One's first impression after reading this book is that the American school of historical revisionism has found a positive echo among Marxist scholars in Eastern Europe. This detailed study of American foreign policy in the immediate post-war years will, therefore, interest readers and students behind the Iron Curtain for whom access to Western scholarship is still restricted. It may also be seen as an indication of an attempt at openness in scholarship, certainly among Slovak Marxist academics, even though the first footnote is to a Soviet source (the Great Soviet Encyclopedia no less), a practice that was de rigueur during the Stalinist years. However, the Western reader will find nothing new and certainly no original interpretation of the origins of the Cold War. Unlike many revisionist historians, Petruf has not produced a study based primarily, if not uniquely, on documentary evidence. Rather, his sources are a mixture of published American �104 SLOVAKIA documents, Soviet and Czech volumes of documents, and Marxist and Western studies. A few American authors are favored and even quoted extensively. Unfortunately there are some liberties with the translations, which does not do credit to the book. But this is a minor problem which is attenuated by the detailed presentation of American foreign policy during the years 1944-1949. Petruf's central thesis is that during the war governing circles in the United States had worked out a strategic plan that would enable the United States to control most of the planet in the postwar world. The United States would use economic, social and political means to establish this hegemony. Their only obstacle was the Soviet Unon, which had come out of the war as a superpower and whose foreign policy was one that emphasized democracy and non-intervention in the internal affairs of a state. Accordingly, American foreign policy became bitterly anti-Soviet and anti-Communist. In the Cold War which ensued the aim of Washington was not only to contain the Soviet Union, but also to hold back the Moscow-led world revolutionary movement which had arisen after the war. The result, according to Petruf, was that ''war - whether as a threat or reality - became firmly anchored in the minds of the people as an inevitable aspect of life in the 20th century .... [But] It did not prevent the growth of the strength ahd international authority of the Soviet Union, the appearance of a world socialist system and the development of the world revolutionary and national liberation movement" (pp. 269-270). In six chapters the author unfolds his thesis by looking at American policy toward Central and Southeastern Europe; the shift from cooperaton to confrontaton between the USA and the USSR; the question of Germany; the Truman Doctrine and the policy of containment; the preparations, essence and goals of the Marshall plan; and the creation of NATO. The discussion in each chapter is thorough , even if presented with a certain slant. Among the main actors the author holds reponsible for the Cold War are Truman, Kennan , Acheson, Byrnes, Forrestal and Churchill. According to Petruf, these men had moved away from Roosevelt's policy of cooperation with the USSR and , backed by American �SLOVAKIA 105 right-wing circles, opted for a hard line policy toward the Soviet Union. The book's main weakness, which disqualifies it as a work of serious scholarship, is not only the author's strident tone towards the United States, but also his adulatory approach to the Soviet Union. Not only is there no criticism of Soviet policy, but Kremlin decisions and actions which did more than just contribute to the unfolding of the Cold War are deliberately ignored. For example , in his discussion of the reasons for the reversal of Czechoslovakia's decision to partake in the discussions on the Marshall Plan, he does not mention that on 9 July 1947 a-Czechoslovak delegation composed of Gottwald , Drtina and Masaryk was in Moscow where Stalin informed them that the Czechoslovak acceptance of the Marshall Plan would be considered as an action hostile to the USSR. Petruf writes: "When in the meantime it became clear that the Marshall Plan was essentially directed at the independence and sovereignty of the participating countries, Czechoslovakia revised its initial decision and withdrew its participation in the Paris discussions" (p . 229) . It is a pity that such a thorough study had to be spoiled because of ideological predilections. Marxist scholars will not convince anyone of the validity of their point of view as long as they continue to be unable to take a broader critical look at the events they examine. June Granatir Alexander. The Immigrant Church and Community: Pittsburgh's Slovak Catholics and Lutherans, 1880-1915. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press , 1987. xxxii , 198 pp. M. MARK STOLARIK The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies Philadelphia , Pennsylvania In this revised Ph.D. dissertation, June Alexander set out "to bring to light the complex interplay of factors that led to the creation of ethnic parishes in American cities at the turn of the century" (p. xviii). �106 SLOVAKIA The essence of the book is that Roman Catholic Slovaks, while experiencing some local and internal problems while establishing their churches, had basically no quarrels with the local church hierarchy, whereas Lutheran Slovaks experienced major problems with their clerical leaders because the latter tried to impose a new orthodoxy upon their parishioners. To prove her point Alexander focused upon the four Roman Catholic and one Lutheran parish founded by Slovak immigrants in Pittsburgh between 1895 and 1915. She gave a bit of the religious background of the immigrants, told how they established fraternals in the United States and how these , in turn, led in establishing the parishes , and then traced the actual story of each parish to 1915. Meanwhile, she also discussed the rise of lay initiative among Slovak immigrants, their regionalism and nationalism (or lack of it) , and how these kept the various communities divided. Alexander concluded that the story of Slovak immigration to Pittsburgh is one of coming together to form fraternals and parishes. While the immigrants achieved these goals they did so differently, with the Roman Catholics acting rather harmoniously while the Lutherans were rent by dogmatic divisions. The net result was that the five parishes became communities unto themselves, divided ultimately by regionalism , dialectical and religious differences. While this is a competent study of the creation of five immigrant parishes over a twenty year period at the turn of the century , it has serious limitations . Alexander either did not realize (or chose to ignore) that when one studies ethnic parishes , one has to do so within the context of the local church body. For instance, when dealing with Pittsburgh Slovak Roman Catholics , she should have looked at their story within the diocese of Pittsburgh, which is the natural religious boundary of the area, not the borders of the city . Had she done so she might have noticed that two Slovak Roman Catholic parishes within the diocese (St . Anne 's in Homestead , in 1909, and Sts. Cyril and Methodius in McKeesport, in 1922) seceded from the Roman Catholic Church and joined the independent Polish National Catholic Church. Since there were only a half dozen such secessions among Slovak �SLOVAKIA 107 Roman Catholic parishes in the United States at the turn of the century, there had to be plenty of problems between the Roman Catholic Hierarchy and Slovak immigrants in the Pittsburgh diocese. That is why Alexander's characterizaiton of Slovak Catholic immigrant relations with the local Hierarchy as being ones of "assertive deference" rings very false. Furthermore, Alexander makes certain assertions about the Old World experience of Slovaks which rest upon shaky evidence. In denying lay involvement in parish affairs in Slovakia, or OldWorld experiences of fraternalism, she relies too much on the contemporary observations of secular leaders, who were voicing uninformed opinions, or on the questionable memories of eleven informants, some of whom were born in America and others who must have been children when they immigrated here. How could such people possibly know anything about such complicated subjects as lay initiative or lodge creation in Slovakia? Indeed, there is to date no professional history of the various religions in Slovakia, nor has anyone covered the history of fraternal-benefit societies in Slovakia, which, contrary to Alexander's assertions, did exist there and can be traced back to 1460 A .D. Unfortunately, in today's Communist Slovakia those historians who are still allowed to practice their craft cannot write about the Churches (except in a pejorative way), nor can they focus on non-socialist movements. The only scholars who have touched upon these sensitive matters are Timothy L. Smith and his students and Alexander has chosen to either ignore their work, which was based upon solid research in Slovak archives, or she has chosen to disagree with their findings, without any substantial proof to refute them. Thus, while Alexander's book provides us with a glimpse of Slovak parish and community life in turn-of-the-century Pittsburgh , it suffers from too narrow a perspective that ultimately distorts the larger picture of both Slovak and Slovak-American history . �108 SLOVAKIA Kratky slovnik slovenskeho jazyka. Jan Kacala, Maria Pisarcikova et. al. Bratislava: Veda, 1987. 592 pp. JOHN M. KOCHIK Scottsdale, Arizona This invaluable reference work is presented by SA V - the Slovak Academy of Sciences through its I:udovft Stur Linguistics Institute as the second in its series of Slovak language lexicons in a new single-volume. It is intended for the professional as well as for the average user as a source of information about the vocabularly of present-day Slovak, and as it evolved over the past forty years of its socialist development. This single-volume is labeled "short (kratky)/concise (strucny)" in contrast with SA Vs earlier multi-volume dictionary. The first five-volume Dictionary of the Slovak Language (1959-68) has been sold out. The core of the new Slovnik is the more than 500 pages devoted to its A to Z vocabulary numbering more than 50,000 entries. The information derives not only from the 5,000,000 citations available from the SA V Linguistics Institute's card-catalog but also from others collected since the publication of the first academic Slovnik and still more gleaned from belles lettres, special literature, publications, as well as the results of vast research in contemporary Slovak linguistics. The prepifratory material - those pages preceding the A to Z vocabulary - contains two sections: The Basic Principles of Lexicography, and Abbreviations & Symbols. A noteworthy feature of the vocabulary section is the incorporation and domestication of loan-words in what is termed the process of "internationalization'' (p. 11) of the language. To illustrate this flooding process, five words-in-a-row listed (p. 9) are: dzinsy "jeans," blue- , dzip "jeep," dziu-dzicu "jiu-kitsu," dzob "job," dzokej "jockey," horse- . Among others are (here paginated): bonsaj "banzai" miniature-tree /Japanese/ (51), kibic "kibitz," in cards /Yiddish/ (152), zardiniera "giardiniera" wide flower-pot /Italian/ (582). Among the unexpectedly unexplainable omissions is: ukrajinsky ''Ukrainian,'' whereas the following are listed in the text: �SLOVAKIA 109 bielorusky "Bielorussian" (47), estonsky "Estonian" (98), litovsky "Lithuanian" (184), lotyssky "Latvian" (185), polabsky "Polabian" (306) . The Slovnfk is the product of a collaborative effort by SA V's experts mentioned opposite the main title-page. Those who assiduously prepared this long-awaited lexicon can be proud of their achievements. The Slovnik is an invaluable, readable, handy reference work of contemporary Slovak language. Another, the second, step forward in Slovak lexicography. Apart from its precious contents, the book's binding is disappointingly fragile and.'brittle! Ludvik Patera. Alexander Matuska. Praha: Melantrich, 1985, 440 pp . LOUISE B. HAMMER Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana The Slovak literary critic Alexander Matuska (1910-1975) is known to American students of Czech and Slovak literature for his essay on Karel Capek, Clovek proti skaze (1963), which was published in English as Man Against Destruction (1981) , and for his book J.C. Hronsky (1970) published in Bratislava. Matuska's participation in Slovak intellectual and literary life began in the nineteen thirties and continued throughout his life. His Vy brane spisy (1972-1978) were published in four volumes in Bratislava. As one of the leading literary critics in Czechoslovakia, Matuska had an abiding interest in both Slovak and Czech literature, and was cognizant of the connection between national literatures and world literature. The knowledgeable Czech Slovakist Ludvik Patera, who teaches Slovak literature at Charles University, has written the first monograph on Matuska. Patera 's treatise appears as the seventysixth volume in the series Odkazu pokrokovych osobnisti nasi minulosti. The book consists of two main parts: the first (265 pages) contains Patera's well documented and reliable presenta- �110 SLOVAKIA tion of the chronological development of Matuska's life and work; the second presents a selection of Matuska's writings, which have been translated into Czech. Separating these two parts are thirtytwo pages of photographs, which include facsimiles ofMatuska's published work, manuscripts and letters. The totality of Matuska's activity emerges through Patera's method of combining biographical and literary data. Interspersed among the excerpts from Matuska's critical works are quotes from interviews with him that were published in Slovenske pohl'ady in the seventies . Patera skillfully weaves these quotations into his text, and allows the reader to learn of the life experiences that influenced Matuska' s development as a human being and as a literary critic. Patera 's research on Matuska's student years in Prague increases our understanding of the societal forces that had a great impact on young intellectuals during the inter-war period. While enrolled at Charles University , Matuska was associated with the group R10 (along with Jan Kostra, Dobroslav Chrobak, Michal Chorvath and others). This group was known as " The Young Davists, " the name stemming from their journal Dav, to which they actively contributed. During his student days , Matuska was greatly influenced by the ideas of the Czech critic and artist, F .X. Salda. They found common ground on various points. Neither supported the official view of that time, which claimed the existence of a Czechoslovak language with two versions, the Czech version and the Slovak version (pp. 27-28). They agreed that merging the two languages would only weaken and impoverish them both. As various scholars have pointed out, Slovak was at a disadvantage in the linguistic relationship between Czech and Slovak during the inter-war period , since efforts to bring the two languages together habitually led in the direction of Czech, to the detriment of Slovak. The author's enthusiasm for his subject is evident throughout this well written and richly documented book. It is a welcome contribution to the field of literary history and criticism. In addition , Patera's book contains useful bibliographic information on Matuska's work, corrections of errors that appeared in some earlier editions , and an index of names at the end. �SLOVAKIA 111 Il'ja Cicvak. Vyvolavanie slnka. Ottawa, Canada: Spolocnost' priatel'ov slovenskej literatury, 1984. YVONNE GRABOWSKI York University Toronto, Canada This is a very attractively-presented volume. The motto of the book, taken from Plato, illustrates the author's conviction that people strive for ideals which are most often unattainable. The same idea is expressed in the title of the novel - The Summoning of the Sun - and reinforced by an excellent illustration on the title page by Miro Malis, representing a modern day Sisyphus pushing the sun up the mountain. This Platonic view of the world is fundamentally opposed to the Marxist concept of the universe. It is most probably this difference of perception that accounts for the fact that Cicvak now lives and writes in Canada and not in Czechoslovakia. The novel tells us of the attempts made by individuals, and especially the main character James, to evoke the sun, to find a modicum of happiness in a totalitarian, cruel society. And it is a sad comment on this society that when the sun finally appears at the end of the novel, James cannot enjoy the magnificent view because he has died from the effects of a bullet he received during a peaceful political demonstration. However, in Cicvak's novel, life's frustrations are not limited to James. Every character that appears in the book has been affected one way or another, thwarted in his aspirations, mocked in his most sacred beliefs, slandered, unjustly imprisoned or exploited. Only utter opportunists seem to be able to survive somehow in this climate. Cicvak portrays human lives that are spent looking for peace and happiness, unable to successfully accomplish this quest. Fate, circumstances, or other people always intervene to warp human hopes and expectations . Older people know this truth, but the young approach life with great intensity and a naive trust which gets cruelly deceived in the end. Cicvak's novel is more than a story about the suffering of people in Czechoslovakia under Communist rule. It is also a sad �112 SLOVAKIA parable about life's unfulfilled dreams and shattered hopes. In the end it does not matter that the unnamed "statnik" in the novel has been deprived of his lucrative position - the system that produced him will stay on and life will continue essentially as before. This conclusion finds its reinforcement in the previous events of the novel where the injustices that have been committed against the generation of the parents are repeated in the generation of their sons and daughters. Several recurring motifs in the novel reinforce the unity and central idea of the plot. The main one is, of course, the motif of the sun - a potent symbol - which appears only too rarely throughout the story. Time also plays an important part in the book. All through the novel we became intensely aware of its passing, and the passing of history. Loneliness is another strong theme. People closest to the characters are rarely near when needed. Those that are around are incapable of relating totally. This is a sad book, but a very well-written one. It skillfully unites the plot and the imagery to imbue us with the sense of shattered young dreams and impending death. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1987-88, Vol. 33 Description An account of the resource Vol. 33 (No. 60-61), 1987-88. 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 1987-88 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 REVIEWS 87 SLOVAKIA 89 Vojtech Kopcan. Turecke nebezpecenstvo a Slovensko. Bratislava: Veda, 1986. 217 pp. R. VLADIMIR BAUMGARTEN Tallahassee, Florida This beautifully illustrated work presents an overview of Slovakia's position in the wars between the Turkish Ottomans and the Austrian Habsburgs. For purposes of convenience the author divides this historic conflict into several periods. The first period began with the Ottoman advance through the Balk~ns in the fifteenth century and climaxed with the historic battle of Mohac in 1526. The battle effectively broke the power of the old Hungarian kingdom, and marked the first attempt of the Habsburgs to gain the crown of Saint Stephen. Habsburg efforts were temporarily thwarted by Hungary's last national king Janos Zapolya (whose name is Slovakized by the author to Zapol'sky), but the kingdom was partitioned by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1541. At this point the Habsburgs gained western and northern Hungary, and the Slovak counties became a definite buffer against further Ottoman advance. Slovakia was only indirectly influenced by the Turkish wars in the first-mentioned phase, although Kopcan points to this period as a time when many Croats migrated to the Slovak counties. But the period between the partition of 1541 and the peace treaty of Edirne of 1568 entailed dramatic changes: an additional noble exodus from Turkish-occupied Hungary strengthened feudalism in the Slovak lands, and the Turks made increasing inroads into the mountain districts. The resumption of hostilities in the following two decades saw the rise of pro-Habsburg magnates - particularly the Pa.Iffy and Forgach families - who later played key roles in the history of Habsburg Hungary. By the early seventeenth century Transylvania was likewise making an impact on Upper Hungary. The principality's Protestant rulers, paying nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Porte, frequently sought and gained the support of the latter in their struggles against the Habsburgs. The Transylvanian forays brought great devastation to Slovakia, and also saw the transfer of Kosice and 90 SLOVAKIA the eastern Slovak counties to Transylvania's jurisdiction by the Treaty of Linz in 1645. An attempt by Transylvanian elements to shift to the Habsburg orbit in 1663 led directly to the high-tide mark of Turkish advance into Slovakia; the subsequent peace left the southern counties under direct Ottoman control. Habsburg misrule, the greed of Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa , and the ambitions of Transylvanian leader Imre Thokoly are all cited as factors in the campaign culminating in the great siege of Vienna in 1683. Most knowledgeable historians credit the great naval battle of Lepanto in 1571 as the real turning point of Ottoman fortunes, and Kopcan himself alludes to the significance of the event at the beginning of Chapter Four. But for Central Europe, including Slovakia, the breaking of the siege of Vienna was indeed a turning point. The intervention of Poland was decisive in driving the Turks from southern Slovakia and marked the retreat of Transylvanian power in the eastern counties. In keeping with official Czechoslovak historiography, Kopcan treats the liberation of Nave Zamky as a positive event, and, indeed, the book was written to mark the three hundredth anniversary. The results can scarcely be termed "socially progressive:" feudalism was not weakened, Habsburg absolutism was actually strengthened, and the cause of religious toleration received a severe setback. Kopcan's line of reasoning may be found in Chapter Nine, which serves as a kind of "balance sheet" of the Ottoman presence. The occupied ten:itories were viewed primarily as military frontier zones, and the heavy demands imposed upon the government reflected the same purpose. At least the Mohammedan invaders were replaced by rulers less foreign to the Slovaks , and the war shifted considerably further to the south. A number of the weaknesses of the book are scarcely those of the author's making. The complex course of events creates difficulties in distinguishing between one period and the next. The Slovak lands are treated as mere pawns in the struggle between the contesting powers - and this was indeed the case. But although Kopcan occasionally cites the roles of individual Slovak personalities, he might have given the counties greater attention. In large measure this weakness stems from his choice of source materials . Notes are applied liberally at the end of each chapter, SLOVAKIA 91 and the sources consulted boast of fine studies emanating from numerous countries. But Kopcan might easily have relied more on contemporary Slovak county records. An examination of the Imperial War Archives in Vienna might also have yielded something genuinely original. For advanced students of Slovak history, the Habsburgs, and the Ottoman Empire alike, Turecke nebezpecenstvo presents no great revelations. But Kopcan masterfully ties together several interrelated themes, and the main topic has thus far received little attention in the West. The book may therefore serve as a springboard to more intensive studies of Slovakia's position durng the Turkish wars. Matej Bel: doba-iivot-dielo. Edited by Jan Tibensky. Bratislava: Veda, 1987. 414 pp. Pamatnica z oslav dvojsteho vyrocia Jana Holleho. Edited by Juraj Chovan. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1985 . 472 pp. GERALDJ. SABO John Carroll University University Heights, Ohio Matej Bel is a collection of scholarly papers presented at a conference on Bel (1684-1749) in December, 1983. The Historical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and the Slovak Society for the History of Science and Technology co-sponsored the conference, which was planned in honor of the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Matej Bel , an event highlighted in the UNESCO calendar for 1984. Bel was a prominent and talented Slovak scholar in many areas , as well as a Lutheran minister and promoter of Pietism. His role in Slovak and Magyar/Hungarian cultural history is well known in Central European scholarly circles. Regrettably , Bel is virtually unknown outside of them . The format of this volume continues to insure his inaccessibility to a wider scholarly or general audience. Indeed, this volume contrasts sharply and somewhat unfavorably with the memorial book on the Bernolak-Slovak poet Jan Holly. 92 SLOVAKIA The book on Holly was published under the auspices of the Matica slovenska in commemoration of the two hundredth anniversary of Holly's birth as noted by UNESCO in its 1985 calendar. Jan Holly (1785-1849) was a Roman Catholic priest and the outstanding poet of what is known as Bernolak-Slovak. This version of literary Slovak was codified by Anton Bernolak, another Catholic priest, in the late 1780's and early 1790's. Employing this codification, which became the writing form of Catholic Slovaks until sometime in the 1850's, Holly first translated classical poets and later created his own poetry in it. This book includes a chronology of Holly's life and works, written accounts of various celebrations in his honor, scholarly papers from a conference about him, and varia. It is a fitting tribute to a writer long neglected in contemporary Slovakia and but very recently properly heralded. The Holly memorial has some rather distinctive features. The Slovak text is usually followed by English and French summaries of varying length , with shorter Russian and German summaries of everything at the end of the volume. Such linguistic variety makes this book accessible to a very wide audience; this is not a typical Slovak publishing practice. By contrast, the Bel volume is completely in Slovak, with no summaries in any other language. Furthermore , the Holly memorial has sixteen color photographs while the reproductions in the Bel volume are all in black and white. Both books have colored dust jackets, but the Holly book, unlike the Bel volume, has reproduced on the inside cover, front and back, some well-known historic scenes. One is of Bernolak presenting his codification to the Trnava primate and to the Catholic seminarians in Bratislava; the other has the Lutheran pastor and scholar I.:udovit Shir and his followers presenting their codification ideas to Holly. Such elaborate binding was not really necessary but it indicates the degree to which contemporary Slovak cultured society wished to honor Holly. The books were also published in disproportionate numbers: 7,500 Holly books versus only 800 on Bel. Unlike the Bel volume, the Holly book includes indices that enhance its scholarly value. The final contrast is even more striking. The Holly conference was held in 1985 SLOVAKIA 93 and the memorial book appeared in the same year! The Bel conference took place in 1983 and the papers were not published until 1987. In spite of the publisher's slights, the Bel volume is excellent, as one might expect from its editor, the distinguished historian Jan Tibensky. This collection of papers is divided into six main topic areas among which are distributed forty-four presentations of varying size. The topic areas are: the era, life, and world view of Matej Bel; Bel as a pedagogue; the great counry-wide project of Matej Bel and his attempts at organizing the scholarly life of the Hungarian state; the Notitia and Adparatus as realizations of Matej Bel's country-wide program; the peoples of the old Hungarian state in his writings; and his final message and bequest. In addition to some introductory comments, Jan Tibensky contributed five of the articles; the remaining 39 are primarily by Slovak specialists from many fields. For some strange reason the authors are noted on the bottom of the first page of their articles, and not in the Table of Contents. There is also a laudable wealth of material in the Holly memorial book. One section contains 23 scholarly papers from the conference on Holly, plus introductory and concluding comments by Karol Rosenbaum. Of greatest interest to me in literature and cultural history were the following: Jan Tibensky's paper on the great Moravian and Cyrillomethodian tradition in the writings of Jan Holly; Zdenka Sojkova's discussion of Holly's reception and influence in the Czech lands; Viliam Turcany's consideration of Holly's poetic language; as well as that of Frantisek Straus, and Katarina Habovstiakova's discussion of Holly and BernolakSlovak. The appendices - a select bibliography, a listing of Holly's manuscripts, a name and place index - will be helpful to interested readers. The scholar fortunate enough to obtain copies of both books, especially the smaller Bel volume , will possess an abundance of material on Slovak cultural history of the 18th and 19th, and even of the 20th centuries. Such high-quality books are not often found in Slovak studies. Their respective editors and contributors are to be commended for making two prominent cultural figures more accessible to the Slavic scholarly community. 94 SLOVAKIA Hugolin Gavlovic {1712-1787}. Introduction by Michal Elias. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1987. 17 photographs, 11 pp. GERALDJ. SABO John Carroll University University Heights, Ohio This fotosubor was published in commemoration of the two hundredth anniversary of the death of Hugolin Gavlovic, a Franciscan priest who was a major Slovak writer of the eighteenth century. Michal Elias' introduction is written in a popular, somewhat scholarly style in order to make his comments accessible to a wideranging reading public. Highlighted is Gavlovic's Valaska Skala, an extensive poem of some eighteen thousand verses . Gavlovic and his writings are presented in the context of other Franciscans of his time as well as of those active in the Pruske Franciscan house, not far from Trencin, where Gavlovic wrote many of his works. It is praiseworthy that Matica slovenska has sought to distinguish Gavlovic, none of whose writings have been published accurately or in their entirety - even some very small ones in Slovakia at the present time. Certainly, it adds to his distinction by UNESCO, which incorporated the anniversary of Gavlovic's death into its 1987 calendar. The difficulty is that some of Elias' material is confusing and inaccurate or not as complete as it might have been. Certain writings - Adamowa Promena and Katechyzmus, for example - attributed traditionally to Gavlovic and so noted by Elias - are today no longer believed to have been written by Gavlovic. Just a half year after the publication of this fotosubor, Gizela Slavkovska-Gafrikova published a listing of Gavlovic's writings and a rather detailed biography, more complete and accurate than that of Elias , in "Zivotopisne a bibliograficke otazniky Hugolina Gavlovica," Slovenska literatura , Vol. 34, No. 6, pp. 348-361. It is regrettable that these two specialists could not have collaborated on Gavlovic's biographical data. Then perhaps there would have been expressed at least some reservation about whether Gavlovic was a tutor for the Madocany children near the end of his life; that he was so is still claimed without any real SLOVAKIA 95 substantiation. Qualifications even in so popularly written a work as Elias' have a definite place. In his citations from Valaska Skala, Elias, like every other modern Slovak editor including Slavkovska-Gafrikova, has a text with a dlien , something that Gavlovic never used in his writings, and in places that certainly do not correspond with modern Slovak usage. Since the autographs of all of Gavlovic's extant writings are preserved at Matica slovenska in Martin, Elias should have consulted these originals before producing the texts in the fotosubor. Even Slavkovska-Gafrikova, in her June, 1987 publication Hugolin Gavlovic Naucenia o Dobrych Mravoch r does no better though she should certainly have been very familiar with the autographs of Gavlovic. Why modern Slovak editors like Elias and Slavkovska-Gafrikova persist in such reproduction of Gavlovic's writings is baffling . Indeed, photographs of various Gavlovic autographs included in the fotosubor are clear evidence that Gavlovic did not use a dlien, and a miikcen only irregularly with a "t" or "n." Whatever the nature of the intended audience, the original text accompanied by a modern rendition is preferable where so little of the autograph(s) is cited. The cover of the fotosubor is a striking watercolor by the outstanding contemporary painter Albin Brunovsky, some of whose paintings and drawings have been on exhibit in various American locations during 1988. The photographs related directly to Gavlovic's life and writings are good and give the reader a reasonable acquaintance with so important a writer. Matica slovenska, and Dr. Elias, are to be commended for their efforts in producing this fotosubor and , hopefully in the future, may correct some of its inadequacies. Dejiny Slovenska, JV, (ad konca 19. star. do roku 1918} Pavel Hapak, et. al. Bratislava: Veda, 1986. 534 pp. MICHAEL J. KOPANIC , JR. University of Akron , Ohio This is the fourth in the series entitled Dejiny Slovenska , which is the most recent multi-volume survey of Slovak history 96 SLOVAKIA to come out of the Slovak Socialist Republic. A group of leading Slovak scholars authored this book which is woven together fairly coherently for a collaborative effort. Volume IV outlines the major trends in Slovak politics, society, culture , and the economy from 1900 until the establishment of the Czecho-Slovak Republic in 1918. The authors also attempt to place Slovak history in the international setting of a Europe on the brink of revolutionary changes . Some of the strongest sections in the book are the summaries of the macroeconomic and microeconomic development of prewar industries, financial institutions, services, and agriculture in Slovakia. Useful tables and statistics are included. Likewise, the authors provide an analysis of each social class and the nationalities (except for the Carpathian Germans). In politics, the authors (especially J. Butvin) stress the disunity of the Slovak parties which prevented a common front to counter the strong Magyarization pressures that accelerated after the passage of the Apponyi Education Acts of 1907. Despite the authors' noteworthy achievements, the volume is not without its shortcomings. In the bibliography there is an obvious neglect of post-World War II Western studies and emigre literature on Slovakia (for example, Hrusovsky, Kirschbaum, Mikula, and others). Emigration to America, and elsewhere, could have been more carefully analyzed, especially its impact on political self-awareness in Slovakia. The wave of emigration, communications with friends and relatives, and the return of Slovaks from America to their homeland gradually raised the national and political consciousness of common folk throughout Slovakia and helped propel the movement to seek an alternative state in association with the Czechs. As in many other studies from contemporary Czechoslovakia, there is a marked emphasis upon Slovak labor history and the influence of the working class both before and during World War I. The authors (especially Pavel Hapak) underline the rising significance of the Slovak Social Democratic Party, the trade unions, and the impact of such organizations as spevokoly (singing societies) in promoting Slovak national awareness and class consciousness. The authors aptly illustrate the nationality con- SLOVAKIA 97 flicts of Magyar chauvinism among Hungarian Social Democratic leaders. However, the reader must be wary of any tendency to overexaggerate the significance of the workers' movement. As Pavel Hapak points out (p. 258), no more than 6,346 Slovaks belonged to the Slovak Social Democratic organization in Hungary at its peak in 1907. More Slovaks were organizing in larger cities such as Budapest and Vienna, but we still lack detailed studies of these experiences. These pre-war experiences reached a fruition in the latter stages of World War I and resulted in a surge of political and labor activism which is described in the 1917-18 period. As in many other Marxist histories, the authors ascribe too much influence to the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 rather than to the March Russian Revolution which marked the beginning of the end for the old regimes of Europe. Despite the concerns of the authors with the lower classes, they do not provide a good sense of what it was like to be a worker, a peasant, or a migratory laborer. Too often the authors stress social history more from an institutional and statistical angle, rather than presenting us with a close-up of what life was really like for the average person in Slovakia. Most obvious is the neglect of the Slovak people's association with their churches, the center of village life. What did Slovak people value most highly in their hierarchy of priorities, and how and why were these values changing? The authors do not tell us. In a book which concentrates on a such narrow period, the authors could have presented a much better portrait of some of the leading personalities in Slovakia such as Pavel Blaho, Andrej Hlinka, or Emanuel Lehocky. Frequently, the reader obtains only a one-dimensional aspect of a person's life, usually his political or labor movement activities. A sense of what the total person was like is missing . Although the book contains a good bibliography of published books and articles and a bibliographic essay, the authors did not footnote their work. Footnotes would have been a useful addition for students of modern Slovak history. The book also lacks maps and a subject index (only a name and place index are included) which should accompany a work of this nature . 98 SLOVAKIA Finally, the authors did not attempt to write any conclusions about the meaning of Slovak history in the period covered. Although such a task is always difficult in a collaborative work, this would have given the study more unity . If there is any common theme which pervades the study, it is the alliance of Magyar financial capital with a noble ruling class which was bent on Magyarizing and exploiting Slovak peasants and blue-collar workers. These criticisms should not discourage one from obtaining the volume. The book is a valuable and useful reference tool for the library of any scholar of Slovak history. Many topics such as literature, labor, economic, and political history are well summarized in a readable style, and the interpretations are more objective than many earlier Marxist studies. This is surely the best available detailed survey of Slovakia in the early twentieth century. Stephan Parak. Die Schweiz und der Slowakische Staat. Bern: Peter Lang (Europaische Hochschulschriften Ill/339), 1987, 308 pp. STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM York University, Glendon College Toronto, Canada Once in a while , a pearl is dropped on the lap of scholars. All the necessary ingredients are there: a relatively unknown topic, thorough research, a scholarly approach, the proper use of references, balanced conclusions and a challenge to conventional wisdom. Such is Stephan Parak's study of the political and economic relations between two small states in wartime, Slovakia and Switzerland. It is not necessary to belabour the point that the Slovak Republic does not generally enjoy a good reputation in Western scholarship. Created at a time when Germany was bent on redrawing the map of Central Europe, allied to it in war, involved in the persecution of the Jews and occupied in the end by one of the Allied powers , the Slovak state belonged to the camp of the van- SLOVAKIA 99 quished and suffered as a result the inevitable consequences of unconditional defeat. This outcome has guided many scholars who see more virtue in triumphalism than in the accurate reconstruction of the past. Whatever may be the merits of the debate whether the Slovak Diet should have proclaimed Slovakia's independence on 14 March 1939, the fact is that on that day a new state appeared on the political map of Europe. Its leaders were determined to use the opportunity not only to safeguard the well-being of the nation , but also to ensure its growth and development. That there was great German pressure in Slovak political life, that the Slovak leaders took decisions contrary to the Christian philosophy of their party, that the Slovak economy fuelled the German war effort were all facts of the political life of this small state next to an expansionist ideological regime; equally true is the fact that this state sought to withstand and diminish some of these pressures and to lead the life of a small country which needs good relations with others to survive and thrive . Parak's study looks at both of these themes in his examination of the relations between Slovakia and Switzerland. The first influenced the question of the diplomatic recognition of Slovakia. It was settled as much by the Swiss interpretation of international law as by Bern's appraisal of the power constellation in Europe in 1939 . The Swiss " tacit recognition" of Slovakia reflected this as did the break of relations in 1945 and the recognition of the renewed state of Czechoslovakia. On the Slovak side, it was clearly most important to achieve the best diplomatic status possible , something which the Swiss were unwilling to grant, especially in wartime. Parak documents and analyzes this question not only thoroughly, but in an intelligent and balanced way. The diplomatic tug-of-war between these two states did not prevent on the other hand important economic and cultural relations. A good part of this study concentrates on the scope and the benefits of these relations to both states. It makes all the more fascinating reading as these relations were being carried out while the rest of Europe was at war. The extent to which Slovakia could exist as an independent state is made quite clear by these relations. The author also devotes an entire chapter on the role of 100 SLOVAKIA Switzerland in the fate of the Slovak Jews. His approach is factual and sensitive. He notes that in 1942, neither the Swiss government, nor the Red Cross lodged a protest against the deportations of Slovak Jews to Poland. Yet Swiss representatives in Slovakia were also very active in protecting Jews who were important for economic and commercial reasons and they intervened with Slovak authorities to see that presidential exceptions were granted to them. After the 1944 revolt the situation was reversed. The meaning of the German Final Solution was then clear; the Swiss government and the Red Cross lodged protects against the deportations. But neither they nor the Slovak government could do anything - even protect those who had been granted presidential exceptions - as the Germans were now in control in Slovakia. Nevertheless many Swiss, including diplomatic representatives, with the support of the Slovak Red Cross and Church circles , were able personally to extend refuge to individual Jews . In the light of this record Parak asks whether the Swiss might have had more success if they had been more active on the official diplomatic level. He concludes: "One is left with the impression that on the Swiss side not all available opportunities were exhausted to save Slovak Jews in the Second World War" (p . 215). In his overall conclusion Parak considers that the relations between these two states, like those of great powers, were determined by national interest as well as by their perception of the international situation. This is an interesting conclusion, not for Switzerland where to most it must seem self-evident, but for Slovakia where a perception still lingers among scholars that its policies and activities were dictated entirely by Berlin. Yet such a challenge to conventional wisdom is the normal outcome of this study. That is not the least of its merits. This is a published doctoral dissertation as required by European universities (in this case the University of Basel) for the obtaining of the degree. Given its excellence, it should be translated into English; it needs very few modifications . Above all , it certainly deserves to be read by as wide a public as possible . SLOVAKIA 101 Carol Skalnik Leff. National Conflict in Czechoslovakia: The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918-1987. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1988. xi, 304 pp. JAMES FELAK Bloomington, Indiana A persistent theme in the history of Czechoslovakia has been the Slovak quest for autonomy. In her book National Conflict in Czechoslovakia: The Making and Remaking of a State, 1918-1917, Carol Skalnik Leff examines this crucial issue from 1918 to the present. She deals above all with the Slovak question as manifested in the First Czechoslovak Republic and in the Communist state between 1948 and 1968, stressing similarities in how both the democratic and the Communist regimes handled the issue of autonomy. In the interwar democracy as well as the postwar Communist state, Leff sees certain impediments to autonomy. In both states, Czechoslovakia's leaders believed that modernization, not autonomy, would solve the Slovak question. In the First Republic, Masaryk and other Czechoslovak leaders explained Slovak discontent as the product of Hungarian influence and believed that one only had to develop Slovakia culturally in order for the Slovaks to assimilate to a ''Czechoslovak'' nation. The Communist regime saw Slovakia's backwardness as a function of economics. It believed that economic modernization would solve the Slovak question by effecting a zblizenie, a drawing together of Czechs and Slovaks in a comon culture. Both attempts failed. All they did was raise Slovak expectations and produce a more skilled and sophisticated nationalist leadership, better able to articulate Slovak discontent. Another similarity between the two regimes, according to Leff, was the systemic obstacles they presented to autonomy. Although the First Republic's parliamentary system and relative freedom of expression gave the autonomist Slovak People's Party a public and parliamentary podium from which to advocate its autonomist program, the structure of the system guaranteed that autonomist concerns would not be addressed seriously by the 102 SLOVAKIA government. The system of proportional representation, reflected in the so-called Petka, meant that the chances for the opposition to come to power were slim and that the government's main priority was those issues that could potentially affect the viability of the coalition. The government had little incentive to take up disruptive issues advocated only by parties outside the coalition. Although it officially recognized the Slovak nation, Communist Czechoslovakia likewise presented impediments for the Slovak autonomy movement. The liquidation of organized opposition and free expression, an ideological commitment to centralism, and bureaucratic rigidity all had a negative influence on the prospects for Slovak autonomy . Leff ascribes persistent tensions between Czechs and Slovaks to an '' ethos of mutual betrayal''. Because Slovak nationalists had little hope for realizing autonomy under the interwar and post-1948 regimes, they sought to further their aims during times of crisis. Autonomist Slovaks took advantage of the periods when Prague, under fire from without, needed to consolidate its position at home. However, because the Slovaks got autonomy in the wake of the Munich agreement and federation in the wake of the Soviet invasion, many Czechs regarded the Slovaks as doubledealers willing to exploit the republic's troubles and do business with its external enemies for their own selfish ends. This, coupled with a perceived ingratitude on the part of the Slovaks, who seemed not to appreciate the Czech contributions to Slovakia's cultural and economic advancement, led Czechs to accuse Slovaks of betrayal. Many Slovaks, on the other hand, resented what they saw as a string of broken promises and a patronizing attitude toward them on the part of the Czechs. Leff gives a mixed review of the post-1968 federalist Czechoslovakia. She claims it has not fully solved the Slovak question, which remains "deeply, and perhaps irreversibly, woven into the fabric of Czechoslovak politics as usual.'' One might ask whether Slovaks can ever enjoy autonomy in a system that gives the population no control over who its leaders are or what policies those leaders pursue. . There are two drawbacks with Leff' s work that ought to be · pointed out. First, although she correctly mentions that SLOVAKIA 103 · geopolitical factors played a role in the Czech refusal to grant Slovakia autonomy, she fails to elaborate sufficiently on this important point. Secondly, her use of sociological jargon and attempt to test certain social science theories sometimes tends to obfuscate rather than illuminate the question at hand. These shortcomings aside, Leff has presented a thoughtful analysis of a very complicated problem. Her work is balanced and insightful and she advances a number of valid arguments. Leff has confirmed the fact that it is possible to do worthwbile research on twentieth century Czechoslovakia without a visit to Czech and Slovak archives . Her book is recommended reading for those interested in the Slovak question and Czechoslovakia's history and politics in general. Pavol Petruf. USA a studena vojna (Politika americkeho imperializmu v Europe 1945-1949. Bratislava: Pravda, 1985. 280 pp. STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM York University, Glendon College Toronto, Canada One's first impression after reading this book is that the American school of historical revisionism has found a positive echo among Marxist scholars in Eastern Europe. This detailed study of American foreign policy in the immediate post-war years will, therefore, interest readers and students behind the Iron Curtain for whom access to Western scholarship is still restricted. It may also be seen as an indication of an attempt at openness in scholarship, certainly among Slovak Marxist academics, even though the first footnote is to a Soviet source (the Great Soviet Encyclopedia no less), a practice that was de rigueur during the Stalinist years. However, the Western reader will find nothing new and certainly no original interpretation of the origins of the Cold War. Unlike many revisionist historians, Petruf has not produced a study based primarily, if not uniquely, on documentary evidence. Rather, his sources are a mixture of published American 104 SLOVAKIA documents, Soviet and Czech volumes of documents, and Marxist and Western studies. A few American authors are favored and even quoted extensively. Unfortunately there are some liberties with the translations, which does not do credit to the book. But this is a minor problem which is attenuated by the detailed presentation of American foreign policy during the years 1944-1949. Petruf's central thesis is that during the war governing circles in the United States had worked out a strategic plan that would enable the United States to control most of the planet in the postwar world. The United States would use economic, social and political means to establish this hegemony. Their only obstacle was the Soviet Unon, which had come out of the war as a superpower and whose foreign policy was one that emphasized democracy and non-intervention in the internal affairs of a state. Accordingly, American foreign policy became bitterly anti-Soviet and anti-Communist. In the Cold War which ensued the aim of Washington was not only to contain the Soviet Union, but also to hold back the Moscow-led world revolutionary movement which had arisen after the war. The result, according to Petruf, was that ''war - whether as a threat or reality - became firmly anchored in the minds of the people as an inevitable aspect of life in the 20th century .... [But] It did not prevent the growth of the strength ahd international authority of the Soviet Union, the appearance of a world socialist system and the development of the world revolutionary and national liberation movement" (pp. 269-270). In six chapters the author unfolds his thesis by looking at American policy toward Central and Southeastern Europe; the shift from cooperaton to confrontaton between the USA and the USSR; the question of Germany; the Truman Doctrine and the policy of containment; the preparations, essence and goals of the Marshall plan; and the creation of NATO. The discussion in each chapter is thorough , even if presented with a certain slant. Among the main actors the author holds reponsible for the Cold War are Truman, Kennan , Acheson, Byrnes, Forrestal and Churchill. According to Petruf, these men had moved away from Roosevelt's policy of cooperation with the USSR and , backed by American SLOVAKIA 105 right-wing circles, opted for a hard line policy toward the Soviet Union. The book's main weakness, which disqualifies it as a work of serious scholarship, is not only the author's strident tone towards the United States, but also his adulatory approach to the Soviet Union. Not only is there no criticism of Soviet policy, but Kremlin decisions and actions which did more than just contribute to the unfolding of the Cold War are deliberately ignored. For example , in his discussion of the reasons for the reversal of Czechoslovakia's decision to partake in the discussions on the Marshall Plan, he does not mention that on 9 July 1947 a-Czechoslovak delegation composed of Gottwald , Drtina and Masaryk was in Moscow where Stalin informed them that the Czechoslovak acceptance of the Marshall Plan would be considered as an action hostile to the USSR. Petruf writes: "When in the meantime it became clear that the Marshall Plan was essentially directed at the independence and sovereignty of the participating countries, Czechoslovakia revised its initial decision and withdrew its participation in the Paris discussions" (p . 229) . It is a pity that such a thorough study had to be spoiled because of ideological predilections. Marxist scholars will not convince anyone of the validity of their point of view as long as they continue to be unable to take a broader critical look at the events they examine. June Granatir Alexander. The Immigrant Church and Community: Pittsburgh's Slovak Catholics and Lutherans, 1880-1915. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press , 1987. xxxii , 198 pp. M. MARK STOLARIK The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies Philadelphia , Pennsylvania In this revised Ph.D. dissertation, June Alexander set out "to bring to light the complex interplay of factors that led to the creation of ethnic parishes in American cities at the turn of the century" (p. xviii). 106 SLOVAKIA The essence of the book is that Roman Catholic Slovaks, while experiencing some local and internal problems while establishing their churches, had basically no quarrels with the local church hierarchy, whereas Lutheran Slovaks experienced major problems with their clerical leaders because the latter tried to impose a new orthodoxy upon their parishioners. To prove her point Alexander focused upon the four Roman Catholic and one Lutheran parish founded by Slovak immigrants in Pittsburgh between 1895 and 1915. She gave a bit of the religious background of the immigrants, told how they established fraternals in the United States and how these , in turn, led in establishing the parishes , and then traced the actual story of each parish to 1915. Meanwhile, she also discussed the rise of lay initiative among Slovak immigrants, their regionalism and nationalism (or lack of it) , and how these kept the various communities divided. Alexander concluded that the story of Slovak immigration to Pittsburgh is one of coming together to form fraternals and parishes. While the immigrants achieved these goals they did so differently, with the Roman Catholics acting rather harmoniously while the Lutherans were rent by dogmatic divisions. The net result was that the five parishes became communities unto themselves, divided ultimately by regionalism , dialectical and religious differences. While this is a competent study of the creation of five immigrant parishes over a twenty year period at the turn of the century , it has serious limitations . Alexander either did not realize (or chose to ignore) that when one studies ethnic parishes , one has to do so within the context of the local church body. For instance, when dealing with Pittsburgh Slovak Roman Catholics , she should have looked at their story within the diocese of Pittsburgh, which is the natural religious boundary of the area, not the borders of the city . Had she done so she might have noticed that two Slovak Roman Catholic parishes within the diocese (St . Anne 's in Homestead , in 1909, and Sts. Cyril and Methodius in McKeesport, in 1922) seceded from the Roman Catholic Church and joined the independent Polish National Catholic Church. Since there were only a half dozen such secessions among Slovak SLOVAKIA 107 Roman Catholic parishes in the United States at the turn of the century, there had to be plenty of problems between the Roman Catholic Hierarchy and Slovak immigrants in the Pittsburgh diocese. That is why Alexander's characterizaiton of Slovak Catholic immigrant relations with the local Hierarchy as being ones of "assertive deference" rings very false. Furthermore, Alexander makes certain assertions about the Old World experience of Slovaks which rest upon shaky evidence. In denying lay involvement in parish affairs in Slovakia, or OldWorld experiences of fraternalism, she relies too much on the contemporary observations of secular leaders, who were voicing uninformed opinions, or on the questionable memories of eleven informants, some of whom were born in America and others who must have been children when they immigrated here. How could such people possibly know anything about such complicated subjects as lay initiative or lodge creation in Slovakia? Indeed, there is to date no professional history of the various religions in Slovakia, nor has anyone covered the history of fraternal-benefit societies in Slovakia, which, contrary to Alexander's assertions, did exist there and can be traced back to 1460 A .D. Unfortunately, in today's Communist Slovakia those historians who are still allowed to practice their craft cannot write about the Churches (except in a pejorative way), nor can they focus on non-socialist movements. The only scholars who have touched upon these sensitive matters are Timothy L. Smith and his students and Alexander has chosen to either ignore their work, which was based upon solid research in Slovak archives, or she has chosen to disagree with their findings, without any substantial proof to refute them. Thus, while Alexander's book provides us with a glimpse of Slovak parish and community life in turn-of-the-century Pittsburgh , it suffers from too narrow a perspective that ultimately distorts the larger picture of both Slovak and Slovak-American history . 108 SLOVAKIA Kratky slovnik slovenskeho jazyka. Jan Kacala, Maria Pisarcikova et. al. Bratislava: Veda, 1987. 592 pp. JOHN M. KOCHIK Scottsdale, Arizona This invaluable reference work is presented by SA V - the Slovak Academy of Sciences through its I:udovft Stur Linguistics Institute as the second in its series of Slovak language lexicons in a new single-volume. It is intended for the professional as well as for the average user as a source of information about the vocabularly of present-day Slovak, and as it evolved over the past forty years of its socialist development. This single-volume is labeled "short (kratky)/concise (strucny)" in contrast with SA Vs earlier multi-volume dictionary. The first five-volume Dictionary of the Slovak Language (1959-68) has been sold out. The core of the new Slovnik is the more than 500 pages devoted to its A to Z vocabulary numbering more than 50,000 entries. The information derives not only from the 5,000,000 citations available from the SA V Linguistics Institute's card-catalog but also from others collected since the publication of the first academic Slovnik and still more gleaned from belles lettres, special literature, publications, as well as the results of vast research in contemporary Slovak linguistics. The prepifratory material - those pages preceding the A to Z vocabulary - contains two sections: The Basic Principles of Lexicography, and Abbreviations & Symbols. A noteworthy feature of the vocabulary section is the incorporation and domestication of loan-words in what is termed the process of "internationalization'' (p. 11) of the language. To illustrate this flooding process, five words-in-a-row listed (p. 9) are: dzinsy "jeans," blue- , dzip "jeep," dziu-dzicu "jiu-kitsu," dzob "job," dzokej "jockey," horse- . Among others are (here paginated): bonsaj "banzai" miniature-tree /Japanese/ (51), kibic "kibitz," in cards /Yiddish/ (152), zardiniera "giardiniera" wide flower-pot /Italian/ (582). Among the unexpectedly unexplainable omissions is: ukrajinsky ''Ukrainian,'' whereas the following are listed in the text: SLOVAKIA 109 bielorusky "Bielorussian" (47), estonsky "Estonian" (98), litovsky "Lithuanian" (184), lotyssky "Latvian" (185), polabsky "Polabian" (306) . The Slovnfk is the product of a collaborative effort by SA V's experts mentioned opposite the main title-page. Those who assiduously prepared this long-awaited lexicon can be proud of their achievements. The Slovnik is an invaluable, readable, handy reference work of contemporary Slovak language. Another, the second, step forward in Slovak lexicography. Apart from its precious contents, the book's binding is disappointingly fragile and.'brittle! Ludvik Patera. Alexander Matuska. Praha: Melantrich, 1985, 440 pp . LOUISE B. HAMMER Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana The Slovak literary critic Alexander Matuska (1910-1975) is known to American students of Czech and Slovak literature for his essay on Karel Capek, Clovek proti skaze (1963), which was published in English as Man Against Destruction (1981) , and for his book J.C. Hronsky (1970) published in Bratislava. Matuska's participation in Slovak intellectual and literary life began in the nineteen thirties and continued throughout his life. His Vy brane spisy (1972-1978) were published in four volumes in Bratislava. As one of the leading literary critics in Czechoslovakia, Matuska had an abiding interest in both Slovak and Czech literature, and was cognizant of the connection between national literatures and world literature. The knowledgeable Czech Slovakist Ludvik Patera, who teaches Slovak literature at Charles University, has written the first monograph on Matuska. Patera 's treatise appears as the seventysixth volume in the series Odkazu pokrokovych osobnisti nasi minulosti. The book consists of two main parts: the first (265 pages) contains Patera's well documented and reliable presenta- 110 SLOVAKIA tion of the chronological development of Matuska's life and work; the second presents a selection of Matuska's writings, which have been translated into Czech. Separating these two parts are thirtytwo pages of photographs, which include facsimiles ofMatuska's published work, manuscripts and letters. The totality of Matuska's activity emerges through Patera's method of combining biographical and literary data. Interspersed among the excerpts from Matuska's critical works are quotes from interviews with him that were published in Slovenske pohl'ady in the seventies . Patera skillfully weaves these quotations into his text, and allows the reader to learn of the life experiences that influenced Matuska' s development as a human being and as a literary critic. Patera 's research on Matuska's student years in Prague increases our understanding of the societal forces that had a great impact on young intellectuals during the inter-war period. While enrolled at Charles University , Matuska was associated with the group R10 (along with Jan Kostra, Dobroslav Chrobak, Michal Chorvath and others). This group was known as " The Young Davists, " the name stemming from their journal Dav, to which they actively contributed. During his student days , Matuska was greatly influenced by the ideas of the Czech critic and artist, F .X. Salda. They found common ground on various points. Neither supported the official view of that time, which claimed the existence of a Czechoslovak language with two versions, the Czech version and the Slovak version (pp. 27-28). They agreed that merging the two languages would only weaken and impoverish them both. As various scholars have pointed out, Slovak was at a disadvantage in the linguistic relationship between Czech and Slovak during the inter-war period , since efforts to bring the two languages together habitually led in the direction of Czech, to the detriment of Slovak. The author's enthusiasm for his subject is evident throughout this well written and richly documented book. It is a welcome contribution to the field of literary history and criticism. In addition , Patera's book contains useful bibliographic information on Matuska's work, corrections of errors that appeared in some earlier editions , and an index of names at the end. SLOVAKIA 111 Il'ja Cicvak. Vyvolavanie slnka. Ottawa, Canada: Spolocnost' priatel'ov slovenskej literatury, 1984. YVONNE GRABOWSKI York University Toronto, Canada This is a very attractively-presented volume. The motto of the book, taken from Plato, illustrates the author's conviction that people strive for ideals which are most often unattainable. The same idea is expressed in the title of the novel - The Summoning of the Sun - and reinforced by an excellent illustration on the title page by Miro Malis, representing a modern day Sisyphus pushing the sun up the mountain. This Platonic view of the world is fundamentally opposed to the Marxist concept of the universe. It is most probably this difference of perception that accounts for the fact that Cicvak now lives and writes in Canada and not in Czechoslovakia. The novel tells us of the attempts made by individuals, and especially the main character James, to evoke the sun, to find a modicum of happiness in a totalitarian, cruel society. And it is a sad comment on this society that when the sun finally appears at the end of the novel, James cannot enjoy the magnificent view because he has died from the effects of a bullet he received during a peaceful political demonstration. However, in Cicvak's novel, life's frustrations are not limited to James. Every character that appears in the book has been affected one way or another, thwarted in his aspirations, mocked in his most sacred beliefs, slandered, unjustly imprisoned or exploited. Only utter opportunists seem to be able to survive somehow in this climate. Cicvak portrays human lives that are spent looking for peace and happiness, unable to successfully accomplish this quest. Fate, circumstances, or other people always intervene to warp human hopes and expectations . Older people know this truth, but the young approach life with great intensity and a naive trust which gets cruelly deceived in the end. Cicvak's novel is more than a story about the suffering of people in Czechoslovakia under Communist rule. It is also a sad 112 SLOVAKIA parable about life's unfulfilled dreams and shattered hopes. In the end it does not matter that the unnamed "statnik" in the novel has been deprived of his lucrative position - the system that produced him will stay on and life will continue essentially as before. This conclusion finds its reinforcement in the previous events of the novel where the injustices that have been committed against the generation of the parents are repeated in the generation of their sons and daughters. Several recurring motifs in the novel reinforce the unity and central idea of the plot. The main one is, of course, the motif of the sun - a potent symbol - which appears only too rarely throughout the story. Time also plays an important part in the book. All through the novel we became intensely aware of its passing, and the passing of history. Loneliness is another strong theme. People closest to the characters are rarely near when needed. Those that are around are incapable of relating totally. This is a sad book, but a very well-written one. It skillfully unites the plot and the imagery to imbue us with the sense of shattered young dreams and impending death.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Book Reviews, Slovakia, Vol. 33 (No. 60-61) Description An account of the resource includes:<br /><ul><li>Vojtech Kopčan, <em>Turecké nebezpečenstvo a Slovensko</em> (R. Vladimir Baumgarten), p. 89</li> <li>Ján Tibenský, ed., <em>Matej Bel: doba-život-dielo, and Juraj Chovan, Pamätnica z osláv dvojstého výročia Jána Hollého</em> (Gerald J. Sabo), p. 91</li> <li>Michal Eliáš, <em>Hugolín Gavlovič (1712-1787)</em> (Gerald J. Sabo), p. 94</li> <li>Pavel Hapák, <em>Dejiny Slovenska</em>, IV (Michael J. Kopanic, Jr.), p. 95</li> <li>Stephan Parak, <em>Die Schweiz und der Slowakische Staat</em> (Stanislav J. Kirschbaum), p. 98</li> <li>Carol Skalnik Leff, <em>National Conflict in Czechoslovakia</em> (James Felak), p. 101</li> <li>Pavol Petruf, <em>USA a studená vojna</em> (Stanislav J. Kirschbaum), p. 103</li> <li>June Granatir Alexander, <em>The Immigrant Church and Community: Pittsburgh's Slovak Catholics and Lutherans, 1880-1915</em> (M. Mark Stolarik), p. 105</li> <li>Ján Kačala et. al., <em>Krátky slovník slovenského jazyka</em> (John M. Kochik), p. 108</li> <li>Ludvík Patera, <em>Alexander Matuška</em> (Louise B. Hammer), p. 109</li> <li>Iľja Čičvák. <em>Vyvolávanie slnka</em> (Yvonne Grabowski), p. 111</li> </ul> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baumgarten, R. Vladimir Felak, James Ramon, 1957- Grabowski, Yvonne, 1929-1989 Hammer, Louise B., 1940- Kirschbaum, Stanislav J., 1942- Kochik, John Michael Kopanic, Michael, Jr Sabo, Gerald J., 1945–2020 Stolarik, M. Mark, 1943- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-88 LCNAF LCNAF+dates name SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/7b28796157f335b7485f91e81b9a5d80.pdf 4ea3688ccc978289b70d269be7047464 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 63 The Slovak National Catholic Church, Passaic, New Jersey, and the Jeczusko Affair RAYMOND J. KUPKE INTRODUCTION In the Dundee section of Passaic, New Jersey there are four churches in an area of nine city blocks : Holy Name Slovak National Catholic Cathedral, St. Mary 's Roman Catholic Church, St. Michael the Archangel Ruthenian Catholic Cathedral , and Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Cathedral. Although this listing represents four diverse denominations, the members of the four parishes are descended from immigrants from the same villages in what are today Czechoslovakia and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic , and indeed family ties run across all four congregations. 1 Commenting on an article about Our Lady of Mercy Slovak Parish in Cleveland, Ohio, which existed in a schismatic state from the Roman Catholic Church from 1917 to 1922 , Slovak historian Mark Stolarik observes, It is interesting to note that in the spirit of "consensus" history a recent article infednota (January 19, 1972 , p. 1) about Our Lady of Mercy Church, makes no mention of this schism. Contemporary Slovak editors avoid religious controversy at all costs. 2 When one delves into the Slovak religious history of Passaic , Stolarik's observation is amply born out. Upon reading the available jubilee books 3 one hardly notices a mention of the year 1922. Yet in 1922 , just as the rupture in Cleveland's Slovak community was being healed, a schism developed in Passaic's Slovak �64 SLOVAKIA community which would effect a permanent division in the community, and create an unusual footnote in American religious history - a cathedral without a diocese, a one-parish "denomination'' with Roman Catholic usages and Polish National Catholic affiliation. 4 The religious history of Passaic is amazingly complex. It is caught up in currents on both sides of the Atlantic and involves merchants and politicians, popes and bishops, patriarchs and czars. This study attempts to examine one facet of that history, the dispute in the Slovak community of Passaic which divided St. Mary's Parish and led to the formation of Holy Name Slovak National Catholic Church. THE SETTING Located on the Passaic River fifteen miles upstream from Newark, Passaic was first settled by the Dutch in 1678. It remained a small commercial village until after the Civil War when railroads and the textile industry began to change its character. Incorporated as a city in 18 73, Passaic welcomed its first Eastern European immigrants six years later. They were brought in by George B. Waterhouse to work in the Waterhouse Brothers Mills . The initial seven immigrants recruited by Waterhouse in 1879 soon turned into a flood from Eastern and Southern Europe. The 1910 census showed Passaic's foreign born comprising 52 % of the total population. 5 The 1920 census registered a population of 63,824 with 74% o( that total being foreign born, the greatest percentage of any city (over 50,000) in the United States. 6 The Slovak population at the time was estimated to be 7,400.7 The WPA Guide to New Jersey describes the area: East of Main Avenue , a progressively shabbier area stretches down to the river. Here the streets are narrow , with frame swellings and congested tenements crowded beside huge factories . This is the " Dundee Section," where one-half the population is crammed into one-sixth of the city' s area. Living in this section are most of the foreign-born who comprise about one-third of the total population. Numerically the Poles are first , followed in �SLOVAKIA 65 turn by the Italians, Russians , Hungarians , Slovaks, Germans , Austrians, Dutch, Scotch, English and Irish. 8 The initial seven Eastern Europeans whom George Waterhouse brought from Castle Garden to Passaic in December 1879 were all from the Eastern part of Slovakia. They were: Andrew Pastor, John Socha, John Kostisin, and George Slivka from Saris County; John Pochlod and John Salasovic from Zemplin County; and Edward Geiger from Spis County. 9 The initial seven immigrants were quickly joined by their fellow countrymen from Slovakia. When asked what was the inducement to come to America , one of the original seven Slovak immigrants quickly answered "money. " 1 Certainly the poor economic conditions in Eastern Europe were a major inducement for European emigrati~n. But Slovaks had another incentive as well . Beginning in the 1870's the government of Hungary, which included Slovakia, embarked on a program of "Magyarization" in the non-Magyar parts of the kingdom. The three Slovak ''gymnasia'' (high schools) were closed, and most of the religious primary schools were nationalized. The use of Slovak was prohibited in the schools and teachers were awarded a bonus if they were successful Magyarizers. 11 Even to study for the priesthood a Slovak must pass through the Magyar seminary, and there any study of the language of the future flock is treated as ground for expulsion.12 This process created divisions among Slovaks in America between those who were educated by the Hungarians and those who were not. A dispute broke out in 1902 at St. Stephen's Slovak Parish in Newark between the non-Magyarized parishioners and their pastor, Father Alexander Kovacs. In a solicited letter (Written in Latin) , Father Emery ("Imrich" in Slovak, " Imre " in Magyar) Haitinger, Slovak pastor in Passaic , attempted to explain the distinction between the two groups to a confused Bishop John J. O'Connor of Newark. SLAVICS are a peaceful people, who have built the church and maintain it well: they are the basis of the Slavonic congregation because they pay their debts; SLOVAKS are an ambitious people who desire to lead , ° �66 SLOVAKIA to rule, but they do not like to pay debts, nor will they pay them, as their custom is in the free manner of the Italians ... These Slovaks are a troublesome people, POLITICAL AGITATORS against the Hungarian fatherland, whose political machinations are not needed in America. 13 Because of these economic and cultural reasons the number of Slovak immigrants grew rapidly. In 1880 there were 292 foreignborn "Hungarians" in New Jersey. By 1900 that figure grew to 8,404 just in the seven northern counties that comprised the Newark Catholic Diocese.1 4 Most of the immigrants to Passaic were Catholic and between 1890 and 1920 the territorial "Irish" parish of St. Nicholas was joined by nine new "national" parishes for Polish, Italian, Slovak, German, Hungarian, Ukrainian and Ruthenian immigrants. 15 The first of the national churches to be organized was St. Michael the Archangel in 1890. This church served Catholics of the Byzantine Rite who were in communion with Rome. Since many of these Ruthenians or "Rusins" lived in the same villages as the Latin Rite Slovaks, the Passaic Slovaks assisted their neighbors in building St. Michael's. This experience may have provided the spark the Slovak community needed for the following year St. Mary's Slovak Parish was organized on April 1. 16 Initially the congregation met in the basement of St. Nicholas' Church, but by 1893 they were able to construct a church of their own on the corner of Monroe and Second Streets. The absence of a stable Slovak clergy in th~ United States hampered the growth of the new parish. Between 1891 and 1898 the parish was served by a rapid succession of pastors including Fathers Samuel Belja, Bernard Skulik, Benjamin Kwiatkowski, Joseph Ligday, John Pollakovics, and Ignatius Jaskovits, with Father John Sheppard of St. Nicholas often filling in the gaps. On September 2, 1898 Bishop Winand Wigger of Newark appointed Father Emery A. Haitinger, recently arrived in the diocese, as pastor of St.Mary's and he remained for nearly a quarter of a century.17 Father Haitinger supervised the construction of a new stone church which was completed in 1904. By 1920 the parish numbered between 1200 and 1500 families comprising about 600 individuals. 18 �SLOVAKIA 67 Passaic was not free from strife in those years. Many Passaic workers participated in the "Great Strike of 1913 " in which 25 ,000 mill workers organized by the Industrial Workers of the World struck throughout northern New Jersey.19 Religious dissension was also not unheard of. In 1910 Sts. Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Parish, which had developed from St. Michael's in 1902, defected from the Catholic Church and embraced Russian Orthodoxy. Also in 1918, a rupture in Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian parish resulted in the formation of St. Anthony of Padua Independent Italian Catholic Church.20 On March 13, 1921, Bishop O'Connor, at Father Haitinger's request, appointed Father Emery Jeczusko, recently arrived from Europe, to be curate at St. Mary's .21 This would seem to have been a routine assignment, but in the highly charged atmosphere of Passaic it was an appointment that would have far-reaching consequences . THE DISPUTE Emery A. Haitinger was born in Slovakia, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in 1873 just at the time that the government's Magyarization policy was beginning. Haitinger began his seminary training at Arad in the southeastern part of Hungary in what is today Romania, but he emigrated to the United States during his seminary years and completed his training at St. Bonaventure's Seminary in Allegheny, New York. He was ordained a priest by Bishop Michael Hoban at Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1896. For two years Haitinger worked as a missionary among Slovak immigrants in northeastern Pennsylvania. In 1898 Bishop Winand Wigger accepted him for service in the Newark Diocese , and on September 2 of that year the twenty-five year old priest was appointed pastor of St. Mary's Parish in Passaic. 22 Doubtless Haitinger was considered a great asset to a diocese hard pressed to deal with a rapidly growing ethnic group . He was the first stable Slovak priest to work in the diocese , and he was pastorally effective in six languages. He not only supervised the construction of a new church in Passaic , but also was instrumental in the development of new parishes in Boonton, Rockaway, Elizabeth, and Linden. Through his connections in Europe he was �68 SLOVAKIA able to bring other Slovak priests to work in the Newark Diocese . However, Father Haitinger's twenty-four years in Passaic were not entirely peaceful. He considered himself a "gr6f" or member of the aristocracy , and sometimes styled himself " van Haitinger," as did his doctor brother.23 He did nothing to hide his bias for the Magyarized elements of his congregation and his parishioners called him a "Magyarone ," a title used for those who supported the Magyarizing of Slovak language and culture .24 There were also more serious charges of moral misconduct and of diverting church funds , particularly for the purchase of property for himself and his family. 25 While it is impossible to document these charges , there is a letter from Bishop John Duffy , then Chancellor of the Newark Diocese, to Haitinger on May 20, 1925 indicating some confusion between the personal property of Haitinger and the parish property. I am writing in reference to the lot owned by you adjoining the school of St. Mary's Parish, Passaic. I am sure that when the lot was purchased by you that you had in mind the future needs of St. Mary's Parish. Conditions there now require that the lot should belong to the church property. I remember hearing that the purchase price at which you bought this peace of property was very small, and I have heard that your present price is extremely large. In the interest of the Church for which you feel as deeply concerned as I do , I would suggest that you fix a price for this property within reason, and let me know what the amount is .26 Haitinger's reply is also interesting. In my first reply I wrote that I do not possess any lot in Passaic , and I emphasize it again. The pastor of St. Mary's knows it; he rented the lot in 1922 not from me , but from Miss Julia Tereschak, who is the owner since 1907. Before I disposed of the lot, I gave a preference to my congregation; but in a stormy meeting they refused to buy it. 27 �SLOVAKIA 69 These controversies about Haiting er' s pastorate festered for at least a decade prior to 1922. 2a Emery A. Jeczusko was born on February 18 , 1888 at Presov in Slovakia, but he came from Vel'ky Saris, the same town that three of the original Slovak immigrants and many of their successors hailed from . Jeczusko attended the seminary at Kosice and was ordained there by Bishop Augustine Fischer-Colbrie on November 30, 1911. Bishop Fischer-Colbrie released him to come to America and work among the Slovaks on November 30, 1920 , 29 and on Father Haitinger's request , Bishop O'Connor of Newark received him and assigned him as curate at St. Mary's, Passaic on March 13 , 1921.30 · Father Jeczusko was well received in Passaic. He is described as an eloquent orator, who was able to sight translate Latin into Slovak. 31 He endeared himself to the people not only by his brilliant sermons , but also by his ability to sing High Mass. 32 " Anything happen, the people want to see Father Jeczusko .. . and Father Haitinger didn't like that.' ' 33 Father Jeczusko was also socially attached to his parishioners . Unable to speak English, he naturally gravitated to people from his native area. He would often visit the Hungarian Social Club, a few blocks from the rectory, to play cards and have a few beers with his friends. 34 On March 11, 1922, Haitinger wrote the following letter to Bishop O'Connor, Herewith is enclosed my financial statement of 1921. Also in these lines I ask Your Lordship to be so kind as to renew the Faculties of my Assistant , the Rev. Emery Jeczusko, which expires within the coming few days. 35 O'Connor replied immediately on March 14. From what I have learned of Father Jeczusko's habits, I do not wish to renew his faculties in this diocese. Tell him he must seek some other diocese . I enclose a letter testifying that he is not under censure. I will write to Father Miklus and tell him to go to you. 36 Meanwhile on April 19, O'Connor received a letter from Bishop Fischer-Colbrie in Kos ice. �70 SLO VAKIA I received the telegram of Your Excellency, and by your request I recall my priest Emery Jeczusko . .. I also ask that Your Excellency favor me by communicating the causes of your desire , that I may have direction in my agenda with Emery Jeczusko .37 On April 20 O'Connor again communicated with Haitinger. The enclosed letter for Father Jeczusko is from Bishop Fischer-Colbrie of Cassovia recalling him to his diocese. Oblige me by handing it to him. The Bishop requires him to return at once. It is the result of the cablegram sent sometime ago. 38 Bishop O'Connor does not elaborate on the offensive habits of Father Jeczusko , but presumably he did not find it acceptable for priests to fraternize with the laity in social clubs. He also does not elaborate on where he received the information on Father Jeczusko's habits. Popular opinion held that Haitinger himself, and his friends, had informed O 'Connor. While there is no conclusive evidence of this , it would appear from O'Connor's second communication to Haitinger that Haitinger was previously aware of the cablegram sent to Europe. On Sunday, April 23 , 1922, Father Jeczusko mounted the pulpit during the 10:30 A.M. Mass and explained his recall and bade the people farewell. He was followed by Father Haitinger who expressed his sorrow at Jeczusko 's recall. It appears that this announcement was not a surprise because a demonstration took place outside the church after Mass , and handbills were circulated calling for a mass meeting that night at Hama's Hall in Passaic. 39 The hall was filled to capacity, and the meeting was chaired by John J. Labash, an undertaker, and Steven Kollar, a cobbler. Demands were made for Jeczusko's reinstatement and the removal of Hai ting er. Even at this early date, the organizers of the dispute were talking about the possibility of a new parish. Messrs. Labash and Kollar speaking to a Daily News man said that the people were going to carry the fight to the bitter end. They felt that they were justified in even organizing an independent parish, if only to carry out what they figured was right .40 �SLOVAKIA 71 A second meeting was held on April 27 at Mokrai's Hall in Passaic, and as a result of this meeting ten parish organizations forwarded identical petitions to Bishop O 'Connor over the signatures of their officers: ... adopted a resolution seeking for the reinstatement of Father Emery Jeczusko in our church of St. Marie's of the Assumption, of Passaic, N.J. and that: The Rev. Emery A. Haitinger, now rector of the church be removed at once for the future good of our parish. This action is based on the wish of more than 600 people who attended a Mass meeting on Sunday, April 23, in a public hall at 108 Third Street, of our city. It is felt that a great deal of harm to our church, Faith and religion has come from the procrastinated action, or deferred action in this regard on your part. More than 90% of the people of our parish have literally refused to further attend the services of our church and we fear that a separation within the parish and a possible establishment of an Independent Church is threatening. It is honestly felt by most of the members of our parish that Father Haitinger must go. 41 The societies claimed a combined membership of 1200. The arguments against Haitinger centered around three issues: jealousy, finances , and patriotism. Mr. Kollar, a former trustee of the parish, claimed to have proof of serious discrepancies between the amount of money collected in the parish, the amount spent on parish expenses, and the amount in parish accounts.42 The patriotism charges were on two different levels. On the one hand Haiting er was accused of ''un-Americanism'' because he was alleged to have preached in favor of Austria-Hungary during World War I, and also that he had greeted the Hungarian Premier Husar as a Hungarian. 43 On the other hand Haitinger was also accused of "Magyarone" tendencies opposed to Slovak culture. 44 Haitinger's supporters countered by claiming that Haitinger was a true American, while Jeczusko was a retrogressive force in the community . . . . he was progressive in the matter of organizing a Slavish Federation which carried with it a spirit of the �72 SLOVAKIA fatherland and did not conform with the more modern spirit of working for things American. 45 All through April and May charges and countercharges were exchanged in the local newspapers, meetings were held , petitions were circulated. The atmosphere was further charged by an article in New Yorksky Dennfk, a Slovak newspaper in New York entitled "Battle of Slovak Catholics in Passaic." The article, widely circulated in Passaic, vilified Haitinger, and both the Hungarian and American hierarchy. Describing Haitinger the article commented: With abuse , cursings, laughter, lies and force more and more the Slovak people were literally chased from God's church merely that he might attain his aim and to make foreign the parish and bring it to the bishop , so to speak, on a silver platter, saying, "Here you have, august dictator, a new Irish parish." This hellish thought of Rev . Haitinger's has found a strong set-back in the face of the Slovak curate. The parson became afraid of his Judas recompense, and the bishop was afraid he would soon lose the Irished parish, which was builded through for Slovak blisters , and so the parson and the bishop got together and in short adjudged the Slovak curate to exile he must go.46 The tension was further heightened when one of the dissidents , a Mrs. Theresa Sisko, went to the rectory after Mass on Sunday, May 7 to reclaim at last a portion of a previous donation of $4,000 . Haitinger told her she would have to sue the parish, told her to get out, and then forcibly evicted her from the rectory, causing her to fall down the stairs and sustain many bruises. 47 Within a few days Mrs. Sisko brought suit against Haitinger for $30,000. The reports of the Sisko incident circulating through the ciy brought out a record crowd of 2,000 to a meeting that same night at Mokrai's Hall. During the meeting Labash and Kollar reiterated the history of their grievances. They claimed that petitions to the bishop in previous years had been destroyed before reaching him, that a committee sent to the bishop and the Apostolic Delegate in 1919 had failed to get a hearing, and that each time Bishop �SLOVAKIA 73 O'Connor was approached "he always sent us away with a promise to consider the matter.' ' 48 They then told the assembly of the bishop's final decision not allow Jenczusko to remain in the diocese. The allegations of financial mismanagement were repeated , and Mrs. Frank Matisovsky produced laughter among the audience when she related incidents of Haitinger's improprieties and her lack of satisfaction when these were related to the bishop .49 The assembly was unanimous in its· determination to replace Haitinger with another priest, have Jeczusko reinstated , and if necessary , form a new parish and even secede from the Catholic Church. For the first time the finances of a new church were discussed, and the name "Holy Name Parish" was used. 50 On Saturday the committee went to South Orange to approach Bishop O'Connor. This time they took Mrs. Sisko with them and she spoke to the bishop's secretary. Also during the week the committee met with Msgr. John A. Sheppard of Jersey City, formerly pastor of St. Nicholas, Passaic, and later Vicar General of the diocese. Acting on Sheppard's advice the committee formally presented a request to Haitinger to resign the pastorate with a copy of the request sent to O'Connor. 51 Rumors of Haitinger's removal were rampant in the city when he did not appear at Masses on Sunday, May 21. Instead the Masses were celebrated by Father John Salamon, a native son of the parish, and curate at St. Joseph's Parish in Elizabeth. It was reported that Haitinger had celebrated Mass in Elizabeth and returned to Passaic in the afternoon. The Saturday edition of the Passaic Daily News for May 27 carried the following article: As forecast by The Daily News Monday evening, the Rev. Father John D. Salamon, rector of St. Joseph's Church in Elizabeth, and formerly a pupil at St. Marie's Parochial School , of this city, has been designated as the new rector for the local Slovak Catholic Church, thus ending the controversy which threatened for a time to disrupt the entire St. Marie's Parish. Announcement was made by the Right Rev. Monsignor John A. Duffy, chancellor of the Catholic diocese of Newark, Thursday evening, to the effect that the Right Rev. Bishop John �74 SLOVAKIA J. O'Connor had decided upon the change being made. Meanwhile the Rev. Father Emery A. Haitinger, rector of St. Marie's Church since 1898, will be unattached for a while. He will visit temporarily with the Rev. Father Andrew Adzima, his former curate , and now rector of St. Joseph's in Bayonne.52 However the happy conclusion to the controversy forecast by the Passaic Daily News was premature. Having accomplished the first of their goals, the committee pressed on to insist on the reinstatement of Father Jeczusko as curate . The dissidents crystallized around Labash, Kollar, Marcel Sherman, a painter, Victor Chirip , a former locksmith in the Austrian royal palace , and Paul Skvarla, an architect. 53 The committee continued to treat with O'Connor about Jeczusko throughout the summer, but O'Connor was adamant. Jeczusko himself meanwhile did not participate in the controversy, but stayed with his brother in Connecticut. He did not reappear in Pasaaic until the middle of August. 54 The committee enlisted the help of Father Salamon to intervene with the bishop on Jeczusko's behalf, but this was to no avail. During the first week of August the committee met with O'Connor in Newark and was once again told that Jeczusko would not be reinstated. The mood of the committee can be summed up in the comment of Marcel Sherman, "We're not going to have that Irish bishop telling us what to do. " 55 At a mass meeting on Monday, August 6, the committee reported the bishop's refusal to the parishioners and the break with St. Mary's was made final. Labash and Kollar were elected chairman and vice chairman respectively of the new parish. Pledges were received for $14,000 and $550 was collected that first night. Still, Labash held out the possibility of reconciliation: The new church, it was explained, would not necessarily become detached from the Roman Catholic Church in this country, provided, of course, Bishop O 'Connor accepted their action as being a logical expression of the feelings of a people who were hurt, and agreed to treat them on a par with the other congregations within his �SLOVAKIA 75 diocese , but with the understanding that Father Jeczusko would be rector of the church and the mode of carrying on the business affairs of the parish put in the hands of the parishioners rather than the clergymen. 56 At a mass meeting on Saturday, August 20 at Hama's Hall with Father Jeczusko present, the priest was formally offered the post of pastor of Holy Name Slovak Church. Jeczusko's reply is indicative of his personal turmoil in this situation: "I am facing a difficult situation, my friends," he stated, ''having my passpost all ready, I have merely to engage passage to leave for my home country. Your apparent sincerity of purpose, however, and your zeal in the endeavor to carry out the true significance of Catholicism, prompt me to heed your call. ' ' He then asked that the people not try to set aside the Roman Catholic authority. He intimated that serious things might happen to him. "And after all ," he exclaimed, '' our work is in the name of God above , the name of our newly formed parish implies that, and with His aid we shall conquer all things. By the memory of my sweet little mother , whose greatest ambition in life was to see me at the Altar of the Almighty, serving with honor, serving with a dignified fear of Him above , and fulfilling all that is prescribed by the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church, I accept this call to serve you, my people. But I implore you not to give up your traditions, the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. Let us call unto ourselves the leadership of this great church with its authority. "57 Father Jeczusko celebrated the first Mass for the new parish on Sunday , August 27 , 1922 at Hama's Hall where many of the organizational meetings had been held. 58 On August 29 Bishop O'Connor wrote to Father Salamon explaining Father Jeczusko's excommunicated status and the fact that the new congregation was not a Catholic church.59 He asked that this letter be read at all Masses the following Sunday, September 2 . Approximately one third of the parishioners of St. Mary's �SLOVAKIA 76 joined Holy Name Parish. In his 1922 report to the diocese, Haitinger listed 1260 men, 1810 women, and 2600 children at St. Mary's for a total of 5760. This report was signed by trustees Michael Novak and Steven Kollar, both of whom would later join Holy Name Parish. The 1924 report submitted by Father Salamon showed a drop in all three categories, for a total decrease of 1323 people. However these figures are approximations. The 1922 Sunday and Holyday Collections amounted to $9,794,67 , while the same collections in the 1926 report amounted to $6 ,621.22 60 Perhaps the best guage for the extent of the split are the baptismal and marriage records for both churches. 61 BAPTISMS St. Mary's Holy Name 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1920 1921 192·2 1923 1924 1925 1926 108 149 160 105 111 104 99 21 58 34 55 36 MARRIAGES St. Mary's Holy Name 36 40 31 40 45 37 34 2 15 25 12 19 If St. Mary's listed between 1200 and 1500 families in its 1922 report, Holy Name in its 1937 report to the parish listed 517 contributing families. 62 From all these sources the figure of one third of the Slovak community of Passaic belonging to Holy Name Parish seems reliable. The parishioners set about the task of securing property on Fourth Street, five blocks away from St. Mary's and contracted for the erection of a new church and rectory costing $100,000. �SLOVAKIA 77 Father Jeczusko , meanwhile , stayed at the home of Andrew Singlary on Fourth Street. In the Spring of 1925 the cornerstone was ready to be blessed. On May 5 , 1925 Steven Kollar wrote to Bishop O 'Connor on behalf of the parish committee to request a meeting with the bishop .63 The chancellor of the Newark Diocese, Msgr. John A. Duffy, responded to the letter and the meeting was held on May 11. This appears to be the one time that Father Jeczusko was present for a meeting of this type. 64 The committee asked that Bishop O'Connor come to bless the cornerstone of the new church. Monsignor Duffy agreed to present the proposal to O'Connor. In the meantime Duffy requested Fathe:r Salamon to send a letter to Bishop Fischer-Colbrie in Slovakia asking him to send Jeczusko a specific "mandatum" to return to Slovakia. 65 On May 20 , 1925 , Monsignor Duffy responded to Kollar in the name of Bishop O'Connor. In very blunt terms Duffy informed Kollar that the church would have to be turned directly over to the bishop, who would then have it incorporated under New Jersey law with himself as the president, the pastor as secretary-treasurer, and with two lay trustees appointed by the bishop. The pastor would administer the parish and its temporalities. With regard to Father Jeczusko , he would have to submit to Canon Law, reject his schism, and his future status would have to be decided by Rome. Nothing could be promised for him. Duffy concluded, ''It will be impossible therefore , for us to negotiate with you any further except on the terms laid down above,' ' 66 and exhorted them to abandon their schism. On May 30 , 1925 the cornerstone of Holy Name Church was solemnly blessed by the Right Rev. Monsignor Louis Rusko of Philadelphia, 67 in the presence of many clergymen of the area. The newspapers reported the fact that the parish committee had " waited on the Rt. Rev. Bishop John O'Connor of the Catholic Diocese of Newark in an effort to have him send a representative to take part in the ceremonies. " 68 No Catholic representative was present at the ceremonies, and that marked the effective end of the relationship between Holy Name Slovak Church and the Roman Catholic Church. On November 27 , 1925, the Right Rev. Bishop Francis Hodur of Scranton, Pennsylvania, founder of the Polish National Catholic Church, solemnly blessed Holy Name �78 SLOVAKIA Church. 69 From that time on Holy Name Parish held its ecclesial communion with the Polish National Catholic Church. THE AFTERMATH In 1926 , now nearing the end of his lengthy episcopate, O'Connor responded to an inquiry about Holy Name Church from the Apostolic Delegate , Pietro Fumasoni-Biondi: Through one of the Slovak priests I have requested Father Jeczusko 's bishop , who will be here for the Eucharistic Congress , to visit Passaic and see his subject personally. I hope that as a result of this visit Father Jeczusko will return to his diocese and that the financial difficulties of the Holy Name Parish will force the remaining members to turn the property over to legitimate authority. I beg to assure Your Excellency that this matter is settling itself and within a short time the so called Independent Church will be but a name.7° Whether the visit from the Bishop of Kosice took place is unknown. However , the situation did not settle itself. A year later the chancellor of the Newark Diocese wrote to Father Jeczusko on behalf of Bishop O'Connor to correct a statement that Jeczusko had made in a court case alleging that he was not an excommunicated priest.1 1 In the ensuing years a number of inquiries and attempts at reconciliation were initiated , primarily by Slovak priests , but nothing came of them . In the summer of 1938 Father Jeczusko died , just a matter of weeks after the installation of the Most Rev . Thomas H. McLaughlin as first Bishop of Paterson, a new diocese cut off from Newark and including the city of Passaic . A committee including Marcel Sherman, John Tomecko, George Nemec and John Rusnak approached Bishop McLaughlin concerning a reconciliation. McLaughlin was hopeful and asked the Apostolic Delegate for instructions in handling the matter.7 2 However, nothing came of the discussion principally because of the diocesan requirement to have the church incorporated with the bishop as president. The trustees were unwilling to turn over the property to the bishop , even a new friendly bishop .7 3 The committee engaged as their new pastor the Reverend Eugene Magyar, a native �SLOVAKIA 79 of Palmerton, Pennsylvania, and a Slovak despite his name, who had been assisting Father Jeczusko. In 1945 a new pastor, Andrew J. Romanak, was named for St. Mary's Parish after Father Salamon's death. Through his offices another attempt at reconciliation was made late in 1946 just a few months before Bishop McLaughlin's death. McLaughlin received instructions and assurances from the Apostolic Delegate concerning proceeding in the various questions concerning reconciliation, and McLaughlin addressed a letter to the congregation through its president Stephen Matthias in January, 1947.74 However, again nothing came of the attempt.7 5 In 1963 Father Magyar was ordained by the Polish National Catholic Church as a bishop for the Slovak National Catholics. At this time Holy Name acquired the title ''cathedra), '' although it is not the see church of a specific diocese. Bishop·Magyar died in 1968 and was briefly succeeded by a priest of the Polish National Catholic Church, Father John Hrencewicz. After Father Hrencewicz's departure, Father William Chromey, a Polish National Catholic priest of Slovak descent, who had served previously as an associate to Bishop Magyar, came to Holy Name and remains pastor there to this day. From the beginning there have been defections from Holy Name back to St. Mary's. Many of these occurred on an individual basis over the years. As it became apparent that the split was going to be a permanent one, the people faced various hardships. The split cut across family lines, and no longer considered "Catholic," members of Holy Name were denied burial in St. Mary's Cemetery where their parents and other relatives were buried. No longer considered ''Catholic,'' the Holy Name parishioners were dropped from membership in the First Catholic Slovak Union and subsequently lost its benefits. 76 Sometimes the occasion of a marriage to a Roman Catholic provided the opportunity to return to that faith. After the ever-popular Father Jeczusko's death in 1938, still more members of the congregation returned to St. Mary's. The financial obligations incurred by the congregation too, were a factor in inducing some members to leave. 77 Eventually both John Labash and Steven Kollar, as well �80 SLOVAKIA as a number of the other early organizers , returned to St. Mary 's and the Roman Catholic Church. 78 However, a sizeable number of families remained faithful to the parish. The ideals for which the congregation had fought: independence from hierarchical control , and lay control of parish affairs; remained an attractive reality to many of the people . Today Holy Name Parish continues to be supported by some 250 families .79 The parish that Father Jeczusko shepherded remained, as he promised in his acceptance speech, faithful to its Catholic traditions . While embracing Polish National Catholicism in an organizational sense, the parish never severed its ties with Roman Catholic usages. While the Polish National Church introduced the vernacular at an early date, both Father Jeczusko and Bishop Magyar continued to use Latin until a few months before the Roman Catholic church changed to the vernacular. 80 The liturgical books of the Roman Church were used and Father Jecuszko continued to pray his Divine Office in the church each day. 81 At Mass he prayed for the pope and the bishop of Newark , and on Good Friday he joined the rest of the Roman Catholic Church in its solemn orations "for schismatics and heretics," even if the rest of the Church felt it was praying for him. 82 The Baltimore Catechism continued to be in use throughout Father Jeczusko 's pastorate. 83 The people were adamant in their desire for a celibate clergy in the manner of the Roman Church, even though the Polish National Church has had a married clergy for years. Part of the impetus for the 1947 reconciliation attempt was the suspicion among many parishioners that Father Magyar was married. 84 Father Jeczusko himself seems to have become something of a pathetic figure toward the end of his life. As it became apparent · that the split was permanent, he seemed to some to become more despondent. Although happy with his situation among his beloved people, he was not content with his situation in the wider Church. "I know I didn 't do right. I'll pay for it somewhere ," he commented to a friend .85 Unable to speak English even at the end of his life, Jeczusko was in some ways a hostage of his congregation, dependent on them for his dealings with the wider world, including medical attention. He died in the summer of 1938, not �SLOVAKIA 81 yet fifty-one years old, perhaps of a heart attack brought on by emphysema. 86 Perhaps his real state of mind is best revealed by his will, which , after a few bequests to close friends, left his entire estate to the seminary at Kos ice. 8 7 After leaving Passaic Emery Haitinger was named pastor of the much smaller parish of St. Joseph in Elizabeth. He remained there for the rest of his life, dying on November 14 , 1959 at the age of eighty-six. 88 There is no documentary evidence that any responsibility was ever attached to him for the debacle is Passaic in 1922, except for the Duffy letter and one other incident that occurred much later in his life. On April 10, 1946, Pope Pius XII honored Haitinger by making him a monsignor at the request of his seminary classmate, Thomas J. Walsh, who was now the Archbishop of Newark. This occurred on the fiftieth anniversary of Haitinger's ordination. For the senior Slovak pastor in an ethnically conscious diocese, who had built two churches and actively participated in the formation of at least four congregations, this was an unusually long time to wait for that honor. CONCLUSION Bishop Thomas H. McLaughlin, the first Bishop of Paterson perhaps best summed up the situation that led to Holy Name Slovak National Catholic Church in several observations made over the years: Investigations which were made by me . . . have led me to the conclusion that the differences existing among the Slovak people of Passaic and Clifton have been and were due to misunderstandings . . . 89 I often felt , even before becoming Bishop of Paterson, that this man (Father Jeczusko) unfamiliar with the English language and American customs was to some extent the unwitting victim of a situation that got out of control. 90 I have always felt that the congregation as a whole was not completely at fault , and that good Father Jeczusko, not being familiar with American legal conditions and canonical procedure, erred somewhat through misunderstanding rather than through malice. 91 �82 SLOVAKIA At the time of the 1922 conflict McLaughlin was president of Seton Hall College and rector of the Newark-diocesan theologate , and therefore not totally removed from the situation. That he should maintain such an opinion puts him in stark contrast to Bishop O'Connor. Another observer commented from a different viewpoint: ''The trustees were feeling their oats. If the bishop had cooperated it could have been different. But he always felt 'I'm the boss.' '' 92 Certainly Bishop McLaughlin's observations of Father Jeczusko seem accurate . He was more a catalyst for the revolt, rather than a cause for it. The dissatisfaction in St. Mary's had been festering for years. At the same time the Slovak community in Passaic was becoming more and more successful and less willing to be treated with the Old World domination of Father Haitinger or the paternalism of Bishop O'Connor. In this sense Father Jeczusko 's popularity was more a lightning rod for the fire to strike. Mr. Labash 's comments on Bishop O'Connor also seem accurate. He certainly was an unwavering figure in the controversy , preferring to back up established authority (Haitinger) even when his position was untenable, and even then refusing to compromise on any point. It must be remembered that the dissidents never asked for Jeczusko to replace Haitinger, but merely to be able to remain at St. Mary's. Certainly by 1922 there was enough evidence from situations around the country over the years that Slovak and other eastern European congregations were capable of carrying disputes to the point of schism. 93 Perhaps his successful handling of a similar situation among the Italians earlier in his administration made O 'Connor feel that this situation could be similarly handled from a position of strength.94 Bishop O'Connor was also something of a distant figure in this dispute, preferring to deal through Salamon and Duffy. Indeed there is no evidence that O'Connor and Jeczusko ever met face to face through the whole five years they were both involved in the controversy. Whatever O 'Connor's reasons for his handling of the affair, his methods were unsuccessful and things did not " settle down." Holy Name Church still stands today within what was once the Newark Diocese of Bishop O'Connor, one of the only two surviv- �SLOVAKIA 83 ing Slovak National Catholic Churches in the United States , an unusual monument to the unwavering determination of many people. NOTES 1 Holy Trinity Slovak Lutheran Church, a short distance across the river in Garfield, N.J. could easily be a fifth partner in this description. 2 Mark Stolarik, "Lay Initiative in American-Slovak Parishes : 1880-1930," Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia , 83 (1972) p . 158 . 3 See Tenth Anniversary of the Holy Name Slovak Catholic Church (1932). Diamond Jubilee Journal, St . Mary 's Church (1968). and Slovaks in America (Middletown , Pa.: Slovak League of America, 1978.) 4 There is a Sts. Cyril and Methodius Slovak National Catholic Church in Perth Amboy , N.J. but the two congregations are not directly connected , nor has Holy Name ever been connected with the Czechoslovak National Church which developed in Europe . 5 Rudolph J. Vecoli , The People of New Jersey (Princeton: D. Van Nostrand Co. , 1965) , p. 213 . 6 William W. Scott, Passaic and Its Environs (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co ., 1922). p . 496. 7 Ibid .• p . 496. 8 Works Progress Administration, New Jersey: A Guide to its Present and Past (New York: Hastings House , 1946), pp. 345-346. 9 10 11 Scott, Op. cit., p. 494. Ibid. M. Mark Stolarik, "Immigration, Education and the Social Mobility of Slovaks, 1870-1930, " in Immigrants and Religion in Urban America, Randall M. Miller and Thomas D. Marzik, eds. (Philadelphia : Temple University Press , 1977) pp. 105-106. 12 Emily Greene Balch, Our Slavic Fellow Citizens (New York: Charities Publication Committee , 1910). p. 111 . 13 Rev. Emery Haitinger to Bishop John O'Connor, Feast of St. Emery, 1902, Archives of the Archdiocese of Newark (hereafter AAN), Haitinger Personnel File. Accused of being a "Magyarone" himself, Haitinger in this letter sets down his own biases two decades before the similar controversy which would engulf him. 14 New Jersey Catholic Historical Records Commission, The Bishops of Newark 1853-1978 (South Orange , N.J.: Seton Hall University Press , 1978). p. 64 . 15 In 1954 an eleventh parish would be added in Passaic with the establishment of Our Lady of Fatima Church for the new wave of Hispanic immigrants . 16 The parish is variously referred to as St . Mary's , St. Marie's (an affectation that seems to have developed after the construction of the " French Gothic" new church) , and Assumpion. The incorporated name of the parish is ' •Slavonian Catholic Church of the Assumption. '' �SLOVAKIA 84 17 Elizabeth Daily Journal , November 14 , 1959 , AAN, Haitinger Personnel File . 18 AAN , Parish Reports , 1922 . 19 Vecoli, op. cit., p. 196. 20 Archives of the Diocese of Paterson (hereafter ADP), St. Anthony 's , Passaic fil e . This schism was resolved in 1924. 21 ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church file . 22 For background information on Haitinger see AAN , Haitinger Personnel File. 23 Interview with Albin Stolarik , November 23 , 1983 , ADP. Ibid . 24 25 Interview with John Labash , October 31, 1983, ADP. 26 AAN , John A. Duffy to Emery A. Haitinger May 20 , 1925 , Haitinger Personnel File . 27 Emery Haitinger to John Duffy , 1925 , AAN. Miss Julia Tereschak was Haitinger's housekeeper. 28 Passaic Daily News, August 7, 1922 . p. 1. 29 Testimonial of Bishop Augustine Fischer-Colbrie, November 30, 1920, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File . 30 Personnel Record, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 31 Albin Stolarik, Op . cit. 32 Labash , Op. cit. 33 Interview with Stephen Matthias , November 7, 1983 , ADP. Ibid., and Labash , Op . cit. 34 35 John O'Connor to Emery Haitinger, March 14, 1922, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 37 Augustine Fischer-Colbrie to John O 'Connor, April 1, 1922 , APO, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 38 John O'Conno~.to Emery Haitinger, April 20 , 1922 , ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 39 Passaic Daily News, April 24 , 1922 , p. 1. 40 Passaic Daily News , April 24 , 1922 , p. 2. 41 Petition of Branch 192 of the First Catholic Slovak Union , and Branch 2 of the Slovak Union of Passaic , N.J., April 29, 1922 , ADP , Holy Name Slovak Church File . 42 Passaic Daily Herald, April 24, 1922 , p. 1. 43 Passaic Daily News , April 28, 1922 , p. 1. 44 Passaic Daily News , April 29 , 1922, p. 1. 45 Passaic Daily News , April 24, 1922 , p . 1. 46 Passaic Daily News , May 1, 1922, p . 2. 47 Passaic Daily N ews, May 8 , 1922 , p. 1. 48 Passaic Daily Herald, May 8, 1922, pp . 1-2 . Passaic Daily Herald, May 8, 1922, pp. 1-2 . Mrs . Matisovsky related that Haitinger had offered her money to accompany him to Coney Island . 50 One of the complaints against Haitinger was his inattention to the needs of the 49 �SLOVAKIA 85 parishioners , particularly his refusal to allow the formation of a Holy Name Society for the men of the parish. 51 Passaic Daily News , May 25 , 1922, p. 1. 52 Passaic Daily News, May 27, 1922 , p. 1. Both Kollar 's son and Skvarla 's nephew would eventually become Roman Catholic priests . 53 54 Passaic Daily News, August 15, 1922, pp . 1-2. 55 Albin Stolarik, Op. cit. 56 Passaic Daily News , August 7, 1922 , p . 1. 57 Passaic Daily News , August 21, 1922 , pp. 1, 3. 58 The fact that Hama 's Hall was attached to a tavern was constantly brought up by the opposition as an indication of the dissidents' lack of religiosity. 59 John O'Connor to John Salamon, August 29 , 1922, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 60 AAN, Parish Reports , 1922 , 1924, 1926. 61 Father Haitinger kept poor sacramental records , with baptisms and marriages being recorded in batches , and some years later. 62 Financial Report of the Holy Name Slovak Catholic Church of Passaic, N .J. for the year 1937 , ADP , Holy Name Slovak Church File. 63 Steven Kollar to John O'Connor, May 5, 1925, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 64 Duffy and Jeczusko were unable to communicate directly, since Jeczusko could not speak English , and Dufy was unable to communicate in Latin when Jeczusko tried that language. Matthias , Op. cit. 65 John Salamon to Augustine Fischer-Colbrie, May 14, 1925 , ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. Salamon was unaware that Fischer-Colbrie had already died . 66 John Duffy to Steven Kollar, May 20, 1925, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 67 There is some confusion about Msgr. Rusko's status . He is described as a Roman Catholic and "Apostolic Visitator" for Slovaks in America. However his name does not appear in any Catholic Directories in the 1920's . Another source said he was actually an Anglican. See Albin Stolarik, Op. cit. 68 Passaic Daily News, May 29 , 1925, p . 1. 69 Passaic Daily News, November 27 , 1925, p . 1. This was not Bishop Hodur's first visit to Passaic. He had previously presided at the cornerstone blessing and Confirmation for St. Anthony of Padua Independent Italian Catholic Church on May 11, 1919. 70 John O'Connor to Pietro Fumasoni-Biondi, June 16, 1926, ADP , Holy Name Slovak Church File. 71 John Duffy to Emery Jeczusko , March 11, 1927, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 72 Thomas McLaughlin to Amleto Cicognani , August 11 , 1938, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 73 Labash, Op . cit. 14 Thomas McLaughlin to Stephen Matthias et al., January 16, 1947, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 75 This time the difficulty centered around the fate of Father Magyar. The trustees real- �86 SLOVAKIA ized that he would have to leave ifreconciliation was accomp lished , but they did not wish to s imply "abandon " Magyar. They felt that it was necessary to find some work or provide some financial se ttlement for him . Bishop McLaughlin balked at this , and before the matter could be settled , McLaughlin died on March 17, 1947. Labash, Op . cit. 76 John Salamon to Augustine Fisc her-Colbri e , May 14, 1925 , ADP , Holy Name Slovak Church File. See also M. Mark Stolarik, " Building Slovak Co mmunities in America " in Ke ith P. Dyrud , et al. Th e Other Ca th olics (New York : Arno Press, 1978), p . 106. n Matthias, Op . cit. 78 Ibid. 79 Interview with William Chromey, October 14, 1983, ADP. 80 81 Matthias , Op. cit. Ibid . 82 Albin Stolarik, Op . cit. 83 Ibid. 84 Andrew Romanak to Thomas McLaughlin, July 23 , 1946, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. It was not until Magyar's will was probated in 1968 that the congregation at large finall y learned that he was indeed married to his housekeeper , Isabelle. 85 Labash , Op . cit. as Matthias , Op . cit. 87 Thomas McLaughlin to Amleto Cicognani , December 13, 1946, APO, Holy Name Slovak Church File . 88 AAN , Haitinger Personnel Fi le. 89 Thomas McLaughlin to Stephen Matthias et al. , January 16, 1947, ADP , Holy Name Slovak Church File. 90 Thomas McLaughlin to Amleto Cicognani , December 13 , 1946, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 91 Thomas McLaughlin to Andrew Romanak , May 28 , 1946, ADP, Hol y Name Slovak Church File. 92 Labash , Op . cit. 93 M. Mark Stolarik, " Lay Initiative ... " Op . cit. 94 ADP, St. Anthony, Passaic , Parish File. � SLOVAKIA 63 The Slovak National Catholic Church, Passaic, New Jersey, and the Jeczusko Affair RAYMOND J. KUPKE INTRODUCTION In the Dundee section of Passaic, New Jersey there are four churches in an area of nine city blocks : Holy Name Slovak National Catholic Cathedral, St. Mary 's Roman Catholic Church, St. Michael the Archangel Ruthenian Catholic Cathedral , and Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Cathedral. Although this listing represents four diverse denominations, the members of the four parishes are descended from immigrants from the same villages in what are today Czechoslovakia and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic , and indeed family ties run across all four congregations. 1 Commenting on an article about Our Lady of Mercy Slovak Parish in Cleveland, Ohio, which existed in a schismatic state from the Roman Catholic Church from 1917 to 1922 , Slovak historian Mark Stolarik observes, It is interesting to note that in the spirit of "consensus" history a recent article infednota (January 19, 1972 , p. 1) about Our Lady of Mercy Church, makes no mention of this schism. Contemporary Slovak editors avoid religious controversy at all costs. 2 When one delves into the Slovak religious history of Passaic , Stolarik's observation is amply born out. Upon reading the available jubilee books 3 one hardly notices a mention of the year 1922. Yet in 1922 , just as the rupture in Cleveland's Slovak community was being healed, a schism developed in Passaic's Slovak �64 SLOVAKIA community which would effect a permanent division in the community, and create an unusual footnote in American religious history - a cathedral without a diocese, a one-parish "denomination'' with Roman Catholic usages and Polish National Catholic affiliation. 4 The religious history of Passaic is amazingly complex. It is caught up in currents on both sides of the Atlantic and involves merchants and politicians, popes and bishops, patriarchs and czars. This study attempts to examine one facet of that history, the dispute in the Slovak community of Passaic which divided St. Mary's Parish and led to the formation of Holy Name Slovak National Catholic Church. THE SETTING Located on the Passaic River fifteen miles upstream from Newark, Passaic was first settled by the Dutch in 1678. It remained a small commercial village until after the Civil War when railroads and the textile industry began to change its character. Incorporated as a city in 18 73, Passaic welcomed its first Eastern European immigrants six years later. They were brought in by George B. Waterhouse to work in the Waterhouse Brothers Mills . The initial seven immigrants recruited by Waterhouse in 1879 soon turned into a flood from Eastern and Southern Europe. The 1910 census showed Passaic's foreign born comprising 52 % of the total population. 5 The 1920 census registered a population of 63,824 with 74% o( that total being foreign born, the greatest percentage of any city (over 50,000) in the United States. 6 The Slovak population at the time was estimated to be 7,400.7 The WPA Guide to New Jersey describes the area: East of Main Avenue , a progressively shabbier area stretches down to the river. Here the streets are narrow , with frame swellings and congested tenements crowded beside huge factories . This is the " Dundee Section," where one-half the population is crammed into one-sixth of the city' s area. Living in this section are most of the foreign-born who comprise about one-third of the total population. Numerically the Poles are first , followed in �SLOVAKIA 65 turn by the Italians, Russians , Hungarians , Slovaks, Germans , Austrians, Dutch, Scotch, English and Irish. 8 The initial seven Eastern Europeans whom George Waterhouse brought from Castle Garden to Passaic in December 1879 were all from the Eastern part of Slovakia. They were: Andrew Pastor, John Socha, John Kostisin, and George Slivka from Saris County; John Pochlod and John Salasovic from Zemplin County; and Edward Geiger from Spis County. 9 The initial seven immigrants were quickly joined by their fellow countrymen from Slovakia. When asked what was the inducement to come to America , one of the original seven Slovak immigrants quickly answered "money. " 1 Certainly the poor economic conditions in Eastern Europe were a major inducement for European emigrati~n. But Slovaks had another incentive as well . Beginning in the 1870's the government of Hungary, which included Slovakia, embarked on a program of "Magyarization" in the non-Magyar parts of the kingdom. The three Slovak ''gymnasia'' (high schools) were closed, and most of the religious primary schools were nationalized. The use of Slovak was prohibited in the schools and teachers were awarded a bonus if they were successful Magyarizers. 11 Even to study for the priesthood a Slovak must pass through the Magyar seminary, and there any study of the language of the future flock is treated as ground for expulsion.12 This process created divisions among Slovaks in America between those who were educated by the Hungarians and those who were not. A dispute broke out in 1902 at St. Stephen's Slovak Parish in Newark between the non-Magyarized parishioners and their pastor, Father Alexander Kovacs. In a solicited letter (Written in Latin) , Father Emery ("Imrich" in Slovak, " Imre " in Magyar) Haitinger, Slovak pastor in Passaic , attempted to explain the distinction between the two groups to a confused Bishop John J. O'Connor of Newark. SLAVICS are a peaceful people, who have built the church and maintain it well: they are the basis of the Slavonic congregation because they pay their debts; SLOVAKS are an ambitious people who desire to lead , ° �66 SLOVAKIA to rule, but they do not like to pay debts, nor will they pay them, as their custom is in the free manner of the Italians ... These Slovaks are a troublesome people, POLITICAL AGITATORS against the Hungarian fatherland, whose political machinations are not needed in America. 13 Because of these economic and cultural reasons the number of Slovak immigrants grew rapidly. In 1880 there were 292 foreignborn "Hungarians" in New Jersey. By 1900 that figure grew to 8,404 just in the seven northern counties that comprised the Newark Catholic Diocese.1 4 Most of the immigrants to Passaic were Catholic and between 1890 and 1920 the territorial "Irish" parish of St. Nicholas was joined by nine new "national" parishes for Polish, Italian, Slovak, German, Hungarian, Ukrainian and Ruthenian immigrants. 15 The first of the national churches to be organized was St. Michael the Archangel in 1890. This church served Catholics of the Byzantine Rite who were in communion with Rome. Since many of these Ruthenians or "Rusins" lived in the same villages as the Latin Rite Slovaks, the Passaic Slovaks assisted their neighbors in building St. Michael's. This experience may have provided the spark the Slovak community needed for the following year St. Mary's Slovak Parish was organized on April 1. 16 Initially the congregation met in the basement of St. Nicholas' Church, but by 1893 they were able to construct a church of their own on the corner of Monroe and Second Streets. The absence of a stable Slovak clergy in th~ United States hampered the growth of the new parish. Between 1891 and 1898 the parish was served by a rapid succession of pastors including Fathers Samuel Belja, Bernard Skulik, Benjamin Kwiatkowski, Joseph Ligday, John Pollakovics, and Ignatius Jaskovits, with Father John Sheppard of St. Nicholas often filling in the gaps. On September 2, 1898 Bishop Winand Wigger of Newark appointed Father Emery A. Haitinger, recently arrived in the diocese, as pastor of St.Mary's and he remained for nearly a quarter of a century.17 Father Haitinger supervised the construction of a new stone church which was completed in 1904. By 1920 the parish numbered between 1200 and 1500 families comprising about 600 individuals. 18 �SLOVAKIA 67 Passaic was not free from strife in those years. Many Passaic workers participated in the "Great Strike of 1913 " in which 25 ,000 mill workers organized by the Industrial Workers of the World struck throughout northern New Jersey.19 Religious dissension was also not unheard of. In 1910 Sts. Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Parish, which had developed from St. Michael's in 1902, defected from the Catholic Church and embraced Russian Orthodoxy. Also in 1918, a rupture in Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian parish resulted in the formation of St. Anthony of Padua Independent Italian Catholic Church.20 On March 13, 1921, Bishop O'Connor, at Father Haitinger's request, appointed Father Emery Jeczusko, recently arrived from Europe, to be curate at St. Mary's .21 This would seem to have been a routine assignment, but in the highly charged atmosphere of Passaic it was an appointment that would have far-reaching consequences . THE DISPUTE Emery A. Haitinger was born in Slovakia, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in 1873 just at the time that the government's Magyarization policy was beginning. Haitinger began his seminary training at Arad in the southeastern part of Hungary in what is today Romania, but he emigrated to the United States during his seminary years and completed his training at St. Bonaventure's Seminary in Allegheny, New York. He was ordained a priest by Bishop Michael Hoban at Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1896. For two years Haitinger worked as a missionary among Slovak immigrants in northeastern Pennsylvania. In 1898 Bishop Winand Wigger accepted him for service in the Newark Diocese , and on September 2 of that year the twenty-five year old priest was appointed pastor of St. Mary's Parish in Passaic. 22 Doubtless Haitinger was considered a great asset to a diocese hard pressed to deal with a rapidly growing ethnic group . He was the first stable Slovak priest to work in the diocese , and he was pastorally effective in six languages. He not only supervised the construction of a new church in Passaic , but also was instrumental in the development of new parishes in Boonton, Rockaway, Elizabeth, and Linden. Through his connections in Europe he was �68 SLOVAKIA able to bring other Slovak priests to work in the Newark Diocese . However, Father Haitinger's twenty-four years in Passaic were not entirely peaceful. He considered himself a "gr6f" or member of the aristocracy , and sometimes styled himself " van Haitinger," as did his doctor brother.23 He did nothing to hide his bias for the Magyarized elements of his congregation and his parishioners called him a "Magyarone ," a title used for those who supported the Magyarizing of Slovak language and culture .24 There were also more serious charges of moral misconduct and of diverting church funds , particularly for the purchase of property for himself and his family. 25 While it is impossible to document these charges , there is a letter from Bishop John Duffy , then Chancellor of the Newark Diocese, to Haitinger on May 20, 1925 indicating some confusion between the personal property of Haitinger and the parish property. I am writing in reference to the lot owned by you adjoining the school of St. Mary's Parish, Passaic. I am sure that when the lot was purchased by you that you had in mind the future needs of St. Mary's Parish. Conditions there now require that the lot should belong to the church property. I remember hearing that the purchase price at which you bought this peace of property was very small, and I have heard that your present price is extremely large. In the interest of the Church for which you feel as deeply concerned as I do , I would suggest that you fix a price for this property within reason, and let me know what the amount is .26 Haitinger's reply is also interesting. In my first reply I wrote that I do not possess any lot in Passaic , and I emphasize it again. The pastor of St. Mary's knows it; he rented the lot in 1922 not from me , but from Miss Julia Tereschak, who is the owner since 1907. Before I disposed of the lot, I gave a preference to my congregation; but in a stormy meeting they refused to buy it. 27 �SLOVAKIA 69 These controversies about Haiting er' s pastorate festered for at least a decade prior to 1922. 2a Emery A. Jeczusko was born on February 18 , 1888 at Presov in Slovakia, but he came from Vel'ky Saris, the same town that three of the original Slovak immigrants and many of their successors hailed from . Jeczusko attended the seminary at Kosice and was ordained there by Bishop Augustine Fischer-Colbrie on November 30, 1911. Bishop Fischer-Colbrie released him to come to America and work among the Slovaks on November 30, 1920 , 29 and on Father Haitinger's request , Bishop O'Connor of Newark received him and assigned him as curate at St. Mary's, Passaic on March 13 , 1921.30 · Father Jeczusko was well received in Passaic. He is described as an eloquent orator, who was able to sight translate Latin into Slovak. 31 He endeared himself to the people not only by his brilliant sermons , but also by his ability to sing High Mass. 32 " Anything happen, the people want to see Father Jeczusko .. . and Father Haitinger didn't like that.' ' 33 Father Jeczusko was also socially attached to his parishioners . Unable to speak English, he naturally gravitated to people from his native area. He would often visit the Hungarian Social Club, a few blocks from the rectory, to play cards and have a few beers with his friends. 34 On March 11, 1922, Haitinger wrote the following letter to Bishop O'Connor, Herewith is enclosed my financial statement of 1921. Also in these lines I ask Your Lordship to be so kind as to renew the Faculties of my Assistant , the Rev. Emery Jeczusko, which expires within the coming few days. 35 O'Connor replied immediately on March 14. From what I have learned of Father Jeczusko's habits, I do not wish to renew his faculties in this diocese. Tell him he must seek some other diocese . I enclose a letter testifying that he is not under censure. I will write to Father Miklus and tell him to go to you. 36 Meanwhile on April 19, O'Connor received a letter from Bishop Fischer-Colbrie in Kos ice. �70 SLO VAKIA I received the telegram of Your Excellency, and by your request I recall my priest Emery Jeczusko . .. I also ask that Your Excellency favor me by communicating the causes of your desire , that I may have direction in my agenda with Emery Jeczusko .37 On April 20 O'Connor again communicated with Haitinger. The enclosed letter for Father Jeczusko is from Bishop Fischer-Colbrie of Cassovia recalling him to his diocese. Oblige me by handing it to him. The Bishop requires him to return at once. It is the result of the cablegram sent sometime ago. 38 Bishop O'Connor does not elaborate on the offensive habits of Father Jeczusko , but presumably he did not find it acceptable for priests to fraternize with the laity in social clubs. He also does not elaborate on where he received the information on Father Jeczusko's habits. Popular opinion held that Haitinger himself, and his friends, had informed O 'Connor. While there is no conclusive evidence of this , it would appear from O'Connor's second communication to Haitinger that Haitinger was previously aware of the cablegram sent to Europe. On Sunday, April 23 , 1922, Father Jeczusko mounted the pulpit during the 10:30 A.M. Mass and explained his recall and bade the people farewell. He was followed by Father Haitinger who expressed his sorrow at Jeczusko 's recall. It appears that this announcement was not a surprise because a demonstration took place outside the church after Mass , and handbills were circulated calling for a mass meeting that night at Hama's Hall in Passaic. 39 The hall was filled to capacity, and the meeting was chaired by John J. Labash, an undertaker, and Steven Kollar, a cobbler. Demands were made for Jeczusko's reinstatement and the removal of Hai ting er. Even at this early date, the organizers of the dispute were talking about the possibility of a new parish. Messrs. Labash and Kollar speaking to a Daily News man said that the people were going to carry the fight to the bitter end. They felt that they were justified in even organizing an independent parish, if only to carry out what they figured was right .40 �SLOVAKIA 71 A second meeting was held on April 27 at Mokrai's Hall in Passaic, and as a result of this meeting ten parish organizations forwarded identical petitions to Bishop O 'Connor over the signatures of their officers: ... adopted a resolution seeking for the reinstatement of Father Emery Jeczusko in our church of St. Marie's of the Assumption, of Passaic, N.J. and that: The Rev. Emery A. Haitinger, now rector of the church be removed at once for the future good of our parish. This action is based on the wish of more than 600 people who attended a Mass meeting on Sunday, April 23, in a public hall at 108 Third Street, of our city. It is felt that a great deal of harm to our church, Faith and religion has come from the procrastinated action, or deferred action in this regard on your part. More than 90% of the people of our parish have literally refused to further attend the services of our church and we fear that a separation within the parish and a possible establishment of an Independent Church is threatening. It is honestly felt by most of the members of our parish that Father Haitinger must go. 41 The societies claimed a combined membership of 1200. The arguments against Haitinger centered around three issues: jealousy, finances , and patriotism. Mr. Kollar, a former trustee of the parish, claimed to have proof of serious discrepancies between the amount of money collected in the parish, the amount spent on parish expenses, and the amount in parish accounts.42 The patriotism charges were on two different levels. On the one hand Haiting er was accused of ''un-Americanism'' because he was alleged to have preached in favor of Austria-Hungary during World War I, and also that he had greeted the Hungarian Premier Husar as a Hungarian. 43 On the other hand Haitinger was also accused of "Magyarone" tendencies opposed to Slovak culture. 44 Haitinger's supporters countered by claiming that Haitinger was a true American, while Jeczusko was a retrogressive force in the community . . . . he was progressive in the matter of organizing a Slavish Federation which carried with it a spirit of the �72 SLOVAKIA fatherland and did not conform with the more modern spirit of working for things American. 45 All through April and May charges and countercharges were exchanged in the local newspapers, meetings were held , petitions were circulated. The atmosphere was further charged by an article in New Yorksky Dennfk, a Slovak newspaper in New York entitled "Battle of Slovak Catholics in Passaic." The article, widely circulated in Passaic, vilified Haitinger, and both the Hungarian and American hierarchy. Describing Haitinger the article commented: With abuse , cursings, laughter, lies and force more and more the Slovak people were literally chased from God's church merely that he might attain his aim and to make foreign the parish and bring it to the bishop , so to speak, on a silver platter, saying, "Here you have, august dictator, a new Irish parish." This hellish thought of Rev . Haitinger's has found a strong set-back in the face of the Slovak curate. The parson became afraid of his Judas recompense, and the bishop was afraid he would soon lose the Irished parish, which was builded through for Slovak blisters , and so the parson and the bishop got together and in short adjudged the Slovak curate to exile he must go.46 The tension was further heightened when one of the dissidents , a Mrs. Theresa Sisko, went to the rectory after Mass on Sunday, May 7 to reclaim at last a portion of a previous donation of $4,000 . Haitinger told her she would have to sue the parish, told her to get out, and then forcibly evicted her from the rectory, causing her to fall down the stairs and sustain many bruises. 47 Within a few days Mrs. Sisko brought suit against Haitinger for $30,000. The reports of the Sisko incident circulating through the ciy brought out a record crowd of 2,000 to a meeting that same night at Mokrai's Hall. During the meeting Labash and Kollar reiterated the history of their grievances. They claimed that petitions to the bishop in previous years had been destroyed before reaching him, that a committee sent to the bishop and the Apostolic Delegate in 1919 had failed to get a hearing, and that each time Bishop �SLOVAKIA 73 O'Connor was approached "he always sent us away with a promise to consider the matter.' ' 48 They then told the assembly of the bishop's final decision not allow Jenczusko to remain in the diocese. The allegations of financial mismanagement were repeated , and Mrs. Frank Matisovsky produced laughter among the audience when she related incidents of Haitinger's improprieties and her lack of satisfaction when these were related to the bishop .49 The assembly was unanimous in its· determination to replace Haitinger with another priest, have Jeczusko reinstated , and if necessary , form a new parish and even secede from the Catholic Church. For the first time the finances of a new church were discussed, and the name "Holy Name Parish" was used. 50 On Saturday the committee went to South Orange to approach Bishop O'Connor. This time they took Mrs. Sisko with them and she spoke to the bishop's secretary. Also during the week the committee met with Msgr. John A. Sheppard of Jersey City, formerly pastor of St. Nicholas, Passaic, and later Vicar General of the diocese. Acting on Sheppard's advice the committee formally presented a request to Haitinger to resign the pastorate with a copy of the request sent to O'Connor. 51 Rumors of Haitinger's removal were rampant in the city when he did not appear at Masses on Sunday, May 21. Instead the Masses were celebrated by Father John Salamon, a native son of the parish, and curate at St. Joseph's Parish in Elizabeth. It was reported that Haitinger had celebrated Mass in Elizabeth and returned to Passaic in the afternoon. The Saturday edition of the Passaic Daily News for May 27 carried the following article: As forecast by The Daily News Monday evening, the Rev. Father John D. Salamon, rector of St. Joseph's Church in Elizabeth, and formerly a pupil at St. Marie's Parochial School , of this city, has been designated as the new rector for the local Slovak Catholic Church, thus ending the controversy which threatened for a time to disrupt the entire St. Marie's Parish. Announcement was made by the Right Rev. Monsignor John A. Duffy, chancellor of the Catholic diocese of Newark, Thursday evening, to the effect that the Right Rev. Bishop John �74 SLOVAKIA J. O'Connor had decided upon the change being made. Meanwhile the Rev. Father Emery A. Haitinger, rector of St. Marie's Church since 1898, will be unattached for a while. He will visit temporarily with the Rev. Father Andrew Adzima, his former curate , and now rector of St. Joseph's in Bayonne.52 However the happy conclusion to the controversy forecast by the Passaic Daily News was premature. Having accomplished the first of their goals, the committee pressed on to insist on the reinstatement of Father Jeczusko as curate . The dissidents crystallized around Labash, Kollar, Marcel Sherman, a painter, Victor Chirip , a former locksmith in the Austrian royal palace , and Paul Skvarla, an architect. 53 The committee continued to treat with O'Connor about Jeczusko throughout the summer, but O'Connor was adamant. Jeczusko himself meanwhile did not participate in the controversy, but stayed with his brother in Connecticut. He did not reappear in Pasaaic until the middle of August. 54 The committee enlisted the help of Father Salamon to intervene with the bishop on Jeczusko's behalf, but this was to no avail. During the first week of August the committee met with O'Connor in Newark and was once again told that Jeczusko would not be reinstated. The mood of the committee can be summed up in the comment of Marcel Sherman, "We're not going to have that Irish bishop telling us what to do. " 55 At a mass meeting on Monday, August 6, the committee reported the bishop's refusal to the parishioners and the break with St. Mary's was made final. Labash and Kollar were elected chairman and vice chairman respectively of the new parish. Pledges were received for $14,000 and $550 was collected that first night. Still, Labash held out the possibility of reconciliation: The new church, it was explained, would not necessarily become detached from the Roman Catholic Church in this country, provided, of course, Bishop O 'Connor accepted their action as being a logical expression of the feelings of a people who were hurt, and agreed to treat them on a par with the other congregations within his �SLOVAKIA 75 diocese , but with the understanding that Father Jeczusko would be rector of the church and the mode of carrying on the business affairs of the parish put in the hands of the parishioners rather than the clergymen. 56 At a mass meeting on Saturday, August 20 at Hama's Hall with Father Jeczusko present, the priest was formally offered the post of pastor of Holy Name Slovak Church. Jeczusko's reply is indicative of his personal turmoil in this situation: "I am facing a difficult situation, my friends," he stated, ''having my passpost all ready, I have merely to engage passage to leave for my home country. Your apparent sincerity of purpose, however, and your zeal in the endeavor to carry out the true significance of Catholicism, prompt me to heed your call. ' ' He then asked that the people not try to set aside the Roman Catholic authority. He intimated that serious things might happen to him. "And after all ," he exclaimed, '' our work is in the name of God above , the name of our newly formed parish implies that, and with His aid we shall conquer all things. By the memory of my sweet little mother , whose greatest ambition in life was to see me at the Altar of the Almighty, serving with honor, serving with a dignified fear of Him above , and fulfilling all that is prescribed by the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church, I accept this call to serve you, my people. But I implore you not to give up your traditions, the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. Let us call unto ourselves the leadership of this great church with its authority. "57 Father Jeczusko celebrated the first Mass for the new parish on Sunday , August 27 , 1922 at Hama's Hall where many of the organizational meetings had been held. 58 On August 29 Bishop O'Connor wrote to Father Salamon explaining Father Jeczusko's excommunicated status and the fact that the new congregation was not a Catholic church.59 He asked that this letter be read at all Masses the following Sunday, September 2 . Approximately one third of the parishioners of St. Mary's �SLOVAKIA 76 joined Holy Name Parish. In his 1922 report to the diocese, Haitinger listed 1260 men, 1810 women, and 2600 children at St. Mary's for a total of 5760. This report was signed by trustees Michael Novak and Steven Kollar, both of whom would later join Holy Name Parish. The 1924 report submitted by Father Salamon showed a drop in all three categories, for a total decrease of 1323 people. However these figures are approximations. The 1922 Sunday and Holyday Collections amounted to $9,794,67 , while the same collections in the 1926 report amounted to $6 ,621.22 60 Perhaps the best guage for the extent of the split are the baptismal and marriage records for both churches. 61 BAPTISMS St. Mary's Holy Name 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1920 1921 192·2 1923 1924 1925 1926 108 149 160 105 111 104 99 21 58 34 55 36 MARRIAGES St. Mary's Holy Name 36 40 31 40 45 37 34 2 15 25 12 19 If St. Mary's listed between 1200 and 1500 families in its 1922 report, Holy Name in its 1937 report to the parish listed 517 contributing families. 62 From all these sources the figure of one third of the Slovak community of Passaic belonging to Holy Name Parish seems reliable. The parishioners set about the task of securing property on Fourth Street, five blocks away from St. Mary's and contracted for the erection of a new church and rectory costing $100,000. �SLOVAKIA 77 Father Jeczusko , meanwhile , stayed at the home of Andrew Singlary on Fourth Street. In the Spring of 1925 the cornerstone was ready to be blessed. On May 5 , 1925 Steven Kollar wrote to Bishop O 'Connor on behalf of the parish committee to request a meeting with the bishop .63 The chancellor of the Newark Diocese, Msgr. John A. Duffy, responded to the letter and the meeting was held on May 11. This appears to be the one time that Father Jeczusko was present for a meeting of this type. 64 The committee asked that Bishop O'Connor come to bless the cornerstone of the new church. Monsignor Duffy agreed to present the proposal to O'Connor. In the meantime Duffy requested Fathe:r Salamon to send a letter to Bishop Fischer-Colbrie in Slovakia asking him to send Jeczusko a specific "mandatum" to return to Slovakia. 65 On May 20 , 1925 , Monsignor Duffy responded to Kollar in the name of Bishop O'Connor. In very blunt terms Duffy informed Kollar that the church would have to be turned directly over to the bishop, who would then have it incorporated under New Jersey law with himself as the president, the pastor as secretary-treasurer, and with two lay trustees appointed by the bishop. The pastor would administer the parish and its temporalities. With regard to Father Jeczusko , he would have to submit to Canon Law, reject his schism, and his future status would have to be decided by Rome. Nothing could be promised for him. Duffy concluded, ''It will be impossible therefore , for us to negotiate with you any further except on the terms laid down above,' ' 66 and exhorted them to abandon their schism. On May 30 , 1925 the cornerstone of Holy Name Church was solemnly blessed by the Right Rev. Monsignor Louis Rusko of Philadelphia, 67 in the presence of many clergymen of the area. The newspapers reported the fact that the parish committee had " waited on the Rt. Rev. Bishop John O'Connor of the Catholic Diocese of Newark in an effort to have him send a representative to take part in the ceremonies. " 68 No Catholic representative was present at the ceremonies, and that marked the effective end of the relationship between Holy Name Slovak Church and the Roman Catholic Church. On November 27 , 1925, the Right Rev. Bishop Francis Hodur of Scranton, Pennsylvania, founder of the Polish National Catholic Church, solemnly blessed Holy Name �78 SLOVAKIA Church. 69 From that time on Holy Name Parish held its ecclesial communion with the Polish National Catholic Church. THE AFTERMATH In 1926 , now nearing the end of his lengthy episcopate, O'Connor responded to an inquiry about Holy Name Church from the Apostolic Delegate , Pietro Fumasoni-Biondi: Through one of the Slovak priests I have requested Father Jeczusko 's bishop , who will be here for the Eucharistic Congress , to visit Passaic and see his subject personally. I hope that as a result of this visit Father Jeczusko will return to his diocese and that the financial difficulties of the Holy Name Parish will force the remaining members to turn the property over to legitimate authority. I beg to assure Your Excellency that this matter is settling itself and within a short time the so called Independent Church will be but a name.7° Whether the visit from the Bishop of Kosice took place is unknown. However , the situation did not settle itself. A year later the chancellor of the Newark Diocese wrote to Father Jeczusko on behalf of Bishop O'Connor to correct a statement that Jeczusko had made in a court case alleging that he was not an excommunicated priest.1 1 In the ensuing years a number of inquiries and attempts at reconciliation were initiated , primarily by Slovak priests , but nothing came of them . In the summer of 1938 Father Jeczusko died , just a matter of weeks after the installation of the Most Rev . Thomas H. McLaughlin as first Bishop of Paterson, a new diocese cut off from Newark and including the city of Passaic . A committee including Marcel Sherman, John Tomecko, George Nemec and John Rusnak approached Bishop McLaughlin concerning a reconciliation. McLaughlin was hopeful and asked the Apostolic Delegate for instructions in handling the matter.7 2 However, nothing came of the discussion principally because of the diocesan requirement to have the church incorporated with the bishop as president. The trustees were unwilling to turn over the property to the bishop , even a new friendly bishop .7 3 The committee engaged as their new pastor the Reverend Eugene Magyar, a native �SLOVAKIA 79 of Palmerton, Pennsylvania, and a Slovak despite his name, who had been assisting Father Jeczusko. In 1945 a new pastor, Andrew J. Romanak, was named for St. Mary's Parish after Father Salamon's death. Through his offices another attempt at reconciliation was made late in 1946 just a few months before Bishop McLaughlin's death. McLaughlin received instructions and assurances from the Apostolic Delegate concerning proceeding in the various questions concerning reconciliation, and McLaughlin addressed a letter to the congregation through its president Stephen Matthias in January, 1947.74 However, again nothing came of the attempt.7 5 In 1963 Father Magyar was ordained by the Polish National Catholic Church as a bishop for the Slovak National Catholics. At this time Holy Name acquired the title ''cathedra), '' although it is not the see church of a specific diocese. Bishop·Magyar died in 1968 and was briefly succeeded by a priest of the Polish National Catholic Church, Father John Hrencewicz. After Father Hrencewicz's departure, Father William Chromey, a Polish National Catholic priest of Slovak descent, who had served previously as an associate to Bishop Magyar, came to Holy Name and remains pastor there to this day. From the beginning there have been defections from Holy Name back to St. Mary's. Many of these occurred on an individual basis over the years. As it became apparent that the split was going to be a permanent one, the people faced various hardships. The split cut across family lines, and no longer considered "Catholic," members of Holy Name were denied burial in St. Mary's Cemetery where their parents and other relatives were buried. No longer considered ''Catholic,'' the Holy Name parishioners were dropped from membership in the First Catholic Slovak Union and subsequently lost its benefits. 76 Sometimes the occasion of a marriage to a Roman Catholic provided the opportunity to return to that faith. After the ever-popular Father Jeczusko's death in 1938, still more members of the congregation returned to St. Mary's. The financial obligations incurred by the congregation too, were a factor in inducing some members to leave. 77 Eventually both John Labash and Steven Kollar, as well �80 SLOVAKIA as a number of the other early organizers , returned to St. Mary 's and the Roman Catholic Church. 78 However, a sizeable number of families remained faithful to the parish. The ideals for which the congregation had fought: independence from hierarchical control , and lay control of parish affairs; remained an attractive reality to many of the people . Today Holy Name Parish continues to be supported by some 250 families .79 The parish that Father Jeczusko shepherded remained, as he promised in his acceptance speech, faithful to its Catholic traditions . While embracing Polish National Catholicism in an organizational sense, the parish never severed its ties with Roman Catholic usages. While the Polish National Church introduced the vernacular at an early date, both Father Jeczusko and Bishop Magyar continued to use Latin until a few months before the Roman Catholic church changed to the vernacular. 80 The liturgical books of the Roman Church were used and Father Jecuszko continued to pray his Divine Office in the church each day. 81 At Mass he prayed for the pope and the bishop of Newark , and on Good Friday he joined the rest of the Roman Catholic Church in its solemn orations "for schismatics and heretics," even if the rest of the Church felt it was praying for him. 82 The Baltimore Catechism continued to be in use throughout Father Jeczusko 's pastorate. 83 The people were adamant in their desire for a celibate clergy in the manner of the Roman Church, even though the Polish National Church has had a married clergy for years. Part of the impetus for the 1947 reconciliation attempt was the suspicion among many parishioners that Father Magyar was married. 84 Father Jeczusko himself seems to have become something of a pathetic figure toward the end of his life. As it became apparent · that the split was permanent, he seemed to some to become more despondent. Although happy with his situation among his beloved people, he was not content with his situation in the wider Church. "I know I didn 't do right. I'll pay for it somewhere ," he commented to a friend .85 Unable to speak English even at the end of his life, Jeczusko was in some ways a hostage of his congregation, dependent on them for his dealings with the wider world, including medical attention. He died in the summer of 1938, not �SLOVAKIA 81 yet fifty-one years old, perhaps of a heart attack brought on by emphysema. 86 Perhaps his real state of mind is best revealed by his will, which , after a few bequests to close friends, left his entire estate to the seminary at Kos ice. 8 7 After leaving Passaic Emery Haitinger was named pastor of the much smaller parish of St. Joseph in Elizabeth. He remained there for the rest of his life, dying on November 14 , 1959 at the age of eighty-six. 88 There is no documentary evidence that any responsibility was ever attached to him for the debacle is Passaic in 1922, except for the Duffy letter and one other incident that occurred much later in his life. On April 10, 1946, Pope Pius XII honored Haitinger by making him a monsignor at the request of his seminary classmate, Thomas J. Walsh, who was now the Archbishop of Newark. This occurred on the fiftieth anniversary of Haitinger's ordination. For the senior Slovak pastor in an ethnically conscious diocese, who had built two churches and actively participated in the formation of at least four congregations, this was an unusually long time to wait for that honor. CONCLUSION Bishop Thomas H. McLaughlin, the first Bishop of Paterson perhaps best summed up the situation that led to Holy Name Slovak National Catholic Church in several observations made over the years: Investigations which were made by me . . . have led me to the conclusion that the differences existing among the Slovak people of Passaic and Clifton have been and were due to misunderstandings . . . 89 I often felt , even before becoming Bishop of Paterson, that this man (Father Jeczusko) unfamiliar with the English language and American customs was to some extent the unwitting victim of a situation that got out of control. 90 I have always felt that the congregation as a whole was not completely at fault , and that good Father Jeczusko, not being familiar with American legal conditions and canonical procedure, erred somewhat through misunderstanding rather than through malice. 91 �82 SLOVAKIA At the time of the 1922 conflict McLaughlin was president of Seton Hall College and rector of the Newark-diocesan theologate , and therefore not totally removed from the situation. That he should maintain such an opinion puts him in stark contrast to Bishop O'Connor. Another observer commented from a different viewpoint: ''The trustees were feeling their oats. If the bishop had cooperated it could have been different. But he always felt 'I'm the boss.' '' 92 Certainly Bishop McLaughlin's observations of Father Jeczusko seem accurate . He was more a catalyst for the revolt, rather than a cause for it. The dissatisfaction in St. Mary's had been festering for years. At the same time the Slovak community in Passaic was becoming more and more successful and less willing to be treated with the Old World domination of Father Haitinger or the paternalism of Bishop O'Connor. In this sense Father Jeczusko 's popularity was more a lightning rod for the fire to strike. Mr. Labash 's comments on Bishop O'Connor also seem accurate. He certainly was an unwavering figure in the controversy , preferring to back up established authority (Haitinger) even when his position was untenable, and even then refusing to compromise on any point. It must be remembered that the dissidents never asked for Jeczusko to replace Haitinger, but merely to be able to remain at St. Mary's. Certainly by 1922 there was enough evidence from situations around the country over the years that Slovak and other eastern European congregations were capable of carrying disputes to the point of schism. 93 Perhaps his successful handling of a similar situation among the Italians earlier in his administration made O 'Connor feel that this situation could be similarly handled from a position of strength.94 Bishop O'Connor was also something of a distant figure in this dispute, preferring to deal through Salamon and Duffy. Indeed there is no evidence that O'Connor and Jeczusko ever met face to face through the whole five years they were both involved in the controversy. Whatever O 'Connor's reasons for his handling of the affair, his methods were unsuccessful and things did not " settle down." Holy Name Church still stands today within what was once the Newark Diocese of Bishop O'Connor, one of the only two surviv- �SLOVAKIA 83 ing Slovak National Catholic Churches in the United States , an unusual monument to the unwavering determination of many people. NOTES 1 Holy Trinity Slovak Lutheran Church, a short distance across the river in Garfield, N.J. could easily be a fifth partner in this description. 2 Mark Stolarik, "Lay Initiative in American-Slovak Parishes : 1880-1930," Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia , 83 (1972) p . 158 . 3 See Tenth Anniversary of the Holy Name Slovak Catholic Church (1932). Diamond Jubilee Journal, St . Mary 's Church (1968). and Slovaks in America (Middletown , Pa.: Slovak League of America, 1978.) 4 There is a Sts. Cyril and Methodius Slovak National Catholic Church in Perth Amboy , N.J. but the two congregations are not directly connected , nor has Holy Name ever been connected with the Czechoslovak National Church which developed in Europe . 5 Rudolph J. Vecoli , The People of New Jersey (Princeton: D. Van Nostrand Co. , 1965) , p. 213 . 6 William W. Scott, Passaic and Its Environs (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co ., 1922). p . 496. 7 Ibid .• p . 496. 8 Works Progress Administration, New Jersey: A Guide to its Present and Past (New York: Hastings House , 1946), pp. 345-346. 9 10 11 Scott, Op. cit., p. 494. Ibid. M. Mark Stolarik, "Immigration, Education and the Social Mobility of Slovaks, 1870-1930, " in Immigrants and Religion in Urban America, Randall M. Miller and Thomas D. Marzik, eds. (Philadelphia : Temple University Press , 1977) pp. 105-106. 12 Emily Greene Balch, Our Slavic Fellow Citizens (New York: Charities Publication Committee , 1910). p. 111 . 13 Rev. Emery Haitinger to Bishop John O'Connor, Feast of St. Emery, 1902, Archives of the Archdiocese of Newark (hereafter AAN), Haitinger Personnel File. Accused of being a "Magyarone" himself, Haitinger in this letter sets down his own biases two decades before the similar controversy which would engulf him. 14 New Jersey Catholic Historical Records Commission, The Bishops of Newark 1853-1978 (South Orange , N.J.: Seton Hall University Press , 1978). p. 64 . 15 In 1954 an eleventh parish would be added in Passaic with the establishment of Our Lady of Fatima Church for the new wave of Hispanic immigrants . 16 The parish is variously referred to as St . Mary's , St. Marie's (an affectation that seems to have developed after the construction of the " French Gothic" new church) , and Assumpion. The incorporated name of the parish is ' •Slavonian Catholic Church of the Assumption. '' �SLOVAKIA 84 17 Elizabeth Daily Journal , November 14 , 1959 , AAN, Haitinger Personnel File . 18 AAN , Parish Reports , 1922 . 19 Vecoli, op. cit., p. 196. 20 Archives of the Diocese of Paterson (hereafter ADP), St. Anthony 's , Passaic fil e . This schism was resolved in 1924. 21 ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church file . 22 For background information on Haitinger see AAN , Haitinger Personnel File. 23 Interview with Albin Stolarik , November 23 , 1983 , ADP. Ibid . 24 25 Interview with John Labash , October 31, 1983, ADP. 26 AAN , John A. Duffy to Emery A. Haitinger May 20 , 1925 , Haitinger Personnel File . 27 Emery Haitinger to John Duffy , 1925 , AAN. Miss Julia Tereschak was Haitinger's housekeeper. 28 Passaic Daily News, August 7, 1922 . p. 1. 29 Testimonial of Bishop Augustine Fischer-Colbrie, November 30, 1920, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File . 30 Personnel Record, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 31 Albin Stolarik, Op . cit. 32 Labash , Op. cit. 33 Interview with Stephen Matthias , November 7, 1983 , ADP. Ibid., and Labash , Op . cit. 34 35 John O'Connor to Emery Haitinger, March 14, 1922, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 37 Augustine Fischer-Colbrie to John O 'Connor, April 1, 1922 , APO, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 38 John O'Conno~.to Emery Haitinger, April 20 , 1922 , ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 39 Passaic Daily News, April 24 , 1922 , p. 1. 40 Passaic Daily News , April 24 , 1922 , p. 2. 41 Petition of Branch 192 of the First Catholic Slovak Union , and Branch 2 of the Slovak Union of Passaic , N.J., April 29, 1922 , ADP , Holy Name Slovak Church File . 42 Passaic Daily Herald, April 24, 1922 , p. 1. 43 Passaic Daily News , April 28, 1922 , p. 1. 44 Passaic Daily News , April 29 , 1922, p. 1. 45 Passaic Daily News , April 24, 1922 , p . 1. 46 Passaic Daily News , May 1, 1922, p . 2. 47 Passaic Daily N ews, May 8 , 1922 , p. 1. 48 Passaic Daily Herald, May 8, 1922, pp . 1-2 . Passaic Daily Herald, May 8, 1922, pp. 1-2 . Mrs . Matisovsky related that Haitinger had offered her money to accompany him to Coney Island . 50 One of the complaints against Haitinger was his inattention to the needs of the 49 �SLOVAKIA 85 parishioners , particularly his refusal to allow the formation of a Holy Name Society for the men of the parish. 51 Passaic Daily News , May 25 , 1922, p. 1. 52 Passaic Daily News, May 27, 1922 , p. 1. Both Kollar 's son and Skvarla 's nephew would eventually become Roman Catholic priests . 53 54 Passaic Daily News, August 15, 1922, pp . 1-2. 55 Albin Stolarik, Op. cit. 56 Passaic Daily News , August 7, 1922 , p . 1. 57 Passaic Daily News , August 21, 1922 , pp. 1, 3. 58 The fact that Hama 's Hall was attached to a tavern was constantly brought up by the opposition as an indication of the dissidents' lack of religiosity. 59 John O'Connor to John Salamon, August 29 , 1922, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 60 AAN, Parish Reports , 1922 , 1924, 1926. 61 Father Haitinger kept poor sacramental records , with baptisms and marriages being recorded in batches , and some years later. 62 Financial Report of the Holy Name Slovak Catholic Church of Passaic, N .J. for the year 1937 , ADP , Holy Name Slovak Church File. 63 Steven Kollar to John O'Connor, May 5, 1925, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 64 Duffy and Jeczusko were unable to communicate directly, since Jeczusko could not speak English , and Dufy was unable to communicate in Latin when Jeczusko tried that language. Matthias , Op. cit. 65 John Salamon to Augustine Fischer-Colbrie, May 14, 1925 , ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. Salamon was unaware that Fischer-Colbrie had already died . 66 John Duffy to Steven Kollar, May 20, 1925, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 67 There is some confusion about Msgr. Rusko's status . He is described as a Roman Catholic and "Apostolic Visitator" for Slovaks in America. However his name does not appear in any Catholic Directories in the 1920's . Another source said he was actually an Anglican. See Albin Stolarik, Op. cit. 68 Passaic Daily News, May 29 , 1925, p . 1. 69 Passaic Daily News, November 27 , 1925, p . 1. This was not Bishop Hodur's first visit to Passaic. He had previously presided at the cornerstone blessing and Confirmation for St. Anthony of Padua Independent Italian Catholic Church on May 11, 1919. 70 John O'Connor to Pietro Fumasoni-Biondi, June 16, 1926, ADP , Holy Name Slovak Church File. 71 John Duffy to Emery Jeczusko , March 11, 1927, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 72 Thomas McLaughlin to Amleto Cicognani , August 11 , 1938, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 73 Labash, Op . cit. 14 Thomas McLaughlin to Stephen Matthias et al., January 16, 1947, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 75 This time the difficulty centered around the fate of Father Magyar. The trustees real- �86 SLOVAKIA ized that he would have to leave ifreconciliation was accomp lished , but they did not wish to s imply "abandon " Magyar. They felt that it was necessary to find some work or provide some financial se ttlement for him . Bishop McLaughlin balked at this , and before the matter could be settled , McLaughlin died on March 17, 1947. Labash, Op . cit. 76 John Salamon to Augustine Fisc her-Colbri e , May 14, 1925 , ADP , Holy Name Slovak Church File. See also M. Mark Stolarik, " Building Slovak Co mmunities in America " in Ke ith P. Dyrud , et al. Th e Other Ca th olics (New York : Arno Press, 1978), p . 106. n Matthias, Op . cit. 78 Ibid. 79 Interview with William Chromey, October 14, 1983, ADP. 80 81 Matthias , Op. cit. Ibid . 82 Albin Stolarik, Op . cit. 83 Ibid. 84 Andrew Romanak to Thomas McLaughlin, July 23 , 1946, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. It was not until Magyar's will was probated in 1968 that the congregation at large finall y learned that he was indeed married to his housekeeper , Isabelle. 85 Labash , Op . cit. as Matthias , Op . cit. 87 Thomas McLaughlin to Amleto Cicognani , December 13, 1946, APO, Holy Name Slovak Church File . 88 AAN , Haitinger Personnel Fi le. 89 Thomas McLaughlin to Stephen Matthias et al. , January 16, 1947, ADP , Holy Name Slovak Church File. 90 Thomas McLaughlin to Amleto Cicognani , December 13 , 1946, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 91 Thomas McLaughlin to Andrew Romanak , May 28 , 1946, ADP, Hol y Name Slovak Church File. 92 Labash , Op . cit. 93 M. Mark Stolarik, " Lay Initiative ... " Op . cit. 94 ADP, St. Anthony, Passaic , Parish File. � 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 1987-88, Vol. 33 Description An account of the resource Vol. 33 (No. 60-61), 1987-88. 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 1987-88 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 63 The Slovak National Catholic Church, Passaic, New Jersey, and the Jeczusko Affair RAYMOND J. KUPKE INTRODUCTION In the Dundee section of Passaic, New Jersey there are four churches in an area of nine city blocks : Holy Name Slovak National Catholic Cathedral, St. Mary 's Roman Catholic Church, St. Michael the Archangel Ruthenian Catholic Cathedral , and Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Cathedral. Although this listing represents four diverse denominations, the members of the four parishes are descended from immigrants from the same villages in what are today Czechoslovakia and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic , and indeed family ties run across all four congregations. 1 Commenting on an article about Our Lady of Mercy Slovak Parish in Cleveland, Ohio, which existed in a schismatic state from the Roman Catholic Church from 1917 to 1922 , Slovak historian Mark Stolarik observes, It is interesting to note that in the spirit of "consensus" history a recent article infednota (January 19, 1972 , p. 1) about Our Lady of Mercy Church, makes no mention of this schism. Contemporary Slovak editors avoid religious controversy at all costs. 2 When one delves into the Slovak religious history of Passaic , Stolarik's observation is amply born out. Upon reading the available jubilee books 3 one hardly notices a mention of the year 1922. Yet in 1922 , just as the rupture in Cleveland's Slovak community was being healed, a schism developed in Passaic's Slovak 64 SLOVAKIA community which would effect a permanent division in the community, and create an unusual footnote in American religious history - a cathedral without a diocese, a one-parish "denomination'' with Roman Catholic usages and Polish National Catholic affiliation. 4 The religious history of Passaic is amazingly complex. It is caught up in currents on both sides of the Atlantic and involves merchants and politicians, popes and bishops, patriarchs and czars. This study attempts to examine one facet of that history, the dispute in the Slovak community of Passaic which divided St. Mary's Parish and led to the formation of Holy Name Slovak National Catholic Church. THE SETTING Located on the Passaic River fifteen miles upstream from Newark, Passaic was first settled by the Dutch in 1678. It remained a small commercial village until after the Civil War when railroads and the textile industry began to change its character. Incorporated as a city in 18 73, Passaic welcomed its first Eastern European immigrants six years later. They were brought in by George B. Waterhouse to work in the Waterhouse Brothers Mills . The initial seven immigrants recruited by Waterhouse in 1879 soon turned into a flood from Eastern and Southern Europe. The 1910 census showed Passaic's foreign born comprising 52 % of the total population. 5 The 1920 census registered a population of 63,824 with 74% o( that total being foreign born, the greatest percentage of any city (over 50,000) in the United States. 6 The Slovak population at the time was estimated to be 7,400.7 The WPA Guide to New Jersey describes the area: East of Main Avenue , a progressively shabbier area stretches down to the river. Here the streets are narrow , with frame swellings and congested tenements crowded beside huge factories . This is the " Dundee Section," where one-half the population is crammed into one-sixth of the city' s area. Living in this section are most of the foreign-born who comprise about one-third of the total population. Numerically the Poles are first , followed in SLOVAKIA 65 turn by the Italians, Russians , Hungarians , Slovaks, Germans , Austrians, Dutch, Scotch, English and Irish. 8 The initial seven Eastern Europeans whom George Waterhouse brought from Castle Garden to Passaic in December 1879 were all from the Eastern part of Slovakia. They were: Andrew Pastor, John Socha, John Kostisin, and George Slivka from Saris County; John Pochlod and John Salasovic from Zemplin County; and Edward Geiger from Spis County. 9 The initial seven immigrants were quickly joined by their fellow countrymen from Slovakia. When asked what was the inducement to come to America , one of the original seven Slovak immigrants quickly answered "money. " 1 Certainly the poor economic conditions in Eastern Europe were a major inducement for European emigrati~n. But Slovaks had another incentive as well . Beginning in the 1870's the government of Hungary, which included Slovakia, embarked on a program of "Magyarization" in the non-Magyar parts of the kingdom. The three Slovak ''gymnasia'' (high schools) were closed, and most of the religious primary schools were nationalized. The use of Slovak was prohibited in the schools and teachers were awarded a bonus if they were successful Magyarizers. 11 Even to study for the priesthood a Slovak must pass through the Magyar seminary, and there any study of the language of the future flock is treated as ground for expulsion.12 This process created divisions among Slovaks in America between those who were educated by the Hungarians and those who were not. A dispute broke out in 1902 at St. Stephen's Slovak Parish in Newark between the non-Magyarized parishioners and their pastor, Father Alexander Kovacs. In a solicited letter (Written in Latin) , Father Emery ("Imrich" in Slovak, " Imre " in Magyar) Haitinger, Slovak pastor in Passaic , attempted to explain the distinction between the two groups to a confused Bishop John J. O'Connor of Newark. SLAVICS are a peaceful people, who have built the church and maintain it well: they are the basis of the Slavonic congregation because they pay their debts; SLOVAKS are an ambitious people who desire to lead , ° 66 SLOVAKIA to rule, but they do not like to pay debts, nor will they pay them, as their custom is in the free manner of the Italians ... These Slovaks are a troublesome people, POLITICAL AGITATORS against the Hungarian fatherland, whose political machinations are not needed in America. 13 Because of these economic and cultural reasons the number of Slovak immigrants grew rapidly. In 1880 there were 292 foreignborn "Hungarians" in New Jersey. By 1900 that figure grew to 8,404 just in the seven northern counties that comprised the Newark Catholic Diocese.1 4 Most of the immigrants to Passaic were Catholic and between 1890 and 1920 the territorial "Irish" parish of St. Nicholas was joined by nine new "national" parishes for Polish, Italian, Slovak, German, Hungarian, Ukrainian and Ruthenian immigrants. 15 The first of the national churches to be organized was St. Michael the Archangel in 1890. This church served Catholics of the Byzantine Rite who were in communion with Rome. Since many of these Ruthenians or "Rusins" lived in the same villages as the Latin Rite Slovaks, the Passaic Slovaks assisted their neighbors in building St. Michael's. This experience may have provided the spark the Slovak community needed for the following year St. Mary's Slovak Parish was organized on April 1. 16 Initially the congregation met in the basement of St. Nicholas' Church, but by 1893 they were able to construct a church of their own on the corner of Monroe and Second Streets. The absence of a stable Slovak clergy in th~ United States hampered the growth of the new parish. Between 1891 and 1898 the parish was served by a rapid succession of pastors including Fathers Samuel Belja, Bernard Skulik, Benjamin Kwiatkowski, Joseph Ligday, John Pollakovics, and Ignatius Jaskovits, with Father John Sheppard of St. Nicholas often filling in the gaps. On September 2, 1898 Bishop Winand Wigger of Newark appointed Father Emery A. Haitinger, recently arrived in the diocese, as pastor of St.Mary's and he remained for nearly a quarter of a century.17 Father Haitinger supervised the construction of a new stone church which was completed in 1904. By 1920 the parish numbered between 1200 and 1500 families comprising about 600 individuals. 18 SLOVAKIA 67 Passaic was not free from strife in those years. Many Passaic workers participated in the "Great Strike of 1913 " in which 25 ,000 mill workers organized by the Industrial Workers of the World struck throughout northern New Jersey.19 Religious dissension was also not unheard of. In 1910 Sts. Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Parish, which had developed from St. Michael's in 1902, defected from the Catholic Church and embraced Russian Orthodoxy. Also in 1918, a rupture in Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian parish resulted in the formation of St. Anthony of Padua Independent Italian Catholic Church.20 On March 13, 1921, Bishop O'Connor, at Father Haitinger's request, appointed Father Emery Jeczusko, recently arrived from Europe, to be curate at St. Mary's .21 This would seem to have been a routine assignment, but in the highly charged atmosphere of Passaic it was an appointment that would have far-reaching consequences . THE DISPUTE Emery A. Haitinger was born in Slovakia, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in 1873 just at the time that the government's Magyarization policy was beginning. Haitinger began his seminary training at Arad in the southeastern part of Hungary in what is today Romania, but he emigrated to the United States during his seminary years and completed his training at St. Bonaventure's Seminary in Allegheny, New York. He was ordained a priest by Bishop Michael Hoban at Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1896. For two years Haitinger worked as a missionary among Slovak immigrants in northeastern Pennsylvania. In 1898 Bishop Winand Wigger accepted him for service in the Newark Diocese , and on September 2 of that year the twenty-five year old priest was appointed pastor of St. Mary's Parish in Passaic. 22 Doubtless Haitinger was considered a great asset to a diocese hard pressed to deal with a rapidly growing ethnic group . He was the first stable Slovak priest to work in the diocese , and he was pastorally effective in six languages. He not only supervised the construction of a new church in Passaic , but also was instrumental in the development of new parishes in Boonton, Rockaway, Elizabeth, and Linden. Through his connections in Europe he was 68 SLOVAKIA able to bring other Slovak priests to work in the Newark Diocese . However, Father Haitinger's twenty-four years in Passaic were not entirely peaceful. He considered himself a "gr6f" or member of the aristocracy , and sometimes styled himself " van Haitinger," as did his doctor brother.23 He did nothing to hide his bias for the Magyarized elements of his congregation and his parishioners called him a "Magyarone ," a title used for those who supported the Magyarizing of Slovak language and culture .24 There were also more serious charges of moral misconduct and of diverting church funds , particularly for the purchase of property for himself and his family. 25 While it is impossible to document these charges , there is a letter from Bishop John Duffy , then Chancellor of the Newark Diocese, to Haitinger on May 20, 1925 indicating some confusion between the personal property of Haitinger and the parish property. I am writing in reference to the lot owned by you adjoining the school of St. Mary's Parish, Passaic. I am sure that when the lot was purchased by you that you had in mind the future needs of St. Mary's Parish. Conditions there now require that the lot should belong to the church property. I remember hearing that the purchase price at which you bought this peace of property was very small, and I have heard that your present price is extremely large. In the interest of the Church for which you feel as deeply concerned as I do , I would suggest that you fix a price for this property within reason, and let me know what the amount is .26 Haitinger's reply is also interesting. In my first reply I wrote that I do not possess any lot in Passaic , and I emphasize it again. The pastor of St. Mary's knows it; he rented the lot in 1922 not from me , but from Miss Julia Tereschak, who is the owner since 1907. Before I disposed of the lot, I gave a preference to my congregation; but in a stormy meeting they refused to buy it. 27 SLOVAKIA 69 These controversies about Haiting er' s pastorate festered for at least a decade prior to 1922. 2a Emery A. Jeczusko was born on February 18 , 1888 at Presov in Slovakia, but he came from Vel'ky Saris, the same town that three of the original Slovak immigrants and many of their successors hailed from . Jeczusko attended the seminary at Kosice and was ordained there by Bishop Augustine Fischer-Colbrie on November 30, 1911. Bishop Fischer-Colbrie released him to come to America and work among the Slovaks on November 30, 1920 , 29 and on Father Haitinger's request , Bishop O'Connor of Newark received him and assigned him as curate at St. Mary's, Passaic on March 13 , 1921.30 · Father Jeczusko was well received in Passaic. He is described as an eloquent orator, who was able to sight translate Latin into Slovak. 31 He endeared himself to the people not only by his brilliant sermons , but also by his ability to sing High Mass. 32 " Anything happen, the people want to see Father Jeczusko .. . and Father Haitinger didn't like that.' ' 33 Father Jeczusko was also socially attached to his parishioners . Unable to speak English, he naturally gravitated to people from his native area. He would often visit the Hungarian Social Club, a few blocks from the rectory, to play cards and have a few beers with his friends. 34 On March 11, 1922, Haitinger wrote the following letter to Bishop O'Connor, Herewith is enclosed my financial statement of 1921. Also in these lines I ask Your Lordship to be so kind as to renew the Faculties of my Assistant , the Rev. Emery Jeczusko, which expires within the coming few days. 35 O'Connor replied immediately on March 14. From what I have learned of Father Jeczusko's habits, I do not wish to renew his faculties in this diocese. Tell him he must seek some other diocese . I enclose a letter testifying that he is not under censure. I will write to Father Miklus and tell him to go to you. 36 Meanwhile on April 19, O'Connor received a letter from Bishop Fischer-Colbrie in Kos ice. 70 SLO VAKIA I received the telegram of Your Excellency, and by your request I recall my priest Emery Jeczusko . .. I also ask that Your Excellency favor me by communicating the causes of your desire , that I may have direction in my agenda with Emery Jeczusko .37 On April 20 O'Connor again communicated with Haitinger. The enclosed letter for Father Jeczusko is from Bishop Fischer-Colbrie of Cassovia recalling him to his diocese. Oblige me by handing it to him. The Bishop requires him to return at once. It is the result of the cablegram sent sometime ago. 38 Bishop O'Connor does not elaborate on the offensive habits of Father Jeczusko , but presumably he did not find it acceptable for priests to fraternize with the laity in social clubs. He also does not elaborate on where he received the information on Father Jeczusko's habits. Popular opinion held that Haitinger himself, and his friends, had informed O 'Connor. While there is no conclusive evidence of this , it would appear from O'Connor's second communication to Haitinger that Haitinger was previously aware of the cablegram sent to Europe. On Sunday, April 23 , 1922, Father Jeczusko mounted the pulpit during the 10:30 A.M. Mass and explained his recall and bade the people farewell. He was followed by Father Haitinger who expressed his sorrow at Jeczusko 's recall. It appears that this announcement was not a surprise because a demonstration took place outside the church after Mass , and handbills were circulated calling for a mass meeting that night at Hama's Hall in Passaic. 39 The hall was filled to capacity, and the meeting was chaired by John J. Labash, an undertaker, and Steven Kollar, a cobbler. Demands were made for Jeczusko's reinstatement and the removal of Hai ting er. Even at this early date, the organizers of the dispute were talking about the possibility of a new parish. Messrs. Labash and Kollar speaking to a Daily News man said that the people were going to carry the fight to the bitter end. They felt that they were justified in even organizing an independent parish, if only to carry out what they figured was right .40 SLOVAKIA 71 A second meeting was held on April 27 at Mokrai's Hall in Passaic, and as a result of this meeting ten parish organizations forwarded identical petitions to Bishop O 'Connor over the signatures of their officers: ... adopted a resolution seeking for the reinstatement of Father Emery Jeczusko in our church of St. Marie's of the Assumption, of Passaic, N.J. and that: The Rev. Emery A. Haitinger, now rector of the church be removed at once for the future good of our parish. This action is based on the wish of more than 600 people who attended a Mass meeting on Sunday, April 23, in a public hall at 108 Third Street, of our city. It is felt that a great deal of harm to our church, Faith and religion has come from the procrastinated action, or deferred action in this regard on your part. More than 90% of the people of our parish have literally refused to further attend the services of our church and we fear that a separation within the parish and a possible establishment of an Independent Church is threatening. It is honestly felt by most of the members of our parish that Father Haitinger must go. 41 The societies claimed a combined membership of 1200. The arguments against Haitinger centered around three issues: jealousy, finances , and patriotism. Mr. Kollar, a former trustee of the parish, claimed to have proof of serious discrepancies between the amount of money collected in the parish, the amount spent on parish expenses, and the amount in parish accounts.42 The patriotism charges were on two different levels. On the one hand Haiting er was accused of ''un-Americanism'' because he was alleged to have preached in favor of Austria-Hungary during World War I, and also that he had greeted the Hungarian Premier Husar as a Hungarian. 43 On the other hand Haitinger was also accused of "Magyarone" tendencies opposed to Slovak culture. 44 Haitinger's supporters countered by claiming that Haitinger was a true American, while Jeczusko was a retrogressive force in the community . . . . he was progressive in the matter of organizing a Slavish Federation which carried with it a spirit of the 72 SLOVAKIA fatherland and did not conform with the more modern spirit of working for things American. 45 All through April and May charges and countercharges were exchanged in the local newspapers, meetings were held , petitions were circulated. The atmosphere was further charged by an article in New Yorksky Dennfk, a Slovak newspaper in New York entitled "Battle of Slovak Catholics in Passaic." The article, widely circulated in Passaic, vilified Haitinger, and both the Hungarian and American hierarchy. Describing Haitinger the article commented: With abuse , cursings, laughter, lies and force more and more the Slovak people were literally chased from God's church merely that he might attain his aim and to make foreign the parish and bring it to the bishop , so to speak, on a silver platter, saying, "Here you have, august dictator, a new Irish parish." This hellish thought of Rev . Haitinger's has found a strong set-back in the face of the Slovak curate. The parson became afraid of his Judas recompense, and the bishop was afraid he would soon lose the Irished parish, which was builded through for Slovak blisters , and so the parson and the bishop got together and in short adjudged the Slovak curate to exile he must go.46 The tension was further heightened when one of the dissidents , a Mrs. Theresa Sisko, went to the rectory after Mass on Sunday, May 7 to reclaim at last a portion of a previous donation of $4,000 . Haitinger told her she would have to sue the parish, told her to get out, and then forcibly evicted her from the rectory, causing her to fall down the stairs and sustain many bruises. 47 Within a few days Mrs. Sisko brought suit against Haitinger for $30,000. The reports of the Sisko incident circulating through the ciy brought out a record crowd of 2,000 to a meeting that same night at Mokrai's Hall. During the meeting Labash and Kollar reiterated the history of their grievances. They claimed that petitions to the bishop in previous years had been destroyed before reaching him, that a committee sent to the bishop and the Apostolic Delegate in 1919 had failed to get a hearing, and that each time Bishop SLOVAKIA 73 O'Connor was approached "he always sent us away with a promise to consider the matter.' ' 48 They then told the assembly of the bishop's final decision not allow Jenczusko to remain in the diocese. The allegations of financial mismanagement were repeated , and Mrs. Frank Matisovsky produced laughter among the audience when she related incidents of Haitinger's improprieties and her lack of satisfaction when these were related to the bishop .49 The assembly was unanimous in its· determination to replace Haitinger with another priest, have Jeczusko reinstated , and if necessary , form a new parish and even secede from the Catholic Church. For the first time the finances of a new church were discussed, and the name "Holy Name Parish" was used. 50 On Saturday the committee went to South Orange to approach Bishop O'Connor. This time they took Mrs. Sisko with them and she spoke to the bishop's secretary. Also during the week the committee met with Msgr. John A. Sheppard of Jersey City, formerly pastor of St. Nicholas, Passaic, and later Vicar General of the diocese. Acting on Sheppard's advice the committee formally presented a request to Haitinger to resign the pastorate with a copy of the request sent to O'Connor. 51 Rumors of Haitinger's removal were rampant in the city when he did not appear at Masses on Sunday, May 21. Instead the Masses were celebrated by Father John Salamon, a native son of the parish, and curate at St. Joseph's Parish in Elizabeth. It was reported that Haitinger had celebrated Mass in Elizabeth and returned to Passaic in the afternoon. The Saturday edition of the Passaic Daily News for May 27 carried the following article: As forecast by The Daily News Monday evening, the Rev. Father John D. Salamon, rector of St. Joseph's Church in Elizabeth, and formerly a pupil at St. Marie's Parochial School , of this city, has been designated as the new rector for the local Slovak Catholic Church, thus ending the controversy which threatened for a time to disrupt the entire St. Marie's Parish. Announcement was made by the Right Rev. Monsignor John A. Duffy, chancellor of the Catholic diocese of Newark, Thursday evening, to the effect that the Right Rev. Bishop John 74 SLOVAKIA J. O'Connor had decided upon the change being made. Meanwhile the Rev. Father Emery A. Haitinger, rector of St. Marie's Church since 1898, will be unattached for a while. He will visit temporarily with the Rev. Father Andrew Adzima, his former curate , and now rector of St. Joseph's in Bayonne.52 However the happy conclusion to the controversy forecast by the Passaic Daily News was premature. Having accomplished the first of their goals, the committee pressed on to insist on the reinstatement of Father Jeczusko as curate . The dissidents crystallized around Labash, Kollar, Marcel Sherman, a painter, Victor Chirip , a former locksmith in the Austrian royal palace , and Paul Skvarla, an architect. 53 The committee continued to treat with O'Connor about Jeczusko throughout the summer, but O'Connor was adamant. Jeczusko himself meanwhile did not participate in the controversy, but stayed with his brother in Connecticut. He did not reappear in Pasaaic until the middle of August. 54 The committee enlisted the help of Father Salamon to intervene with the bishop on Jeczusko's behalf, but this was to no avail. During the first week of August the committee met with O'Connor in Newark and was once again told that Jeczusko would not be reinstated. The mood of the committee can be summed up in the comment of Marcel Sherman, "We're not going to have that Irish bishop telling us what to do. " 55 At a mass meeting on Monday, August 6, the committee reported the bishop's refusal to the parishioners and the break with St. Mary's was made final. Labash and Kollar were elected chairman and vice chairman respectively of the new parish. Pledges were received for $14,000 and $550 was collected that first night. Still, Labash held out the possibility of reconciliation: The new church, it was explained, would not necessarily become detached from the Roman Catholic Church in this country, provided, of course, Bishop O 'Connor accepted their action as being a logical expression of the feelings of a people who were hurt, and agreed to treat them on a par with the other congregations within his SLOVAKIA 75 diocese , but with the understanding that Father Jeczusko would be rector of the church and the mode of carrying on the business affairs of the parish put in the hands of the parishioners rather than the clergymen. 56 At a mass meeting on Saturday, August 20 at Hama's Hall with Father Jeczusko present, the priest was formally offered the post of pastor of Holy Name Slovak Church. Jeczusko's reply is indicative of his personal turmoil in this situation: "I am facing a difficult situation, my friends," he stated, ''having my passpost all ready, I have merely to engage passage to leave for my home country. Your apparent sincerity of purpose, however, and your zeal in the endeavor to carry out the true significance of Catholicism, prompt me to heed your call. ' ' He then asked that the people not try to set aside the Roman Catholic authority. He intimated that serious things might happen to him. "And after all ," he exclaimed, '' our work is in the name of God above , the name of our newly formed parish implies that, and with His aid we shall conquer all things. By the memory of my sweet little mother , whose greatest ambition in life was to see me at the Altar of the Almighty, serving with honor, serving with a dignified fear of Him above , and fulfilling all that is prescribed by the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church, I accept this call to serve you, my people. But I implore you not to give up your traditions, the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. Let us call unto ourselves the leadership of this great church with its authority. "57 Father Jeczusko celebrated the first Mass for the new parish on Sunday , August 27 , 1922 at Hama's Hall where many of the organizational meetings had been held. 58 On August 29 Bishop O'Connor wrote to Father Salamon explaining Father Jeczusko's excommunicated status and the fact that the new congregation was not a Catholic church.59 He asked that this letter be read at all Masses the following Sunday, September 2 . Approximately one third of the parishioners of St. Mary's SLOVAKIA 76 joined Holy Name Parish. In his 1922 report to the diocese, Haitinger listed 1260 men, 1810 women, and 2600 children at St. Mary's for a total of 5760. This report was signed by trustees Michael Novak and Steven Kollar, both of whom would later join Holy Name Parish. The 1924 report submitted by Father Salamon showed a drop in all three categories, for a total decrease of 1323 people. However these figures are approximations. The 1922 Sunday and Holyday Collections amounted to $9,794,67 , while the same collections in the 1926 report amounted to $6 ,621.22 60 Perhaps the best guage for the extent of the split are the baptismal and marriage records for both churches. 61 BAPTISMS St. Mary's Holy Name 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1920 1921 192·2 1923 1924 1925 1926 108 149 160 105 111 104 99 21 58 34 55 36 MARRIAGES St. Mary's Holy Name 36 40 31 40 45 37 34 2 15 25 12 19 If St. Mary's listed between 1200 and 1500 families in its 1922 report, Holy Name in its 1937 report to the parish listed 517 contributing families. 62 From all these sources the figure of one third of the Slovak community of Passaic belonging to Holy Name Parish seems reliable. The parishioners set about the task of securing property on Fourth Street, five blocks away from St. Mary's and contracted for the erection of a new church and rectory costing $100,000. SLOVAKIA 77 Father Jeczusko , meanwhile , stayed at the home of Andrew Singlary on Fourth Street. In the Spring of 1925 the cornerstone was ready to be blessed. On May 5 , 1925 Steven Kollar wrote to Bishop O 'Connor on behalf of the parish committee to request a meeting with the bishop .63 The chancellor of the Newark Diocese, Msgr. John A. Duffy, responded to the letter and the meeting was held on May 11. This appears to be the one time that Father Jeczusko was present for a meeting of this type. 64 The committee asked that Bishop O'Connor come to bless the cornerstone of the new church. Monsignor Duffy agreed to present the proposal to O'Connor. In the meantime Duffy requested Fathe:r Salamon to send a letter to Bishop Fischer-Colbrie in Slovakia asking him to send Jeczusko a specific "mandatum" to return to Slovakia. 65 On May 20 , 1925 , Monsignor Duffy responded to Kollar in the name of Bishop O'Connor. In very blunt terms Duffy informed Kollar that the church would have to be turned directly over to the bishop, who would then have it incorporated under New Jersey law with himself as the president, the pastor as secretary-treasurer, and with two lay trustees appointed by the bishop. The pastor would administer the parish and its temporalities. With regard to Father Jeczusko , he would have to submit to Canon Law, reject his schism, and his future status would have to be decided by Rome. Nothing could be promised for him. Duffy concluded, ''It will be impossible therefore , for us to negotiate with you any further except on the terms laid down above,' ' 66 and exhorted them to abandon their schism. On May 30 , 1925 the cornerstone of Holy Name Church was solemnly blessed by the Right Rev. Monsignor Louis Rusko of Philadelphia, 67 in the presence of many clergymen of the area. The newspapers reported the fact that the parish committee had " waited on the Rt. Rev. Bishop John O'Connor of the Catholic Diocese of Newark in an effort to have him send a representative to take part in the ceremonies. " 68 No Catholic representative was present at the ceremonies, and that marked the effective end of the relationship between Holy Name Slovak Church and the Roman Catholic Church. On November 27 , 1925, the Right Rev. Bishop Francis Hodur of Scranton, Pennsylvania, founder of the Polish National Catholic Church, solemnly blessed Holy Name 78 SLOVAKIA Church. 69 From that time on Holy Name Parish held its ecclesial communion with the Polish National Catholic Church. THE AFTERMATH In 1926 , now nearing the end of his lengthy episcopate, O'Connor responded to an inquiry about Holy Name Church from the Apostolic Delegate , Pietro Fumasoni-Biondi: Through one of the Slovak priests I have requested Father Jeczusko 's bishop , who will be here for the Eucharistic Congress , to visit Passaic and see his subject personally. I hope that as a result of this visit Father Jeczusko will return to his diocese and that the financial difficulties of the Holy Name Parish will force the remaining members to turn the property over to legitimate authority. I beg to assure Your Excellency that this matter is settling itself and within a short time the so called Independent Church will be but a name.7° Whether the visit from the Bishop of Kosice took place is unknown. However , the situation did not settle itself. A year later the chancellor of the Newark Diocese wrote to Father Jeczusko on behalf of Bishop O'Connor to correct a statement that Jeczusko had made in a court case alleging that he was not an excommunicated priest.1 1 In the ensuing years a number of inquiries and attempts at reconciliation were initiated , primarily by Slovak priests , but nothing came of them . In the summer of 1938 Father Jeczusko died , just a matter of weeks after the installation of the Most Rev . Thomas H. McLaughlin as first Bishop of Paterson, a new diocese cut off from Newark and including the city of Passaic . A committee including Marcel Sherman, John Tomecko, George Nemec and John Rusnak approached Bishop McLaughlin concerning a reconciliation. McLaughlin was hopeful and asked the Apostolic Delegate for instructions in handling the matter.7 2 However, nothing came of the discussion principally because of the diocesan requirement to have the church incorporated with the bishop as president. The trustees were unwilling to turn over the property to the bishop , even a new friendly bishop .7 3 The committee engaged as their new pastor the Reverend Eugene Magyar, a native SLOVAKIA 79 of Palmerton, Pennsylvania, and a Slovak despite his name, who had been assisting Father Jeczusko. In 1945 a new pastor, Andrew J. Romanak, was named for St. Mary's Parish after Father Salamon's death. Through his offices another attempt at reconciliation was made late in 1946 just a few months before Bishop McLaughlin's death. McLaughlin received instructions and assurances from the Apostolic Delegate concerning proceeding in the various questions concerning reconciliation, and McLaughlin addressed a letter to the congregation through its president Stephen Matthias in January, 1947.74 However, again nothing came of the attempt.7 5 In 1963 Father Magyar was ordained by the Polish National Catholic Church as a bishop for the Slovak National Catholics. At this time Holy Name acquired the title ''cathedra), '' although it is not the see church of a specific diocese. Bishop·Magyar died in 1968 and was briefly succeeded by a priest of the Polish National Catholic Church, Father John Hrencewicz. After Father Hrencewicz's departure, Father William Chromey, a Polish National Catholic priest of Slovak descent, who had served previously as an associate to Bishop Magyar, came to Holy Name and remains pastor there to this day. From the beginning there have been defections from Holy Name back to St. Mary's. Many of these occurred on an individual basis over the years. As it became apparent that the split was going to be a permanent one, the people faced various hardships. The split cut across family lines, and no longer considered "Catholic," members of Holy Name were denied burial in St. Mary's Cemetery where their parents and other relatives were buried. No longer considered ''Catholic,'' the Holy Name parishioners were dropped from membership in the First Catholic Slovak Union and subsequently lost its benefits. 76 Sometimes the occasion of a marriage to a Roman Catholic provided the opportunity to return to that faith. After the ever-popular Father Jeczusko's death in 1938, still more members of the congregation returned to St. Mary's. The financial obligations incurred by the congregation too, were a factor in inducing some members to leave. 77 Eventually both John Labash and Steven Kollar, as well 80 SLOVAKIA as a number of the other early organizers , returned to St. Mary 's and the Roman Catholic Church. 78 However, a sizeable number of families remained faithful to the parish. The ideals for which the congregation had fought: independence from hierarchical control , and lay control of parish affairs; remained an attractive reality to many of the people . Today Holy Name Parish continues to be supported by some 250 families .79 The parish that Father Jeczusko shepherded remained, as he promised in his acceptance speech, faithful to its Catholic traditions . While embracing Polish National Catholicism in an organizational sense, the parish never severed its ties with Roman Catholic usages. While the Polish National Church introduced the vernacular at an early date, both Father Jeczusko and Bishop Magyar continued to use Latin until a few months before the Roman Catholic church changed to the vernacular. 80 The liturgical books of the Roman Church were used and Father Jecuszko continued to pray his Divine Office in the church each day. 81 At Mass he prayed for the pope and the bishop of Newark , and on Good Friday he joined the rest of the Roman Catholic Church in its solemn orations "for schismatics and heretics," even if the rest of the Church felt it was praying for him. 82 The Baltimore Catechism continued to be in use throughout Father Jeczusko 's pastorate. 83 The people were adamant in their desire for a celibate clergy in the manner of the Roman Church, even though the Polish National Church has had a married clergy for years. Part of the impetus for the 1947 reconciliation attempt was the suspicion among many parishioners that Father Magyar was married. 84 Father Jeczusko himself seems to have become something of a pathetic figure toward the end of his life. As it became apparent · that the split was permanent, he seemed to some to become more despondent. Although happy with his situation among his beloved people, he was not content with his situation in the wider Church. "I know I didn 't do right. I'll pay for it somewhere ," he commented to a friend .85 Unable to speak English even at the end of his life, Jeczusko was in some ways a hostage of his congregation, dependent on them for his dealings with the wider world, including medical attention. He died in the summer of 1938, not SLOVAKIA 81 yet fifty-one years old, perhaps of a heart attack brought on by emphysema. 86 Perhaps his real state of mind is best revealed by his will, which , after a few bequests to close friends, left his entire estate to the seminary at Kos ice. 8 7 After leaving Passaic Emery Haitinger was named pastor of the much smaller parish of St. Joseph in Elizabeth. He remained there for the rest of his life, dying on November 14 , 1959 at the age of eighty-six. 88 There is no documentary evidence that any responsibility was ever attached to him for the debacle is Passaic in 1922, except for the Duffy letter and one other incident that occurred much later in his life. On April 10, 1946, Pope Pius XII honored Haitinger by making him a monsignor at the request of his seminary classmate, Thomas J. Walsh, who was now the Archbishop of Newark. This occurred on the fiftieth anniversary of Haitinger's ordination. For the senior Slovak pastor in an ethnically conscious diocese, who had built two churches and actively participated in the formation of at least four congregations, this was an unusually long time to wait for that honor. CONCLUSION Bishop Thomas H. McLaughlin, the first Bishop of Paterson perhaps best summed up the situation that led to Holy Name Slovak National Catholic Church in several observations made over the years: Investigations which were made by me . . . have led me to the conclusion that the differences existing among the Slovak people of Passaic and Clifton have been and were due to misunderstandings . . . 89 I often felt , even before becoming Bishop of Paterson, that this man (Father Jeczusko) unfamiliar with the English language and American customs was to some extent the unwitting victim of a situation that got out of control. 90 I have always felt that the congregation as a whole was not completely at fault , and that good Father Jeczusko, not being familiar with American legal conditions and canonical procedure, erred somewhat through misunderstanding rather than through malice. 91 82 SLOVAKIA At the time of the 1922 conflict McLaughlin was president of Seton Hall College and rector of the Newark-diocesan theologate , and therefore not totally removed from the situation. That he should maintain such an opinion puts him in stark contrast to Bishop O'Connor. Another observer commented from a different viewpoint: ''The trustees were feeling their oats. If the bishop had cooperated it could have been different. But he always felt 'I'm the boss.' '' 92 Certainly Bishop McLaughlin's observations of Father Jeczusko seem accurate . He was more a catalyst for the revolt, rather than a cause for it. The dissatisfaction in St. Mary's had been festering for years. At the same time the Slovak community in Passaic was becoming more and more successful and less willing to be treated with the Old World domination of Father Haitinger or the paternalism of Bishop O'Connor. In this sense Father Jeczusko 's popularity was more a lightning rod for the fire to strike. Mr. Labash 's comments on Bishop O'Connor also seem accurate. He certainly was an unwavering figure in the controversy , preferring to back up established authority (Haitinger) even when his position was untenable, and even then refusing to compromise on any point. It must be remembered that the dissidents never asked for Jeczusko to replace Haitinger, but merely to be able to remain at St. Mary's. Certainly by 1922 there was enough evidence from situations around the country over the years that Slovak and other eastern European congregations were capable of carrying disputes to the point of schism. 93 Perhaps his successful handling of a similar situation among the Italians earlier in his administration made O 'Connor feel that this situation could be similarly handled from a position of strength.94 Bishop O'Connor was also something of a distant figure in this dispute, preferring to deal through Salamon and Duffy. Indeed there is no evidence that O'Connor and Jeczusko ever met face to face through the whole five years they were both involved in the controversy. Whatever O 'Connor's reasons for his handling of the affair, his methods were unsuccessful and things did not " settle down." Holy Name Church still stands today within what was once the Newark Diocese of Bishop O'Connor, one of the only two surviv- SLOVAKIA 83 ing Slovak National Catholic Churches in the United States , an unusual monument to the unwavering determination of many people. NOTES 1 Holy Trinity Slovak Lutheran Church, a short distance across the river in Garfield, N.J. could easily be a fifth partner in this description. 2 Mark Stolarik, "Lay Initiative in American-Slovak Parishes : 1880-1930," Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia , 83 (1972) p . 158 . 3 See Tenth Anniversary of the Holy Name Slovak Catholic Church (1932). Diamond Jubilee Journal, St . Mary 's Church (1968). and Slovaks in America (Middletown , Pa.: Slovak League of America, 1978.) 4 There is a Sts. Cyril and Methodius Slovak National Catholic Church in Perth Amboy , N.J. but the two congregations are not directly connected , nor has Holy Name ever been connected with the Czechoslovak National Church which developed in Europe . 5 Rudolph J. Vecoli , The People of New Jersey (Princeton: D. Van Nostrand Co. , 1965) , p. 213 . 6 William W. Scott, Passaic and Its Environs (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co ., 1922). p . 496. 7 Ibid .• p . 496. 8 Works Progress Administration, New Jersey: A Guide to its Present and Past (New York: Hastings House , 1946), pp. 345-346. 9 10 11 Scott, Op. cit., p. 494. Ibid. M. Mark Stolarik, "Immigration, Education and the Social Mobility of Slovaks, 1870-1930, " in Immigrants and Religion in Urban America, Randall M. Miller and Thomas D. Marzik, eds. (Philadelphia : Temple University Press , 1977) pp. 105-106. 12 Emily Greene Balch, Our Slavic Fellow Citizens (New York: Charities Publication Committee , 1910). p. 111 . 13 Rev. Emery Haitinger to Bishop John O'Connor, Feast of St. Emery, 1902, Archives of the Archdiocese of Newark (hereafter AAN), Haitinger Personnel File. Accused of being a "Magyarone" himself, Haitinger in this letter sets down his own biases two decades before the similar controversy which would engulf him. 14 New Jersey Catholic Historical Records Commission, The Bishops of Newark 1853-1978 (South Orange , N.J.: Seton Hall University Press , 1978). p. 64 . 15 In 1954 an eleventh parish would be added in Passaic with the establishment of Our Lady of Fatima Church for the new wave of Hispanic immigrants . 16 The parish is variously referred to as St . Mary's , St. Marie's (an affectation that seems to have developed after the construction of the " French Gothic" new church) , and Assumpion. The incorporated name of the parish is ' •Slavonian Catholic Church of the Assumption. '' SLOVAKIA 84 17 Elizabeth Daily Journal , November 14 , 1959 , AAN, Haitinger Personnel File . 18 AAN , Parish Reports , 1922 . 19 Vecoli, op. cit., p. 196. 20 Archives of the Diocese of Paterson (hereafter ADP), St. Anthony 's , Passaic fil e . This schism was resolved in 1924. 21 ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church file . 22 For background information on Haitinger see AAN , Haitinger Personnel File. 23 Interview with Albin Stolarik , November 23 , 1983 , ADP. Ibid . 24 25 Interview with John Labash , October 31, 1983, ADP. 26 AAN , John A. Duffy to Emery A. Haitinger May 20 , 1925 , Haitinger Personnel File . 27 Emery Haitinger to John Duffy , 1925 , AAN. Miss Julia Tereschak was Haitinger's housekeeper. 28 Passaic Daily News, August 7, 1922 . p. 1. 29 Testimonial of Bishop Augustine Fischer-Colbrie, November 30, 1920, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File . 30 Personnel Record, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 31 Albin Stolarik, Op . cit. 32 Labash , Op. cit. 33 Interview with Stephen Matthias , November 7, 1983 , ADP. Ibid., and Labash , Op . cit. 34 35 John O'Connor to Emery Haitinger, March 14, 1922, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 37 Augustine Fischer-Colbrie to John O 'Connor, April 1, 1922 , APO, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 38 John O'Conno~.to Emery Haitinger, April 20 , 1922 , ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 39 Passaic Daily News, April 24 , 1922 , p. 1. 40 Passaic Daily News , April 24 , 1922 , p. 2. 41 Petition of Branch 192 of the First Catholic Slovak Union , and Branch 2 of the Slovak Union of Passaic , N.J., April 29, 1922 , ADP , Holy Name Slovak Church File . 42 Passaic Daily Herald, April 24, 1922 , p. 1. 43 Passaic Daily News , April 28, 1922 , p. 1. 44 Passaic Daily News , April 29 , 1922, p. 1. 45 Passaic Daily News , April 24, 1922 , p . 1. 46 Passaic Daily News , May 1, 1922, p . 2. 47 Passaic Daily N ews, May 8 , 1922 , p. 1. 48 Passaic Daily Herald, May 8, 1922, pp . 1-2 . Passaic Daily Herald, May 8, 1922, pp. 1-2 . Mrs . Matisovsky related that Haitinger had offered her money to accompany him to Coney Island . 50 One of the complaints against Haitinger was his inattention to the needs of the 49 SLOVAKIA 85 parishioners , particularly his refusal to allow the formation of a Holy Name Society for the men of the parish. 51 Passaic Daily News , May 25 , 1922, p. 1. 52 Passaic Daily News, May 27, 1922 , p. 1. Both Kollar 's son and Skvarla 's nephew would eventually become Roman Catholic priests . 53 54 Passaic Daily News, August 15, 1922, pp . 1-2. 55 Albin Stolarik, Op. cit. 56 Passaic Daily News , August 7, 1922 , p . 1. 57 Passaic Daily News , August 21, 1922 , pp. 1, 3. 58 The fact that Hama 's Hall was attached to a tavern was constantly brought up by the opposition as an indication of the dissidents' lack of religiosity. 59 John O'Connor to John Salamon, August 29 , 1922, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 60 AAN, Parish Reports , 1922 , 1924, 1926. 61 Father Haitinger kept poor sacramental records , with baptisms and marriages being recorded in batches , and some years later. 62 Financial Report of the Holy Name Slovak Catholic Church of Passaic, N .J. for the year 1937 , ADP , Holy Name Slovak Church File. 63 Steven Kollar to John O'Connor, May 5, 1925, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 64 Duffy and Jeczusko were unable to communicate directly, since Jeczusko could not speak English , and Dufy was unable to communicate in Latin when Jeczusko tried that language. Matthias , Op. cit. 65 John Salamon to Augustine Fischer-Colbrie, May 14, 1925 , ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. Salamon was unaware that Fischer-Colbrie had already died . 66 John Duffy to Steven Kollar, May 20, 1925, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 67 There is some confusion about Msgr. Rusko's status . He is described as a Roman Catholic and "Apostolic Visitator" for Slovaks in America. However his name does not appear in any Catholic Directories in the 1920's . Another source said he was actually an Anglican. See Albin Stolarik, Op. cit. 68 Passaic Daily News, May 29 , 1925, p . 1. 69 Passaic Daily News, November 27 , 1925, p . 1. This was not Bishop Hodur's first visit to Passaic. He had previously presided at the cornerstone blessing and Confirmation for St. Anthony of Padua Independent Italian Catholic Church on May 11, 1919. 70 John O'Connor to Pietro Fumasoni-Biondi, June 16, 1926, ADP , Holy Name Slovak Church File. 71 John Duffy to Emery Jeczusko , March 11, 1927, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 72 Thomas McLaughlin to Amleto Cicognani , August 11 , 1938, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 73 Labash, Op . cit. 14 Thomas McLaughlin to Stephen Matthias et al., January 16, 1947, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 75 This time the difficulty centered around the fate of Father Magyar. The trustees real- 86 SLOVAKIA ized that he would have to leave ifreconciliation was accomp lished , but they did not wish to s imply "abandon " Magyar. They felt that it was necessary to find some work or provide some financial se ttlement for him . Bishop McLaughlin balked at this , and before the matter could be settled , McLaughlin died on March 17, 1947. Labash, Op . cit. 76 John Salamon to Augustine Fisc her-Colbri e , May 14, 1925 , ADP , Holy Name Slovak Church File. See also M. Mark Stolarik, " Building Slovak Co mmunities in America " in Ke ith P. Dyrud , et al. Th e Other Ca th olics (New York : Arno Press, 1978), p . 106. n Matthias, Op . cit. 78 Ibid. 79 Interview with William Chromey, October 14, 1983, ADP. 80 81 Matthias , Op. cit. Ibid . 82 Albin Stolarik, Op . cit. 83 Ibid. 84 Andrew Romanak to Thomas McLaughlin, July 23 , 1946, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. It was not until Magyar's will was probated in 1968 that the congregation at large finall y learned that he was indeed married to his housekeeper , Isabelle. 85 Labash , Op . cit. as Matthias , Op . cit. 87 Thomas McLaughlin to Amleto Cicognani , December 13, 1946, APO, Holy Name Slovak Church File . 88 AAN , Haitinger Personnel Fi le. 89 Thomas McLaughlin to Stephen Matthias et al. , January 16, 1947, ADP , Holy Name Slovak Church File. 90 Thomas McLaughlin to Amleto Cicognani , December 13 , 1946, ADP, Holy Name Slovak Church File. 91 Thomas McLaughlin to Andrew Romanak , May 28 , 1946, ADP, Hol y Name Slovak Church File. 92 Labash , Op . cit. 93 M. Mark Stolarik, " Lay Initiative ... " Op . cit. 94 ADP, St. Anthony, Passaic , Parish File.  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 National Catholic Church, Passaic, New Jersey, and the Jeczusko Affair Description An account of the resource Raymond J. Kupke Slovakia, Vol. 33 (No. 60-61), 1987-88 pp. 63-86 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kupke, Raymond J. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-88 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/2ebce1988b17156d13ec144732cc216d.pdf ea0c4e9fec3eae43da258b2468bdfa3c PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 47 Slovak Immigration to the United States and its Relation to the American Socialist and Labor Movements M. MARK STOLARIK If one looks at the large number of books and articles that Slovak Marxist historians have written about Slovak immigrants and their relation to the socialist and labor movements, one will get the impression that most Slovak immigrants to the United States joined socialist organizations and took a leading role in the American labor movement. 1 There is very little evidence to support such conclusions. As I will demonstrate in this paper, most Slovak immigrants came to the United States as single young men who wanted to make their "fortunes" and return home and their leaders were more concerned with promoting Slovak nationalism than with any socialist or labor ideology. Slovaks left their homeland in Hungary in the 19th century for three basic reasons: lack of land, lack of industry and lack of opportunity. While serfdom was abolished during the Revolution of 1848, there was no corresponding land reform. Therefore, the nobility (ten per cent of the population) continued to hold more than half of the best arable land. The vast majority of freed serfs held fewer than five hectares of land and soon they began to break up even these meager holdings among their children. Furthermore, the Kingdom of Hungary, unlike the Austrian part of the Empire, did not promote much industry (the nobility preferred the ''rustic'' life to pollution and grime) and, hence , the growing number of landless peasants found it increasingly difficult to make ends meet.2 In addition, the Slovaks had only a tiny middle class which �48 SLOVAKIA was engaged in an uneven struggle with the Hungarian government over the issue of 'Magyarization' (the forcible assimilation of non-Magyar nationalities by the Magyars) . This small number of individuals, faced by government discrimination , could not possibly either build up industry large enough to employ all the job-seekers or force the government into land reform. 3 Therefore, by the 1870s it had become common practice for Slovak peasants to migrate each summer to the Hungarian (and in some instances Austrian) lowlands and take in the harvest of the wealthy nobles. Others, particularly from Trencin county, had begun to wander all over Europe as tinkers who would offer to fix household implements, sharpen knives and scissors and do other odd jobs for the few pennies tossed them by sympathetic housewives. Others still sought work in the booming ·metropolises of Vienna and Budapest. 4 Meanwhile, after the American Civil War had ended, the United States of America began to industrialize in earnest. The railroad, coal, steel and oil industries began to greatly expand and they required large numbers of cheap , unskilled laborers, to make them profitable. American industrialists refused to pay the Irish and other immigrants who were already in America a decent wage, and the industrialists also rejected the alternatives of Black labor. Instead, they sent agents to Europe to seek workers who would settle for wages of around $1.50 a day and the agents found such people in eastern and southern Europe. 5 To a Slovak peasant, who could not make a living on five hectares of land, and who earned only the equivalent of 15 to 30 cents a day on a noble's estate, if he could find the work, $1.50 a day was a very handsome salary. Therefore , a few Slovaks responded to the entreaties of railroad agents (who advanced them the $70.00 it would cost to make the trip) in the 1870s and went to America. By then steamships began to carry immigrants across the Ocean in the relatively short time of two weeks. 6 And, while the work on the railroads, in the mines or mills was long and hard, the Slovaks put up with all these hardships because they had not come to stay. Instead, the vast majority were single young men (or newly-married) who came to make their 'fortunes' (usually $1 ,000) and then hoped to return home, buy enough land to make �SLOVAKIA 49 a living, and settle down to the good life in Hungary. Living in cramped boarding houses, the frugal Slovaks managed to pay off the cost of the trip in six months and after that they began to send money home to support their families and to also bring additional relatives to America. 7 Once this process got underway the trickle of Slovaks turned into a deluge in the 1880s and 1890s and peaked in 1905 when over 50,000 made the voyage. Altogether 650,000 Slovaks migrated to the United States between 1870 and 1924 (when immigration was largely halted by the U.S. Congress) and 500,000 eventually chose to remain in the New World. 8 Those who did then sent for their wives and children. Most Slovaks settled in the industrial Northeast and Midwest, half in Pennsylvania and the rest in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota. 9 While life was more livable for Slovaks in the New World than in the Old, they did soon come to realize that they were being exploited and started to strike. The first recorded strike by Slovaks in the United States was in Bessemer, Pennsylvania in January of 1886 when 300 men, led by Stefan Stanek, walked off the job because the mine operators refused their modest request for an increase from 2 7 cents per wagon of coal produced to 30 cents per wagon. The mine owners decided to disperse the strikers with local police forces but the miners ' wives saved the day by hurling stones at the police and preventing them from making many arrests. 10 After this Slovaks were found participating in all the major strikes that affected the coal and steel industries, whether in the great Connellsville coal and coke strike of 1891 , the Homestead steel strike of 1892 , the Anthracite coal strike of 1894, the Lattimer coal strike of 1897, the Anthracite strikes of 1900 and 1902 , the Bethlehem Steel strike of 1910, the Westmoreland coal strike of 1911-1912 and the 1919 "Hunky" steel strike. 11 In the Lattimer strike, which turned into a massacre when sheriff's deputies opened fire upon 1,000 peaceful marching strikers , six Slovaks were killed, along with eight Poles and two Lithuanians, and 35 other workers were wounded. 12 In view of the Slovak willingness to strike for better wages and conditions, one might conclude that they were ripe for recruitment by socialist ideologies and organizations . Such w as not the �50 SLOVAKIA case. As early as 1890 the editor of the workers' weekly Slovak v Amerike (The Slovak in America) denounced socialism for two reasons: he charged that socialists advocated the violent overthrow of the capitalist system, an action which he deemed immoral; and socialism propagated internationalism, which to the beleaguered Slovaks who were fighting 'Magyarization' meant national suicide. 13 A.S. Ambrose , the founder and editor of Slovak v Amerike, had been an organizer of the ill-fated Knights of Labor, who made the first attempt to create an industrial union of unskilled workers in the United States in the 1880s. 14 Thus , while Ambrose was sympathetic to the plight of the workers, he rejected socialism and most other Slovak leaders in American followed suit. In a later article the Reverend Stefan Furdek, who was the most respected of Slovak Catholic clergymen in America, rejected socialism as well , principally because he felt it violated human nature - "people are not sheep" - and also because it opposed organized religion and wanted to root out belief in God. 15 Since both secular and clerical leaders of Slovak-Americans opposed socialism in the United States, it had little chance of success among the masses. This is not to say that socialist societies and newspapers did not arise among American Slovaks. They did , but when compared to other Slovak organizations , the socialist ones came relatively late and in such small numbers that they made very little impact upn Slovak-American life. For instance, A.S. Ambrose joined with P.V. Rovnianek (an ex-seminarian) to found the first nation-wide National Slovak Society of the United States and Canada in 1890 (between 1882 and 1890 more than 40 local fraternals had been established by American Slovaks). 16 Besides providing for fraternal-benefit insurance, the National Slovak Society became the leading nationalist and second-largest Slovak fraternal in the United States by 1918. 17 The largest was the First Catholic Slovak Union, also founded in 1890, but by the Reverend Stefan Furdek. Its goals were fraternal-benefit insurance for its members, and defense of the Catholic faith and the Slovak nation , as embodied in its slogan "Za Boha a narod" (For God and the Nation). 18 Since American Slovaks had interests that went beyond those espoused by the National Slovak Society and the First Catholic �SLOVAKIA 51 Slovak Union, they established even more fraternals. The two aforementioned societies initially admitted only men. Therefore, the wives of the men in these societies established the Zivena (Giver of Life) Beneficial Union in 1891 and the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union in 1892. 19 Lutherans followed suit with the Slovak Evangelical Union in 1892. 20 A regional group founded the Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union in 1893. 21 Militant nationalists established the Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol in 1896 (from which devout Catholics split off to found the larger Slovak Catholic Sokol in 1905) 22 and even Slovak Calvinists, a tiny minority, founded their Slovak Calvin Presbyterian Union in 1901 (all of these later established women's counterparts). 23 By 1918 twelve of the largest nation-wide Slovak societies in the United States enrolled over 200,000 members. The religious ones led with a total of 145,053 (51,817 in the First Catholic Slovak Union), with Catholics enrolling 133,904 and Lutherans 11,149. Secular societies had 69,315 members, and the National Slovak Society led these with 29,118. 24 By 1940 these societies, largely by enrolling their members' children, had doubled their combined membership to over 400,000. Meanwhile, a few isolated Slovak socialist organizations appeared at the turn of the century. The most important one arose in Chicago in 1902. In that year Stefan Martincek arrived from Budapest, where he had been a member of the Hungarian Socialist Party since 1897 and editor of the Slovak Socialist newspaper Nova doba in 1898-1899. He had also helped organize socialist cells among Slovaks in the southernmost counties of the Banat and Backa. However, by 1902 he tired of the Hungarian government's refusal to allow the creation of a Slovak Workers ' Society on the old pretext that ''there is no Slovak nation,'' and left for Chicago where a friend had preceded him. Soon after his arrival Martincek organized the First Slovak Workers Educational Society "Rovnost"' (Equality), which affiliated with the Czech Workers' Section of the Socialist party of America. The latter had been founded in 1901. 25 In the next few years other Slovak socialist societies sprang up in Cleveland, Newark, N.J., and New York City, and elsewhere . By 1911 these various societies decided to federate into the Slovak Section of the American Socialist Party. 26 �52 SLOVAKIA The aim of all of them was to try to spread the socialist ideology among their people and help the Socialist Party win as many elections as possible in order to eventually turn to the United States into a socialist country. Meanwhle, Martincek also wished to establish a Slovak Workers' (fraternal-benefit) Society but found too few potential followers and had to postpone this project until 1915. In that year he managed to persuade 60 members of the Slovak Socialist Section to meet in Newark and organize the Slovak Workers' Society. By the time of its first convention in 1917 it had enrolled 507 members. 27 It slowly grew to 11,107 by 1939 by actively recruiting not only among Slovaks but also among Czechs, Rusins and even Magyars, thereby giving credence to the Slovak nationalist charge that Slovak socialists were not good Slovaks. 28 The tremendous unemployment of the Great Depression also contributed to its growth. On the other hand, the Slovak Section of the Socialist Party in 1919, and the Slovak Workers' Society in 1920 joined the III International and thereby adopted the communist cause, losing significant numbers of members in the process. 29 If one looks at the Slovak-American newspaper press, one will likewise find a dearth of Slovak-American socialist newspapers. The first Slovak-American newspaper was founded in Pittsburgh in 1885 as a commercial venture to provide news from home. 30 By 1918 121 Slovak-language newspapers had sprung up in-this country (although only 41 were still publishing by then) and of 93 newspapers on which there is information regarding their ideology, 54% were Slovak nationalist, 18% were Magyarone, 17% had no political orientation, 4% were "Czechoslovak," 4% were socialist and 2% were neutral. Furthermore, in terms ofreligious orientation, 79% had none, 15% were Roman Catholic, 5% were Lutheran and one was Calvinist. Thus, the Slovak-American press was , by-and-large, secular and nationalist between 1885 and 1918. 31 Only four Slovak-American socialist newspapers appeared between 1885 and 1918, and only one survived. The first sprang up as the weekly Robotnik (Worker) in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, in 1889, but little is known about it and it died a quick death. 32 The second was founded by the brilliant ex-Jesuit (he �SLOVAKIA 53 could speak twelve languages) Frantisek Pucher-Ciernovodsky in 1894. Entitled Fakl'a (Torch), this New York monthly lasted for only nine months because there was not enough of a demand for it. 33 The third (and only successful) attempt to establish a SlovakAmerican socialist newspaper occurred in Chicago in 1906 when a small group, led by Stefan Martincek, established the monthly Rovnost' l'udu (Equality of the people). It became a weekly in 1908 and a daily in 1926. The newspaper changed its name to Eudovy dennfk (The People's Daily) in 1935 and to Eudove noviny (The People's News) in 1945; it folded in 1981. 34 The fou'ith (and last) attempt to establish a Slovak socialist newspaper in America occurred in New York in 1914 when a local group founded the Hlas svobody (Voice of Freedom) to principally serve as the official (fraternal) organ of the about-to-be organized Slovak Workers Society. It lasted only to 1917 because it opposed World War I and such a stand became untenable after the United States entered the war the same year. 35 Having surveyed Slovak immigration to the United States and the establishment of two of its three principal institutions , fraternal-benefit societies and newspapers (the other institution was the parish church) , the question that now arises is why was the socialist movement among American Slovaks so weak, especially when compared to other ehtnic groups who also came from southern or eastern Europe? We know, for instance, that the Czechs , Slovenes and Finns had very vigorous socialist organizations and newspapers. 36 Why did not the Slovaks? The answers are very complex and involve the type of immigrant who came to America, what region he/she came from , who the leaders were, their hopes and aspirations , and the wishes of the immigrants themselves . As we have already seen, most Slovak immigrants who came to the United States in the 19th century were single young men who hoped to make their fortunes and return home. Furthermore, the vast majority came from eastern Slovakia, particularly from the counties of Spis , Saris , Zemplin and Abov. This was the most over-populated and economically depressed area of Slovakia and also the weakest in national feeling.37 The principal concerns of the peasants who left this area , whether seasonally to the Hungarian lowlands, or across the Ocean �54 SLOVAKIA to America, was to find work, save their money , help their families survive and, perhaps, even buy some land back home. Until the 20th century they had virtually no knowledge of or contact with socialist ideology. Hungary itself had only a weak socialist movement that got underway in the late 19th century, principally in Budapest. 38 Immigrants from western Slovakia , particularly from Bratislava and Nitra counties, were different. They held more land than their counterparts in the east, were more nationallyconscious, had frequent contacts with their neighbors the Czechs, and often worked on the estates of rich Austrian nobles. They encountered socialist ideas in both the Czech lands and in Austria (Austria had the third-largest socialist movement in terms of votes in Europe in 1912) and brought such ideas with them to America. 39 Thus , not only did Frantisek Pucher-Ciernovodsky , the founder of the socialist Fakl'a (1894) hail from Bursky Sviity Jur, in Bratislava county, but the majority of the members of the Slovak Workers Society also came from western Slovakia. 40 That region, on the other hand , sent only a small number of immigrants to America, and, hence, the " pool" of potential Slovak socialists in the United States was very small. 41 American Slovak leaders , whether secular or clerical, tended to come frorp. central Slovakia. When one looks at the priests , fraternal leaders and journalists who presented themselves as the leaders of American Slovaks, one is bound to notice (as did Hungarian government leaders) that the majority came from the central Slovak counties , particularly from Orava and Turiec - the most nationalist of all Slovak counties . Indeed , the intellectual center of Slovak nationalism in the 19th century was the little town of Turciansky Sviity Martin. Here the Slovaks established their 'Matica slovenska' (a combination of National Library and National Academy) in 1863 (the Hungarian government closed it in 1875) and also their 'Muzealna Slovenska spolocnost" (Slovak Museum Society) in 1893. 42 Slovak-American leaders who originated here , such as the Reverend Stefan Furdek (Orava) , mentioned above , or Jan Spevak, (Turiec) , the second publisher of Slovak v Amerike, or Matus Jankola (Orava) founder of the first Slovak-American religious order of the Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius, or �SLOVAKIA 55 Albert Mamatey (Turiec) wartime president of the Slovak League of America, were first and foremost Slovak nationalists. 43 To all of them socialism was anathema because it preached internationalism which, one of them pointed out, meant for the Slovaks national suicide. Therefore, while most Slovak leaders in America were sympathetic to the plight of Slovak workers , they steered them away from socialist ideology. For instance, while the publisher of Slovak v Amerike might condemn the Pennsylvania state constabulary as "State Cossacks" for their brutality in breaking up a 1912 strike ,44 his colleague Jozef Husek (From Liptov, in central Slovakia) in the Cleveland monthly Kritika would blame the violence of the Colorado miners' strike of 1914 upon "socialist agitators" (in this case the Industrial Workers of the World) .45 Furthermore , at least one powerful Slovak leader was corrupted by greed. P.V. Rovnianek, a co-founder of the National Slovak Society and for many years editor of the first and largest Slovak-American newspaper, Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny (American-Slovak News), allowed himself to be bribed by mine owners during the Connellsville coal strike of 1891. Rovnianek told the miners in his paper that their cause was hopeless and urged them to return to work. The strike collapsed shortly thereafter. 46 Thus, whether they were concerned with the cause of Slovak nationalism, with keeping their people religious, or with lining their pockets with money , most Slovak-American leaders did nothing to advance the cause of socialism among their people . On the contrary, they opposed it whenever they felt it was necessary. Slovak socialists in America could only lament this stand by " our conservative and clerical leaders. " 47 Furthermore , Slovak socialists (and later communists) in America eventually fell victim to the allure of capitalism. When one looks at the almanacs published by Slovak socialists, one will notice a slow but steady trend away from socialist or communist zealotry . For instance , the first Slovak socialist Robotnicky Kalendar, published in 1914 , rather than having a religious calendar at the beginning , had one featuring secular heroes; it did not list Christmas ; it had many attacks upon the Roman Catholic Church, whether in articles , jokes or cartoons; and it carried only three advertisements , two by fellow-socialists who were selling �56 SLOVAKIA artificial limbs and socialist newspapers. 48 The contents of these almanacs started to change with the second issue (1915) which restored the Roman Catholic and Lutheran calendars, as well as Christmas , and also printed twenty-four advertisements by small businessmen, most of them socialists. 49 By the time the 1946 Eudovy Kalendar (it changed its name in 1935) appeared, it carried Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Greek Catholic and American Saints and heroes, it actually listed Christmas as the birth of Christ, and it had no anti-clerical articles whatever. Indeed, it published the pictures of two Roman Catholic nuns who were daughters of its communist readers! Furthermore, it published 405 advertisements of small businessmen, many of whom were also ostensibly communists. 50 Thus, even though the United States government forced the Slovak Workers Society (which had joined the International Workers' Order in 1931) to disband as a "subversive" society under the McCarren-Walter Act in 1953, the seeds of its dissolution really lay in the success of many of its members in becoming entrepreneurs and also in their children's apparent lack of interest in continuing the old struggle. 51 In view of the relatively late appearance of Slovak socialists in America , their small number, and insignificant organizations, one is left wondering why Slovak Marxist historians have made so much of them. One reason may simply be pride in the fact that the Slovak sodalist movement occurred on both sides of the Atlantic. A more plausible reason is , I think, the fact that SlovakAmerican socialists helped to organize the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. While most Slovak-American socialists had become communists by 1920, this kind of split had not yet occurred in the newly-created Czechoslovakia. Therefore , Slovak-American communists sent Jozef Schiffel of Newark, N.J., and Marek Culen of Chicago (both western Slovaks from the Zahorie region) to Slovakia to size up the situation and help lead their comrades to the ''right path.'' Schiffel quickly had himself elected secretary of the more radical wing of the socialists and called a meeting offellow-radicals in I.:ubochna in January, 1921 , which his colleague Marek Culen chaired. Culen was then elected president of the "Action Committee" which planned the organizing meeting of the Czechoslovak Communist Party in May. At this �SLOVAKIA 57 meeting Jozef Schiffel was elected to the Central Committee of the newly-formed Czechoslovak Communist Party. Schiffel later returned to the United States while Culen remained in Slovakia. 52 Thus, just as American Slovaks had helped create the Czechoslovak Republic during World War I, so they helped to establish the Czechoslovak Communist Party. 53 And, this may be the principal reason why Slovak Marxist historians have paid so much attention to the Slovak-American socialist movement which, in the context of Slovak-American history, was relatively unimportant. Meanwhile, what about the Slovak workers and their reactions to labor organizing? This is largely 'terra incognita' at the moment. Paul Krause recently wrote a fine article about the willingness of Slovaks to join with their Anglo-Amer,ican fellowworkers in organizing and striking at Homestead in 1892. 54 I have previously given examples of the willingness of Slovak workers to strike, both in this paper and in my doctoral dissertation. 55 And, in my recent study of Slovaks in Bethlehem, I found them joining in the 1910 strike against Bethlehem Steel and again in 1941. 56 In the latter case they also helped organize the Congress of Industrial Organizations in Bethlehem, just as Thomas Bell, the Slovak-American writer had his hero do in his novel Out of this Furnace. 57 On the other hand, Slovaks were also guilty of scabbing and joining company-controlled unions. The Slovak press occasionally reported such practices, whether or not it approved of them. 58 Furthermore, Slovaks in Bethlehem joined company-sponsored unions in the 1920's and such activities were detrimental to true union organizing. 59 To complicate matters further, American labor organizers were not always receptive to foreigners. The Knights of Labor had tried to organize an industrial union in the coal fields in the 1880' s and did welcome immigrants such as A.S. Ambrose into their ranks, but the union ultimately failed due to poor leadership. In the 1890's skilled workers organized themselves into the American Federation of Labor and systematically excluded unskilled immigrants from their ranks, particularly in the steel mills, and this was one of the main reasons for the failure of the Bethlehem Steel �58 SLOVAKIA strike of 1910. 61 Only the United Mine Workers and the Industrial Workers of the World, which appeared in the early 1900's, successfully recruited and organized immigrant unskilled laborers, the Slovaks among them. 62 While the UMW grew into a large and powerful union, the IWW was destroyed by the United States government during World War I because, as a socialist-syndicalist organization, it opposed American entry into World War 1. 63 Only in the 1930's, during Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "New Deal," did labor organizers not have to worry about government interference in their efforts to establish a union. That was when the Congress of Industrial Organizations finally managed to organize unions in most of America's heavy industries .64 While Slovaks did join the UMW and the CIO in large numbers, the role played by Slovaks in the creation of these unions remains largely unknown. In my research I ran across no Slovak equivalent to Terrence Powderly (the leader of the Knights of Labor) Big Bill Heywood (a leader of the Industrial Workers of the World), John L. Lewis (a leader of the United Mine Workers) or even a Helen Gurley Flynn (an IWW organizer) or a Giuseppe Ettor, another IWW organizer. There may well have been such figures at a lower level of organizing because Anglo-Americans, and later Irish-Americans, tended to dominate the leadership of America's labor unions. 65 If there were Slovaks who tooks a lead in organizing labor unions at local levels, they remain to be discovered ,, Thus, we have seen that socialism and socialist organizations did not attract the vast majority of Slovak-Americans, in spite of what Slovak Marxist historians have written. Furthermore, SlovakAmericans cannot be said to have taken a leading role in the organization of American labor unions , although they may have played minor roles at local levels , and if so, these roles remain to be discovered. Various factors such as the place of origin of the majority of Slovak-Americans (eastern Slovakia) , their leadership (conservative and clerical), the weakness of socialism in Hungary, and the initial desire of Slovak-Americans to make their ''fortunes '' and return home, all worked against the establishment of strong socialist and labor movements among Slovak-Americans. �SLOVAKIA 59 NOTES 1 See for example Milos Gosiorovsky, "K podielu americko-slovenskeho proletariatu na vzniku CSR," in the collection of essays Ke vzniku CSR (Prague, 1958), 171-84 and by the same author "K hist6rii Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku v USA ," in Zbornfk Filozofickej Fakulty Univenity Komenskeho, historica, 11-12 (Bratislava , 1962), 40-74 , and " Frantisek Pucher-Ciemovodsky a robotnicke hnutie, " in Zaciatky ceskej a slovenskej emigracie do USA (Bratislava, 1970), 197-207. While Gosiorovsky set the tone, others followed. Examples are Frantisek Bielik and Stefan Vesely, "Zapisnice slovenskych politickych organizacii v Spojenych statoch americky<;h,'' in Slovaci v zahranicf, 3 (Martin, 1979), 147-166; Frantisek Bielik et. al., Slovacl vo Svete, 2 (Martin, 1980); Ondrej Kutes, "Spomienky na zivot Slovakov vo Whitingu v state Indiana a m6j prichod do USA," in Slovaci v zahranicf, 8 (Martin, 1982), 127-131 ; Ivan Poljak, "Stefan Martincek," in Slovaci v zahranicf, 4-5 (Martin, 1979), 305; Jan Siracky, "Pokrokove tradicie zahranicnych Slovakov a ich vyvrcholenie v obdobi boja proti fasizmu pocas druhej svetovej vojny," Slovaci v zahranicf, 3 (Martin, 1979), 7-25; and Siracky, ' ' Sucasny stav a problematika vyskumu dejin zahranicnych Slovakov,'' in Bielik et. al., Vyst'ahovalectvo a zivot krajanov vo svete (Martin, 1982), 49-58. 2 Karol Rebro, "Agra.me reformy v habsburskej monarchii od zaciatku 18. stor. do roku 1848 s osobintym zretel'om na Slovensko, Historicke ~tudie XIlI (1968) , 11-13; and Endre Arat6, "K hospodarskym dejinam Slovenska od roku 1848 do 1900," Historicky casopis, I (No. 3, 1953). 432. 3 Arat6, Ibid., 480-86 . 4 Jan Hanzlik, "Zaciatky vyst'ahovalectva zo Slovenska do USA a jeho priebeh az do roku 1918, jeho priciny a nasledky," in Zaciatky ceskej a slovenskej emigracie do USA (Bratislava, 1970), 55; See also Narodny hlasnik (Skalica, June 30, 1869), 166 and (February 8, 1881), 1. 5 Emily Greene Balch, Our Slavic Fellow Citizens (New York, 1910), 239. See also Obzor (Skalica) , June 25 , 1881; Narodnie noviny (Martin), November 14, 1882, 1; February 24, 1887, 4; March 17, 1892 , 3; May 3, 1898 , 1; Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny (Pittsburgh), April 26 , 1900, 9; and July 4, 1901 ; see also the governor's correspondence in the Slovak State Archives for Abov county, Kosice , 460/1900. s Balch, Ibid., 285 . 7 M. Mark Stolarik , " Slovak Migration from Europe to North America , 1870-1918, " in Slovak Studies, XX (Rome, 1980), 34-35. 8 Jan Svetoii., "Slovenske vyst'ahovalectvo v obdobi uhorskeho kapitalizmu," Ekonomicky casopis, IV (No . 2, 1956), 171-79; and Fourteenth Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1920, Vol. II, Population: General Report and Analytical Tables (Washington, 1922), 973 . 9 Fourteenth Census, Ibid., 984. Narodnie noviny, February 9, 1886, 3. 10 11 Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky to Julo Kuchta, October 11, 1894, in the Matica slovenska's Literary Archives, Martin, 37-060; Narodnie noviny, June 30, 1984, 3; August 9, 1894; Slovak v Amerike (New York), September 30, 1897, 2; October 7, 1897, 1; March 31, 1898, 4; Narodny Kalendar (Pittsburgh), 1903, 49-64; Slovak v Amerike, July 7, 1908, 1; Narodny Kalendar, 1912, 241-250; M. Mark Stolarik, Growing Up on the South Side: �SLOVAKIA 60 Three Generations of Slovaks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1880-1976 (Lewisburg, 1985), 97-98. 12 The Most complete account of the Lattimer strike is Michael Novak's The Guns of Lattimer: The True Story of a Massacre and Trial, August 1897-March 1898 (New York, 1978) . 13 As cited in Narodnie noviny, November 6, 1890, 2. 14 Narodny Kalendar, 1912, 58-62. 15 Kalendar Jednota (Cleveland , 1910), 190-98. 16 P.V. Rovnianek, Zapisky za ziva pochovaneho (Pittsburgh, 1924). 128-130; Ignac Gessay, "Spolky pred organisaciami," Narodny Kalendar, 1911, 67. 17 Thomas Capek, Jr., The Slovaks in America (New York, 1921). 88-9 . 18 Jozef Pauco, 75 rokov Prvej Katolfckej Slovenskej Jednoty (Cleveland , 1965), passim. 19 Pamiitnica k zlatemu jubileu Ziveny, 1891-1941 (Pittsburgh, 1941), passim; and Jednota (Cleveland , December 9, 1908), 4. 20 Jan Pankuch, Dejiny Clevelandskych a Lakewoodskych Slovakov (Cleveland, 1930), 11. 21 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny, July 4, 1896, 1. 22 Ibid., July 13 , 1896, 1; and Gusto KoMk, "Prve desat'rocie nasej Jednoty," Sbomik Rfmsko a Grecko Katolickej Telocvicnej Jednoty Sokol (Passaic, N.J., 1916), 35-51. 23 Frank Uherka, "Kratky prehl'ad S.K.P.J. Jednoty," Kalendar pre Slovenskych Kalvfnov (Pittsburgh, 1927). 37-8. 24 Capek, op. cit. 25 Stefan Martincek, "Z minulosti slovenskeho robotnickeho hnutia, " Robotnicky Kalendar (Chicago, 1927), 25-28. 26 Gosiorovsky , "K historii Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku v USA," op. cit. , 45 . 27 Ibid ., 49. 28 Ibid., 41 and 56; and Ivan Poljak and Eva Fordinalova, " Slovenske robotnicke hnutie v Spojenych statoch americkych," in Frantisek Bielik et. al. , Slovaci vo svete, 2 (Martin , 1980). 124. 29 Poljak and Fordinalova, Ibid ., and Robotnfcky Kalendar, 1930, 38. ° Konstantin Culen, Slovenske casopisy v Amerike (Cleveland , 1970), 29-32 . 3 31 M. Mark Stolarik, "At Horne Abroad: The Slovak-American Press, 1885-1918," in Owen V. Johnson , ed ., Mobilizing the Mobilized: The Role and Functions of the Mass Media in Eastern Europe (Forthcoming) . 32 Culen, op. cit., 101. 33 Ibid. , 41-2 ; Gosiorovsky, "Frantisek Pucher-Ciernovodsky " op . cit. 34 Culen, op. cit., 104-07; For a general discussion of the Slovak-American press see M. Mark Stolarik, " The Slovak-American Press ," in Sally M. Miller ed. , The Ethnic Press in the United States (Westport, Conn., 1987). 353-68. 35 Culen, op. cit., 47 . 36 In a pamphlet entitled Socialist Party Meeting National Committee, May, 1915: Reports of Foreign Federations (No publisher, place or date given), in the papers of the Slovene National Benefit Society Immigration History Research Center, University of Minnesota, �SLOVAKIA 61 groups such as the Czechs, Slovenes and Finns were reported with tens of thousands of members but the Slovaks had only 751. See also the articles about these groups in the Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups (Cambridge, Mass., 1980). 37 Ladislav Tajtak, "Vychodoslovenske vyst'ahovalectvo do prvej svetovej vojny," Nave obzory (Kosice , III, 1961), 221 -47 . 38 Gabriel Louis Jaraj , La Question Sociale et le Socialisme en Hongrie (Paris, 1909), 54-8 ; and Martinl':ek, op. cit., 25 . 39 Poljak & Fordinalova in Slovaci vo svete, 2, op. cit. , 115; Zoltan Sarkozi, "Prfspevok k dejinam slovenskych pol'nohospodarskych sez6nnych robotnfkov {1848-1914)," Historicky tasopis (Bratislava , 1964), 12 , 75-103; and Robotnfcky Kalendar, (1914), in which the editors give the world-wide socialist vote in 1912 as follows: Germany, 4,238,919; France, 1,120,000; Austria, 1,041,948; USA 905,768; Finland, 330,000; Hungary 80 ,000 . •0 Gosiorovsky, "Frantisek Pucher-Ciernovodsky," op. cit., and Poljak and Fordinalova , op. cit. 41 Frantisek Bielik & Elo Rakos, Slovenske vyst'ahovalectvo: Dokumenty I, do roku 1918 (Bratislava , 1969), 30. 42 Julius Mesaros a kolektiv, Dejiny Slovenska II, od roku 1848 do roku 1900 (Bratislava, 1968), 236-306 ; Monika Glettler, Pittsburg-Wien-Budapest: Program und Praxis der Nationalitlitenpolitik bei der Auswanderung der Ungarischen Slowaken nach Amerika um 1900 (Vienna, 1980), 208-17. 43 See Jozef Paul':o , Slovenskf priekopnfci v Amerike (Cleveland, 1972) for the biographies of Furdek (72-127), Jankola (208-22), and Mamatey (269-75), and Culen, Slovenske tasopisy op . cit., 125 , for the origins of Jan Spevak. 44 Slovak v Amerike, May 14, 1912 , 1. 45 Kritika, May 20, 1914, 2. 46 Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky to Julo Kuchta , op. cit., and Slovak v Amerike, July 7, 1908, 1. 47 Robotnfcky Kalendar, 1914, 15 . 48 Ibid. , passim . Robotnfcky Kalendar, 1915 , passim. so L:udovy Kalendar, 1946, passim. 49 s, Gosiorovsky, " K historii Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku," op. cit., 70-71. Even the covers of the Slovak Communist Almanac cited above changed dramatically over the years. The 1932 cover, for instance, featured a very revolutionary scene of workers storming the barricades, whereas the 1950 cover showed a rather bourgeois photograph of a beautiful Slovak mother and child. 52 Gosiorovsky, "K historii Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku," op. cit., 52-3 . 53 For the story of the World War I liberation movement see my The Role of American Slovaks in th e Creation ofCzecho-Slovakia, 1914-1918 (Rome , Slovak Studies, VIII , 1968) . 54 Paul Krause, "Labor Republicanism and 'Za Chlebom ': Anglo-Americans and Slavic Solidarity in Homestead, " in Dirk Hoerder ed ., " Struggle a Hard Battle ": Essays on Working-Class Immigrants (DeKalb , Ill ., 1986), 121-42 . �62 55 SLOVAKIA See above, page 4 and Stolarik, " Slovak Migration from Europe to North America," op. cit., 65-7 . 56 Stolarik, Growing Up on the South Side, op. cit., 97-9 . 57 Thomas Bell, Out of this Furnace (Boston, 1941) , 395-404. 58 Na.rodnie noviny, August 13 , 1892, 3; June 30, 1894, 3; and Na.rodny Kalenda.r, 1912, 246-50. 59 Stolarik, Growing Up, op. cit. , 98 . 6 °For an excellent article on immigrants and the American labor movement see David Brody's contribution "Labor" in the Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, op. cit., 609-18. 61 62 Robert Hessen, Steel Titan: The Life of Charles M. Schwab (New York, 1976), 194-208 . Na.rodny Kalenda.r, 1903, 49-64; Slovak v Amerike, April 11 , 1905, 4; March 27, 1906, 1; July 30 , 1907, 1; Na.rodny Kalenda.r, 1908, 144-56; Ibid., 1912 , 241-50. 63 For the story of the IWW see Melvin Dubofsky, We Shall Be All: A History of the Industrial Workers of the World (Chicago , 1969). The section on their destruction appears on pages 350-462. 64 The role of the CIO in organizing many of America's heavy industries was outlined by Sidney lens in The Labor Wars: From the Molly Maguires to the Sitdowns (Garden City, N.J., 1973), 285-375 . 65 David Brody makes this point about the ethnic composition of America 's labor leaders in his article, cited above, on pages 611 and 615. � SLOVAKIA 47 Slovak Immigration to the United States and its Relation to the American Socialist and Labor Movements M. MARK STOLARIK If one looks at the large number of books and articles that Slovak Marxist historians have written about Slovak immigrants and their relation to the socialist and labor movements, one will get the impression that most Slovak immigrants to the United States joined socialist organizations and took a leading role in the American labor movement. 1 There is very little evidence to support such conclusions. As I will demonstrate in this paper, most Slovak immigrants came to the United States as single young men who wanted to make their "fortunes" and return home and their leaders were more concerned with promoting Slovak nationalism than with any socialist or labor ideology. Slovaks left their homeland in Hungary in the 19th century for three basic reasons: lack of land, lack of industry and lack of opportunity. While serfdom was abolished during the Revolution of 1848, there was no corresponding land reform. Therefore, the nobility (ten per cent of the population) continued to hold more than half of the best arable land. The vast majority of freed serfs held fewer than five hectares of land and soon they began to break up even these meager holdings among their children. Furthermore, the Kingdom of Hungary, unlike the Austrian part of the Empire, did not promote much industry (the nobility preferred the ''rustic'' life to pollution and grime) and, hence , the growing number of landless peasants found it increasingly difficult to make ends meet.2 In addition, the Slovaks had only a tiny middle class which �48 SLOVAKIA was engaged in an uneven struggle with the Hungarian government over the issue of 'Magyarization' (the forcible assimilation of non-Magyar nationalities by the Magyars) . This small number of individuals, faced by government discrimination , could not possibly either build up industry large enough to employ all the job-seekers or force the government into land reform. 3 Therefore, by the 1870s it had become common practice for Slovak peasants to migrate each summer to the Hungarian (and in some instances Austrian) lowlands and take in the harvest of the wealthy nobles. Others, particularly from Trencin county, had begun to wander all over Europe as tinkers who would offer to fix household implements, sharpen knives and scissors and do other odd jobs for the few pennies tossed them by sympathetic housewives. Others still sought work in the booming ·metropolises of Vienna and Budapest. 4 Meanwhile, after the American Civil War had ended, the United States of America began to industrialize in earnest. The railroad, coal, steel and oil industries began to greatly expand and they required large numbers of cheap , unskilled laborers, to make them profitable. American industrialists refused to pay the Irish and other immigrants who were already in America a decent wage, and the industrialists also rejected the alternatives of Black labor. Instead, they sent agents to Europe to seek workers who would settle for wages of around $1.50 a day and the agents found such people in eastern and southern Europe. 5 To a Slovak peasant, who could not make a living on five hectares of land, and who earned only the equivalent of 15 to 30 cents a day on a noble's estate, if he could find the work, $1.50 a day was a very handsome salary. Therefore , a few Slovaks responded to the entreaties of railroad agents (who advanced them the $70.00 it would cost to make the trip) in the 1870s and went to America. By then steamships began to carry immigrants across the Ocean in the relatively short time of two weeks. 6 And, while the work on the railroads, in the mines or mills was long and hard, the Slovaks put up with all these hardships because they had not come to stay. Instead, the vast majority were single young men (or newly-married) who came to make their 'fortunes' (usually $1 ,000) and then hoped to return home, buy enough land to make �SLOVAKIA 49 a living, and settle down to the good life in Hungary. Living in cramped boarding houses, the frugal Slovaks managed to pay off the cost of the trip in six months and after that they began to send money home to support their families and to also bring additional relatives to America. 7 Once this process got underway the trickle of Slovaks turned into a deluge in the 1880s and 1890s and peaked in 1905 when over 50,000 made the voyage. Altogether 650,000 Slovaks migrated to the United States between 1870 and 1924 (when immigration was largely halted by the U.S. Congress) and 500,000 eventually chose to remain in the New World. 8 Those who did then sent for their wives and children. Most Slovaks settled in the industrial Northeast and Midwest, half in Pennsylvania and the rest in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota. 9 While life was more livable for Slovaks in the New World than in the Old, they did soon come to realize that they were being exploited and started to strike. The first recorded strike by Slovaks in the United States was in Bessemer, Pennsylvania in January of 1886 when 300 men, led by Stefan Stanek, walked off the job because the mine operators refused their modest request for an increase from 2 7 cents per wagon of coal produced to 30 cents per wagon. The mine owners decided to disperse the strikers with local police forces but the miners ' wives saved the day by hurling stones at the police and preventing them from making many arrests. 10 After this Slovaks were found participating in all the major strikes that affected the coal and steel industries, whether in the great Connellsville coal and coke strike of 1891 , the Homestead steel strike of 1892 , the Anthracite coal strike of 1894, the Lattimer coal strike of 1897, the Anthracite strikes of 1900 and 1902 , the Bethlehem Steel strike of 1910, the Westmoreland coal strike of 1911-1912 and the 1919 "Hunky" steel strike. 11 In the Lattimer strike, which turned into a massacre when sheriff's deputies opened fire upon 1,000 peaceful marching strikers , six Slovaks were killed, along with eight Poles and two Lithuanians, and 35 other workers were wounded. 12 In view of the Slovak willingness to strike for better wages and conditions, one might conclude that they were ripe for recruitment by socialist ideologies and organizations . Such w as not the �50 SLOVAKIA case. As early as 1890 the editor of the workers' weekly Slovak v Amerike (The Slovak in America) denounced socialism for two reasons: he charged that socialists advocated the violent overthrow of the capitalist system, an action which he deemed immoral; and socialism propagated internationalism, which to the beleaguered Slovaks who were fighting 'Magyarization' meant national suicide. 13 A.S. Ambrose , the founder and editor of Slovak v Amerike, had been an organizer of the ill-fated Knights of Labor, who made the first attempt to create an industrial union of unskilled workers in the United States in the 1880s. 14 Thus , while Ambrose was sympathetic to the plight of the workers, he rejected socialism and most other Slovak leaders in American followed suit. In a later article the Reverend Stefan Furdek, who was the most respected of Slovak Catholic clergymen in America, rejected socialism as well , principally because he felt it violated human nature - "people are not sheep" - and also because it opposed organized religion and wanted to root out belief in God. 15 Since both secular and clerical leaders of Slovak-Americans opposed socialism in the United States, it had little chance of success among the masses. This is not to say that socialist societies and newspapers did not arise among American Slovaks. They did , but when compared to other Slovak organizations , the socialist ones came relatively late and in such small numbers that they made very little impact upn Slovak-American life. For instance, A.S. Ambrose joined with P.V. Rovnianek (an ex-seminarian) to found the first nation-wide National Slovak Society of the United States and Canada in 1890 (between 1882 and 1890 more than 40 local fraternals had been established by American Slovaks). 16 Besides providing for fraternal-benefit insurance, the National Slovak Society became the leading nationalist and second-largest Slovak fraternal in the United States by 1918. 17 The largest was the First Catholic Slovak Union, also founded in 1890, but by the Reverend Stefan Furdek. Its goals were fraternal-benefit insurance for its members, and defense of the Catholic faith and the Slovak nation , as embodied in its slogan "Za Boha a narod" (For God and the Nation). 18 Since American Slovaks had interests that went beyond those espoused by the National Slovak Society and the First Catholic �SLOVAKIA 51 Slovak Union, they established even more fraternals. The two aforementioned societies initially admitted only men. Therefore, the wives of the men in these societies established the Zivena (Giver of Life) Beneficial Union in 1891 and the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union in 1892. 19 Lutherans followed suit with the Slovak Evangelical Union in 1892. 20 A regional group founded the Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union in 1893. 21 Militant nationalists established the Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol in 1896 (from which devout Catholics split off to found the larger Slovak Catholic Sokol in 1905) 22 and even Slovak Calvinists, a tiny minority, founded their Slovak Calvin Presbyterian Union in 1901 (all of these later established women's counterparts). 23 By 1918 twelve of the largest nation-wide Slovak societies in the United States enrolled over 200,000 members. The religious ones led with a total of 145,053 (51,817 in the First Catholic Slovak Union), with Catholics enrolling 133,904 and Lutherans 11,149. Secular societies had 69,315 members, and the National Slovak Society led these with 29,118. 24 By 1940 these societies, largely by enrolling their members' children, had doubled their combined membership to over 400,000. Meanwhile, a few isolated Slovak socialist organizations appeared at the turn of the century. The most important one arose in Chicago in 1902. In that year Stefan Martincek arrived from Budapest, where he had been a member of the Hungarian Socialist Party since 1897 and editor of the Slovak Socialist newspaper Nova doba in 1898-1899. He had also helped organize socialist cells among Slovaks in the southernmost counties of the Banat and Backa. However, by 1902 he tired of the Hungarian government's refusal to allow the creation of a Slovak Workers ' Society on the old pretext that ''there is no Slovak nation,'' and left for Chicago where a friend had preceded him. Soon after his arrival Martincek organized the First Slovak Workers Educational Society "Rovnost"' (Equality), which affiliated with the Czech Workers' Section of the Socialist party of America. The latter had been founded in 1901. 25 In the next few years other Slovak socialist societies sprang up in Cleveland, Newark, N.J., and New York City, and elsewhere . By 1911 these various societies decided to federate into the Slovak Section of the American Socialist Party. 26 �52 SLOVAKIA The aim of all of them was to try to spread the socialist ideology among their people and help the Socialist Party win as many elections as possible in order to eventually turn to the United States into a socialist country. Meanwhle, Martincek also wished to establish a Slovak Workers' (fraternal-benefit) Society but found too few potential followers and had to postpone this project until 1915. In that year he managed to persuade 60 members of the Slovak Socialist Section to meet in Newark and organize the Slovak Workers' Society. By the time of its first convention in 1917 it had enrolled 507 members. 27 It slowly grew to 11,107 by 1939 by actively recruiting not only among Slovaks but also among Czechs, Rusins and even Magyars, thereby giving credence to the Slovak nationalist charge that Slovak socialists were not good Slovaks. 28 The tremendous unemployment of the Great Depression also contributed to its growth. On the other hand, the Slovak Section of the Socialist Party in 1919, and the Slovak Workers' Society in 1920 joined the III International and thereby adopted the communist cause, losing significant numbers of members in the process. 29 If one looks at the Slovak-American newspaper press, one will likewise find a dearth of Slovak-American socialist newspapers. The first Slovak-American newspaper was founded in Pittsburgh in 1885 as a commercial venture to provide news from home. 30 By 1918 121 Slovak-language newspapers had sprung up in-this country (although only 41 were still publishing by then) and of 93 newspapers on which there is information regarding their ideology, 54% were Slovak nationalist, 18% were Magyarone, 17% had no political orientation, 4% were "Czechoslovak," 4% were socialist and 2% were neutral. Furthermore, in terms ofreligious orientation, 79% had none, 15% were Roman Catholic, 5% were Lutheran and one was Calvinist. Thus, the Slovak-American press was , by-and-large, secular and nationalist between 1885 and 1918. 31 Only four Slovak-American socialist newspapers appeared between 1885 and 1918, and only one survived. The first sprang up as the weekly Robotnik (Worker) in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, in 1889, but little is known about it and it died a quick death. 32 The second was founded by the brilliant ex-Jesuit (he �SLOVAKIA 53 could speak twelve languages) Frantisek Pucher-Ciernovodsky in 1894. Entitled Fakl'a (Torch), this New York monthly lasted for only nine months because there was not enough of a demand for it. 33 The third (and only successful) attempt to establish a SlovakAmerican socialist newspaper occurred in Chicago in 1906 when a small group, led by Stefan Martincek, established the monthly Rovnost' l'udu (Equality of the people). It became a weekly in 1908 and a daily in 1926. The newspaper changed its name to Eudovy dennfk (The People's Daily) in 1935 and to Eudove noviny (The People's News) in 1945; it folded in 1981. 34 The fou'ith (and last) attempt to establish a Slovak socialist newspaper in America occurred in New York in 1914 when a local group founded the Hlas svobody (Voice of Freedom) to principally serve as the official (fraternal) organ of the about-to-be organized Slovak Workers Society. It lasted only to 1917 because it opposed World War I and such a stand became untenable after the United States entered the war the same year. 35 Having surveyed Slovak immigration to the United States and the establishment of two of its three principal institutions , fraternal-benefit societies and newspapers (the other institution was the parish church) , the question that now arises is why was the socialist movement among American Slovaks so weak, especially when compared to other ehtnic groups who also came from southern or eastern Europe? We know, for instance, that the Czechs , Slovenes and Finns had very vigorous socialist organizations and newspapers. 36 Why did not the Slovaks? The answers are very complex and involve the type of immigrant who came to America, what region he/she came from , who the leaders were, their hopes and aspirations , and the wishes of the immigrants themselves . As we have already seen, most Slovak immigrants who came to the United States in the 19th century were single young men who hoped to make their fortunes and return home. Furthermore, the vast majority came from eastern Slovakia, particularly from the counties of Spis , Saris , Zemplin and Abov. This was the most over-populated and economically depressed area of Slovakia and also the weakest in national feeling.37 The principal concerns of the peasants who left this area , whether seasonally to the Hungarian lowlands, or across the Ocean �54 SLOVAKIA to America, was to find work, save their money , help their families survive and, perhaps, even buy some land back home. Until the 20th century they had virtually no knowledge of or contact with socialist ideology. Hungary itself had only a weak socialist movement that got underway in the late 19th century, principally in Budapest. 38 Immigrants from western Slovakia , particularly from Bratislava and Nitra counties, were different. They held more land than their counterparts in the east, were more nationallyconscious, had frequent contacts with their neighbors the Czechs, and often worked on the estates of rich Austrian nobles. They encountered socialist ideas in both the Czech lands and in Austria (Austria had the third-largest socialist movement in terms of votes in Europe in 1912) and brought such ideas with them to America. 39 Thus , not only did Frantisek Pucher-Ciernovodsky , the founder of the socialist Fakl'a (1894) hail from Bursky Sviity Jur, in Bratislava county, but the majority of the members of the Slovak Workers Society also came from western Slovakia. 40 That region, on the other hand , sent only a small number of immigrants to America, and, hence, the " pool" of potential Slovak socialists in the United States was very small. 41 American Slovak leaders , whether secular or clerical, tended to come frorp. central Slovakia. When one looks at the priests , fraternal leaders and journalists who presented themselves as the leaders of American Slovaks, one is bound to notice (as did Hungarian government leaders) that the majority came from the central Slovak counties , particularly from Orava and Turiec - the most nationalist of all Slovak counties . Indeed , the intellectual center of Slovak nationalism in the 19th century was the little town of Turciansky Sviity Martin. Here the Slovaks established their 'Matica slovenska' (a combination of National Library and National Academy) in 1863 (the Hungarian government closed it in 1875) and also their 'Muzealna Slovenska spolocnost" (Slovak Museum Society) in 1893. 42 Slovak-American leaders who originated here , such as the Reverend Stefan Furdek (Orava) , mentioned above , or Jan Spevak, (Turiec) , the second publisher of Slovak v Amerike, or Matus Jankola (Orava) founder of the first Slovak-American religious order of the Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius, or �SLOVAKIA 55 Albert Mamatey (Turiec) wartime president of the Slovak League of America, were first and foremost Slovak nationalists. 43 To all of them socialism was anathema because it preached internationalism which, one of them pointed out, meant for the Slovaks national suicide. Therefore, while most Slovak leaders in America were sympathetic to the plight of Slovak workers , they steered them away from socialist ideology. For instance, while the publisher of Slovak v Amerike might condemn the Pennsylvania state constabulary as "State Cossacks" for their brutality in breaking up a 1912 strike ,44 his colleague Jozef Husek (From Liptov, in central Slovakia) in the Cleveland monthly Kritika would blame the violence of the Colorado miners' strike of 1914 upon "socialist agitators" (in this case the Industrial Workers of the World) .45 Furthermore , at least one powerful Slovak leader was corrupted by greed. P.V. Rovnianek, a co-founder of the National Slovak Society and for many years editor of the first and largest Slovak-American newspaper, Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny (American-Slovak News), allowed himself to be bribed by mine owners during the Connellsville coal strike of 1891. Rovnianek told the miners in his paper that their cause was hopeless and urged them to return to work. The strike collapsed shortly thereafter. 46 Thus, whether they were concerned with the cause of Slovak nationalism, with keeping their people religious, or with lining their pockets with money , most Slovak-American leaders did nothing to advance the cause of socialism among their people . On the contrary, they opposed it whenever they felt it was necessary. Slovak socialists in America could only lament this stand by " our conservative and clerical leaders. " 47 Furthermore , Slovak socialists (and later communists) in America eventually fell victim to the allure of capitalism. When one looks at the almanacs published by Slovak socialists, one will notice a slow but steady trend away from socialist or communist zealotry . For instance , the first Slovak socialist Robotnicky Kalendar, published in 1914 , rather than having a religious calendar at the beginning , had one featuring secular heroes; it did not list Christmas ; it had many attacks upon the Roman Catholic Church, whether in articles , jokes or cartoons; and it carried only three advertisements , two by fellow-socialists who were selling �56 SLOVAKIA artificial limbs and socialist newspapers. 48 The contents of these almanacs started to change with the second issue (1915) which restored the Roman Catholic and Lutheran calendars, as well as Christmas , and also printed twenty-four advertisements by small businessmen, most of them socialists. 49 By the time the 1946 Eudovy Kalendar (it changed its name in 1935) appeared, it carried Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Greek Catholic and American Saints and heroes, it actually listed Christmas as the birth of Christ, and it had no anti-clerical articles whatever. Indeed, it published the pictures of two Roman Catholic nuns who were daughters of its communist readers! Furthermore, it published 405 advertisements of small businessmen, many of whom were also ostensibly communists. 50 Thus, even though the United States government forced the Slovak Workers Society (which had joined the International Workers' Order in 1931) to disband as a "subversive" society under the McCarren-Walter Act in 1953, the seeds of its dissolution really lay in the success of many of its members in becoming entrepreneurs and also in their children's apparent lack of interest in continuing the old struggle. 51 In view of the relatively late appearance of Slovak socialists in America , their small number, and insignificant organizations, one is left wondering why Slovak Marxist historians have made so much of them. One reason may simply be pride in the fact that the Slovak sodalist movement occurred on both sides of the Atlantic. A more plausible reason is , I think, the fact that SlovakAmerican socialists helped to organize the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. While most Slovak-American socialists had become communists by 1920, this kind of split had not yet occurred in the newly-created Czechoslovakia. Therefore , Slovak-American communists sent Jozef Schiffel of Newark, N.J., and Marek Culen of Chicago (both western Slovaks from the Zahorie region) to Slovakia to size up the situation and help lead their comrades to the ''right path.'' Schiffel quickly had himself elected secretary of the more radical wing of the socialists and called a meeting offellow-radicals in I.:ubochna in January, 1921 , which his colleague Marek Culen chaired. Culen was then elected president of the "Action Committee" which planned the organizing meeting of the Czechoslovak Communist Party in May. At this �SLOVAKIA 57 meeting Jozef Schiffel was elected to the Central Committee of the newly-formed Czechoslovak Communist Party. Schiffel later returned to the United States while Culen remained in Slovakia. 52 Thus, just as American Slovaks had helped create the Czechoslovak Republic during World War I, so they helped to establish the Czechoslovak Communist Party. 53 And, this may be the principal reason why Slovak Marxist historians have paid so much attention to the Slovak-American socialist movement which, in the context of Slovak-American history, was relatively unimportant. Meanwhile, what about the Slovak workers and their reactions to labor organizing? This is largely 'terra incognita' at the moment. Paul Krause recently wrote a fine article about the willingness of Slovaks to join with their Anglo-Amer,ican fellowworkers in organizing and striking at Homestead in 1892. 54 I have previously given examples of the willingness of Slovak workers to strike, both in this paper and in my doctoral dissertation. 55 And, in my recent study of Slovaks in Bethlehem, I found them joining in the 1910 strike against Bethlehem Steel and again in 1941. 56 In the latter case they also helped organize the Congress of Industrial Organizations in Bethlehem, just as Thomas Bell, the Slovak-American writer had his hero do in his novel Out of this Furnace. 57 On the other hand, Slovaks were also guilty of scabbing and joining company-controlled unions. The Slovak press occasionally reported such practices, whether or not it approved of them. 58 Furthermore, Slovaks in Bethlehem joined company-sponsored unions in the 1920's and such activities were detrimental to true union organizing. 59 To complicate matters further, American labor organizers were not always receptive to foreigners. The Knights of Labor had tried to organize an industrial union in the coal fields in the 1880' s and did welcome immigrants such as A.S. Ambrose into their ranks, but the union ultimately failed due to poor leadership. In the 1890's skilled workers organized themselves into the American Federation of Labor and systematically excluded unskilled immigrants from their ranks, particularly in the steel mills, and this was one of the main reasons for the failure of the Bethlehem Steel �58 SLOVAKIA strike of 1910. 61 Only the United Mine Workers and the Industrial Workers of the World, which appeared in the early 1900's, successfully recruited and organized immigrant unskilled laborers, the Slovaks among them. 62 While the UMW grew into a large and powerful union, the IWW was destroyed by the United States government during World War I because, as a socialist-syndicalist organization, it opposed American entry into World War 1. 63 Only in the 1930's, during Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "New Deal," did labor organizers not have to worry about government interference in their efforts to establish a union. That was when the Congress of Industrial Organizations finally managed to organize unions in most of America's heavy industries .64 While Slovaks did join the UMW and the CIO in large numbers, the role played by Slovaks in the creation of these unions remains largely unknown. In my research I ran across no Slovak equivalent to Terrence Powderly (the leader of the Knights of Labor) Big Bill Heywood (a leader of the Industrial Workers of the World), John L. Lewis (a leader of the United Mine Workers) or even a Helen Gurley Flynn (an IWW organizer) or a Giuseppe Ettor, another IWW organizer. There may well have been such figures at a lower level of organizing because Anglo-Americans, and later Irish-Americans, tended to dominate the leadership of America's labor unions. 65 If there were Slovaks who tooks a lead in organizing labor unions at local levels, they remain to be discovered ,, Thus, we have seen that socialism and socialist organizations did not attract the vast majority of Slovak-Americans, in spite of what Slovak Marxist historians have written. Furthermore, SlovakAmericans cannot be said to have taken a leading role in the organization of American labor unions , although they may have played minor roles at local levels , and if so, these roles remain to be discovered. Various factors such as the place of origin of the majority of Slovak-Americans (eastern Slovakia) , their leadership (conservative and clerical), the weakness of socialism in Hungary, and the initial desire of Slovak-Americans to make their ''fortunes '' and return home, all worked against the establishment of strong socialist and labor movements among Slovak-Americans. �SLOVAKIA 59 NOTES 1 See for example Milos Gosiorovsky, "K podielu americko-slovenskeho proletariatu na vzniku CSR," in the collection of essays Ke vzniku CSR (Prague, 1958), 171-84 and by the same author "K hist6rii Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku v USA ," in Zbornfk Filozofickej Fakulty Univenity Komenskeho, historica, 11-12 (Bratislava , 1962), 40-74 , and " Frantisek Pucher-Ciemovodsky a robotnicke hnutie, " in Zaciatky ceskej a slovenskej emigracie do USA (Bratislava, 1970), 197-207. While Gosiorovsky set the tone, others followed. Examples are Frantisek Bielik and Stefan Vesely, "Zapisnice slovenskych politickych organizacii v Spojenych statoch americky<;h,'' in Slovaci v zahranicf, 3 (Martin, 1979), 147-166; Frantisek Bielik et. al., Slovacl vo Svete, 2 (Martin, 1980); Ondrej Kutes, "Spomienky na zivot Slovakov vo Whitingu v state Indiana a m6j prichod do USA," in Slovaci v zahranicf, 8 (Martin, 1982), 127-131 ; Ivan Poljak, "Stefan Martincek," in Slovaci v zahranicf, 4-5 (Martin, 1979), 305; Jan Siracky, "Pokrokove tradicie zahranicnych Slovakov a ich vyvrcholenie v obdobi boja proti fasizmu pocas druhej svetovej vojny," Slovaci v zahranicf, 3 (Martin, 1979), 7-25; and Siracky, ' ' Sucasny stav a problematika vyskumu dejin zahranicnych Slovakov,'' in Bielik et. al., Vyst'ahovalectvo a zivot krajanov vo svete (Martin, 1982), 49-58. 2 Karol Rebro, "Agra.me reformy v habsburskej monarchii od zaciatku 18. stor. do roku 1848 s osobintym zretel'om na Slovensko, Historicke ~tudie XIlI (1968) , 11-13; and Endre Arat6, "K hospodarskym dejinam Slovenska od roku 1848 do 1900," Historicky casopis, I (No. 3, 1953). 432. 3 Arat6, Ibid., 480-86 . 4 Jan Hanzlik, "Zaciatky vyst'ahovalectva zo Slovenska do USA a jeho priebeh az do roku 1918, jeho priciny a nasledky," in Zaciatky ceskej a slovenskej emigracie do USA (Bratislava, 1970), 55; See also Narodny hlasnik (Skalica, June 30, 1869), 166 and (February 8, 1881), 1. 5 Emily Greene Balch, Our Slavic Fellow Citizens (New York, 1910), 239. See also Obzor (Skalica) , June 25 , 1881; Narodnie noviny (Martin), November 14, 1882, 1; February 24, 1887, 4; March 17, 1892 , 3; May 3, 1898 , 1; Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny (Pittsburgh), April 26 , 1900, 9; and July 4, 1901 ; see also the governor's correspondence in the Slovak State Archives for Abov county, Kosice , 460/1900. s Balch, Ibid., 285 . 7 M. Mark Stolarik , " Slovak Migration from Europe to North America , 1870-1918, " in Slovak Studies, XX (Rome, 1980), 34-35. 8 Jan Svetoii., "Slovenske vyst'ahovalectvo v obdobi uhorskeho kapitalizmu," Ekonomicky casopis, IV (No . 2, 1956), 171-79; and Fourteenth Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1920, Vol. II, Population: General Report and Analytical Tables (Washington, 1922), 973 . 9 Fourteenth Census, Ibid., 984. Narodnie noviny, February 9, 1886, 3. 10 11 Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky to Julo Kuchta, October 11, 1894, in the Matica slovenska's Literary Archives, Martin, 37-060; Narodnie noviny, June 30, 1984, 3; August 9, 1894; Slovak v Amerike (New York), September 30, 1897, 2; October 7, 1897, 1; March 31, 1898, 4; Narodny Kalendar (Pittsburgh), 1903, 49-64; Slovak v Amerike, July 7, 1908, 1; Narodny Kalendar, 1912, 241-250; M. Mark Stolarik, Growing Up on the South Side: �SLOVAKIA 60 Three Generations of Slovaks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1880-1976 (Lewisburg, 1985), 97-98. 12 The Most complete account of the Lattimer strike is Michael Novak's The Guns of Lattimer: The True Story of a Massacre and Trial, August 1897-March 1898 (New York, 1978) . 13 As cited in Narodnie noviny, November 6, 1890, 2. 14 Narodny Kalendar, 1912, 58-62. 15 Kalendar Jednota (Cleveland , 1910), 190-98. 16 P.V. Rovnianek, Zapisky za ziva pochovaneho (Pittsburgh, 1924). 128-130; Ignac Gessay, "Spolky pred organisaciami," Narodny Kalendar, 1911, 67. 17 Thomas Capek, Jr., The Slovaks in America (New York, 1921). 88-9 . 18 Jozef Pauco, 75 rokov Prvej Katolfckej Slovenskej Jednoty (Cleveland , 1965), passim. 19 Pamiitnica k zlatemu jubileu Ziveny, 1891-1941 (Pittsburgh, 1941), passim; and Jednota (Cleveland , December 9, 1908), 4. 20 Jan Pankuch, Dejiny Clevelandskych a Lakewoodskych Slovakov (Cleveland, 1930), 11. 21 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny, July 4, 1896, 1. 22 Ibid., July 13 , 1896, 1; and Gusto KoMk, "Prve desat'rocie nasej Jednoty," Sbomik Rfmsko a Grecko Katolickej Telocvicnej Jednoty Sokol (Passaic, N.J., 1916), 35-51. 23 Frank Uherka, "Kratky prehl'ad S.K.P.J. Jednoty," Kalendar pre Slovenskych Kalvfnov (Pittsburgh, 1927). 37-8. 24 Capek, op. cit. 25 Stefan Martincek, "Z minulosti slovenskeho robotnickeho hnutia, " Robotnicky Kalendar (Chicago, 1927), 25-28. 26 Gosiorovsky , "K historii Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku v USA," op. cit. , 45 . 27 Ibid ., 49. 28 Ibid., 41 and 56; and Ivan Poljak and Eva Fordinalova, " Slovenske robotnicke hnutie v Spojenych statoch americkych," in Frantisek Bielik et. al. , Slovaci vo svete, 2 (Martin , 1980). 124. 29 Poljak and Fordinalova, Ibid ., and Robotnfcky Kalendar, 1930, 38. ° Konstantin Culen, Slovenske casopisy v Amerike (Cleveland , 1970), 29-32 . 3 31 M. Mark Stolarik, "At Horne Abroad: The Slovak-American Press, 1885-1918," in Owen V. Johnson , ed ., Mobilizing the Mobilized: The Role and Functions of the Mass Media in Eastern Europe (Forthcoming) . 32 Culen, op. cit., 101. 33 Ibid. , 41-2 ; Gosiorovsky, "Frantisek Pucher-Ciernovodsky " op . cit. 34 Culen, op. cit., 104-07; For a general discussion of the Slovak-American press see M. Mark Stolarik, " The Slovak-American Press ," in Sally M. Miller ed. , The Ethnic Press in the United States (Westport, Conn., 1987). 353-68. 35 Culen, op. cit., 47 . 36 In a pamphlet entitled Socialist Party Meeting National Committee, May, 1915: Reports of Foreign Federations (No publisher, place or date given), in the papers of the Slovene National Benefit Society Immigration History Research Center, University of Minnesota, �SLOVAKIA 61 groups such as the Czechs, Slovenes and Finns were reported with tens of thousands of members but the Slovaks had only 751. See also the articles about these groups in the Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups (Cambridge, Mass., 1980). 37 Ladislav Tajtak, "Vychodoslovenske vyst'ahovalectvo do prvej svetovej vojny," Nave obzory (Kosice , III, 1961), 221 -47 . 38 Gabriel Louis Jaraj , La Question Sociale et le Socialisme en Hongrie (Paris, 1909), 54-8 ; and Martinl':ek, op. cit., 25 . 39 Poljak & Fordinalova in Slovaci vo svete, 2, op. cit. , 115; Zoltan Sarkozi, "Prfspevok k dejinam slovenskych pol'nohospodarskych sez6nnych robotnfkov {1848-1914)," Historicky tasopis (Bratislava , 1964), 12 , 75-103; and Robotnfcky Kalendar, (1914), in which the editors give the world-wide socialist vote in 1912 as follows: Germany, 4,238,919; France, 1,120,000; Austria, 1,041,948; USA 905,768; Finland, 330,000; Hungary 80 ,000 . •0 Gosiorovsky, "Frantisek Pucher-Ciernovodsky," op. cit., and Poljak and Fordinalova , op. cit. 41 Frantisek Bielik & Elo Rakos, Slovenske vyst'ahovalectvo: Dokumenty I, do roku 1918 (Bratislava , 1969), 30. 42 Julius Mesaros a kolektiv, Dejiny Slovenska II, od roku 1848 do roku 1900 (Bratislava, 1968), 236-306 ; Monika Glettler, Pittsburg-Wien-Budapest: Program und Praxis der Nationalitlitenpolitik bei der Auswanderung der Ungarischen Slowaken nach Amerika um 1900 (Vienna, 1980), 208-17. 43 See Jozef Paul':o , Slovenskf priekopnfci v Amerike (Cleveland, 1972) for the biographies of Furdek (72-127), Jankola (208-22), and Mamatey (269-75), and Culen, Slovenske tasopisy op . cit., 125 , for the origins of Jan Spevak. 44 Slovak v Amerike, May 14, 1912 , 1. 45 Kritika, May 20, 1914, 2. 46 Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky to Julo Kuchta , op. cit., and Slovak v Amerike, July 7, 1908, 1. 47 Robotnfcky Kalendar, 1914, 15 . 48 Ibid. , passim . Robotnfcky Kalendar, 1915 , passim. so L:udovy Kalendar, 1946, passim. 49 s, Gosiorovsky, " K historii Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku," op. cit., 70-71. Even the covers of the Slovak Communist Almanac cited above changed dramatically over the years. The 1932 cover, for instance, featured a very revolutionary scene of workers storming the barricades, whereas the 1950 cover showed a rather bourgeois photograph of a beautiful Slovak mother and child. 52 Gosiorovsky, "K historii Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku," op. cit., 52-3 . 53 For the story of the World War I liberation movement see my The Role of American Slovaks in th e Creation ofCzecho-Slovakia, 1914-1918 (Rome , Slovak Studies, VIII , 1968) . 54 Paul Krause, "Labor Republicanism and 'Za Chlebom ': Anglo-Americans and Slavic Solidarity in Homestead, " in Dirk Hoerder ed ., " Struggle a Hard Battle ": Essays on Working-Class Immigrants (DeKalb , Ill ., 1986), 121-42 . �62 55 SLOVAKIA See above, page 4 and Stolarik, " Slovak Migration from Europe to North America," op. cit., 65-7 . 56 Stolarik, Growing Up on the South Side, op. cit., 97-9 . 57 Thomas Bell, Out of this Furnace (Boston, 1941) , 395-404. 58 Na.rodnie noviny, August 13 , 1892, 3; June 30, 1894, 3; and Na.rodny Kalenda.r, 1912, 246-50. 59 Stolarik, Growing Up, op. cit. , 98 . 6 °For an excellent article on immigrants and the American labor movement see David Brody's contribution "Labor" in the Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, op. cit., 609-18. 61 62 Robert Hessen, Steel Titan: The Life of Charles M. Schwab (New York, 1976), 194-208 . Na.rodny Kalenda.r, 1903, 49-64; Slovak v Amerike, April 11 , 1905, 4; March 27, 1906, 1; July 30 , 1907, 1; Na.rodny Kalenda.r, 1908, 144-56; Ibid., 1912 , 241-50. 63 For the story of the IWW see Melvin Dubofsky, We Shall Be All: A History of the Industrial Workers of the World (Chicago , 1969). The section on their destruction appears on pages 350-462. 64 The role of the CIO in organizing many of America's heavy industries was outlined by Sidney lens in The Labor Wars: From the Molly Maguires to the Sitdowns (Garden City, N.J., 1973), 285-375 . 65 David Brody makes this point about the ethnic composition of America 's labor leaders in his article, cited above, on pages 611 and 615. � 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 1987-88, Vol. 33 Description An account of the resource Vol. 33 (No. 60-61), 1987-88. 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 1987-88 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 47 Slovak Immigration to the United States and its Relation to the American Socialist and Labor Movements M. MARK STOLARIK If one looks at the large number of books and articles that Slovak Marxist historians have written about Slovak immigrants and their relation to the socialist and labor movements, one will get the impression that most Slovak immigrants to the United States joined socialist organizations and took a leading role in the American labor movement. 1 There is very little evidence to support such conclusions. As I will demonstrate in this paper, most Slovak immigrants came to the United States as single young men who wanted to make their "fortunes" and return home and their leaders were more concerned with promoting Slovak nationalism than with any socialist or labor ideology. Slovaks left their homeland in Hungary in the 19th century for three basic reasons: lack of land, lack of industry and lack of opportunity. While serfdom was abolished during the Revolution of 1848, there was no corresponding land reform. Therefore, the nobility (ten per cent of the population) continued to hold more than half of the best arable land. The vast majority of freed serfs held fewer than five hectares of land and soon they began to break up even these meager holdings among their children. Furthermore, the Kingdom of Hungary, unlike the Austrian part of the Empire, did not promote much industry (the nobility preferred the ''rustic'' life to pollution and grime) and, hence , the growing number of landless peasants found it increasingly difficult to make ends meet.2 In addition, the Slovaks had only a tiny middle class which 48 SLOVAKIA was engaged in an uneven struggle with the Hungarian government over the issue of 'Magyarization' (the forcible assimilation of non-Magyar nationalities by the Magyars) . This small number of individuals, faced by government discrimination , could not possibly either build up industry large enough to employ all the job-seekers or force the government into land reform. 3 Therefore, by the 1870s it had become common practice for Slovak peasants to migrate each summer to the Hungarian (and in some instances Austrian) lowlands and take in the harvest of the wealthy nobles. Others, particularly from Trencin county, had begun to wander all over Europe as tinkers who would offer to fix household implements, sharpen knives and scissors and do other odd jobs for the few pennies tossed them by sympathetic housewives. Others still sought work in the booming ·metropolises of Vienna and Budapest. 4 Meanwhile, after the American Civil War had ended, the United States of America began to industrialize in earnest. The railroad, coal, steel and oil industries began to greatly expand and they required large numbers of cheap , unskilled laborers, to make them profitable. American industrialists refused to pay the Irish and other immigrants who were already in America a decent wage, and the industrialists also rejected the alternatives of Black labor. Instead, they sent agents to Europe to seek workers who would settle for wages of around $1.50 a day and the agents found such people in eastern and southern Europe. 5 To a Slovak peasant, who could not make a living on five hectares of land, and who earned only the equivalent of 15 to 30 cents a day on a noble's estate, if he could find the work, $1.50 a day was a very handsome salary. Therefore , a few Slovaks responded to the entreaties of railroad agents (who advanced them the $70.00 it would cost to make the trip) in the 1870s and went to America. By then steamships began to carry immigrants across the Ocean in the relatively short time of two weeks. 6 And, while the work on the railroads, in the mines or mills was long and hard, the Slovaks put up with all these hardships because they had not come to stay. Instead, the vast majority were single young men (or newly-married) who came to make their 'fortunes' (usually $1 ,000) and then hoped to return home, buy enough land to make SLOVAKIA 49 a living, and settle down to the good life in Hungary. Living in cramped boarding houses, the frugal Slovaks managed to pay off the cost of the trip in six months and after that they began to send money home to support their families and to also bring additional relatives to America. 7 Once this process got underway the trickle of Slovaks turned into a deluge in the 1880s and 1890s and peaked in 1905 when over 50,000 made the voyage. Altogether 650,000 Slovaks migrated to the United States between 1870 and 1924 (when immigration was largely halted by the U.S. Congress) and 500,000 eventually chose to remain in the New World. 8 Those who did then sent for their wives and children. Most Slovaks settled in the industrial Northeast and Midwest, half in Pennsylvania and the rest in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota. 9 While life was more livable for Slovaks in the New World than in the Old, they did soon come to realize that they were being exploited and started to strike. The first recorded strike by Slovaks in the United States was in Bessemer, Pennsylvania in January of 1886 when 300 men, led by Stefan Stanek, walked off the job because the mine operators refused their modest request for an increase from 2 7 cents per wagon of coal produced to 30 cents per wagon. The mine owners decided to disperse the strikers with local police forces but the miners ' wives saved the day by hurling stones at the police and preventing them from making many arrests. 10 After this Slovaks were found participating in all the major strikes that affected the coal and steel industries, whether in the great Connellsville coal and coke strike of 1891 , the Homestead steel strike of 1892 , the Anthracite coal strike of 1894, the Lattimer coal strike of 1897, the Anthracite strikes of 1900 and 1902 , the Bethlehem Steel strike of 1910, the Westmoreland coal strike of 1911-1912 and the 1919 "Hunky" steel strike. 11 In the Lattimer strike, which turned into a massacre when sheriff's deputies opened fire upon 1,000 peaceful marching strikers , six Slovaks were killed, along with eight Poles and two Lithuanians, and 35 other workers were wounded. 12 In view of the Slovak willingness to strike for better wages and conditions, one might conclude that they were ripe for recruitment by socialist ideologies and organizations . Such w as not the 50 SLOVAKIA case. As early as 1890 the editor of the workers' weekly Slovak v Amerike (The Slovak in America) denounced socialism for two reasons: he charged that socialists advocated the violent overthrow of the capitalist system, an action which he deemed immoral; and socialism propagated internationalism, which to the beleaguered Slovaks who were fighting 'Magyarization' meant national suicide. 13 A.S. Ambrose , the founder and editor of Slovak v Amerike, had been an organizer of the ill-fated Knights of Labor, who made the first attempt to create an industrial union of unskilled workers in the United States in the 1880s. 14 Thus , while Ambrose was sympathetic to the plight of the workers, he rejected socialism and most other Slovak leaders in American followed suit. In a later article the Reverend Stefan Furdek, who was the most respected of Slovak Catholic clergymen in America, rejected socialism as well , principally because he felt it violated human nature - "people are not sheep" - and also because it opposed organized religion and wanted to root out belief in God. 15 Since both secular and clerical leaders of Slovak-Americans opposed socialism in the United States, it had little chance of success among the masses. This is not to say that socialist societies and newspapers did not arise among American Slovaks. They did , but when compared to other Slovak organizations , the socialist ones came relatively late and in such small numbers that they made very little impact upn Slovak-American life. For instance, A.S. Ambrose joined with P.V. Rovnianek (an ex-seminarian) to found the first nation-wide National Slovak Society of the United States and Canada in 1890 (between 1882 and 1890 more than 40 local fraternals had been established by American Slovaks). 16 Besides providing for fraternal-benefit insurance, the National Slovak Society became the leading nationalist and second-largest Slovak fraternal in the United States by 1918. 17 The largest was the First Catholic Slovak Union, also founded in 1890, but by the Reverend Stefan Furdek. Its goals were fraternal-benefit insurance for its members, and defense of the Catholic faith and the Slovak nation , as embodied in its slogan "Za Boha a narod" (For God and the Nation). 18 Since American Slovaks had interests that went beyond those espoused by the National Slovak Society and the First Catholic SLOVAKIA 51 Slovak Union, they established even more fraternals. The two aforementioned societies initially admitted only men. Therefore, the wives of the men in these societies established the Zivena (Giver of Life) Beneficial Union in 1891 and the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union in 1892. 19 Lutherans followed suit with the Slovak Evangelical Union in 1892. 20 A regional group founded the Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union in 1893. 21 Militant nationalists established the Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol in 1896 (from which devout Catholics split off to found the larger Slovak Catholic Sokol in 1905) 22 and even Slovak Calvinists, a tiny minority, founded their Slovak Calvin Presbyterian Union in 1901 (all of these later established women's counterparts). 23 By 1918 twelve of the largest nation-wide Slovak societies in the United States enrolled over 200,000 members. The religious ones led with a total of 145,053 (51,817 in the First Catholic Slovak Union), with Catholics enrolling 133,904 and Lutherans 11,149. Secular societies had 69,315 members, and the National Slovak Society led these with 29,118. 24 By 1940 these societies, largely by enrolling their members' children, had doubled their combined membership to over 400,000. Meanwhile, a few isolated Slovak socialist organizations appeared at the turn of the century. The most important one arose in Chicago in 1902. In that year Stefan Martincek arrived from Budapest, where he had been a member of the Hungarian Socialist Party since 1897 and editor of the Slovak Socialist newspaper Nova doba in 1898-1899. He had also helped organize socialist cells among Slovaks in the southernmost counties of the Banat and Backa. However, by 1902 he tired of the Hungarian government's refusal to allow the creation of a Slovak Workers ' Society on the old pretext that ''there is no Slovak nation,'' and left for Chicago where a friend had preceded him. Soon after his arrival Martincek organized the First Slovak Workers Educational Society "Rovnost"' (Equality), which affiliated with the Czech Workers' Section of the Socialist party of America. The latter had been founded in 1901. 25 In the next few years other Slovak socialist societies sprang up in Cleveland, Newark, N.J., and New York City, and elsewhere . By 1911 these various societies decided to federate into the Slovak Section of the American Socialist Party. 26 52 SLOVAKIA The aim of all of them was to try to spread the socialist ideology among their people and help the Socialist Party win as many elections as possible in order to eventually turn to the United States into a socialist country. Meanwhle, Martincek also wished to establish a Slovak Workers' (fraternal-benefit) Society but found too few potential followers and had to postpone this project until 1915. In that year he managed to persuade 60 members of the Slovak Socialist Section to meet in Newark and organize the Slovak Workers' Society. By the time of its first convention in 1917 it had enrolled 507 members. 27 It slowly grew to 11,107 by 1939 by actively recruiting not only among Slovaks but also among Czechs, Rusins and even Magyars, thereby giving credence to the Slovak nationalist charge that Slovak socialists were not good Slovaks. 28 The tremendous unemployment of the Great Depression also contributed to its growth. On the other hand, the Slovak Section of the Socialist Party in 1919, and the Slovak Workers' Society in 1920 joined the III International and thereby adopted the communist cause, losing significant numbers of members in the process. 29 If one looks at the Slovak-American newspaper press, one will likewise find a dearth of Slovak-American socialist newspapers. The first Slovak-American newspaper was founded in Pittsburgh in 1885 as a commercial venture to provide news from home. 30 By 1918 121 Slovak-language newspapers had sprung up in-this country (although only 41 were still publishing by then) and of 93 newspapers on which there is information regarding their ideology, 54% were Slovak nationalist, 18% were Magyarone, 17% had no political orientation, 4% were "Czechoslovak," 4% were socialist and 2% were neutral. Furthermore, in terms ofreligious orientation, 79% had none, 15% were Roman Catholic, 5% were Lutheran and one was Calvinist. Thus, the Slovak-American press was , by-and-large, secular and nationalist between 1885 and 1918. 31 Only four Slovak-American socialist newspapers appeared between 1885 and 1918, and only one survived. The first sprang up as the weekly Robotnik (Worker) in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, in 1889, but little is known about it and it died a quick death. 32 The second was founded by the brilliant ex-Jesuit (he SLOVAKIA 53 could speak twelve languages) Frantisek Pucher-Ciernovodsky in 1894. Entitled Fakl'a (Torch), this New York monthly lasted for only nine months because there was not enough of a demand for it. 33 The third (and only successful) attempt to establish a SlovakAmerican socialist newspaper occurred in Chicago in 1906 when a small group, led by Stefan Martincek, established the monthly Rovnost' l'udu (Equality of the people). It became a weekly in 1908 and a daily in 1926. The newspaper changed its name to Eudovy dennfk (The People's Daily) in 1935 and to Eudove noviny (The People's News) in 1945; it folded in 1981. 34 The fou'ith (and last) attempt to establish a Slovak socialist newspaper in America occurred in New York in 1914 when a local group founded the Hlas svobody (Voice of Freedom) to principally serve as the official (fraternal) organ of the about-to-be organized Slovak Workers Society. It lasted only to 1917 because it opposed World War I and such a stand became untenable after the United States entered the war the same year. 35 Having surveyed Slovak immigration to the United States and the establishment of two of its three principal institutions , fraternal-benefit societies and newspapers (the other institution was the parish church) , the question that now arises is why was the socialist movement among American Slovaks so weak, especially when compared to other ehtnic groups who also came from southern or eastern Europe? We know, for instance, that the Czechs , Slovenes and Finns had very vigorous socialist organizations and newspapers. 36 Why did not the Slovaks? The answers are very complex and involve the type of immigrant who came to America, what region he/she came from , who the leaders were, their hopes and aspirations , and the wishes of the immigrants themselves . As we have already seen, most Slovak immigrants who came to the United States in the 19th century were single young men who hoped to make their fortunes and return home. Furthermore, the vast majority came from eastern Slovakia, particularly from the counties of Spis , Saris , Zemplin and Abov. This was the most over-populated and economically depressed area of Slovakia and also the weakest in national feeling.37 The principal concerns of the peasants who left this area , whether seasonally to the Hungarian lowlands, or across the Ocean 54 SLOVAKIA to America, was to find work, save their money , help their families survive and, perhaps, even buy some land back home. Until the 20th century they had virtually no knowledge of or contact with socialist ideology. Hungary itself had only a weak socialist movement that got underway in the late 19th century, principally in Budapest. 38 Immigrants from western Slovakia , particularly from Bratislava and Nitra counties, were different. They held more land than their counterparts in the east, were more nationallyconscious, had frequent contacts with their neighbors the Czechs, and often worked on the estates of rich Austrian nobles. They encountered socialist ideas in both the Czech lands and in Austria (Austria had the third-largest socialist movement in terms of votes in Europe in 1912) and brought such ideas with them to America. 39 Thus , not only did Frantisek Pucher-Ciernovodsky , the founder of the socialist Fakl'a (1894) hail from Bursky Sviity Jur, in Bratislava county, but the majority of the members of the Slovak Workers Society also came from western Slovakia. 40 That region, on the other hand , sent only a small number of immigrants to America, and, hence, the " pool" of potential Slovak socialists in the United States was very small. 41 American Slovak leaders , whether secular or clerical, tended to come frorp. central Slovakia. When one looks at the priests , fraternal leaders and journalists who presented themselves as the leaders of American Slovaks, one is bound to notice (as did Hungarian government leaders) that the majority came from the central Slovak counties , particularly from Orava and Turiec - the most nationalist of all Slovak counties . Indeed , the intellectual center of Slovak nationalism in the 19th century was the little town of Turciansky Sviity Martin. Here the Slovaks established their 'Matica slovenska' (a combination of National Library and National Academy) in 1863 (the Hungarian government closed it in 1875) and also their 'Muzealna Slovenska spolocnost" (Slovak Museum Society) in 1893. 42 Slovak-American leaders who originated here , such as the Reverend Stefan Furdek (Orava) , mentioned above , or Jan Spevak, (Turiec) , the second publisher of Slovak v Amerike, or Matus Jankola (Orava) founder of the first Slovak-American religious order of the Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius, or SLOVAKIA 55 Albert Mamatey (Turiec) wartime president of the Slovak League of America, were first and foremost Slovak nationalists. 43 To all of them socialism was anathema because it preached internationalism which, one of them pointed out, meant for the Slovaks national suicide. Therefore, while most Slovak leaders in America were sympathetic to the plight of Slovak workers , they steered them away from socialist ideology. For instance, while the publisher of Slovak v Amerike might condemn the Pennsylvania state constabulary as "State Cossacks" for their brutality in breaking up a 1912 strike ,44 his colleague Jozef Husek (From Liptov, in central Slovakia) in the Cleveland monthly Kritika would blame the violence of the Colorado miners' strike of 1914 upon "socialist agitators" (in this case the Industrial Workers of the World) .45 Furthermore , at least one powerful Slovak leader was corrupted by greed. P.V. Rovnianek, a co-founder of the National Slovak Society and for many years editor of the first and largest Slovak-American newspaper, Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny (American-Slovak News), allowed himself to be bribed by mine owners during the Connellsville coal strike of 1891. Rovnianek told the miners in his paper that their cause was hopeless and urged them to return to work. The strike collapsed shortly thereafter. 46 Thus, whether they were concerned with the cause of Slovak nationalism, with keeping their people religious, or with lining their pockets with money , most Slovak-American leaders did nothing to advance the cause of socialism among their people . On the contrary, they opposed it whenever they felt it was necessary. Slovak socialists in America could only lament this stand by " our conservative and clerical leaders. " 47 Furthermore , Slovak socialists (and later communists) in America eventually fell victim to the allure of capitalism. When one looks at the almanacs published by Slovak socialists, one will notice a slow but steady trend away from socialist or communist zealotry . For instance , the first Slovak socialist Robotnicky Kalendar, published in 1914 , rather than having a religious calendar at the beginning , had one featuring secular heroes; it did not list Christmas ; it had many attacks upon the Roman Catholic Church, whether in articles , jokes or cartoons; and it carried only three advertisements , two by fellow-socialists who were selling 56 SLOVAKIA artificial limbs and socialist newspapers. 48 The contents of these almanacs started to change with the second issue (1915) which restored the Roman Catholic and Lutheran calendars, as well as Christmas , and also printed twenty-four advertisements by small businessmen, most of them socialists. 49 By the time the 1946 Eudovy Kalendar (it changed its name in 1935) appeared, it carried Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Greek Catholic and American Saints and heroes, it actually listed Christmas as the birth of Christ, and it had no anti-clerical articles whatever. Indeed, it published the pictures of two Roman Catholic nuns who were daughters of its communist readers! Furthermore, it published 405 advertisements of small businessmen, many of whom were also ostensibly communists. 50 Thus, even though the United States government forced the Slovak Workers Society (which had joined the International Workers' Order in 1931) to disband as a "subversive" society under the McCarren-Walter Act in 1953, the seeds of its dissolution really lay in the success of many of its members in becoming entrepreneurs and also in their children's apparent lack of interest in continuing the old struggle. 51 In view of the relatively late appearance of Slovak socialists in America , their small number, and insignificant organizations, one is left wondering why Slovak Marxist historians have made so much of them. One reason may simply be pride in the fact that the Slovak sodalist movement occurred on both sides of the Atlantic. A more plausible reason is , I think, the fact that SlovakAmerican socialists helped to organize the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. While most Slovak-American socialists had become communists by 1920, this kind of split had not yet occurred in the newly-created Czechoslovakia. Therefore , Slovak-American communists sent Jozef Schiffel of Newark, N.J., and Marek Culen of Chicago (both western Slovaks from the Zahorie region) to Slovakia to size up the situation and help lead their comrades to the ''right path.'' Schiffel quickly had himself elected secretary of the more radical wing of the socialists and called a meeting offellow-radicals in I.:ubochna in January, 1921 , which his colleague Marek Culen chaired. Culen was then elected president of the "Action Committee" which planned the organizing meeting of the Czechoslovak Communist Party in May. At this SLOVAKIA 57 meeting Jozef Schiffel was elected to the Central Committee of the newly-formed Czechoslovak Communist Party. Schiffel later returned to the United States while Culen remained in Slovakia. 52 Thus, just as American Slovaks had helped create the Czechoslovak Republic during World War I, so they helped to establish the Czechoslovak Communist Party. 53 And, this may be the principal reason why Slovak Marxist historians have paid so much attention to the Slovak-American socialist movement which, in the context of Slovak-American history, was relatively unimportant. Meanwhile, what about the Slovak workers and their reactions to labor organizing? This is largely 'terra incognita' at the moment. Paul Krause recently wrote a fine article about the willingness of Slovaks to join with their Anglo-Amer,ican fellowworkers in organizing and striking at Homestead in 1892. 54 I have previously given examples of the willingness of Slovak workers to strike, both in this paper and in my doctoral dissertation. 55 And, in my recent study of Slovaks in Bethlehem, I found them joining in the 1910 strike against Bethlehem Steel and again in 1941. 56 In the latter case they also helped organize the Congress of Industrial Organizations in Bethlehem, just as Thomas Bell, the Slovak-American writer had his hero do in his novel Out of this Furnace. 57 On the other hand, Slovaks were also guilty of scabbing and joining company-controlled unions. The Slovak press occasionally reported such practices, whether or not it approved of them. 58 Furthermore, Slovaks in Bethlehem joined company-sponsored unions in the 1920's and such activities were detrimental to true union organizing. 59 To complicate matters further, American labor organizers were not always receptive to foreigners. The Knights of Labor had tried to organize an industrial union in the coal fields in the 1880' s and did welcome immigrants such as A.S. Ambrose into their ranks, but the union ultimately failed due to poor leadership. In the 1890's skilled workers organized themselves into the American Federation of Labor and systematically excluded unskilled immigrants from their ranks, particularly in the steel mills, and this was one of the main reasons for the failure of the Bethlehem Steel 58 SLOVAKIA strike of 1910. 61 Only the United Mine Workers and the Industrial Workers of the World, which appeared in the early 1900's, successfully recruited and organized immigrant unskilled laborers, the Slovaks among them. 62 While the UMW grew into a large and powerful union, the IWW was destroyed by the United States government during World War I because, as a socialist-syndicalist organization, it opposed American entry into World War 1. 63 Only in the 1930's, during Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "New Deal," did labor organizers not have to worry about government interference in their efforts to establish a union. That was when the Congress of Industrial Organizations finally managed to organize unions in most of America's heavy industries .64 While Slovaks did join the UMW and the CIO in large numbers, the role played by Slovaks in the creation of these unions remains largely unknown. In my research I ran across no Slovak equivalent to Terrence Powderly (the leader of the Knights of Labor) Big Bill Heywood (a leader of the Industrial Workers of the World), John L. Lewis (a leader of the United Mine Workers) or even a Helen Gurley Flynn (an IWW organizer) or a Giuseppe Ettor, another IWW organizer. There may well have been such figures at a lower level of organizing because Anglo-Americans, and later Irish-Americans, tended to dominate the leadership of America's labor unions. 65 If there were Slovaks who tooks a lead in organizing labor unions at local levels, they remain to be discovered ,, Thus, we have seen that socialism and socialist organizations did not attract the vast majority of Slovak-Americans, in spite of what Slovak Marxist historians have written. Furthermore, SlovakAmericans cannot be said to have taken a leading role in the organization of American labor unions , although they may have played minor roles at local levels , and if so, these roles remain to be discovered. Various factors such as the place of origin of the majority of Slovak-Americans (eastern Slovakia) , their leadership (conservative and clerical), the weakness of socialism in Hungary, and the initial desire of Slovak-Americans to make their ''fortunes '' and return home, all worked against the establishment of strong socialist and labor movements among Slovak-Americans. SLOVAKIA 59 NOTES 1 See for example Milos Gosiorovsky, "K podielu americko-slovenskeho proletariatu na vzniku CSR," in the collection of essays Ke vzniku CSR (Prague, 1958), 171-84 and by the same author "K hist6rii Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku v USA ," in Zbornfk Filozofickej Fakulty Univenity Komenskeho, historica, 11-12 (Bratislava , 1962), 40-74 , and " Frantisek Pucher-Ciemovodsky a robotnicke hnutie, " in Zaciatky ceskej a slovenskej emigracie do USA (Bratislava, 1970), 197-207. While Gosiorovsky set the tone, others followed. Examples are Frantisek Bielik and Stefan Vesely, "Zapisnice slovenskych politickych organizacii v Spojenych statoch americky<;h,'' in Slovaci v zahranicf, 3 (Martin, 1979), 147-166; Frantisek Bielik et. al., Slovacl vo Svete, 2 (Martin, 1980); Ondrej Kutes, "Spomienky na zivot Slovakov vo Whitingu v state Indiana a m6j prichod do USA," in Slovaci v zahranicf, 8 (Martin, 1982), 127-131 ; Ivan Poljak, "Stefan Martincek," in Slovaci v zahranicf, 4-5 (Martin, 1979), 305; Jan Siracky, "Pokrokove tradicie zahranicnych Slovakov a ich vyvrcholenie v obdobi boja proti fasizmu pocas druhej svetovej vojny," Slovaci v zahranicf, 3 (Martin, 1979), 7-25; and Siracky, ' ' Sucasny stav a problematika vyskumu dejin zahranicnych Slovakov,'' in Bielik et. al., Vyst'ahovalectvo a zivot krajanov vo svete (Martin, 1982), 49-58. 2 Karol Rebro, "Agra.me reformy v habsburskej monarchii od zaciatku 18. stor. do roku 1848 s osobintym zretel'om na Slovensko, Historicke ~tudie XIlI (1968) , 11-13; and Endre Arat6, "K hospodarskym dejinam Slovenska od roku 1848 do 1900," Historicky casopis, I (No. 3, 1953). 432. 3 Arat6, Ibid., 480-86 . 4 Jan Hanzlik, "Zaciatky vyst'ahovalectva zo Slovenska do USA a jeho priebeh az do roku 1918, jeho priciny a nasledky," in Zaciatky ceskej a slovenskej emigracie do USA (Bratislava, 1970), 55; See also Narodny hlasnik (Skalica, June 30, 1869), 166 and (February 8, 1881), 1. 5 Emily Greene Balch, Our Slavic Fellow Citizens (New York, 1910), 239. See also Obzor (Skalica) , June 25 , 1881; Narodnie noviny (Martin), November 14, 1882, 1; February 24, 1887, 4; March 17, 1892 , 3; May 3, 1898 , 1; Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny (Pittsburgh), April 26 , 1900, 9; and July 4, 1901 ; see also the governor's correspondence in the Slovak State Archives for Abov county, Kosice , 460/1900. s Balch, Ibid., 285 . 7 M. Mark Stolarik , " Slovak Migration from Europe to North America , 1870-1918, " in Slovak Studies, XX (Rome, 1980), 34-35. 8 Jan Svetoii., "Slovenske vyst'ahovalectvo v obdobi uhorskeho kapitalizmu," Ekonomicky casopis, IV (No . 2, 1956), 171-79; and Fourteenth Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1920, Vol. II, Population: General Report and Analytical Tables (Washington, 1922), 973 . 9 Fourteenth Census, Ibid., 984. Narodnie noviny, February 9, 1886, 3. 10 11 Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky to Julo Kuchta, October 11, 1894, in the Matica slovenska's Literary Archives, Martin, 37-060; Narodnie noviny, June 30, 1984, 3; August 9, 1894; Slovak v Amerike (New York), September 30, 1897, 2; October 7, 1897, 1; March 31, 1898, 4; Narodny Kalendar (Pittsburgh), 1903, 49-64; Slovak v Amerike, July 7, 1908, 1; Narodny Kalendar, 1912, 241-250; M. Mark Stolarik, Growing Up on the South Side: SLOVAKIA 60 Three Generations of Slovaks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1880-1976 (Lewisburg, 1985), 97-98. 12 The Most complete account of the Lattimer strike is Michael Novak's The Guns of Lattimer: The True Story of a Massacre and Trial, August 1897-March 1898 (New York, 1978) . 13 As cited in Narodnie noviny, November 6, 1890, 2. 14 Narodny Kalendar, 1912, 58-62. 15 Kalendar Jednota (Cleveland , 1910), 190-98. 16 P.V. Rovnianek, Zapisky za ziva pochovaneho (Pittsburgh, 1924). 128-130; Ignac Gessay, "Spolky pred organisaciami," Narodny Kalendar, 1911, 67. 17 Thomas Capek, Jr., The Slovaks in America (New York, 1921). 88-9 . 18 Jozef Pauco, 75 rokov Prvej Katolfckej Slovenskej Jednoty (Cleveland , 1965), passim. 19 Pamiitnica k zlatemu jubileu Ziveny, 1891-1941 (Pittsburgh, 1941), passim; and Jednota (Cleveland , December 9, 1908), 4. 20 Jan Pankuch, Dejiny Clevelandskych a Lakewoodskych Slovakov (Cleveland, 1930), 11. 21 Amerikansko-Slovenske noviny, July 4, 1896, 1. 22 Ibid., July 13 , 1896, 1; and Gusto KoMk, "Prve desat'rocie nasej Jednoty," Sbomik Rfmsko a Grecko Katolickej Telocvicnej Jednoty Sokol (Passaic, N.J., 1916), 35-51. 23 Frank Uherka, "Kratky prehl'ad S.K.P.J. Jednoty," Kalendar pre Slovenskych Kalvfnov (Pittsburgh, 1927). 37-8. 24 Capek, op. cit. 25 Stefan Martincek, "Z minulosti slovenskeho robotnickeho hnutia, " Robotnicky Kalendar (Chicago, 1927), 25-28. 26 Gosiorovsky , "K historii Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku v USA," op. cit. , 45 . 27 Ibid ., 49. 28 Ibid., 41 and 56; and Ivan Poljak and Eva Fordinalova, " Slovenske robotnicke hnutie v Spojenych statoch americkych," in Frantisek Bielik et. al. , Slovaci vo svete, 2 (Martin , 1980). 124. 29 Poljak and Fordinalova, Ibid ., and Robotnfcky Kalendar, 1930, 38. ° Konstantin Culen, Slovenske casopisy v Amerike (Cleveland , 1970), 29-32 . 3 31 M. Mark Stolarik, "At Horne Abroad: The Slovak-American Press, 1885-1918," in Owen V. Johnson , ed ., Mobilizing the Mobilized: The Role and Functions of the Mass Media in Eastern Europe (Forthcoming) . 32 Culen, op. cit., 101. 33 Ibid. , 41-2 ; Gosiorovsky, "Frantisek Pucher-Ciernovodsky " op . cit. 34 Culen, op. cit., 104-07; For a general discussion of the Slovak-American press see M. Mark Stolarik, " The Slovak-American Press ," in Sally M. Miller ed. , The Ethnic Press in the United States (Westport, Conn., 1987). 353-68. 35 Culen, op. cit., 47 . 36 In a pamphlet entitled Socialist Party Meeting National Committee, May, 1915: Reports of Foreign Federations (No publisher, place or date given), in the papers of the Slovene National Benefit Society Immigration History Research Center, University of Minnesota, SLOVAKIA 61 groups such as the Czechs, Slovenes and Finns were reported with tens of thousands of members but the Slovaks had only 751. See also the articles about these groups in the Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups (Cambridge, Mass., 1980). 37 Ladislav Tajtak, "Vychodoslovenske vyst'ahovalectvo do prvej svetovej vojny," Nave obzory (Kosice , III, 1961), 221 -47 . 38 Gabriel Louis Jaraj , La Question Sociale et le Socialisme en Hongrie (Paris, 1909), 54-8 ; and Martinl':ek, op. cit., 25 . 39 Poljak & Fordinalova in Slovaci vo svete, 2, op. cit. , 115; Zoltan Sarkozi, "Prfspevok k dejinam slovenskych pol'nohospodarskych sez6nnych robotnfkov {1848-1914)," Historicky tasopis (Bratislava , 1964), 12 , 75-103; and Robotnfcky Kalendar, (1914), in which the editors give the world-wide socialist vote in 1912 as follows: Germany, 4,238,919; France, 1,120,000; Austria, 1,041,948; USA 905,768; Finland, 330,000; Hungary 80 ,000 . •0 Gosiorovsky, "Frantisek Pucher-Ciernovodsky," op. cit., and Poljak and Fordinalova , op. cit. 41 Frantisek Bielik & Elo Rakos, Slovenske vyst'ahovalectvo: Dokumenty I, do roku 1918 (Bratislava , 1969), 30. 42 Julius Mesaros a kolektiv, Dejiny Slovenska II, od roku 1848 do roku 1900 (Bratislava, 1968), 236-306 ; Monika Glettler, Pittsburg-Wien-Budapest: Program und Praxis der Nationalitlitenpolitik bei der Auswanderung der Ungarischen Slowaken nach Amerika um 1900 (Vienna, 1980), 208-17. 43 See Jozef Paul':o , Slovenskf priekopnfci v Amerike (Cleveland, 1972) for the biographies of Furdek (72-127), Jankola (208-22), and Mamatey (269-75), and Culen, Slovenske tasopisy op . cit., 125 , for the origins of Jan Spevak. 44 Slovak v Amerike, May 14, 1912 , 1. 45 Kritika, May 20, 1914, 2. 46 Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky to Julo Kuchta , op. cit., and Slovak v Amerike, July 7, 1908, 1. 47 Robotnfcky Kalendar, 1914, 15 . 48 Ibid. , passim . Robotnfcky Kalendar, 1915 , passim. so L:udovy Kalendar, 1946, passim. 49 s, Gosiorovsky, " K historii Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku," op. cit., 70-71. Even the covers of the Slovak Communist Almanac cited above changed dramatically over the years. The 1932 cover, for instance, featured a very revolutionary scene of workers storming the barricades, whereas the 1950 cover showed a rather bourgeois photograph of a beautiful Slovak mother and child. 52 Gosiorovsky, "K historii Slovenskeho robotnickeho spolku," op. cit., 52-3 . 53 For the story of the World War I liberation movement see my The Role of American Slovaks in th e Creation ofCzecho-Slovakia, 1914-1918 (Rome , Slovak Studies, VIII , 1968) . 54 Paul Krause, "Labor Republicanism and 'Za Chlebom ': Anglo-Americans and Slavic Solidarity in Homestead, " in Dirk Hoerder ed ., " Struggle a Hard Battle ": Essays on Working-Class Immigrants (DeKalb , Ill ., 1986), 121-42 . 62 55 SLOVAKIA See above, page 4 and Stolarik, " Slovak Migration from Europe to North America," op. cit., 65-7 . 56 Stolarik, Growing Up on the South Side, op. cit., 97-9 . 57 Thomas Bell, Out of this Furnace (Boston, 1941) , 395-404. 58 Na.rodnie noviny, August 13 , 1892, 3; June 30, 1894, 3; and Na.rodny Kalenda.r, 1912, 246-50. 59 Stolarik, Growing Up, op. cit. , 98 . 6 °For an excellent article on immigrants and the American labor movement see David Brody's contribution "Labor" in the Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, op. cit., 609-18. 61 62 Robert Hessen, Steel Titan: The Life of Charles M. Schwab (New York, 1976), 194-208 . Na.rodny Kalenda.r, 1903, 49-64; Slovak v Amerike, April 11 , 1905, 4; March 27, 1906, 1; July 30 , 1907, 1; Na.rodny Kalenda.r, 1908, 144-56; Ibid., 1912 , 241-50. 63 For the story of the IWW see Melvin Dubofsky, We Shall Be All: A History of the Industrial Workers of the World (Chicago , 1969). The section on their destruction appears on pages 350-462. 64 The role of the CIO in organizing many of America's heavy industries was outlined by Sidney lens in The Labor Wars: From the Molly Maguires to the Sitdowns (Garden City, N.J., 1973), 285-375 . 65 David Brody makes this point about the ethnic composition of America 's labor leaders in his article, cited above, on pages 611 and 615.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Slovak Immigration to the United States and Its Relation to the American Socialist and Labor Movements Description An account of the resource M. Mark Stolarik Slovakia, Vol. 33 (No. 60-61), 1987-88 pp. 47-62 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stolarik, M. Mark, 1943- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-88 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/3d2608382e5e1506d6ea3aa964680705.pdf 91ce7adcf88ddff23c5135867a1d78e7 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 23 Federalist Thought in Czechoslovakia During the lnterwar Years JOSEF KALVODA For centuries Central Europe has been an area ,of mixed nationalities and both Austria-Hungary and Czechoslovakia, when the latter was established in 1918-1919, were multi-national states. The need for peace and cooperation among the many national groups gave rise to several proposals for a federal solution of the problems of small nations living in the area. One may recall that on January 23, 1849 the Czech historian and political leader Frantisek Palacky proposed the reorganization of the Austrian Empire along federal lines. 1 One can also cite a statement by the known Czech journalist Karel Havlicek Borovsky who argued against Bohemia's joining the German Reich proposed by the Frankfurt Parliament in 1849 . He wrote: ''Our federation is Austria. '' 2 The struggle for the state right by the National (Old) Czech party , led by Frantisek Ladislav Rieger, in the nineteenth century was also a reflection of the Czech nation's desire to federalize the Austrian state. Until World War I the struggle for the ' ' state right '' was continued by the Young Czech party, as well as by the other Czech political parties with the exception of the Social Democrats and Professor Thomas G. Masaryk who advocated federalization of the state along ethnic lines. 3 In the interwar years several proposals for a federal solution of the Czech-Slovak problem and the problem of "Balkanized" East Central Europe and Europe in general were made by some citizens and political leaders in Czechoslovakia. These ideas will be briefly considered in this paper. A discussion of federalist thought in Czechoslovakia ought �24 SLOVAKIA to begin with the first plans for establishment of a state that would include the Czech historical lands (Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian Silesia) and Slovakia, known originally as Upper Hungary. During World War I the idea of an independent Czecho-Slovak state was endorsed by some Czech groups both at home and abroad , including the Bohemian National Alliance and the Slovak League of America. In order to promote the independence movement , representatives of the two organizations met in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 15, 1915 , where they agreed on what they believed their countrymen in Austria-Hungary would accept in the event of their liberation. The ' 'Cleveland Agreement'' provided for the autonomy of both the Czech lands and Slovakia, proclaiming that the union of the Czech and Slovak peoples will be in a '' federative union of states, ' ' with complete national autonomy for Slovakia. Slovakia would have its own schools, its own state administration, cultural freedom and Slovak would be the official language.4 A few years later the agreement was presented to Thomas G. Masaryk in Pittsburgh at a meeting of representatives of the Bohemian National Alliance , the Slovak League , and the National Alliance of Bohemian Catholics. Since some Slovaks expressed an apprehension that in the future Czecho-Slovak state the Slovaks might be enveloped ("Czechified" ), Masaryk, the president of the Czecho-Slovak National Council seated in Paris, decided to revise it. He wrote in Slovak the so-called Pittsburgh Agreement, signed by him and 6ther Czechs and Slovaks on May 30, 1918. 5 The agreement stated that representatives of the named organizations ' ' approve of a political program aiming to unite the Czechs and Slovaks into an independent state comprising the Czech lands and Slovakia. Slovakia shall have its own administration , its own diet, and its own courts. The Slovak language shall be the official language in schools , in government offices , and in public life generally. The Czecho-Slovak state shall be a republic ; its constitution shall be democratic .' ' The document was destined to have far-reaching consequences in the history of Czechoslovakia. In their struggle for selfgovernment and their efforts to change the centralist constitution of 1920, the Slovak autonomists invoked the Pittsburgh Agreement. One may argue that the idea of a federal union of the Czechs �SLOVAKIA 25 and Slovaks in the Cleveland Agreement, as well as the autonomous arrangement promised by the Pittsburgh Agreement, were manifestations of the influence of the United States federal system of government on the thinking of those who signed them. Similarly, as it is in the states of the American federation, the Pittsburgh Agreement stipulated that Slovakia "shall have its own administration, its own diet, and its own courts.'' Since Czechs and Slovaks are two different nations speaking similar but different languages, it was necessary to make the Slovak language in Slovakia "the official language in schools, in governmental offices, and in public life generally." In view of the fact that in 1915, in a memorandum to the British government, Masaryk stated that the new s·tate (' 'Independent Bohemia") would be a monarchy, because only a small group of "radicals" favored a republic, 6 and that most of the leaders of the independence movement in the Czech lands and Milan R. Stefanik, who represented the Slovaks in the CzechoSlovak National Council, were monarchists, it would seem that the American environment influenced Masaryk's decision to proclaim the new state a republic. The principles stated in the Pittsburgh Agreement were not implemented in the Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920; the latter established a centralist state administration. Autonomy for Ruthenia, the easternmost province of Czechoslovakia, provided for in the constitution, was not realized either until the collapse of the First Republic in October 1938. (Incidentally, the Slovaks had autonomy during the Second Republic that came to its end in March, 1939.) Champions of the autonomist movement in Slovakia, the Slovak People's party and the Slovak National party, constantly emphasized the need for a federal arrangement in the state that they supported. In May 1936, in a parliamentary discussion of the proposed Law for the Defense of the State (Law 131 of May 13, 1936), a Slovak People's party deputy and a former member of government, Jozef Tiso, declared that the Slovak nation considered the state of the Czechs and Slovaks their own state and that his party supported the law. As on many other occasions, Tiso discussed the Slovak problem and the demand for the implementation of the �26 SLOVAKIA Pittsburgh Agreement. As he put it, "Autonomy is education of the Slovak nation toward seeing in this state its own state in which it rules ... Autonomy is education for state-forming thinking of the Slovaks" . .. " 7 The autonomist program, he emphasized, made the Slovaks conscious of the fact that Czechoslovakia was their state, and that the latter did not mean the merging of the . two nations, but a unity of the two nations in one common state. In the discussion of the same legislative proposal a Senator of the Slovak People's party, Gejza Fritz, emphasized that the "root of the autonomy is the Pittsburgh Agreement, concluded and signed by Czechs and Slovaks and the then president of the Czecho-Slovak National Council,'' Masaryk. The autonomy was to be within the boundaries of the state, not outside of it. As he put it, ''We demand self-government that is not incompatible with the state unity. That such an autonomy is possible is evidenced by the fact that the Constitution guarantees autonomy to CarpathoRussia (Ruthenia) within the framework of the united Czechoslovak republic.' ' 9 He pointed out that the president of the state had signed the agreement and that for ''those reasons it is not logical to claim that autonomy is separatism.'' In its substance, "autonomy means decentralization." In addition, the Slovaks demand equal rights for the Slovak language, he said , pointing out that ''to strive for a united Czechoslovak nation would mean to increase the antagonism of all Slovaks.' ' 9 * * * * * During. World War I Masaryk's objective was the establishment of an independent state. However, until the summer of 1918 he was prepared to accept autonomy for the Czechs within the framework of Austria-Hungary if independence were not attainable.10 By this time France and the United States had already parted with the idea of preserving a federalized Austria-Hungary; the latter collapsed by the end of October 1918. But even after the declaration of Czecho-Slovak independence by Masaryk in Washington, D.C., on October 18 , the Czech leader presided over a meeting of representatives of several national groups from Central Europe between October 23 and 26, 1918, that announced the intention to establish a Democratic Mid-European Union. This �SLOVAKIA 27 meeting, held at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, led some people in Washington, D.C., to believe that on the ruins of AustriaHungary a new central european federation would emerge. The final resolution produced by the conference, called the ''Declaration of Common Aims of the Independent Mid-European Nations,'' was read by Masaryk in front of Independence Hall and was hailed by the American press as something approaching a declaration of a united Europe. 11 · On November 1, 1918, the original of the declaration was submitted to President Woodrow Wilson by Masaryk, who was the first of its twelve signatories. In the accompanying letter to Wilson Masaryk stated that the union ''tries to replace the German Plan of Mittel-Europe by a positive plan of reorganization of the many smaller nations which are located between the Germans (in Germany and Austria) and Russians; there are about eighteen such nations, beginning with the Finns and ending with the Greeks. . . . The primary aim of the war and the coming peace is the reorganization of the East, including now Russia; and the first condition of this reorganization of Eastern Europe and through it of Europe and mankind, is the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary, composed of eight non-German nations, oppressed and exploited by a degenerate dynasty and reckless feudal aristocracy supported by the Germans and Magyars.'' 12 In the last paragraph of the letter Masaryk proclaimed: "Mr. President, we see in you one of the greatest leaders of modern democracy and constructive policy; it is in making a sincere attempt to apply such a policy to our particular nations and to the whole of Europe that we hope you will engage your interest in our Union's endeavors." The signatories of the declaration, claiming to represent ''more than fifty million people constituting a chain of nations lying between the Baltic, the Adriatic and the Black Seas, comprising Czecho-Slovaks, Poles, Jugoslavs , Ukrainians, UhroRusins, Lithuanians, Roumanians and Italian Irredentists , Unredeemed Greeks, Albanians, Zionists and Armenians, wholly or partly subject to alien domination ... accept and subscribe to the following as basic principles for all free peoples." �28 SLOVAKIA ''First. That all governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed. Second. That it is the inalienable right of every people to organize their own government on such principles and in such form as they believe will best promote their welfare, safety and happiness. Third. That the free and natural development of the ideals of any state should be allowed to pursue their normal and unhindered course unless such course harms or threatens the common interest of all. Fourth. That there should be no secret diplomacy, and all proposed treaties and agreements between nations should be made public - prior to their adoption and ratification. Fifth. That we believe our peoples, having kindred ideals and purposes, should coordinate their efforts to insure the liberties of their individual nations for the furtherance of their own common welfare, provided such a union contributes to the peace and welfare of the world. Sixth. That there should be formed a league of the nations of the world in a common and binding agreement for genuine and practical cooperation to secure justice and therefore peace among nations .'' The signatories of the declaration pledged '' on behalf of their respective nations'' that the principles set forth in it '' shall be incorporated in the organic laws of whatever government our respective peoples may hereafter establish.'' As it happened, the vast majority of the Czechoslovak Revolutionary (Constituent) National Assembly , established after the war, followed Masaryk's views and paid no attention to the principles stated in the Declaration of the Common Aims of the Independent Mid-European Nations. The assembly did not derive its powers from the consent of the governed; it was not elected by the peoples living in Czechoslovakia; the Germans , Hungarians , Poles , and Ruthenians in Czechoslovakia were not represented in it at all; and the Germans, Hungarians , Slovaks , and Ruthenians living in the country were not allowed to "organize their own government on such principles and in such form as they believe will best promote their welfare , safety and happiness . " 13 �SLOVAKIA 29 * * * * * While visiting the United States in the fall of 1918, Roman Dmowski, the head to the Polish National Committee Abroad, seated in Paris, suggested to Masaryk the formation of a Federation consisting of Czecho-Slovakia and Poland. Masaryk refused the proposal, but favored "a certain kind of Economic Union, to be worked out; and a military defense against Germany, essentially non-aggressive." Not farseeing the problem of frontier adjustment with Poland, Masaryk asked Dmowski "to write out text of agreement on these lines.'' The Polish leader, however, did not formulate such an agreement, since he, apparently, was not interested in anything short of Federation. 14 The proposed Federation of the three Western Slavic nations, Poles, Czechs and Slovaks, could have provided an ample guarantee of peace in Central Europe, since the three nations could have faced together the prospective threats coming from either east or west, and could have jointly resolved the national minority problem. In the 1930s the idea of close cooperation with Poland was endorsed by the leader of the Czechoslovak National Democratic party, Karel Kramaf, and the leader of the Slovak People's party, Andrej Hlinka. At that time, due to hostility between Czechoslovakia's foreign minister Edvard Benes, and the Polish foreign minister Jozef Beck, such a policy was not practical and could not be implemented. 15 * * * * * At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 Czecho-Slovakia was represented by a delegation of which the principal spokesman was Edvard Benes. InMemoire No. 3, one of the documents submitted by him to the conference, addressing itself to "The lot of the Germans in the Czecho-Slovak Republic," a promise was made that ''the Germans of Bohemia [sic] would have the same rights as the Czecho-Slovaks themselves. The German tongue would be the second tongue of the land .... The regime adopted would be similar to that of Switzerland. " 16 In his note of May 20, 1919, Benes elaborated on the latter point, announcing the intention of the state to apply the principles of the Swiss Republic in creating the organs of the new state that would be '' a sort of Switzerland.'' In the con- �30 SLOVAKIA clusion of his memorandum Benes promised ''an extremely liberal regime, which will very much resemble that of Switzerland. " 17 This was a statement of intention - one of those by which the way to hell is paved. It was not implemented and a centralistic Constitution was adopted in Czechoslovakia in 1920. One may speculate, as did Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, that ''had the Republic of Czecho-Slovakia at the time of its organization in 1919 been based upon the cantonal system, its history . . . might have been very different and far happier.'' 18 * * * * * Dr. Milan Hodza, a Slovak by birth, was a well-known exponent of the idea of establishing a Central European or a Danubian Federation. 19 He proceeded from the assumption that the League of Nations and the Little Entente were ineffective and inadequate for preserving peace in Europe. The latter had to unite in order to maintain peace and advance prosperity. However, Europe's final unification presupposes, first of all, an effective regional cooperation. Therefore, Hodza developed the theme of the union of Central Europe when the new order was established in Europe after World War I. As a prominent politician of the Republican (agrarian) party, he propagated the idea of a federated Central Europe numbering about 110 million people, stretching from the Baltic to the Aegean Sea and covering the region between Germany and Soviet Russia. 20 Since the states in the region were predominantly agrarian, the federation had to be based on agrarian democracy. 21 Already in 1925, at the national congress of the Republican party, Hodza declared that there was a need for Central European solidarity; the latter would save Czechoslovakia from either Bolshevik or imperialistic attack. 22 He believed that the interests of Czechoslovakia and Poland could be reconcilled and their close cooperation with the other nations in the area would benefit all of Europe. In his lecture, delivered in London in 1930, Hodza stated: ''It is universally an international danger when dictatorship becomes a contagious disease, which weakens the organism of states and nations. Thus one day we could expose ourselves to the danger which might infect Central Europe with Moscow's �SLOVAKIA 31 dictatorship. Therefore, it is important that Central Europe does not become the carrier of dictatorial bacilli, but rather a trench, or barrier, against dictatorship. " 23 In Hodza's view, the national sovereignty of small nations should not be construed as isolationism, but rather a foundation stone for international cooperation. Since the nations of Central Europe have mutual interests and similar traditions , they have to come closer together and work for a wider international cooperation. A federation of states from the Baltic to the Aegean Sea, united on the basis of democratic principles, would be a barrier against Bolshevism and the first step toward establishing a United States of Europe. 24 Hodza became prime minister of Czechoslovakia in November 1935 and Benes was elected the state's president in the middle of December 1935. When from December 20, 1935, to February 29, 1936, Hodza was also the acting minister of foreign affairs, he tried very hard to get his favorite project off the ground. In an attempt to implement it, he visited Vienna on January 17 , 1936, Paris, February 8-15, Belgrade, February 21-25, and again Vienna, March 8-10, 1936. 25 The Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg fully endorsed Hodza's project, but it was viewed skeptically in other countries and, above all, in the Czechoslovak ministry of foreign affairs staffed by Benes appointees. The new president was especially annoyed by Hodza's conduct of foreign policy. Later Benes commented with disdain on the prime minister's activities as follows: "Hodza went to Vienna, had lunch with Schuschnigg, told him that something should be done in Central Europe to remove the German threat to Austria. Upon his return to Prague he told me that he had negotiated an alliance with Austria. It caused alarm in France and in England, because these countries were informed to the effect that everything would be signed, sealed and delivered in three weeks . Of course it was a bluff. " 26 When in the summer of 1938 a large demonstration in favor of autonomy of Slovakia took place in the capital city of Bratislava, Hodza made an attempt to take the wind out of the autonomist sails. He revealed his own plan for self-government in Slovakia. This proposal, known as the ''Hodza Plan,'' was revealed in detail �32 SLOVAKIA in his Slovensky dennik. The key provision in it was as follows: "Slovakia will have her own diet with legislative powers, her own government of six ministers to deal exclusively with Slovak matters. The Slovak language will be the only official language in Slovakia. A separate Slovak commission will supervise and decide the personal questions connected with appointments of the state employees to eliminate irregularities and to see that Slovak claims are not bypassed.' •21 After the Munich settlement, on October 6, 1938, Slovak autonomy was proclaimed. The manifest was signed by seven nonSocialist parties (including the Slovak People's party), representing about 75 percent of the Slovak electorate. The Czecho-Slovak National Assembly approved the Constitutional Law of Slovak selfrule on November 22 , 1938 by a unanimous vote. (The deputies of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia left the Chamber before the voting. )2 8 * * * * * In the interwar years a prominent federalist advocating the establishment of a United States of Europe, Count Richard N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, lived in Czechoslovakia. He became famous after World War II, when many Americans and West Europeans embraced his ideas. 29 His pioneering work did bring fruits when the West European community was established. Czechoslovakia, however, was a member of the Soviet bloc , and did not benefit from it. ,· Born in Tokyo on November 17, 1894, Coudenhove-Kalergi's mother was Japanese and his father was an Austrian diplomat. The Coudenhove-Kalergi's home was the old Castle of Ronsperk in Bohemia. The Treaty of Saint Germain of 1919 made the Count a citizen of Czechoslovakia. 30 When the Nazis occupied the country in 1939 , he accepted French citizenship and, eventually, left Europe for the United States. During the interwar years Coudenhove-Kalergi was the leading theoretician and founder of the Pan-European movement. He devoted his talents and efforts to the cause of European federation. Among those whom he inspired and persuaded to support the movement was Edouard Herriot, a one-time prime minister �SLOVAKIA 33 and minister of foreign affairs in France, and the author of The United States of Europe. Herriot was the first European statesman who appealed openly for a United States of Europe. 31 A student of history, Coudenhove-Kalergi was familiar with attempts to unify Europe made over the centuries by writers and kings, including George Podiebrad, a famous King of Bohemia in the fifteenth century. His first article on ''The European Question" appeared in the summer of 1922 in the Berlin Volkische Zeitung and the Vienna Neue Freie Presse.32 After finding some influential supporters among political leaders of the time, the first issue of the movements's new periodical, Pan-Europe, came out in April 1924. It contained an article entitled "The European Manifesto.'' Due to extensive publicity generated by the movement, his book on Pan-Europe began to appear in several languages. 33 The English language edition, with an introduction by Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, was published in 1926 in New York. 34 In Pan-Europe Coudenhove-Kalergi noticed the political decline of Europe as a consequence of the World War: "From the center of the world Europe has moved to its periphery. The world hegemony of Europe is overthrown for all time .'' The validity of the last sentence was called to doubt by some, when Germany rose again as a great power in the 1930s. Yet the outcome of World War II confirmed his observation that "the United States of America has developed into the leading World Power." As he observed in his book first published in 1923, in the World War the United States " proved the decisive factor . Today , the United States of America is the wealthiest, the most powerful, and the most advanced country in the world." At the same time, however, "Europe's power of action in world politics is paralyzed by her disunion.' ' 35 In advocating the consolidation of Europe into a politicoeconomic federation, Coudenhove-Kalergi encountered objection from several quarters branding Pan-Europe a utopia. To this he replied that "every great historical happening began as a utopia and ended as a reality." He pointed out that in 1913 the Polish and Czecho-Slovak republics were utopias; "in 1918 they became realities. In 1916 the victory of the communists in Russia was a �34 SLOVAKIA utopia; in 1917 it was an accomplished fact. " 36 Whether PanEurope would be realized depended on the will of the Europeans; if the latter would support the idea and work for it, a utopia would become a reality. As he put it, ''While thousands believe in PanEurope, it is a utopia; so long as millions believe in it, it is a program; but once a hundred million believe in it, it becomes a fact." Thus in 1923 Coudenhove-Kalergi called upon the youth of Europe ''to convert the utopia of yesterday into a reality of tomorrow.' ' 37 Constantly referring to historical events, Coudenhove-Kalergi emphasized that power-relationships among countries have been changing with time. For example, the Bohemian empire of King Ottokar was a great power stretching from the Baltic to the Mediterranean and was about the size of European Russia; Bohemia of the 1920s was as small as was the Grand Duchy of Weimar a century earlier. According to him, ''Time works for Russia and against Europe," This was an observation not shared by many people at that time. He also pointed out how the United States became a great power and how this technically most advanced country was ''the first to try the new method of political organization, namely, a system of peaceful federations, culminating in the PanAmerican Union and in the idea of a League of Nations. Although the American conditions are different than those in Europe, states that are small may not be able to lead an independent existence and, therefore, they have to establish federations." As he saw it, "The leading World powers of today are federations: Russia, England, America. Political rapprochement of neighboring countries must be realized, if conflicts are to be avoided.' ' 38 Coudenhove-Kalergi observed that the formation of the PanAmerican League was not directed against any other state system, but solely against war, and "toward furthering the cultural progress of all." The American example should be followed by Europe. The latter must supplement "its modern science of communications by a modern science of politics, else it will be in danger of blindly staggering into another war and of suffocating in a very sea of gas-bombs.' •39 The Count regretted that Europe was regressing further and further toward atomization, since Austria-Hungary, Western �SLOVAKIA 35 Russia, and European Turkey dissolved themselves into a multitude of petty states. This process needs to be reversed by promoting integration, otherwise, if the liberation of European peoples is not completed by their unification, '' sooner or later the European state will be swallowed up by the growing World Powers.' ' 40 Europe must find a means of harmonizing freedom with organization, that is to follow the example of America in establishing a federation. Coudenhove-Kalergi presented a plan for the establishment of such a federation and discussed several reasons for which the nations of Europe should unite. First, Bolshevik Russia made no secret of her aggressive intentions: Bolshevism fights with propaganda in the one hand and with sword in the other; "it resorts to violence, terrorism and militarism.' ' 41 Therefore, the aim of all Europeans, regardless of party or nation, should be the prevention of a Soviet invasion that would bring about the destruction of liberty and the other cherished values. A Pan-European security pact guaranteeing the protection of European eastern frontiers would lay the foundation for an understanding with Soviet Russia. He suggested that if Texas, New Mexico, and California were independent states, they would be in constant danger from Mexico. But "as states of the American federal union they are secure against any such danger. " 42 Similarly, the Soviet threat to Romania, Poland, and Finland would disappear as soon as they would become members of the United States of Europe. As long as they were isolated, they represented a constant temptation for Soviet Russia. Furthermore, Coudenhove-Kalergi suggested that the quarrels among the European states weakened their power defense against Soviet Russia. Therefore, there was a need for European solidarity for an effective defense of the eastern frontiers of Europe. Any war in Europe would offer the Soviets a welcome opportunity for intervention; "and once Russian armies have secured a footing in Europe, they will scarcely relinquish it of their own free will.'' He also saw a danger in the pro-Russian orientation of some states, notably Germany. He suggested that there was a large number of Germans who hoped, "through an alliance with Russia, to tear up the Treaty of Versailles and once more partition Poland. " 43 �36 SLOVAKIA Whether Germany would be saved or estranged from Europe depended on the Western powers, above all on France, Coudenhove-Kalergi wrote, and he predicted that in the FrancoGerman conflict neither Germany nor France, "but Russia will in the long run be victorious. ' ' He warned that France still had time to preserve ''the German sister republic for the family of European states; tomorrow it may be already too late.'' He added that "upon this question hinges the future of Europe. " 44 Though less immediate, there was a danger "from forcible separation of eastern Europe,'' should there be a sudden change in the internal policy of Russia, and should the latter return to Pan-Slavism. In that case the Pan-Slav memories of the Southern and Western Slavs would be revived and Hungary and Bulgaria would try to recover lost territories ' 'by means of an alliance with the Russian reaction. In that event Russia's power would extend as far as the Adriatic Sea. " 4 5 These dangers, Coudenhove-Kalergi believed, could be averted by the timely creation of the Pan-European Federation. In his view, the historical moment in the time of his writing (1923) was more favorable than it ever was before. The situation would likely worsen every month and ''it is more than doubtful whether after a victory of the Russian reaction a Pan-European Federation would still l)e possible, " 46 he wrote. The formation of the United States of Europe would make possible an agreement on disarmament and economic cooperation with Soviet Russia. Since united Europe would possess great military and economic power, the danger of war with Russia would be removed. As long as Europe was divided , he said, there was a danger of a new war. A united Europe would have a larger population and incomparably more highly developed industries and, therefore, Soviet Russia "would realize the hopelessness of war and will be ready to disarm." But, he writes , as long as the regime in Russia is organized on a Soviet basis , it would be better for ''Russo-European peace if these two federations remain separate.' ' 47 The Soviet regime endeavored to overthrow the democratic order in Europe and, therefore , a merging of the two federations was not practical. However, '' Should Russia become democratic, a new situation would result.' ' Then it would be possi- �SLOVAKIA 37 ble to consider the question of Russia's joining the European federation. Turning to Europe's relations with the United States, Coudenhove-Kalergi wrote that "The economic model for PanEurope is provided by the United States of America; the political model for Pan-Europe's development, by the Pan-American Union.' ' 48 Since its origin, with the exception of the Civil War era, the United States has been a political and economic unity. Europeans should realize that the success of the American dream has been due to the existence of a common market and the political unity of the continent. They should utilize the experiences gathered in the United States and the entire American continent in their efforts to build Pan-Europe. Though Pan-Americanism was still in the process of development , it had a head start over PanEuropeanism. The history of the development of Pan-Americanism has great significance for Pan-Europe. Coudenhove-Kalergi believed that the League of Nations, as conceived by President Woodrow Wilson, was a utopia. 49 Two great powers, Russia and the United States, did not belong to it, and Germany was excluded from it. The League should be reorganized, he suggested, and the Europeans should work for its strengthening in order to avoid war. While World War I weakened Europe , " the War of the Future would inflict the deathblow upon it. " 50 In his view , " Only Pan-European federation , by the introduction and joint guarantee of a compulsory court arbitration, can definitely secure the internal peace of Europe." Coudenhove-Kalergi regretted the dissolution of the Habsburg monarchy. While the peace of 1919 signified an advance over prewar conditions politically, economically it was a step backward. As he put it , nationalistic demagogues "have brought disaster to millions of people , and the threat of economic ruin to the continent. " 51 The many opponents of Pan-Europe Coudenhove-Kalergi divided into four categories: the National Chauvinists , the Communists , the Militarists, and the Protected Industries. 52 He realized the difficulty of combatting them with his idea that rejected conflict and promoted cooperaton among European nations. His idea, indeed, did not overcome the odds represented by the mentioned �38 SLOVAKIA opponents and national (state) sovereignty. Coudenhove-Kalergi realized that the greatest obstacle to the formation of a United States of Europe lay in the thousand-yearold rivalry between France and Germany. 53 Therefore, the PanEuropeans would have to strive for reconciliation of these two nations in order to prevent a future catastrophy. His own efforts were directed at winning over for his idea both the French and German political leaders. He was more successful in France than in Germany. According to an old Czech proverb, ''Nobody is a prophet in his own fatherland.'' It applied to the fullest extent to Coudenhove-Kalergi. After publishing several articles on Paneuropa in 1922, he decided to try to persuade a well-known European personality ''with vision and authority'' to sponsor the Paneuropean idea. As a citizen of Czechoslovakia, he turned first to that country's president, Thomas G. Masaryk. The latter was sympathetic to the idea of European union but unwilling to associate himself with a crusade for Pan-Europe. 54 In order to obtain the blessing of the Prague government for the movement, Coudenhove-Kalergi dedicated one of the first copies of his book to Masaryk with whom he subsequently met on several 9ccasions. Masaryk introduced him to the foreign minister Edvard Benes, an acknowledged leader of the Little Entente and a well-known figure in international politics. According to the Count, ''unlike Masaryk, Benes was not a genuine European. Fundamentally, he was a Czech nationalist . .. . He spoke the language of Pan-Europe because he believed that to do so was good for his country. But he had no intention of sacrificing a single Czech interest on the altar of European unity. " 55 While he favored '' a collective guarantee of Czechoslovakia's frontiers,'' Benes opposed ''effective protection of the German minorities.'' While he favored ''the dismantling of custom barriers towards Eastern Europe so as to widen the market for Czech goods," he opposed "customs union with Germany for fear of competition from that quarter." Thus Benes 's attitude toward the Pan-European movement tended to be ambiguous; "in theory he was Pan-European, but in practice a Czech nationalist. " 56 After Coudenhove's manuscript on Pan-Europe came out in �SLOVAKIA 39 Vienna in 1923, Chancellor Ignaz Seipel of Austria, who was concerned with the future of his country, was willing to support the European idea and, moreover, offered Coudenhove-Kalergi space for his projected organization in the Hofburg Palace. 57 Since the palace was the seat of the Austrian government and the movement had now an official sponsor, Coudenhove-Kalergi announced the establishment of the Paneuropean Union and a Paneuropean press with headquarters in cosmopolitan Vienna. Coudenhove-Kalergi found prominent supporters of the European idea in France in Edouard Herriot, who had strong European impulses and became prime minister, and Aristide Briand, who became foreign minister, and Alex Leger. It was clear to the young enthusiast that in order to bring about European unity it was necessary to find support for the idea also in Gefmany. With France being the leader in building a European movement, Coudenhove-Kalergi tried to persuade German political leaders, first of all Chancellor Wilhelm Marx, to support the movement. 58 France was the country in search of European security and all political parties, except the Communist, supported the European idea, but in Germany the support was less pronounced, despite Coudenhove-Kalergi's efforts to persuade the Germans that they would benefit from close Paneuropean cooperation both politically and economically. Indeed , the Count pointed out that the success of the United States was due to the customs union, to the vast free market, and that the United States ought to be a model for Europe. He repeatedly stated that Europe could become as peaceful as Switzerland and as prosperous as the United States if it would unite. 59 As a result of long and careful planning by CoudenhoveKalergi, the First Congress of the Paneuropean Union was held in Vienna , October 3-6 , 1926 . He had hoped to persuade a large number of European political leaders to take part in it. Since success of his plans for a united Europe depended primarily on the cooperation of France and Germany, Coudenhove-Kalergi was most anxious to have at the congress Aristide Briand , Edouard Herriot , and Paul Painleve (the premier) of France, and Chancellor Wilhelm Marx an d foreign minister Gustav Stresemann of Germany. While none of them actually attended the congress , the �40 SLOVAKIA three French politicians sent warm greetings and the French government was officially represented at the congress by the French minister in Vienna. The Germans were less cooperative, though Chancellor Marx sent the young Count a short telegram wishing him success and stating that the Reich Chancellor would follow the course of the congress with great interest. 60 Coudenhove-Kalergi was not completely unsuccessful in Germany. On the eve of the congress Thomas Mann joined the Paneuropean Union and Paul Lobe agreed to serve as an honorary president of the congress along with Edvard Benes, Joseph Caillaux, Nicholas Politis, Francesco Nitti, and Ignaz Seipel. Austria seemed to be the greatest supporter of the movement. Chancellor Rudolph Ramek welcomed the delegates, including those from France, Belgium, Norway, and Czechoslovakia, where chapters of the movement had been established. 61 The congress was hailed as a great success in many leading European newspapers. According to an editorial in the Manchester Guardian Weekly of October 8, 1926, "The United States of Europe is no longer a dream; it has entered on the world of realities." Yet, the reality of the situation was such that even CoudenhoveKalergi realized that the reserved attitude of the German government and the agitation for Anschluss were stumbling blocs for the realization of his dream. He said that the Anschluss was a PanGerman not a Paneuropean idea and that some German politicians were using Paneuropean slogans to cloak their nationalist demands for power. 62 At the same time the Paneuropean Union was growing in Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary, and even in Germany new people were joining the movement. 63 In France Aristide Briand was an honorary president of the Paneuropean Union and a strong advocate of the European idea. Indeed , with the exception of the Communist party, political parties in France looked very favorably on the Paneuropean movement. 64 The latter had some grass roots and official support in Czechoslovakia, whose foreign policy was oriented towards France. As Coudenhove-Kalergi put it, Benes believed in " the eventual establishment of a European Federation, but doubted whether it could be achieved in the short run . . . it was this doubt which induced him to give support to our project. Had-he believed �SLOVAKIA 41 in its immediate realization, he would probably have opposed it.' '65 Since Ignaz Seipel and Karl Renner of Austria had come out openly in support of European Federation, Benes did not wish to appear less European-minded. Therefore, he accepted "the honorary chairmanship of the Czech committee and wrote an excellent preface for the Czech edition of Pan-Europe.'' He helped to organize the committee and "secured for it the co-operation of outstanding politicians of Czech and German descent.' ' 66 He also furnished Coudenhove-Kalergi with a diplomatic passport which was extremely useful to him. Benes also opened for him many doors in France and other Entente states, thus helping him overcome ''the double handicap'' of his Austrian origin and his German mother-tongue.6 7 Among the Paneuropeans were also those who advocated a gradual approach to European federation and envisaged a federation of Danubian states. Among the most active champions of Danubian federation were Milan Hodza and Vaclav Schuster in Czechoslovakia, Elemer Hantos and Erno Bleier in Hungary, and Barons van Barolin and van Mises in Austria. Some of the supporters of the larger European idea argued that a Danubian federation would be a step toward a European federation. 68 The second Paneuropean Congress was held in Berlin in May, 1930. Prior to it, the French Foreign Office prepared a memorandum on a European federal system. The Briand memorandum was hailed by the congress as ''the first step toward the fulfillment . . . of an European federation,' ' 69 and interested powers were urged to accept the French proposals. Briand's proposals were taken seriously by the British Foreign Office, but the German government's response was that some basic changes in the postwar settlement were a condition for its participation in a federal system. Replies of other countries were also conditional and, as history tells us, the Briand plan was never implemented. The arrival of the Nazi regime in Germany was a very serious setback for Coudenhove's Paneurope. Indeed, the Nazi-projected Pan-Europe meant the domination of the continent by one nation and not a cooperation of all European nations as equals. Since Coudenhove-Kalergi was a persona non grata in the Third Reich, �42 SLOVAKIA he accepted French citizenship when Bohemia-Moravia became a part of it in 1939.7° Eventually, he left Europe for the United States where he continued his work and where, in 1943, he published his autobiography, Crusade for Pan-Europe. In 1944 New York University appointed him Professor of History. In New York he also established contacts with many European statesmen, including General de Gaule, and discussed with them post-war problems.7 1 * * * * * Needless to say, conditions in Central Europe are different from those in the United States where the traditional policy of assimilation has resulted in a multi-cultural society speaking the same language. With its heterogeneous population and traditions of nationalistic conflicts and cooperation in national and multinational states, federalism is the solution proposed for the unyielding problem of nationalities and minorities in Europe. While in the United States individual immigrants have been and can be assimilated, since such adjustment on the part of the immigrant is a prerequisite for finding his/her place in the new land of opportunity, it is not possible to assimilate nations or national groups possessing strong national consciousness and conscious of their national identity. Therefore, national federalism which tolerates differences in language and culture can be the only practical and feasible arrangement in East Central Europe, just as it has been the case in Switzerland. National federalism would bring economic prosperity, national freedom and regional security to nations living in the area. When the facade of national states in East Central Europe crumbled at the beginning of World War II, individuals concerned with the long-range policies in the area began to assess the national requirements of majorities and minorities in the area. Stefan Osusky, former Czechoslovak minister in Paris, presented a summary of these requirements: 72 Undoubtedly, the nations in Central, Eastern and SouthEastern Europe have a right to their national liberty. But the interests of the European peoples require that those nations should not be encouraged in the dream of bringing about national uniformity within their States . Not �SLOVAKIA 43 on national uniformity but on national liberty depends the existence and the future of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Bulgaria. It is by guaranteeing the peoples of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe their freedom of national consciousness that the foundation of the peace of Europe will be laid. Furthermore, national uniformity would mean the elimination of every authority except that of the State. In countries with different religions, languages, customs and traditions, this is not desirable. For the preservation of religious, linguistic and cultural liberty means not only that individuals have a right to profess the religion of their choice, speak the lapguage of their mothers and live according to the traditions and customs of their ancestors; it means the practical possibility of associating together and administering their own particular affairs. These requirements for cooperation among the nations living in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe were valid then as they are today. Let us hope that one day the small nations in the area will reject conflict and chose cooperation and that they will find a federal solution to the problem that is common to all of them: they are too weak to stand alone between the solid masses of Germans and Russians. NOTES 1 Frantisek Palacky and Ludwig van Lohner formulated a plan for redivision of the Habsburg Empire into national territories: German Austria, Bohemia including Slovakia, the Polish provinces, the Illyrian provinces, the Italian provinces, the South Slavic area, the Hungarian area, and the Wallachian (Romanian) provinces. This plan was endorsed by the Austrian Reichstag , dominated by federalist thinking, meeting in Kromeffz late in 1848 and early 1849 to draw up a new constitution for the empire. However, the Vienna government, after suppressing the revolution of 1848, dissolved the Reichstag and imposed a centralistic constitution. Wenzel Jaksch, Europe 's Road to Potsdam . Translated and edited by Kurt Glaser. (New York, 1963) , pp . 26-27 . For details and documents see Bohus Rieger, Franti§ka Palackeho spisy drobne [Small Works of Frantisek Palacky] (Prague , 1898, vol. I) pp . 59ff. Also Karel Kramaf, Geske statnf pravo (Prague, 1896) . �SLOVAKIA 44 As the leader of the Czech National party, Palacky in 1848 was invited to join those who later met in the Frankfurt Parliament, but he refused . At that time Palacky wrote that, had the Austrian Empire not existed, it would have been necessary to create it . 2 H. Raupach, Der tschechische Friihnationalism (Essen, 1939), p. 92 . On May 29, 1849, Havlicek wrote in Narodnf Noviny: "We want an association of free nations in Austria , in Central Europe." 3 Jaksch, Europe's Road, pp . 70-71; also Josef Kalvoda, The Genesis of Czechoslovakia (New York, 1986), p. 32. 4 Peter P. Yurchak, The Slovaks (Whiting, Ind . 1957) p. 210; Kon~tantln Culen, Pittsburghska dohoda (Bratislava , 1937), p. 78. Also , Kalvoda , The Genesis, pp. 69-70 . 5 Culen, p . 177; Yurchak, pp . 212-214; Kalvoda , pp . 284-285 . 6 Kalvoda, The Genesis, pp. 76-77. 7 Frantgek Berdych, ed. , Obrana statu a na~e politicke strany (Prague, 1938), pp. 168-169. a Ibid., p. 171. 9 Ibid., p. 172. Incidentally, only two major groups in the Czechoslovak parliament voted against the law: the Communist party of Czechoslovakia, and the Sudeten German party led by Konrad Henlein . See ibid. , pp . 207ff. 10 Ira E. Bennett, "The Czechs Will Rise Again," The Christian Science Monitor, August 2, 1941; J.B. Kozak, T.G. Masaryk a vznik Washingtonske deklarace v ffjnu 1918 (Prague, 1968), p . 40. 11 Kalvoda , The Genesis, p. 426. 12 Masaryk to Wilson, November 1, 1918; Wilson to Masaryk, November 5, 1918; and Masaryk to Wilson, November 7, 1918, Woodrow Wilson Papers (The Manuscript Division, Library of Congress). 13 Kalvoda, The Genesis, p . 427. 14 Josef Kalvoda, "The Czechoslovak Problem, " Nationalities Papers, Vol. XIl, No. 2 (Fall 1984), p. 245. 15 Ibid. 16 Delegation Propaganda: Czechoslovak Republic, Memoire No . III, The Hoover Institution, quoted in Kalvoda , The Genesis, p. 445 . 17 Ibid. (The Genesis). 18 Nicholas Murray Butler, Why War? (New York, 1940), p . 20 . 19 Milan Hodza, Federation in Central Europe: Reflections and Reminiscences (London , 1942). 20 Michal Mu.dry , Milan Hodia v Amerike (Chicago , 1949). p. 231. 21 Ibid., p . 177 . 22 23 Ibid . Ibid., p. 231. 24 Ibid., p . 232 . 25 R. Kravcek, "Hodzuv plan," Slovansky pfehled, No . 6, 1967, pp. 347-3 53 ; also Hodza 's book, Federation . �SLOVAKIA 45 26 Libuse Otahalova a Milada Cervinkova, eds., Dokumenty z historie teskoslovenske politiky 1939-1943 (Prague 1966), vol. I, p. 293 . 27 Mudry, Milan Hodia v Amerike, p. 58. Joseph M. Kirschbaum, ed. , Slovakia in the 19th & 20th Centuries (Toronto, Ont., 1978), p . 123 . See also a book by the same author, Slovakia. Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe (New York, 1960), pp. 78-84; Joachim Kuhl, Federationsplane in Donauraum und in Ost mitteleuropa (Miinchen, 1958); and Rudolf Wierer, Der Federalism im Donauraum (Graz-Koln, 1960). 29 Count Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers the World (London, 1953) . 28 30 Richard N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Crusade for Pan-Europe. Autobiography of a Man and a Movement (New York, 1943). 31 Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers, p . 109. 32 Ibid., p. 91. 33 Ibid., p. 102. 34 35 Richard N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Pan-Europe (New York, 1926) . Ibid. , pp . 6-8. 36 Ibid. , p. xv. 31 Ibid., p. xvi. 36Ibid., pp . 10-11. 39 Ibid. , p . 11. 40 Ibid., p. 13. Ibid., p. 58. 41 43 Ibid., p . 62. Ibid ., p . 63. 44 Ibid. , p. 64. 45 46 Ibid. Ibid. 47 Ibid., p. 67-69 48 Ibid., p. 74 . 42 Ibid., p. 87. Ibid., p . 112 . 5 1 Ibid., p . 122 . 49 50 52 Ibid., pp. 186-190. 53 Ibid., pp . 132-147 . 54 Coudenhove-Kalergi , Crusade for Pan-Europe, p. 88. 55 Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers, p. 103. Ibid., pp. 103-104. 56 57 Carl H. Pegg, Evolution of the European Idea , 1914-1932 (Chapel Hill and London , 1983) p . 29 . 58 Ibid., p . 41. �46 59 SLOVAKIA Ibid., p. 63 . so Ibid., p . 70. 62 Ibid., p. 71. Ibid., p . 88. 63 Ibid., p . 89 . 61 Coudenhove-Kalergi , An Idea Conquers, p. 104. Ibid., p . 105 . 66 Ibid. , p. 104. 64 65 67 Ibid., p . 105 . 68 Pegg, Evolution of the European Idea , p. 99 . Ibid., p. 145. 69 °Coudenhove-Kalergi, Crusade for Pan-Europe, 7 pp . 208-209. 71 Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers, pp. 254-255 . 72 ~tefan Osusky, The Contemporary Review, November, 1941 , pp . 280-281, cited in Oscar I. Janowsky, Nationalities and National Minorities (With special Reference to East-Central Europe) (New York, 1945), pp. 167-168. � SLOVAKIA 23 Federalist Thought in Czechoslovakia During the lnterwar Years JOSEF KALVODA For centuries Central Europe has been an area ,of mixed nationalities and both Austria-Hungary and Czechoslovakia, when the latter was established in 1918-1919, were multi-national states. The need for peace and cooperation among the many national groups gave rise to several proposals for a federal solution of the problems of small nations living in the area. One may recall that on January 23, 1849 the Czech historian and political leader Frantisek Palacky proposed the reorganization of the Austrian Empire along federal lines. 1 One can also cite a statement by the known Czech journalist Karel Havlicek Borovsky who argued against Bohemia's joining the German Reich proposed by the Frankfurt Parliament in 1849 . He wrote: ''Our federation is Austria. '' 2 The struggle for the state right by the National (Old) Czech party , led by Frantisek Ladislav Rieger, in the nineteenth century was also a reflection of the Czech nation's desire to federalize the Austrian state. Until World War I the struggle for the ' ' state right '' was continued by the Young Czech party, as well as by the other Czech political parties with the exception of the Social Democrats and Professor Thomas G. Masaryk who advocated federalization of the state along ethnic lines. 3 In the interwar years several proposals for a federal solution of the Czech-Slovak problem and the problem of "Balkanized" East Central Europe and Europe in general were made by some citizens and political leaders in Czechoslovakia. These ideas will be briefly considered in this paper. A discussion of federalist thought in Czechoslovakia ought �24 SLOVAKIA to begin with the first plans for establishment of a state that would include the Czech historical lands (Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian Silesia) and Slovakia, known originally as Upper Hungary. During World War I the idea of an independent Czecho-Slovak state was endorsed by some Czech groups both at home and abroad , including the Bohemian National Alliance and the Slovak League of America. In order to promote the independence movement , representatives of the two organizations met in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 15, 1915 , where they agreed on what they believed their countrymen in Austria-Hungary would accept in the event of their liberation. The ' 'Cleveland Agreement'' provided for the autonomy of both the Czech lands and Slovakia, proclaiming that the union of the Czech and Slovak peoples will be in a '' federative union of states, ' ' with complete national autonomy for Slovakia. Slovakia would have its own schools, its own state administration, cultural freedom and Slovak would be the official language.4 A few years later the agreement was presented to Thomas G. Masaryk in Pittsburgh at a meeting of representatives of the Bohemian National Alliance , the Slovak League , and the National Alliance of Bohemian Catholics. Since some Slovaks expressed an apprehension that in the future Czecho-Slovak state the Slovaks might be enveloped ("Czechified" ), Masaryk, the president of the Czecho-Slovak National Council seated in Paris, decided to revise it. He wrote in Slovak the so-called Pittsburgh Agreement, signed by him and 6ther Czechs and Slovaks on May 30, 1918. 5 The agreement stated that representatives of the named organizations ' ' approve of a political program aiming to unite the Czechs and Slovaks into an independent state comprising the Czech lands and Slovakia. Slovakia shall have its own administration , its own diet, and its own courts. The Slovak language shall be the official language in schools , in government offices , and in public life generally. The Czecho-Slovak state shall be a republic ; its constitution shall be democratic .' ' The document was destined to have far-reaching consequences in the history of Czechoslovakia. In their struggle for selfgovernment and their efforts to change the centralist constitution of 1920, the Slovak autonomists invoked the Pittsburgh Agreement. One may argue that the idea of a federal union of the Czechs �SLOVAKIA 25 and Slovaks in the Cleveland Agreement, as well as the autonomous arrangement promised by the Pittsburgh Agreement, were manifestations of the influence of the United States federal system of government on the thinking of those who signed them. Similarly, as it is in the states of the American federation, the Pittsburgh Agreement stipulated that Slovakia "shall have its own administration, its own diet, and its own courts.'' Since Czechs and Slovaks are two different nations speaking similar but different languages, it was necessary to make the Slovak language in Slovakia "the official language in schools, in governmental offices, and in public life generally." In view of the fact that in 1915, in a memorandum to the British government, Masaryk stated that the new s·tate (' 'Independent Bohemia") would be a monarchy, because only a small group of "radicals" favored a republic, 6 and that most of the leaders of the independence movement in the Czech lands and Milan R. Stefanik, who represented the Slovaks in the CzechoSlovak National Council, were monarchists, it would seem that the American environment influenced Masaryk's decision to proclaim the new state a republic. The principles stated in the Pittsburgh Agreement were not implemented in the Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920; the latter established a centralist state administration. Autonomy for Ruthenia, the easternmost province of Czechoslovakia, provided for in the constitution, was not realized either until the collapse of the First Republic in October 1938. (Incidentally, the Slovaks had autonomy during the Second Republic that came to its end in March, 1939.) Champions of the autonomist movement in Slovakia, the Slovak People's party and the Slovak National party, constantly emphasized the need for a federal arrangement in the state that they supported. In May 1936, in a parliamentary discussion of the proposed Law for the Defense of the State (Law 131 of May 13, 1936), a Slovak People's party deputy and a former member of government, Jozef Tiso, declared that the Slovak nation considered the state of the Czechs and Slovaks their own state and that his party supported the law. As on many other occasions, Tiso discussed the Slovak problem and the demand for the implementation of the �26 SLOVAKIA Pittsburgh Agreement. As he put it, "Autonomy is education of the Slovak nation toward seeing in this state its own state in which it rules ... Autonomy is education for state-forming thinking of the Slovaks" . .. " 7 The autonomist program, he emphasized, made the Slovaks conscious of the fact that Czechoslovakia was their state, and that the latter did not mean the merging of the . two nations, but a unity of the two nations in one common state. In the discussion of the same legislative proposal a Senator of the Slovak People's party, Gejza Fritz, emphasized that the "root of the autonomy is the Pittsburgh Agreement, concluded and signed by Czechs and Slovaks and the then president of the Czecho-Slovak National Council,'' Masaryk. The autonomy was to be within the boundaries of the state, not outside of it. As he put it, ''We demand self-government that is not incompatible with the state unity. That such an autonomy is possible is evidenced by the fact that the Constitution guarantees autonomy to CarpathoRussia (Ruthenia) within the framework of the united Czechoslovak republic.' ' 9 He pointed out that the president of the state had signed the agreement and that for ''those reasons it is not logical to claim that autonomy is separatism.'' In its substance, "autonomy means decentralization." In addition, the Slovaks demand equal rights for the Slovak language, he said , pointing out that ''to strive for a united Czechoslovak nation would mean to increase the antagonism of all Slovaks.' ' 9 * * * * * During. World War I Masaryk's objective was the establishment of an independent state. However, until the summer of 1918 he was prepared to accept autonomy for the Czechs within the framework of Austria-Hungary if independence were not attainable.10 By this time France and the United States had already parted with the idea of preserving a federalized Austria-Hungary; the latter collapsed by the end of October 1918. But even after the declaration of Czecho-Slovak independence by Masaryk in Washington, D.C., on October 18 , the Czech leader presided over a meeting of representatives of several national groups from Central Europe between October 23 and 26, 1918, that announced the intention to establish a Democratic Mid-European Union. This �SLOVAKIA 27 meeting, held at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, led some people in Washington, D.C., to believe that on the ruins of AustriaHungary a new central european federation would emerge. The final resolution produced by the conference, called the ''Declaration of Common Aims of the Independent Mid-European Nations,'' was read by Masaryk in front of Independence Hall and was hailed by the American press as something approaching a declaration of a united Europe. 11 · On November 1, 1918, the original of the declaration was submitted to President Woodrow Wilson by Masaryk, who was the first of its twelve signatories. In the accompanying letter to Wilson Masaryk stated that the union ''tries to replace the German Plan of Mittel-Europe by a positive plan of reorganization of the many smaller nations which are located between the Germans (in Germany and Austria) and Russians; there are about eighteen such nations, beginning with the Finns and ending with the Greeks. . . . The primary aim of the war and the coming peace is the reorganization of the East, including now Russia; and the first condition of this reorganization of Eastern Europe and through it of Europe and mankind, is the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary, composed of eight non-German nations, oppressed and exploited by a degenerate dynasty and reckless feudal aristocracy supported by the Germans and Magyars.'' 12 In the last paragraph of the letter Masaryk proclaimed: "Mr. President, we see in you one of the greatest leaders of modern democracy and constructive policy; it is in making a sincere attempt to apply such a policy to our particular nations and to the whole of Europe that we hope you will engage your interest in our Union's endeavors." The signatories of the declaration, claiming to represent ''more than fifty million people constituting a chain of nations lying between the Baltic, the Adriatic and the Black Seas, comprising Czecho-Slovaks, Poles, Jugoslavs , Ukrainians, UhroRusins, Lithuanians, Roumanians and Italian Irredentists , Unredeemed Greeks, Albanians, Zionists and Armenians, wholly or partly subject to alien domination ... accept and subscribe to the following as basic principles for all free peoples." �28 SLOVAKIA ''First. That all governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed. Second. That it is the inalienable right of every people to organize their own government on such principles and in such form as they believe will best promote their welfare, safety and happiness. Third. That the free and natural development of the ideals of any state should be allowed to pursue their normal and unhindered course unless such course harms or threatens the common interest of all. Fourth. That there should be no secret diplomacy, and all proposed treaties and agreements between nations should be made public - prior to their adoption and ratification. Fifth. That we believe our peoples, having kindred ideals and purposes, should coordinate their efforts to insure the liberties of their individual nations for the furtherance of their own common welfare, provided such a union contributes to the peace and welfare of the world. Sixth. That there should be formed a league of the nations of the world in a common and binding agreement for genuine and practical cooperation to secure justice and therefore peace among nations .'' The signatories of the declaration pledged '' on behalf of their respective nations'' that the principles set forth in it '' shall be incorporated in the organic laws of whatever government our respective peoples may hereafter establish.'' As it happened, the vast majority of the Czechoslovak Revolutionary (Constituent) National Assembly , established after the war, followed Masaryk's views and paid no attention to the principles stated in the Declaration of the Common Aims of the Independent Mid-European Nations. The assembly did not derive its powers from the consent of the governed; it was not elected by the peoples living in Czechoslovakia; the Germans , Hungarians , Poles , and Ruthenians in Czechoslovakia were not represented in it at all; and the Germans, Hungarians , Slovaks , and Ruthenians living in the country were not allowed to "organize their own government on such principles and in such form as they believe will best promote their welfare , safety and happiness . " 13 �SLOVAKIA 29 * * * * * While visiting the United States in the fall of 1918, Roman Dmowski, the head to the Polish National Committee Abroad, seated in Paris, suggested to Masaryk the formation of a Federation consisting of Czecho-Slovakia and Poland. Masaryk refused the proposal, but favored "a certain kind of Economic Union, to be worked out; and a military defense against Germany, essentially non-aggressive." Not farseeing the problem of frontier adjustment with Poland, Masaryk asked Dmowski "to write out text of agreement on these lines.'' The Polish leader, however, did not formulate such an agreement, since he, apparently, was not interested in anything short of Federation. 14 The proposed Federation of the three Western Slavic nations, Poles, Czechs and Slovaks, could have provided an ample guarantee of peace in Central Europe, since the three nations could have faced together the prospective threats coming from either east or west, and could have jointly resolved the national minority problem. In the 1930s the idea of close cooperation with Poland was endorsed by the leader of the Czechoslovak National Democratic party, Karel Kramaf, and the leader of the Slovak People's party, Andrej Hlinka. At that time, due to hostility between Czechoslovakia's foreign minister Edvard Benes, and the Polish foreign minister Jozef Beck, such a policy was not practical and could not be implemented. 15 * * * * * At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 Czecho-Slovakia was represented by a delegation of which the principal spokesman was Edvard Benes. InMemoire No. 3, one of the documents submitted by him to the conference, addressing itself to "The lot of the Germans in the Czecho-Slovak Republic," a promise was made that ''the Germans of Bohemia [sic] would have the same rights as the Czecho-Slovaks themselves. The German tongue would be the second tongue of the land .... The regime adopted would be similar to that of Switzerland. " 16 In his note of May 20, 1919, Benes elaborated on the latter point, announcing the intention of the state to apply the principles of the Swiss Republic in creating the organs of the new state that would be '' a sort of Switzerland.'' In the con- �30 SLOVAKIA clusion of his memorandum Benes promised ''an extremely liberal regime, which will very much resemble that of Switzerland. " 17 This was a statement of intention - one of those by which the way to hell is paved. It was not implemented and a centralistic Constitution was adopted in Czechoslovakia in 1920. One may speculate, as did Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, that ''had the Republic of Czecho-Slovakia at the time of its organization in 1919 been based upon the cantonal system, its history . . . might have been very different and far happier.'' 18 * * * * * Dr. Milan Hodza, a Slovak by birth, was a well-known exponent of the idea of establishing a Central European or a Danubian Federation. 19 He proceeded from the assumption that the League of Nations and the Little Entente were ineffective and inadequate for preserving peace in Europe. The latter had to unite in order to maintain peace and advance prosperity. However, Europe's final unification presupposes, first of all, an effective regional cooperation. Therefore, Hodza developed the theme of the union of Central Europe when the new order was established in Europe after World War I. As a prominent politician of the Republican (agrarian) party, he propagated the idea of a federated Central Europe numbering about 110 million people, stretching from the Baltic to the Aegean Sea and covering the region between Germany and Soviet Russia. 20 Since the states in the region were predominantly agrarian, the federation had to be based on agrarian democracy. 21 Already in 1925, at the national congress of the Republican party, Hodza declared that there was a need for Central European solidarity; the latter would save Czechoslovakia from either Bolshevik or imperialistic attack. 22 He believed that the interests of Czechoslovakia and Poland could be reconcilled and their close cooperation with the other nations in the area would benefit all of Europe. In his lecture, delivered in London in 1930, Hodza stated: ''It is universally an international danger when dictatorship becomes a contagious disease, which weakens the organism of states and nations. Thus one day we could expose ourselves to the danger which might infect Central Europe with Moscow's �SLOVAKIA 31 dictatorship. Therefore, it is important that Central Europe does not become the carrier of dictatorial bacilli, but rather a trench, or barrier, against dictatorship. " 23 In Hodza's view, the national sovereignty of small nations should not be construed as isolationism, but rather a foundation stone for international cooperation. Since the nations of Central Europe have mutual interests and similar traditions , they have to come closer together and work for a wider international cooperation. A federation of states from the Baltic to the Aegean Sea, united on the basis of democratic principles, would be a barrier against Bolshevism and the first step toward establishing a United States of Europe. 24 Hodza became prime minister of Czechoslovakia in November 1935 and Benes was elected the state's president in the middle of December 1935. When from December 20, 1935, to February 29, 1936, Hodza was also the acting minister of foreign affairs, he tried very hard to get his favorite project off the ground. In an attempt to implement it, he visited Vienna on January 17 , 1936, Paris, February 8-15, Belgrade, February 21-25, and again Vienna, March 8-10, 1936. 25 The Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg fully endorsed Hodza's project, but it was viewed skeptically in other countries and, above all, in the Czechoslovak ministry of foreign affairs staffed by Benes appointees. The new president was especially annoyed by Hodza's conduct of foreign policy. Later Benes commented with disdain on the prime minister's activities as follows: "Hodza went to Vienna, had lunch with Schuschnigg, told him that something should be done in Central Europe to remove the German threat to Austria. Upon his return to Prague he told me that he had negotiated an alliance with Austria. It caused alarm in France and in England, because these countries were informed to the effect that everything would be signed, sealed and delivered in three weeks . Of course it was a bluff. " 26 When in the summer of 1938 a large demonstration in favor of autonomy of Slovakia took place in the capital city of Bratislava, Hodza made an attempt to take the wind out of the autonomist sails. He revealed his own plan for self-government in Slovakia. This proposal, known as the ''Hodza Plan,'' was revealed in detail �32 SLOVAKIA in his Slovensky dennik. The key provision in it was as follows: "Slovakia will have her own diet with legislative powers, her own government of six ministers to deal exclusively with Slovak matters. The Slovak language will be the only official language in Slovakia. A separate Slovak commission will supervise and decide the personal questions connected with appointments of the state employees to eliminate irregularities and to see that Slovak claims are not bypassed.' •21 After the Munich settlement, on October 6, 1938, Slovak autonomy was proclaimed. The manifest was signed by seven nonSocialist parties (including the Slovak People's party), representing about 75 percent of the Slovak electorate. The Czecho-Slovak National Assembly approved the Constitutional Law of Slovak selfrule on November 22 , 1938 by a unanimous vote. (The deputies of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia left the Chamber before the voting. )2 8 * * * * * In the interwar years a prominent federalist advocating the establishment of a United States of Europe, Count Richard N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, lived in Czechoslovakia. He became famous after World War II, when many Americans and West Europeans embraced his ideas. 29 His pioneering work did bring fruits when the West European community was established. Czechoslovakia, however, was a member of the Soviet bloc , and did not benefit from it. ,· Born in Tokyo on November 17, 1894, Coudenhove-Kalergi's mother was Japanese and his father was an Austrian diplomat. The Coudenhove-Kalergi's home was the old Castle of Ronsperk in Bohemia. The Treaty of Saint Germain of 1919 made the Count a citizen of Czechoslovakia. 30 When the Nazis occupied the country in 1939 , he accepted French citizenship and, eventually, left Europe for the United States. During the interwar years Coudenhove-Kalergi was the leading theoretician and founder of the Pan-European movement. He devoted his talents and efforts to the cause of European federation. Among those whom he inspired and persuaded to support the movement was Edouard Herriot, a one-time prime minister �SLOVAKIA 33 and minister of foreign affairs in France, and the author of The United States of Europe. Herriot was the first European statesman who appealed openly for a United States of Europe. 31 A student of history, Coudenhove-Kalergi was familiar with attempts to unify Europe made over the centuries by writers and kings, including George Podiebrad, a famous King of Bohemia in the fifteenth century. His first article on ''The European Question" appeared in the summer of 1922 in the Berlin Volkische Zeitung and the Vienna Neue Freie Presse.32 After finding some influential supporters among political leaders of the time, the first issue of the movements's new periodical, Pan-Europe, came out in April 1924. It contained an article entitled "The European Manifesto.'' Due to extensive publicity generated by the movement, his book on Pan-Europe began to appear in several languages. 33 The English language edition, with an introduction by Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, was published in 1926 in New York. 34 In Pan-Europe Coudenhove-Kalergi noticed the political decline of Europe as a consequence of the World War: "From the center of the world Europe has moved to its periphery. The world hegemony of Europe is overthrown for all time .'' The validity of the last sentence was called to doubt by some, when Germany rose again as a great power in the 1930s. Yet the outcome of World War II confirmed his observation that "the United States of America has developed into the leading World Power." As he observed in his book first published in 1923, in the World War the United States " proved the decisive factor . Today , the United States of America is the wealthiest, the most powerful, and the most advanced country in the world." At the same time, however, "Europe's power of action in world politics is paralyzed by her disunion.' ' 35 In advocating the consolidation of Europe into a politicoeconomic federation, Coudenhove-Kalergi encountered objection from several quarters branding Pan-Europe a utopia. To this he replied that "every great historical happening began as a utopia and ended as a reality." He pointed out that in 1913 the Polish and Czecho-Slovak republics were utopias; "in 1918 they became realities. In 1916 the victory of the communists in Russia was a �34 SLOVAKIA utopia; in 1917 it was an accomplished fact. " 36 Whether PanEurope would be realized depended on the will of the Europeans; if the latter would support the idea and work for it, a utopia would become a reality. As he put it, ''While thousands believe in PanEurope, it is a utopia; so long as millions believe in it, it is a program; but once a hundred million believe in it, it becomes a fact." Thus in 1923 Coudenhove-Kalergi called upon the youth of Europe ''to convert the utopia of yesterday into a reality of tomorrow.' ' 37 Constantly referring to historical events, Coudenhove-Kalergi emphasized that power-relationships among countries have been changing with time. For example, the Bohemian empire of King Ottokar was a great power stretching from the Baltic to the Mediterranean and was about the size of European Russia; Bohemia of the 1920s was as small as was the Grand Duchy of Weimar a century earlier. According to him, ''Time works for Russia and against Europe," This was an observation not shared by many people at that time. He also pointed out how the United States became a great power and how this technically most advanced country was ''the first to try the new method of political organization, namely, a system of peaceful federations, culminating in the PanAmerican Union and in the idea of a League of Nations. Although the American conditions are different than those in Europe, states that are small may not be able to lead an independent existence and, therefore, they have to establish federations." As he saw it, "The leading World powers of today are federations: Russia, England, America. Political rapprochement of neighboring countries must be realized, if conflicts are to be avoided.' ' 38 Coudenhove-Kalergi observed that the formation of the PanAmerican League was not directed against any other state system, but solely against war, and "toward furthering the cultural progress of all." The American example should be followed by Europe. The latter must supplement "its modern science of communications by a modern science of politics, else it will be in danger of blindly staggering into another war and of suffocating in a very sea of gas-bombs.' •39 The Count regretted that Europe was regressing further and further toward atomization, since Austria-Hungary, Western �SLOVAKIA 35 Russia, and European Turkey dissolved themselves into a multitude of petty states. This process needs to be reversed by promoting integration, otherwise, if the liberation of European peoples is not completed by their unification, '' sooner or later the European state will be swallowed up by the growing World Powers.' ' 40 Europe must find a means of harmonizing freedom with organization, that is to follow the example of America in establishing a federation. Coudenhove-Kalergi presented a plan for the establishment of such a federation and discussed several reasons for which the nations of Europe should unite. First, Bolshevik Russia made no secret of her aggressive intentions: Bolshevism fights with propaganda in the one hand and with sword in the other; "it resorts to violence, terrorism and militarism.' ' 41 Therefore, the aim of all Europeans, regardless of party or nation, should be the prevention of a Soviet invasion that would bring about the destruction of liberty and the other cherished values. A Pan-European security pact guaranteeing the protection of European eastern frontiers would lay the foundation for an understanding with Soviet Russia. He suggested that if Texas, New Mexico, and California were independent states, they would be in constant danger from Mexico. But "as states of the American federal union they are secure against any such danger. " 42 Similarly, the Soviet threat to Romania, Poland, and Finland would disappear as soon as they would become members of the United States of Europe. As long as they were isolated, they represented a constant temptation for Soviet Russia. Furthermore, Coudenhove-Kalergi suggested that the quarrels among the European states weakened their power defense against Soviet Russia. Therefore, there was a need for European solidarity for an effective defense of the eastern frontiers of Europe. Any war in Europe would offer the Soviets a welcome opportunity for intervention; "and once Russian armies have secured a footing in Europe, they will scarcely relinquish it of their own free will.'' He also saw a danger in the pro-Russian orientation of some states, notably Germany. He suggested that there was a large number of Germans who hoped, "through an alliance with Russia, to tear up the Treaty of Versailles and once more partition Poland. " 43 �36 SLOVAKIA Whether Germany would be saved or estranged from Europe depended on the Western powers, above all on France, Coudenhove-Kalergi wrote, and he predicted that in the FrancoGerman conflict neither Germany nor France, "but Russia will in the long run be victorious. ' ' He warned that France still had time to preserve ''the German sister republic for the family of European states; tomorrow it may be already too late.'' He added that "upon this question hinges the future of Europe. " 44 Though less immediate, there was a danger "from forcible separation of eastern Europe,'' should there be a sudden change in the internal policy of Russia, and should the latter return to Pan-Slavism. In that case the Pan-Slav memories of the Southern and Western Slavs would be revived and Hungary and Bulgaria would try to recover lost territories ' 'by means of an alliance with the Russian reaction. In that event Russia's power would extend as far as the Adriatic Sea. " 4 5 These dangers, Coudenhove-Kalergi believed, could be averted by the timely creation of the Pan-European Federation. In his view, the historical moment in the time of his writing (1923) was more favorable than it ever was before. The situation would likely worsen every month and ''it is more than doubtful whether after a victory of the Russian reaction a Pan-European Federation would still l)e possible, " 46 he wrote. The formation of the United States of Europe would make possible an agreement on disarmament and economic cooperation with Soviet Russia. Since united Europe would possess great military and economic power, the danger of war with Russia would be removed. As long as Europe was divided , he said, there was a danger of a new war. A united Europe would have a larger population and incomparably more highly developed industries and, therefore, Soviet Russia "would realize the hopelessness of war and will be ready to disarm." But, he writes , as long as the regime in Russia is organized on a Soviet basis , it would be better for ''Russo-European peace if these two federations remain separate.' ' 47 The Soviet regime endeavored to overthrow the democratic order in Europe and, therefore , a merging of the two federations was not practical. However, '' Should Russia become democratic, a new situation would result.' ' Then it would be possi- �SLOVAKIA 37 ble to consider the question of Russia's joining the European federation. Turning to Europe's relations with the United States, Coudenhove-Kalergi wrote that "The economic model for PanEurope is provided by the United States of America; the political model for Pan-Europe's development, by the Pan-American Union.' ' 48 Since its origin, with the exception of the Civil War era, the United States has been a political and economic unity. Europeans should realize that the success of the American dream has been due to the existence of a common market and the political unity of the continent. They should utilize the experiences gathered in the United States and the entire American continent in their efforts to build Pan-Europe. Though Pan-Americanism was still in the process of development , it had a head start over PanEuropeanism. The history of the development of Pan-Americanism has great significance for Pan-Europe. Coudenhove-Kalergi believed that the League of Nations, as conceived by President Woodrow Wilson, was a utopia. 49 Two great powers, Russia and the United States, did not belong to it, and Germany was excluded from it. The League should be reorganized, he suggested, and the Europeans should work for its strengthening in order to avoid war. While World War I weakened Europe , " the War of the Future would inflict the deathblow upon it. " 50 In his view , " Only Pan-European federation , by the introduction and joint guarantee of a compulsory court arbitration, can definitely secure the internal peace of Europe." Coudenhove-Kalergi regretted the dissolution of the Habsburg monarchy. While the peace of 1919 signified an advance over prewar conditions politically, economically it was a step backward. As he put it , nationalistic demagogues "have brought disaster to millions of people , and the threat of economic ruin to the continent. " 51 The many opponents of Pan-Europe Coudenhove-Kalergi divided into four categories: the National Chauvinists , the Communists , the Militarists, and the Protected Industries. 52 He realized the difficulty of combatting them with his idea that rejected conflict and promoted cooperaton among European nations. His idea, indeed, did not overcome the odds represented by the mentioned �38 SLOVAKIA opponents and national (state) sovereignty. Coudenhove-Kalergi realized that the greatest obstacle to the formation of a United States of Europe lay in the thousand-yearold rivalry between France and Germany. 53 Therefore, the PanEuropeans would have to strive for reconciliation of these two nations in order to prevent a future catastrophy. His own efforts were directed at winning over for his idea both the French and German political leaders. He was more successful in France than in Germany. According to an old Czech proverb, ''Nobody is a prophet in his own fatherland.'' It applied to the fullest extent to Coudenhove-Kalergi. After publishing several articles on Paneuropa in 1922, he decided to try to persuade a well-known European personality ''with vision and authority'' to sponsor the Paneuropean idea. As a citizen of Czechoslovakia, he turned first to that country's president, Thomas G. Masaryk. The latter was sympathetic to the idea of European union but unwilling to associate himself with a crusade for Pan-Europe. 54 In order to obtain the blessing of the Prague government for the movement, Coudenhove-Kalergi dedicated one of the first copies of his book to Masaryk with whom he subsequently met on several 9ccasions. Masaryk introduced him to the foreign minister Edvard Benes, an acknowledged leader of the Little Entente and a well-known figure in international politics. According to the Count, ''unlike Masaryk, Benes was not a genuine European. Fundamentally, he was a Czech nationalist . .. . He spoke the language of Pan-Europe because he believed that to do so was good for his country. But he had no intention of sacrificing a single Czech interest on the altar of European unity. " 55 While he favored '' a collective guarantee of Czechoslovakia's frontiers,'' Benes opposed ''effective protection of the German minorities.'' While he favored ''the dismantling of custom barriers towards Eastern Europe so as to widen the market for Czech goods," he opposed "customs union with Germany for fear of competition from that quarter." Thus Benes 's attitude toward the Pan-European movement tended to be ambiguous; "in theory he was Pan-European, but in practice a Czech nationalist. " 56 After Coudenhove's manuscript on Pan-Europe came out in �SLOVAKIA 39 Vienna in 1923, Chancellor Ignaz Seipel of Austria, who was concerned with the future of his country, was willing to support the European idea and, moreover, offered Coudenhove-Kalergi space for his projected organization in the Hofburg Palace. 57 Since the palace was the seat of the Austrian government and the movement had now an official sponsor, Coudenhove-Kalergi announced the establishment of the Paneuropean Union and a Paneuropean press with headquarters in cosmopolitan Vienna. Coudenhove-Kalergi found prominent supporters of the European idea in France in Edouard Herriot, who had strong European impulses and became prime minister, and Aristide Briand, who became foreign minister, and Alex Leger. It was clear to the young enthusiast that in order to bring about European unity it was necessary to find support for the idea also in Gefmany. With France being the leader in building a European movement, Coudenhove-Kalergi tried to persuade German political leaders, first of all Chancellor Wilhelm Marx, to support the movement. 58 France was the country in search of European security and all political parties, except the Communist, supported the European idea, but in Germany the support was less pronounced, despite Coudenhove-Kalergi's efforts to persuade the Germans that they would benefit from close Paneuropean cooperation both politically and economically. Indeed , the Count pointed out that the success of the United States was due to the customs union, to the vast free market, and that the United States ought to be a model for Europe. He repeatedly stated that Europe could become as peaceful as Switzerland and as prosperous as the United States if it would unite. 59 As a result of long and careful planning by CoudenhoveKalergi, the First Congress of the Paneuropean Union was held in Vienna , October 3-6 , 1926 . He had hoped to persuade a large number of European political leaders to take part in it. Since success of his plans for a united Europe depended primarily on the cooperation of France and Germany, Coudenhove-Kalergi was most anxious to have at the congress Aristide Briand , Edouard Herriot , and Paul Painleve (the premier) of France, and Chancellor Wilhelm Marx an d foreign minister Gustav Stresemann of Germany. While none of them actually attended the congress , the �40 SLOVAKIA three French politicians sent warm greetings and the French government was officially represented at the congress by the French minister in Vienna. The Germans were less cooperative, though Chancellor Marx sent the young Count a short telegram wishing him success and stating that the Reich Chancellor would follow the course of the congress with great interest. 60 Coudenhove-Kalergi was not completely unsuccessful in Germany. On the eve of the congress Thomas Mann joined the Paneuropean Union and Paul Lobe agreed to serve as an honorary president of the congress along with Edvard Benes, Joseph Caillaux, Nicholas Politis, Francesco Nitti, and Ignaz Seipel. Austria seemed to be the greatest supporter of the movement. Chancellor Rudolph Ramek welcomed the delegates, including those from France, Belgium, Norway, and Czechoslovakia, where chapters of the movement had been established. 61 The congress was hailed as a great success in many leading European newspapers. According to an editorial in the Manchester Guardian Weekly of October 8, 1926, "The United States of Europe is no longer a dream; it has entered on the world of realities." Yet, the reality of the situation was such that even CoudenhoveKalergi realized that the reserved attitude of the German government and the agitation for Anschluss were stumbling blocs for the realization of his dream. He said that the Anschluss was a PanGerman not a Paneuropean idea and that some German politicians were using Paneuropean slogans to cloak their nationalist demands for power. 62 At the same time the Paneuropean Union was growing in Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary, and even in Germany new people were joining the movement. 63 In France Aristide Briand was an honorary president of the Paneuropean Union and a strong advocate of the European idea. Indeed , with the exception of the Communist party, political parties in France looked very favorably on the Paneuropean movement. 64 The latter had some grass roots and official support in Czechoslovakia, whose foreign policy was oriented towards France. As Coudenhove-Kalergi put it, Benes believed in " the eventual establishment of a European Federation, but doubted whether it could be achieved in the short run . . . it was this doubt which induced him to give support to our project. Had-he believed �SLOVAKIA 41 in its immediate realization, he would probably have opposed it.' '65 Since Ignaz Seipel and Karl Renner of Austria had come out openly in support of European Federation, Benes did not wish to appear less European-minded. Therefore, he accepted "the honorary chairmanship of the Czech committee and wrote an excellent preface for the Czech edition of Pan-Europe.'' He helped to organize the committee and "secured for it the co-operation of outstanding politicians of Czech and German descent.' ' 66 He also furnished Coudenhove-Kalergi with a diplomatic passport which was extremely useful to him. Benes also opened for him many doors in France and other Entente states, thus helping him overcome ''the double handicap'' of his Austrian origin and his German mother-tongue.6 7 Among the Paneuropeans were also those who advocated a gradual approach to European federation and envisaged a federation of Danubian states. Among the most active champions of Danubian federation were Milan Hodza and Vaclav Schuster in Czechoslovakia, Elemer Hantos and Erno Bleier in Hungary, and Barons van Barolin and van Mises in Austria. Some of the supporters of the larger European idea argued that a Danubian federation would be a step toward a European federation. 68 The second Paneuropean Congress was held in Berlin in May, 1930. Prior to it, the French Foreign Office prepared a memorandum on a European federal system. The Briand memorandum was hailed by the congress as ''the first step toward the fulfillment . . . of an European federation,' ' 69 and interested powers were urged to accept the French proposals. Briand's proposals were taken seriously by the British Foreign Office, but the German government's response was that some basic changes in the postwar settlement were a condition for its participation in a federal system. Replies of other countries were also conditional and, as history tells us, the Briand plan was never implemented. The arrival of the Nazi regime in Germany was a very serious setback for Coudenhove's Paneurope. Indeed, the Nazi-projected Pan-Europe meant the domination of the continent by one nation and not a cooperation of all European nations as equals. Since Coudenhove-Kalergi was a persona non grata in the Third Reich, �42 SLOVAKIA he accepted French citizenship when Bohemia-Moravia became a part of it in 1939.7° Eventually, he left Europe for the United States where he continued his work and where, in 1943, he published his autobiography, Crusade for Pan-Europe. In 1944 New York University appointed him Professor of History. In New York he also established contacts with many European statesmen, including General de Gaule, and discussed with them post-war problems.7 1 * * * * * Needless to say, conditions in Central Europe are different from those in the United States where the traditional policy of assimilation has resulted in a multi-cultural society speaking the same language. With its heterogeneous population and traditions of nationalistic conflicts and cooperation in national and multinational states, federalism is the solution proposed for the unyielding problem of nationalities and minorities in Europe. While in the United States individual immigrants have been and can be assimilated, since such adjustment on the part of the immigrant is a prerequisite for finding his/her place in the new land of opportunity, it is not possible to assimilate nations or national groups possessing strong national consciousness and conscious of their national identity. Therefore, national federalism which tolerates differences in language and culture can be the only practical and feasible arrangement in East Central Europe, just as it has been the case in Switzerland. National federalism would bring economic prosperity, national freedom and regional security to nations living in the area. When the facade of national states in East Central Europe crumbled at the beginning of World War II, individuals concerned with the long-range policies in the area began to assess the national requirements of majorities and minorities in the area. Stefan Osusky, former Czechoslovak minister in Paris, presented a summary of these requirements: 72 Undoubtedly, the nations in Central, Eastern and SouthEastern Europe have a right to their national liberty. But the interests of the European peoples require that those nations should not be encouraged in the dream of bringing about national uniformity within their States . Not �SLOVAKIA 43 on national uniformity but on national liberty depends the existence and the future of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Bulgaria. It is by guaranteeing the peoples of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe their freedom of national consciousness that the foundation of the peace of Europe will be laid. Furthermore, national uniformity would mean the elimination of every authority except that of the State. In countries with different religions, languages, customs and traditions, this is not desirable. For the preservation of religious, linguistic and cultural liberty means not only that individuals have a right to profess the religion of their choice, speak the lapguage of their mothers and live according to the traditions and customs of their ancestors; it means the practical possibility of associating together and administering their own particular affairs. These requirements for cooperation among the nations living in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe were valid then as they are today. Let us hope that one day the small nations in the area will reject conflict and chose cooperation and that they will find a federal solution to the problem that is common to all of them: they are too weak to stand alone between the solid masses of Germans and Russians. NOTES 1 Frantisek Palacky and Ludwig van Lohner formulated a plan for redivision of the Habsburg Empire into national territories: German Austria, Bohemia including Slovakia, the Polish provinces, the Illyrian provinces, the Italian provinces, the South Slavic area, the Hungarian area, and the Wallachian (Romanian) provinces. This plan was endorsed by the Austrian Reichstag , dominated by federalist thinking, meeting in Kromeffz late in 1848 and early 1849 to draw up a new constitution for the empire. However, the Vienna government, after suppressing the revolution of 1848, dissolved the Reichstag and imposed a centralistic constitution. Wenzel Jaksch, Europe 's Road to Potsdam . Translated and edited by Kurt Glaser. (New York, 1963) , pp . 26-27 . For details and documents see Bohus Rieger, Franti§ka Palackeho spisy drobne [Small Works of Frantisek Palacky] (Prague , 1898, vol. I) pp . 59ff. Also Karel Kramaf, Geske statnf pravo (Prague, 1896) . �SLOVAKIA 44 As the leader of the Czech National party, Palacky in 1848 was invited to join those who later met in the Frankfurt Parliament, but he refused . At that time Palacky wrote that, had the Austrian Empire not existed, it would have been necessary to create it . 2 H. Raupach, Der tschechische Friihnationalism (Essen, 1939), p. 92 . On May 29, 1849, Havlicek wrote in Narodnf Noviny: "We want an association of free nations in Austria , in Central Europe." 3 Jaksch, Europe's Road, pp . 70-71; also Josef Kalvoda, The Genesis of Czechoslovakia (New York, 1986), p. 32. 4 Peter P. Yurchak, The Slovaks (Whiting, Ind . 1957) p. 210; Kon~tantln Culen, Pittsburghska dohoda (Bratislava , 1937), p. 78. Also , Kalvoda , The Genesis, pp. 69-70 . 5 Culen, p . 177; Yurchak, pp . 212-214; Kalvoda , pp . 284-285 . 6 Kalvoda, The Genesis, pp. 76-77. 7 Frantgek Berdych, ed. , Obrana statu a na~e politicke strany (Prague, 1938), pp. 168-169. a Ibid., p. 171. 9 Ibid., p. 172. Incidentally, only two major groups in the Czechoslovak parliament voted against the law: the Communist party of Czechoslovakia, and the Sudeten German party led by Konrad Henlein . See ibid. , pp . 207ff. 10 Ira E. Bennett, "The Czechs Will Rise Again," The Christian Science Monitor, August 2, 1941; J.B. Kozak, T.G. Masaryk a vznik Washingtonske deklarace v ffjnu 1918 (Prague, 1968), p . 40. 11 Kalvoda , The Genesis, p. 426. 12 Masaryk to Wilson, November 1, 1918; Wilson to Masaryk, November 5, 1918; and Masaryk to Wilson, November 7, 1918, Woodrow Wilson Papers (The Manuscript Division, Library of Congress). 13 Kalvoda, The Genesis, p . 427. 14 Josef Kalvoda, "The Czechoslovak Problem, " Nationalities Papers, Vol. XIl, No. 2 (Fall 1984), p. 245. 15 Ibid. 16 Delegation Propaganda: Czechoslovak Republic, Memoire No . III, The Hoover Institution, quoted in Kalvoda , The Genesis, p. 445 . 17 Ibid. (The Genesis). 18 Nicholas Murray Butler, Why War? (New York, 1940), p . 20 . 19 Milan Hodza, Federation in Central Europe: Reflections and Reminiscences (London , 1942). 20 Michal Mu.dry , Milan Hodia v Amerike (Chicago , 1949). p. 231. 21 Ibid., p . 177 . 22 23 Ibid . Ibid., p. 231. 24 Ibid., p . 232 . 25 R. Kravcek, "Hodzuv plan," Slovansky pfehled, No . 6, 1967, pp. 347-3 53 ; also Hodza 's book, Federation . �SLOVAKIA 45 26 Libuse Otahalova a Milada Cervinkova, eds., Dokumenty z historie teskoslovenske politiky 1939-1943 (Prague 1966), vol. I, p. 293 . 27 Mudry, Milan Hodia v Amerike, p. 58. Joseph M. Kirschbaum, ed. , Slovakia in the 19th & 20th Centuries (Toronto, Ont., 1978), p . 123 . See also a book by the same author, Slovakia. Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe (New York, 1960), pp. 78-84; Joachim Kuhl, Federationsplane in Donauraum und in Ost mitteleuropa (Miinchen, 1958); and Rudolf Wierer, Der Federalism im Donauraum (Graz-Koln, 1960). 29 Count Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers the World (London, 1953) . 28 30 Richard N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Crusade for Pan-Europe. Autobiography of a Man and a Movement (New York, 1943). 31 Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers, p . 109. 32 Ibid., p. 91. 33 Ibid., p. 102. 34 35 Richard N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Pan-Europe (New York, 1926) . Ibid. , pp . 6-8. 36 Ibid. , p. xv. 31 Ibid., p. xvi. 36Ibid., pp . 10-11. 39 Ibid. , p . 11. 40 Ibid., p. 13. Ibid., p. 58. 41 43 Ibid., p . 62. Ibid ., p . 63. 44 Ibid. , p. 64. 45 46 Ibid. Ibid. 47 Ibid., p. 67-69 48 Ibid., p. 74 . 42 Ibid., p. 87. Ibid., p . 112 . 5 1 Ibid., p . 122 . 49 50 52 Ibid., pp. 186-190. 53 Ibid., pp . 132-147 . 54 Coudenhove-Kalergi , Crusade for Pan-Europe, p. 88. 55 Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers, p. 103. Ibid., pp. 103-104. 56 57 Carl H. Pegg, Evolution of the European Idea , 1914-1932 (Chapel Hill and London , 1983) p . 29 . 58 Ibid., p . 41. �46 59 SLOVAKIA Ibid., p. 63 . so Ibid., p . 70. 62 Ibid., p. 71. Ibid., p . 88. 63 Ibid., p . 89 . 61 Coudenhove-Kalergi , An Idea Conquers, p. 104. Ibid., p . 105 . 66 Ibid. , p. 104. 64 65 67 Ibid., p . 105 . 68 Pegg, Evolution of the European Idea , p. 99 . Ibid., p. 145. 69 °Coudenhove-Kalergi, Crusade for Pan-Europe, 7 pp . 208-209. 71 Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers, pp. 254-255 . 72 ~tefan Osusky, The Contemporary Review, November, 1941 , pp . 280-281, cited in Oscar I. Janowsky, Nationalities and National Minorities (With special Reference to East-Central Europe) (New York, 1945), pp. 167-168. � 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 1987-88, Vol. 33 Description An account of the resource Vol. 33 (No. 60-61), 1987-88. 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 1987-88 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 23 Federalist Thought in Czechoslovakia During the lnterwar Years JOSEF KALVODA For centuries Central Europe has been an area ,of mixed nationalities and both Austria-Hungary and Czechoslovakia, when the latter was established in 1918-1919, were multi-national states. The need for peace and cooperation among the many national groups gave rise to several proposals for a federal solution of the problems of small nations living in the area. One may recall that on January 23, 1849 the Czech historian and political leader Frantisek Palacky proposed the reorganization of the Austrian Empire along federal lines. 1 One can also cite a statement by the known Czech journalist Karel Havlicek Borovsky who argued against Bohemia's joining the German Reich proposed by the Frankfurt Parliament in 1849 . He wrote: ''Our federation is Austria. '' 2 The struggle for the state right by the National (Old) Czech party , led by Frantisek Ladislav Rieger, in the nineteenth century was also a reflection of the Czech nation's desire to federalize the Austrian state. Until World War I the struggle for the ' ' state right '' was continued by the Young Czech party, as well as by the other Czech political parties with the exception of the Social Democrats and Professor Thomas G. Masaryk who advocated federalization of the state along ethnic lines. 3 In the interwar years several proposals for a federal solution of the Czech-Slovak problem and the problem of "Balkanized" East Central Europe and Europe in general were made by some citizens and political leaders in Czechoslovakia. These ideas will be briefly considered in this paper. A discussion of federalist thought in Czechoslovakia ought 24 SLOVAKIA to begin with the first plans for establishment of a state that would include the Czech historical lands (Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian Silesia) and Slovakia, known originally as Upper Hungary. During World War I the idea of an independent Czecho-Slovak state was endorsed by some Czech groups both at home and abroad , including the Bohemian National Alliance and the Slovak League of America. In order to promote the independence movement , representatives of the two organizations met in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 15, 1915 , where they agreed on what they believed their countrymen in Austria-Hungary would accept in the event of their liberation. The ' 'Cleveland Agreement'' provided for the autonomy of both the Czech lands and Slovakia, proclaiming that the union of the Czech and Slovak peoples will be in a '' federative union of states, ' ' with complete national autonomy for Slovakia. Slovakia would have its own schools, its own state administration, cultural freedom and Slovak would be the official language.4 A few years later the agreement was presented to Thomas G. Masaryk in Pittsburgh at a meeting of representatives of the Bohemian National Alliance , the Slovak League , and the National Alliance of Bohemian Catholics. Since some Slovaks expressed an apprehension that in the future Czecho-Slovak state the Slovaks might be enveloped ("Czechified" ), Masaryk, the president of the Czecho-Slovak National Council seated in Paris, decided to revise it. He wrote in Slovak the so-called Pittsburgh Agreement, signed by him and 6ther Czechs and Slovaks on May 30, 1918. 5 The agreement stated that representatives of the named organizations ' ' approve of a political program aiming to unite the Czechs and Slovaks into an independent state comprising the Czech lands and Slovakia. Slovakia shall have its own administration , its own diet, and its own courts. The Slovak language shall be the official language in schools , in government offices , and in public life generally. The Czecho-Slovak state shall be a republic ; its constitution shall be democratic .' ' The document was destined to have far-reaching consequences in the history of Czechoslovakia. In their struggle for selfgovernment and their efforts to change the centralist constitution of 1920, the Slovak autonomists invoked the Pittsburgh Agreement. One may argue that the idea of a federal union of the Czechs SLOVAKIA 25 and Slovaks in the Cleveland Agreement, as well as the autonomous arrangement promised by the Pittsburgh Agreement, were manifestations of the influence of the United States federal system of government on the thinking of those who signed them. Similarly, as it is in the states of the American federation, the Pittsburgh Agreement stipulated that Slovakia "shall have its own administration, its own diet, and its own courts.'' Since Czechs and Slovaks are two different nations speaking similar but different languages, it was necessary to make the Slovak language in Slovakia "the official language in schools, in governmental offices, and in public life generally." In view of the fact that in 1915, in a memorandum to the British government, Masaryk stated that the new s·tate (' 'Independent Bohemia") would be a monarchy, because only a small group of "radicals" favored a republic, 6 and that most of the leaders of the independence movement in the Czech lands and Milan R. Stefanik, who represented the Slovaks in the CzechoSlovak National Council, were monarchists, it would seem that the American environment influenced Masaryk's decision to proclaim the new state a republic. The principles stated in the Pittsburgh Agreement were not implemented in the Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920; the latter established a centralist state administration. Autonomy for Ruthenia, the easternmost province of Czechoslovakia, provided for in the constitution, was not realized either until the collapse of the First Republic in October 1938. (Incidentally, the Slovaks had autonomy during the Second Republic that came to its end in March, 1939.) Champions of the autonomist movement in Slovakia, the Slovak People's party and the Slovak National party, constantly emphasized the need for a federal arrangement in the state that they supported. In May 1936, in a parliamentary discussion of the proposed Law for the Defense of the State (Law 131 of May 13, 1936), a Slovak People's party deputy and a former member of government, Jozef Tiso, declared that the Slovak nation considered the state of the Czechs and Slovaks their own state and that his party supported the law. As on many other occasions, Tiso discussed the Slovak problem and the demand for the implementation of the 26 SLOVAKIA Pittsburgh Agreement. As he put it, "Autonomy is education of the Slovak nation toward seeing in this state its own state in which it rules ... Autonomy is education for state-forming thinking of the Slovaks" . .. " 7 The autonomist program, he emphasized, made the Slovaks conscious of the fact that Czechoslovakia was their state, and that the latter did not mean the merging of the . two nations, but a unity of the two nations in one common state. In the discussion of the same legislative proposal a Senator of the Slovak People's party, Gejza Fritz, emphasized that the "root of the autonomy is the Pittsburgh Agreement, concluded and signed by Czechs and Slovaks and the then president of the Czecho-Slovak National Council,'' Masaryk. The autonomy was to be within the boundaries of the state, not outside of it. As he put it, ''We demand self-government that is not incompatible with the state unity. That such an autonomy is possible is evidenced by the fact that the Constitution guarantees autonomy to CarpathoRussia (Ruthenia) within the framework of the united Czechoslovak republic.' ' 9 He pointed out that the president of the state had signed the agreement and that for ''those reasons it is not logical to claim that autonomy is separatism.'' In its substance, "autonomy means decentralization." In addition, the Slovaks demand equal rights for the Slovak language, he said , pointing out that ''to strive for a united Czechoslovak nation would mean to increase the antagonism of all Slovaks.' ' 9 * * * * * During. World War I Masaryk's objective was the establishment of an independent state. However, until the summer of 1918 he was prepared to accept autonomy for the Czechs within the framework of Austria-Hungary if independence were not attainable.10 By this time France and the United States had already parted with the idea of preserving a federalized Austria-Hungary; the latter collapsed by the end of October 1918. But even after the declaration of Czecho-Slovak independence by Masaryk in Washington, D.C., on October 18 , the Czech leader presided over a meeting of representatives of several national groups from Central Europe between October 23 and 26, 1918, that announced the intention to establish a Democratic Mid-European Union. This SLOVAKIA 27 meeting, held at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, led some people in Washington, D.C., to believe that on the ruins of AustriaHungary a new central european federation would emerge. The final resolution produced by the conference, called the ''Declaration of Common Aims of the Independent Mid-European Nations,'' was read by Masaryk in front of Independence Hall and was hailed by the American press as something approaching a declaration of a united Europe. 11 · On November 1, 1918, the original of the declaration was submitted to President Woodrow Wilson by Masaryk, who was the first of its twelve signatories. In the accompanying letter to Wilson Masaryk stated that the union ''tries to replace the German Plan of Mittel-Europe by a positive plan of reorganization of the many smaller nations which are located between the Germans (in Germany and Austria) and Russians; there are about eighteen such nations, beginning with the Finns and ending with the Greeks. . . . The primary aim of the war and the coming peace is the reorganization of the East, including now Russia; and the first condition of this reorganization of Eastern Europe and through it of Europe and mankind, is the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary, composed of eight non-German nations, oppressed and exploited by a degenerate dynasty and reckless feudal aristocracy supported by the Germans and Magyars.'' 12 In the last paragraph of the letter Masaryk proclaimed: "Mr. President, we see in you one of the greatest leaders of modern democracy and constructive policy; it is in making a sincere attempt to apply such a policy to our particular nations and to the whole of Europe that we hope you will engage your interest in our Union's endeavors." The signatories of the declaration, claiming to represent ''more than fifty million people constituting a chain of nations lying between the Baltic, the Adriatic and the Black Seas, comprising Czecho-Slovaks, Poles, Jugoslavs , Ukrainians, UhroRusins, Lithuanians, Roumanians and Italian Irredentists , Unredeemed Greeks, Albanians, Zionists and Armenians, wholly or partly subject to alien domination ... accept and subscribe to the following as basic principles for all free peoples." 28 SLOVAKIA ''First. That all governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed. Second. That it is the inalienable right of every people to organize their own government on such principles and in such form as they believe will best promote their welfare, safety and happiness. Third. That the free and natural development of the ideals of any state should be allowed to pursue their normal and unhindered course unless such course harms or threatens the common interest of all. Fourth. That there should be no secret diplomacy, and all proposed treaties and agreements between nations should be made public - prior to their adoption and ratification. Fifth. That we believe our peoples, having kindred ideals and purposes, should coordinate their efforts to insure the liberties of their individual nations for the furtherance of their own common welfare, provided such a union contributes to the peace and welfare of the world. Sixth. That there should be formed a league of the nations of the world in a common and binding agreement for genuine and practical cooperation to secure justice and therefore peace among nations .'' The signatories of the declaration pledged '' on behalf of their respective nations'' that the principles set forth in it '' shall be incorporated in the organic laws of whatever government our respective peoples may hereafter establish.'' As it happened, the vast majority of the Czechoslovak Revolutionary (Constituent) National Assembly , established after the war, followed Masaryk's views and paid no attention to the principles stated in the Declaration of the Common Aims of the Independent Mid-European Nations. The assembly did not derive its powers from the consent of the governed; it was not elected by the peoples living in Czechoslovakia; the Germans , Hungarians , Poles , and Ruthenians in Czechoslovakia were not represented in it at all; and the Germans, Hungarians , Slovaks , and Ruthenians living in the country were not allowed to "organize their own government on such principles and in such form as they believe will best promote their welfare , safety and happiness . " 13 SLOVAKIA 29 * * * * * While visiting the United States in the fall of 1918, Roman Dmowski, the head to the Polish National Committee Abroad, seated in Paris, suggested to Masaryk the formation of a Federation consisting of Czecho-Slovakia and Poland. Masaryk refused the proposal, but favored "a certain kind of Economic Union, to be worked out; and a military defense against Germany, essentially non-aggressive." Not farseeing the problem of frontier adjustment with Poland, Masaryk asked Dmowski "to write out text of agreement on these lines.'' The Polish leader, however, did not formulate such an agreement, since he, apparently, was not interested in anything short of Federation. 14 The proposed Federation of the three Western Slavic nations, Poles, Czechs and Slovaks, could have provided an ample guarantee of peace in Central Europe, since the three nations could have faced together the prospective threats coming from either east or west, and could have jointly resolved the national minority problem. In the 1930s the idea of close cooperation with Poland was endorsed by the leader of the Czechoslovak National Democratic party, Karel Kramaf, and the leader of the Slovak People's party, Andrej Hlinka. At that time, due to hostility between Czechoslovakia's foreign minister Edvard Benes, and the Polish foreign minister Jozef Beck, such a policy was not practical and could not be implemented. 15 * * * * * At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 Czecho-Slovakia was represented by a delegation of which the principal spokesman was Edvard Benes. InMemoire No. 3, one of the documents submitted by him to the conference, addressing itself to "The lot of the Germans in the Czecho-Slovak Republic," a promise was made that ''the Germans of Bohemia [sic] would have the same rights as the Czecho-Slovaks themselves. The German tongue would be the second tongue of the land .... The regime adopted would be similar to that of Switzerland. " 16 In his note of May 20, 1919, Benes elaborated on the latter point, announcing the intention of the state to apply the principles of the Swiss Republic in creating the organs of the new state that would be '' a sort of Switzerland.'' In the con- 30 SLOVAKIA clusion of his memorandum Benes promised ''an extremely liberal regime, which will very much resemble that of Switzerland. " 17 This was a statement of intention - one of those by which the way to hell is paved. It was not implemented and a centralistic Constitution was adopted in Czechoslovakia in 1920. One may speculate, as did Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, that ''had the Republic of Czecho-Slovakia at the time of its organization in 1919 been based upon the cantonal system, its history . . . might have been very different and far happier.'' 18 * * * * * Dr. Milan Hodza, a Slovak by birth, was a well-known exponent of the idea of establishing a Central European or a Danubian Federation. 19 He proceeded from the assumption that the League of Nations and the Little Entente were ineffective and inadequate for preserving peace in Europe. The latter had to unite in order to maintain peace and advance prosperity. However, Europe's final unification presupposes, first of all, an effective regional cooperation. Therefore, Hodza developed the theme of the union of Central Europe when the new order was established in Europe after World War I. As a prominent politician of the Republican (agrarian) party, he propagated the idea of a federated Central Europe numbering about 110 million people, stretching from the Baltic to the Aegean Sea and covering the region between Germany and Soviet Russia. 20 Since the states in the region were predominantly agrarian, the federation had to be based on agrarian democracy. 21 Already in 1925, at the national congress of the Republican party, Hodza declared that there was a need for Central European solidarity; the latter would save Czechoslovakia from either Bolshevik or imperialistic attack. 22 He believed that the interests of Czechoslovakia and Poland could be reconcilled and their close cooperation with the other nations in the area would benefit all of Europe. In his lecture, delivered in London in 1930, Hodza stated: ''It is universally an international danger when dictatorship becomes a contagious disease, which weakens the organism of states and nations. Thus one day we could expose ourselves to the danger which might infect Central Europe with Moscow's SLOVAKIA 31 dictatorship. Therefore, it is important that Central Europe does not become the carrier of dictatorial bacilli, but rather a trench, or barrier, against dictatorship. " 23 In Hodza's view, the national sovereignty of small nations should not be construed as isolationism, but rather a foundation stone for international cooperation. Since the nations of Central Europe have mutual interests and similar traditions , they have to come closer together and work for a wider international cooperation. A federation of states from the Baltic to the Aegean Sea, united on the basis of democratic principles, would be a barrier against Bolshevism and the first step toward establishing a United States of Europe. 24 Hodza became prime minister of Czechoslovakia in November 1935 and Benes was elected the state's president in the middle of December 1935. When from December 20, 1935, to February 29, 1936, Hodza was also the acting minister of foreign affairs, he tried very hard to get his favorite project off the ground. In an attempt to implement it, he visited Vienna on January 17 , 1936, Paris, February 8-15, Belgrade, February 21-25, and again Vienna, March 8-10, 1936. 25 The Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg fully endorsed Hodza's project, but it was viewed skeptically in other countries and, above all, in the Czechoslovak ministry of foreign affairs staffed by Benes appointees. The new president was especially annoyed by Hodza's conduct of foreign policy. Later Benes commented with disdain on the prime minister's activities as follows: "Hodza went to Vienna, had lunch with Schuschnigg, told him that something should be done in Central Europe to remove the German threat to Austria. Upon his return to Prague he told me that he had negotiated an alliance with Austria. It caused alarm in France and in England, because these countries were informed to the effect that everything would be signed, sealed and delivered in three weeks . Of course it was a bluff. " 26 When in the summer of 1938 a large demonstration in favor of autonomy of Slovakia took place in the capital city of Bratislava, Hodza made an attempt to take the wind out of the autonomist sails. He revealed his own plan for self-government in Slovakia. This proposal, known as the ''Hodza Plan,'' was revealed in detail 32 SLOVAKIA in his Slovensky dennik. The key provision in it was as follows: "Slovakia will have her own diet with legislative powers, her own government of six ministers to deal exclusively with Slovak matters. The Slovak language will be the only official language in Slovakia. A separate Slovak commission will supervise and decide the personal questions connected with appointments of the state employees to eliminate irregularities and to see that Slovak claims are not bypassed.' •21 After the Munich settlement, on October 6, 1938, Slovak autonomy was proclaimed. The manifest was signed by seven nonSocialist parties (including the Slovak People's party), representing about 75 percent of the Slovak electorate. The Czecho-Slovak National Assembly approved the Constitutional Law of Slovak selfrule on November 22 , 1938 by a unanimous vote. (The deputies of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia left the Chamber before the voting. )2 8 * * * * * In the interwar years a prominent federalist advocating the establishment of a United States of Europe, Count Richard N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, lived in Czechoslovakia. He became famous after World War II, when many Americans and West Europeans embraced his ideas. 29 His pioneering work did bring fruits when the West European community was established. Czechoslovakia, however, was a member of the Soviet bloc , and did not benefit from it. ,· Born in Tokyo on November 17, 1894, Coudenhove-Kalergi's mother was Japanese and his father was an Austrian diplomat. The Coudenhove-Kalergi's home was the old Castle of Ronsperk in Bohemia. The Treaty of Saint Germain of 1919 made the Count a citizen of Czechoslovakia. 30 When the Nazis occupied the country in 1939 , he accepted French citizenship and, eventually, left Europe for the United States. During the interwar years Coudenhove-Kalergi was the leading theoretician and founder of the Pan-European movement. He devoted his talents and efforts to the cause of European federation. Among those whom he inspired and persuaded to support the movement was Edouard Herriot, a one-time prime minister SLOVAKIA 33 and minister of foreign affairs in France, and the author of The United States of Europe. Herriot was the first European statesman who appealed openly for a United States of Europe. 31 A student of history, Coudenhove-Kalergi was familiar with attempts to unify Europe made over the centuries by writers and kings, including George Podiebrad, a famous King of Bohemia in the fifteenth century. His first article on ''The European Question" appeared in the summer of 1922 in the Berlin Volkische Zeitung and the Vienna Neue Freie Presse.32 After finding some influential supporters among political leaders of the time, the first issue of the movements's new periodical, Pan-Europe, came out in April 1924. It contained an article entitled "The European Manifesto.'' Due to extensive publicity generated by the movement, his book on Pan-Europe began to appear in several languages. 33 The English language edition, with an introduction by Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia University, was published in 1926 in New York. 34 In Pan-Europe Coudenhove-Kalergi noticed the political decline of Europe as a consequence of the World War: "From the center of the world Europe has moved to its periphery. The world hegemony of Europe is overthrown for all time .'' The validity of the last sentence was called to doubt by some, when Germany rose again as a great power in the 1930s. Yet the outcome of World War II confirmed his observation that "the United States of America has developed into the leading World Power." As he observed in his book first published in 1923, in the World War the United States " proved the decisive factor . Today , the United States of America is the wealthiest, the most powerful, and the most advanced country in the world." At the same time, however, "Europe's power of action in world politics is paralyzed by her disunion.' ' 35 In advocating the consolidation of Europe into a politicoeconomic federation, Coudenhove-Kalergi encountered objection from several quarters branding Pan-Europe a utopia. To this he replied that "every great historical happening began as a utopia and ended as a reality." He pointed out that in 1913 the Polish and Czecho-Slovak republics were utopias; "in 1918 they became realities. In 1916 the victory of the communists in Russia was a 34 SLOVAKIA utopia; in 1917 it was an accomplished fact. " 36 Whether PanEurope would be realized depended on the will of the Europeans; if the latter would support the idea and work for it, a utopia would become a reality. As he put it, ''While thousands believe in PanEurope, it is a utopia; so long as millions believe in it, it is a program; but once a hundred million believe in it, it becomes a fact." Thus in 1923 Coudenhove-Kalergi called upon the youth of Europe ''to convert the utopia of yesterday into a reality of tomorrow.' ' 37 Constantly referring to historical events, Coudenhove-Kalergi emphasized that power-relationships among countries have been changing with time. For example, the Bohemian empire of King Ottokar was a great power stretching from the Baltic to the Mediterranean and was about the size of European Russia; Bohemia of the 1920s was as small as was the Grand Duchy of Weimar a century earlier. According to him, ''Time works for Russia and against Europe," This was an observation not shared by many people at that time. He also pointed out how the United States became a great power and how this technically most advanced country was ''the first to try the new method of political organization, namely, a system of peaceful federations, culminating in the PanAmerican Union and in the idea of a League of Nations. Although the American conditions are different than those in Europe, states that are small may not be able to lead an independent existence and, therefore, they have to establish federations." As he saw it, "The leading World powers of today are federations: Russia, England, America. Political rapprochement of neighboring countries must be realized, if conflicts are to be avoided.' ' 38 Coudenhove-Kalergi observed that the formation of the PanAmerican League was not directed against any other state system, but solely against war, and "toward furthering the cultural progress of all." The American example should be followed by Europe. The latter must supplement "its modern science of communications by a modern science of politics, else it will be in danger of blindly staggering into another war and of suffocating in a very sea of gas-bombs.' •39 The Count regretted that Europe was regressing further and further toward atomization, since Austria-Hungary, Western SLOVAKIA 35 Russia, and European Turkey dissolved themselves into a multitude of petty states. This process needs to be reversed by promoting integration, otherwise, if the liberation of European peoples is not completed by their unification, '' sooner or later the European state will be swallowed up by the growing World Powers.' ' 40 Europe must find a means of harmonizing freedom with organization, that is to follow the example of America in establishing a federation. Coudenhove-Kalergi presented a plan for the establishment of such a federation and discussed several reasons for which the nations of Europe should unite. First, Bolshevik Russia made no secret of her aggressive intentions: Bolshevism fights with propaganda in the one hand and with sword in the other; "it resorts to violence, terrorism and militarism.' ' 41 Therefore, the aim of all Europeans, regardless of party or nation, should be the prevention of a Soviet invasion that would bring about the destruction of liberty and the other cherished values. A Pan-European security pact guaranteeing the protection of European eastern frontiers would lay the foundation for an understanding with Soviet Russia. He suggested that if Texas, New Mexico, and California were independent states, they would be in constant danger from Mexico. But "as states of the American federal union they are secure against any such danger. " 42 Similarly, the Soviet threat to Romania, Poland, and Finland would disappear as soon as they would become members of the United States of Europe. As long as they were isolated, they represented a constant temptation for Soviet Russia. Furthermore, Coudenhove-Kalergi suggested that the quarrels among the European states weakened their power defense against Soviet Russia. Therefore, there was a need for European solidarity for an effective defense of the eastern frontiers of Europe. Any war in Europe would offer the Soviets a welcome opportunity for intervention; "and once Russian armies have secured a footing in Europe, they will scarcely relinquish it of their own free will.'' He also saw a danger in the pro-Russian orientation of some states, notably Germany. He suggested that there was a large number of Germans who hoped, "through an alliance with Russia, to tear up the Treaty of Versailles and once more partition Poland. " 43 36 SLOVAKIA Whether Germany would be saved or estranged from Europe depended on the Western powers, above all on France, Coudenhove-Kalergi wrote, and he predicted that in the FrancoGerman conflict neither Germany nor France, "but Russia will in the long run be victorious. ' ' He warned that France still had time to preserve ''the German sister republic for the family of European states; tomorrow it may be already too late.'' He added that "upon this question hinges the future of Europe. " 44 Though less immediate, there was a danger "from forcible separation of eastern Europe,'' should there be a sudden change in the internal policy of Russia, and should the latter return to Pan-Slavism. In that case the Pan-Slav memories of the Southern and Western Slavs would be revived and Hungary and Bulgaria would try to recover lost territories ' 'by means of an alliance with the Russian reaction. In that event Russia's power would extend as far as the Adriatic Sea. " 4 5 These dangers, Coudenhove-Kalergi believed, could be averted by the timely creation of the Pan-European Federation. In his view, the historical moment in the time of his writing (1923) was more favorable than it ever was before. The situation would likely worsen every month and ''it is more than doubtful whether after a victory of the Russian reaction a Pan-European Federation would still l)e possible, " 46 he wrote. The formation of the United States of Europe would make possible an agreement on disarmament and economic cooperation with Soviet Russia. Since united Europe would possess great military and economic power, the danger of war with Russia would be removed. As long as Europe was divided , he said, there was a danger of a new war. A united Europe would have a larger population and incomparably more highly developed industries and, therefore, Soviet Russia "would realize the hopelessness of war and will be ready to disarm." But, he writes , as long as the regime in Russia is organized on a Soviet basis , it would be better for ''Russo-European peace if these two federations remain separate.' ' 47 The Soviet regime endeavored to overthrow the democratic order in Europe and, therefore , a merging of the two federations was not practical. However, '' Should Russia become democratic, a new situation would result.' ' Then it would be possi- SLOVAKIA 37 ble to consider the question of Russia's joining the European federation. Turning to Europe's relations with the United States, Coudenhove-Kalergi wrote that "The economic model for PanEurope is provided by the United States of America; the political model for Pan-Europe's development, by the Pan-American Union.' ' 48 Since its origin, with the exception of the Civil War era, the United States has been a political and economic unity. Europeans should realize that the success of the American dream has been due to the existence of a common market and the political unity of the continent. They should utilize the experiences gathered in the United States and the entire American continent in their efforts to build Pan-Europe. Though Pan-Americanism was still in the process of development , it had a head start over PanEuropeanism. The history of the development of Pan-Americanism has great significance for Pan-Europe. Coudenhove-Kalergi believed that the League of Nations, as conceived by President Woodrow Wilson, was a utopia. 49 Two great powers, Russia and the United States, did not belong to it, and Germany was excluded from it. The League should be reorganized, he suggested, and the Europeans should work for its strengthening in order to avoid war. While World War I weakened Europe , " the War of the Future would inflict the deathblow upon it. " 50 In his view , " Only Pan-European federation , by the introduction and joint guarantee of a compulsory court arbitration, can definitely secure the internal peace of Europe." Coudenhove-Kalergi regretted the dissolution of the Habsburg monarchy. While the peace of 1919 signified an advance over prewar conditions politically, economically it was a step backward. As he put it , nationalistic demagogues "have brought disaster to millions of people , and the threat of economic ruin to the continent. " 51 The many opponents of Pan-Europe Coudenhove-Kalergi divided into four categories: the National Chauvinists , the Communists , the Militarists, and the Protected Industries. 52 He realized the difficulty of combatting them with his idea that rejected conflict and promoted cooperaton among European nations. His idea, indeed, did not overcome the odds represented by the mentioned 38 SLOVAKIA opponents and national (state) sovereignty. Coudenhove-Kalergi realized that the greatest obstacle to the formation of a United States of Europe lay in the thousand-yearold rivalry between France and Germany. 53 Therefore, the PanEuropeans would have to strive for reconciliation of these two nations in order to prevent a future catastrophy. His own efforts were directed at winning over for his idea both the French and German political leaders. He was more successful in France than in Germany. According to an old Czech proverb, ''Nobody is a prophet in his own fatherland.'' It applied to the fullest extent to Coudenhove-Kalergi. After publishing several articles on Paneuropa in 1922, he decided to try to persuade a well-known European personality ''with vision and authority'' to sponsor the Paneuropean idea. As a citizen of Czechoslovakia, he turned first to that country's president, Thomas G. Masaryk. The latter was sympathetic to the idea of European union but unwilling to associate himself with a crusade for Pan-Europe. 54 In order to obtain the blessing of the Prague government for the movement, Coudenhove-Kalergi dedicated one of the first copies of his book to Masaryk with whom he subsequently met on several 9ccasions. Masaryk introduced him to the foreign minister Edvard Benes, an acknowledged leader of the Little Entente and a well-known figure in international politics. According to the Count, ''unlike Masaryk, Benes was not a genuine European. Fundamentally, he was a Czech nationalist . .. . He spoke the language of Pan-Europe because he believed that to do so was good for his country. But he had no intention of sacrificing a single Czech interest on the altar of European unity. " 55 While he favored '' a collective guarantee of Czechoslovakia's frontiers,'' Benes opposed ''effective protection of the German minorities.'' While he favored ''the dismantling of custom barriers towards Eastern Europe so as to widen the market for Czech goods," he opposed "customs union with Germany for fear of competition from that quarter." Thus Benes 's attitude toward the Pan-European movement tended to be ambiguous; "in theory he was Pan-European, but in practice a Czech nationalist. " 56 After Coudenhove's manuscript on Pan-Europe came out in SLOVAKIA 39 Vienna in 1923, Chancellor Ignaz Seipel of Austria, who was concerned with the future of his country, was willing to support the European idea and, moreover, offered Coudenhove-Kalergi space for his projected organization in the Hofburg Palace. 57 Since the palace was the seat of the Austrian government and the movement had now an official sponsor, Coudenhove-Kalergi announced the establishment of the Paneuropean Union and a Paneuropean press with headquarters in cosmopolitan Vienna. Coudenhove-Kalergi found prominent supporters of the European idea in France in Edouard Herriot, who had strong European impulses and became prime minister, and Aristide Briand, who became foreign minister, and Alex Leger. It was clear to the young enthusiast that in order to bring about European unity it was necessary to find support for the idea also in Gefmany. With France being the leader in building a European movement, Coudenhove-Kalergi tried to persuade German political leaders, first of all Chancellor Wilhelm Marx, to support the movement. 58 France was the country in search of European security and all political parties, except the Communist, supported the European idea, but in Germany the support was less pronounced, despite Coudenhove-Kalergi's efforts to persuade the Germans that they would benefit from close Paneuropean cooperation both politically and economically. Indeed , the Count pointed out that the success of the United States was due to the customs union, to the vast free market, and that the United States ought to be a model for Europe. He repeatedly stated that Europe could become as peaceful as Switzerland and as prosperous as the United States if it would unite. 59 As a result of long and careful planning by CoudenhoveKalergi, the First Congress of the Paneuropean Union was held in Vienna , October 3-6 , 1926 . He had hoped to persuade a large number of European political leaders to take part in it. Since success of his plans for a united Europe depended primarily on the cooperation of France and Germany, Coudenhove-Kalergi was most anxious to have at the congress Aristide Briand , Edouard Herriot , and Paul Painleve (the premier) of France, and Chancellor Wilhelm Marx an d foreign minister Gustav Stresemann of Germany. While none of them actually attended the congress , the 40 SLOVAKIA three French politicians sent warm greetings and the French government was officially represented at the congress by the French minister in Vienna. The Germans were less cooperative, though Chancellor Marx sent the young Count a short telegram wishing him success and stating that the Reich Chancellor would follow the course of the congress with great interest. 60 Coudenhove-Kalergi was not completely unsuccessful in Germany. On the eve of the congress Thomas Mann joined the Paneuropean Union and Paul Lobe agreed to serve as an honorary president of the congress along with Edvard Benes, Joseph Caillaux, Nicholas Politis, Francesco Nitti, and Ignaz Seipel. Austria seemed to be the greatest supporter of the movement. Chancellor Rudolph Ramek welcomed the delegates, including those from France, Belgium, Norway, and Czechoslovakia, where chapters of the movement had been established. 61 The congress was hailed as a great success in many leading European newspapers. According to an editorial in the Manchester Guardian Weekly of October 8, 1926, "The United States of Europe is no longer a dream; it has entered on the world of realities." Yet, the reality of the situation was such that even CoudenhoveKalergi realized that the reserved attitude of the German government and the agitation for Anschluss were stumbling blocs for the realization of his dream. He said that the Anschluss was a PanGerman not a Paneuropean idea and that some German politicians were using Paneuropean slogans to cloak their nationalist demands for power. 62 At the same time the Paneuropean Union was growing in Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary, and even in Germany new people were joining the movement. 63 In France Aristide Briand was an honorary president of the Paneuropean Union and a strong advocate of the European idea. Indeed , with the exception of the Communist party, political parties in France looked very favorably on the Paneuropean movement. 64 The latter had some grass roots and official support in Czechoslovakia, whose foreign policy was oriented towards France. As Coudenhove-Kalergi put it, Benes believed in " the eventual establishment of a European Federation, but doubted whether it could be achieved in the short run . . . it was this doubt which induced him to give support to our project. Had-he believed SLOVAKIA 41 in its immediate realization, he would probably have opposed it.' '65 Since Ignaz Seipel and Karl Renner of Austria had come out openly in support of European Federation, Benes did not wish to appear less European-minded. Therefore, he accepted "the honorary chairmanship of the Czech committee and wrote an excellent preface for the Czech edition of Pan-Europe.'' He helped to organize the committee and "secured for it the co-operation of outstanding politicians of Czech and German descent.' ' 66 He also furnished Coudenhove-Kalergi with a diplomatic passport which was extremely useful to him. Benes also opened for him many doors in France and other Entente states, thus helping him overcome ''the double handicap'' of his Austrian origin and his German mother-tongue.6 7 Among the Paneuropeans were also those who advocated a gradual approach to European federation and envisaged a federation of Danubian states. Among the most active champions of Danubian federation were Milan Hodza and Vaclav Schuster in Czechoslovakia, Elemer Hantos and Erno Bleier in Hungary, and Barons van Barolin and van Mises in Austria. Some of the supporters of the larger European idea argued that a Danubian federation would be a step toward a European federation. 68 The second Paneuropean Congress was held in Berlin in May, 1930. Prior to it, the French Foreign Office prepared a memorandum on a European federal system. The Briand memorandum was hailed by the congress as ''the first step toward the fulfillment . . . of an European federation,' ' 69 and interested powers were urged to accept the French proposals. Briand's proposals were taken seriously by the British Foreign Office, but the German government's response was that some basic changes in the postwar settlement were a condition for its participation in a federal system. Replies of other countries were also conditional and, as history tells us, the Briand plan was never implemented. The arrival of the Nazi regime in Germany was a very serious setback for Coudenhove's Paneurope. Indeed, the Nazi-projected Pan-Europe meant the domination of the continent by one nation and not a cooperation of all European nations as equals. Since Coudenhove-Kalergi was a persona non grata in the Third Reich, 42 SLOVAKIA he accepted French citizenship when Bohemia-Moravia became a part of it in 1939.7° Eventually, he left Europe for the United States where he continued his work and where, in 1943, he published his autobiography, Crusade for Pan-Europe. In 1944 New York University appointed him Professor of History. In New York he also established contacts with many European statesmen, including General de Gaule, and discussed with them post-war problems.7 1 * * * * * Needless to say, conditions in Central Europe are different from those in the United States where the traditional policy of assimilation has resulted in a multi-cultural society speaking the same language. With its heterogeneous population and traditions of nationalistic conflicts and cooperation in national and multinational states, federalism is the solution proposed for the unyielding problem of nationalities and minorities in Europe. While in the United States individual immigrants have been and can be assimilated, since such adjustment on the part of the immigrant is a prerequisite for finding his/her place in the new land of opportunity, it is not possible to assimilate nations or national groups possessing strong national consciousness and conscious of their national identity. Therefore, national federalism which tolerates differences in language and culture can be the only practical and feasible arrangement in East Central Europe, just as it has been the case in Switzerland. National federalism would bring economic prosperity, national freedom and regional security to nations living in the area. When the facade of national states in East Central Europe crumbled at the beginning of World War II, individuals concerned with the long-range policies in the area began to assess the national requirements of majorities and minorities in the area. Stefan Osusky, former Czechoslovak minister in Paris, presented a summary of these requirements: 72 Undoubtedly, the nations in Central, Eastern and SouthEastern Europe have a right to their national liberty. But the interests of the European peoples require that those nations should not be encouraged in the dream of bringing about national uniformity within their States . Not SLOVAKIA 43 on national uniformity but on national liberty depends the existence and the future of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Bulgaria. It is by guaranteeing the peoples of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe their freedom of national consciousness that the foundation of the peace of Europe will be laid. Furthermore, national uniformity would mean the elimination of every authority except that of the State. In countries with different religions, languages, customs and traditions, this is not desirable. For the preservation of religious, linguistic and cultural liberty means not only that individuals have a right to profess the religion of their choice, speak the lapguage of their mothers and live according to the traditions and customs of their ancestors; it means the practical possibility of associating together and administering their own particular affairs. These requirements for cooperation among the nations living in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe were valid then as they are today. Let us hope that one day the small nations in the area will reject conflict and chose cooperation and that they will find a federal solution to the problem that is common to all of them: they are too weak to stand alone between the solid masses of Germans and Russians. NOTES 1 Frantisek Palacky and Ludwig van Lohner formulated a plan for redivision of the Habsburg Empire into national territories: German Austria, Bohemia including Slovakia, the Polish provinces, the Illyrian provinces, the Italian provinces, the South Slavic area, the Hungarian area, and the Wallachian (Romanian) provinces. This plan was endorsed by the Austrian Reichstag , dominated by federalist thinking, meeting in Kromeffz late in 1848 and early 1849 to draw up a new constitution for the empire. However, the Vienna government, after suppressing the revolution of 1848, dissolved the Reichstag and imposed a centralistic constitution. Wenzel Jaksch, Europe 's Road to Potsdam . Translated and edited by Kurt Glaser. (New York, 1963) , pp . 26-27 . For details and documents see Bohus Rieger, Franti§ka Palackeho spisy drobne [Small Works of Frantisek Palacky] (Prague , 1898, vol. I) pp . 59ff. Also Karel Kramaf, Geske statnf pravo (Prague, 1896) . SLOVAKIA 44 As the leader of the Czech National party, Palacky in 1848 was invited to join those who later met in the Frankfurt Parliament, but he refused . At that time Palacky wrote that, had the Austrian Empire not existed, it would have been necessary to create it . 2 H. Raupach, Der tschechische Friihnationalism (Essen, 1939), p. 92 . On May 29, 1849, Havlicek wrote in Narodnf Noviny: "We want an association of free nations in Austria , in Central Europe." 3 Jaksch, Europe's Road, pp . 70-71; also Josef Kalvoda, The Genesis of Czechoslovakia (New York, 1986), p. 32. 4 Peter P. Yurchak, The Slovaks (Whiting, Ind . 1957) p. 210; Kon~tantln Culen, Pittsburghska dohoda (Bratislava , 1937), p. 78. Also , Kalvoda , The Genesis, pp. 69-70 . 5 Culen, p . 177; Yurchak, pp . 212-214; Kalvoda , pp . 284-285 . 6 Kalvoda, The Genesis, pp. 76-77. 7 Frantgek Berdych, ed. , Obrana statu a na~e politicke strany (Prague, 1938), pp. 168-169. a Ibid., p. 171. 9 Ibid., p. 172. Incidentally, only two major groups in the Czechoslovak parliament voted against the law: the Communist party of Czechoslovakia, and the Sudeten German party led by Konrad Henlein . See ibid. , pp . 207ff. 10 Ira E. Bennett, "The Czechs Will Rise Again," The Christian Science Monitor, August 2, 1941; J.B. Kozak, T.G. Masaryk a vznik Washingtonske deklarace v ffjnu 1918 (Prague, 1968), p . 40. 11 Kalvoda , The Genesis, p. 426. 12 Masaryk to Wilson, November 1, 1918; Wilson to Masaryk, November 5, 1918; and Masaryk to Wilson, November 7, 1918, Woodrow Wilson Papers (The Manuscript Division, Library of Congress). 13 Kalvoda, The Genesis, p . 427. 14 Josef Kalvoda, "The Czechoslovak Problem, " Nationalities Papers, Vol. XIl, No. 2 (Fall 1984), p. 245. 15 Ibid. 16 Delegation Propaganda: Czechoslovak Republic, Memoire No . III, The Hoover Institution, quoted in Kalvoda , The Genesis, p. 445 . 17 Ibid. (The Genesis). 18 Nicholas Murray Butler, Why War? (New York, 1940), p . 20 . 19 Milan Hodza, Federation in Central Europe: Reflections and Reminiscences (London , 1942). 20 Michal Mu.dry , Milan Hodia v Amerike (Chicago , 1949). p. 231. 21 Ibid., p . 177 . 22 23 Ibid . Ibid., p. 231. 24 Ibid., p . 232 . 25 R. Kravcek, "Hodzuv plan," Slovansky pfehled, No . 6, 1967, pp. 347-3 53 ; also Hodza 's book, Federation . SLOVAKIA 45 26 Libuse Otahalova a Milada Cervinkova, eds., Dokumenty z historie teskoslovenske politiky 1939-1943 (Prague 1966), vol. I, p. 293 . 27 Mudry, Milan Hodia v Amerike, p. 58. Joseph M. Kirschbaum, ed. , Slovakia in the 19th & 20th Centuries (Toronto, Ont., 1978), p . 123 . See also a book by the same author, Slovakia. Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe (New York, 1960), pp. 78-84; Joachim Kuhl, Federationsplane in Donauraum und in Ost mitteleuropa (Miinchen, 1958); and Rudolf Wierer, Der Federalism im Donauraum (Graz-Koln, 1960). 29 Count Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers the World (London, 1953) . 28 30 Richard N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Crusade for Pan-Europe. Autobiography of a Man and a Movement (New York, 1943). 31 Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers, p . 109. 32 Ibid., p. 91. 33 Ibid., p. 102. 34 35 Richard N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, Pan-Europe (New York, 1926) . Ibid. , pp . 6-8. 36 Ibid. , p. xv. 31 Ibid., p. xvi. 36Ibid., pp . 10-11. 39 Ibid. , p . 11. 40 Ibid., p. 13. Ibid., p. 58. 41 43 Ibid., p . 62. Ibid ., p . 63. 44 Ibid. , p. 64. 45 46 Ibid. Ibid. 47 Ibid., p. 67-69 48 Ibid., p. 74 . 42 Ibid., p. 87. Ibid., p . 112 . 5 1 Ibid., p . 122 . 49 50 52 Ibid., pp. 186-190. 53 Ibid., pp . 132-147 . 54 Coudenhove-Kalergi , Crusade for Pan-Europe, p. 88. 55 Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers, p. 103. Ibid., pp. 103-104. 56 57 Carl H. Pegg, Evolution of the European Idea , 1914-1932 (Chapel Hill and London , 1983) p . 29 . 58 Ibid., p . 41. 46 59 SLOVAKIA Ibid., p. 63 . so Ibid., p . 70. 62 Ibid., p. 71. Ibid., p . 88. 63 Ibid., p . 89 . 61 Coudenhove-Kalergi , An Idea Conquers, p. 104. Ibid., p . 105 . 66 Ibid. , p. 104. 64 65 67 Ibid., p . 105 . 68 Pegg, Evolution of the European Idea , p. 99 . Ibid., p. 145. 69 °Coudenhove-Kalergi, Crusade for Pan-Europe, 7 pp . 208-209. 71 Coudenhove-Kalergi, An Idea Conquers, pp. 254-255 . 72 ~tefan Osusky, The Contemporary Review, November, 1941 , pp . 280-281, cited in Oscar I. Janowsky, Nationalities and National Minorities (With special Reference to East-Central Europe) (New York, 1945), pp. 167-168.  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 Federalist Thought in Czechoslovakia During the Interwar Years Description An account of the resource Josef Kalvoda Slovakia, Vol. 33 (No. 60-61), 1987-88 pp. 23-46 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kalvoda, Josef, 1923-1999 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-88 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/46f7719561d5a9523bbc834413c603c8.pdf b87783ced96c0fdd5eb428f9b801ad00 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 7 Janosik: Unraveling the Man from the Legend PATRICIA A. KRAFCIK The year 1988 marks the three-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Juraj Janosik, traditionally considered by Slovaks to be their national hero. Preparations for the anniversary celebrations included the publishing of a study entitled Neznamy Janosik (1986) by Jozef Kocis, which expands on previotis knowledge about the historical Janosik and complements scholarly works such as Andrej Melichercik's comprehensive monographJanosikovska tradicia na Slovensku (1952) and the superb folklore studies and collections of Viera Gasparikova. 1 A major work on Janosik by Gasparikova, Janosik: Obraz zbojnika v l'udovej kulture (1988), and a double issue of the journal Slovensky narodopis (3-4, 1988), devoted exclusively to the brigand theme, are also new publications contributing to the celebration. Among the numerous festivities during the course of 1988 has been unveiling of a sevenmeter high sculpture of Janosik by national artist Jan Kulich in Terchova,2 and an exhibit of folk art portraying Janosik, sponsored by the Slovak National Gallery. Appropriately , the exhibit was installed during the summer months in Liptovsky (Svaty) Mikulas - the city in central Slovakia that witnessed Janosik's trial and execution in mid-March of 1713. As one Slovak ethnographer has put it: ''This year all of Slovakia lives with the anniversary of its beloved Janosik .' '3 The question why Janosik, who was one of a number of eighteenth-century Slovak peasants tried and executed as brigands and murderers, emerged as the national hero has long daunted Janosik scholars. Likewise, the historical figure himself has continually escaped scholars and remains today but a shadowy profile sketched in by their research and educated suppositions. While Janosik in folklore is a bold bandit, harassing members of the rich �8 SLOVAKIA and noble classes of society, and always thrilling his people with daring and dangerous exploits, the historical figure , as much as we can know him, appears very human. Clearly, he was a strong, adventurous young man caught up in some of the most tumultuous moments of his nation's life and, like everyone else, subject to the rule of the tough, often brutal authorities occupying Slovak territory at the time . We can best become acquainted with the Juraj Janosik beloved of the Slovak people through Janosik folklore and literary depictions, dramas , films, and folk art and portraiture , for it is through these that he and his exploits are most widely known. But how can we come to know the real Janosik, the one whose birth we celebrate in 1988? For this we must turn to information drawn from a small file of historical documents concerning his life, both directly and indirectly. Juraj Janosik was a young man of twenty-five when he was brought from his cell in the sixteenth-century Vranov castle , just outside Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas, and placed before a county government tribunal in that city on March 17, 1713. He was exhausted from questioning by representatives of both the Liptov and Trencin county governments, and suffered from wounds inflicted during his interrogation by torture which could have included any combination of the following customary practices: fire burns on the skin, penetration of red-hot pincers under the nails , crushing of the bones , stretching on the rack, and the ripping of tendons in the limbs. 4 After enduring all of this , he stood to hear the following verdict and sentence: Because the aforementioned accused , Jura Janosik, having rejected both the commandments of God and the law of the state, two years ago turned to banditry and became a brigand captain; and with his comrades on the highways robbed many people of their belongings ; and as it appears from his own confession, his comrades in his presence shot and killed in an ungodly fashion a priest from Domaniza; and since he also committed other such crimes; therefore , for such grave and evil deeds and transgressions of the law , he is to be thrust onto the hook through the left side and thus as an example to other criminals of this type , he is to be hanged. 5 �SLOVAKIA 9 Janosik's execution was most likely carried out the next day, perhaps in the city square or the market place near today's Janka Kral' Museum which is located in an old mansion once owned by the Hanzely-Seligovy family. 6 Janosik's actual interrogation possibly took place in the back of that mansion which was purchased for such use by Liptov county officials in 1712 or 1713.7 It is thought that his body was removed to a cemetery about four kilometers from Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas in a settlement called Cemice which contained an unhallowed graveyard for insurrectionists (kuruci), many of whom had fallen in the uprising of Prince Ferenz Rakoczy II against the Austrian Habsburgs from 1703-11, in which Janosik had briefly participated. 8 While the execution put an end to Janosik the man, his legend was born in folk tradition which was ripe for the glorification and idealization of a noble brigand who had come to represent revenge for wrongs perpetrated against the common folk under the harsh conditions of the time. The eighteenth century throughout Europe was, in fact, the "golden age" of brigandage, when those discontented with the ever more intolerable burdens of foreign occupation, serfdom, and forced conscription, fled to the hills and formed small outlaw bands for survival and for the harrassment of the wealthy and powerful. 9 These social bandits, considered criminals by the authorities, represented to their people free spirits and were perceived as champions of the poor and oppressed. Conditions in Slovakia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were likewise conducive to the emergence of social brigandage. Slovakia constituted the northern counties of the Hungarian Kingdom, and increasingly restless Slovak serfs served Hungarian overlords , who themselves in turn were held in voluntary or sometimes compulsory allegiance to the Habsburg Court. In these volatile times, Janosik took his place among the social bandits, and within decades of his execution, a rich oral tradition had begun to crystallize around him. Over the past two centuries, through the process of mythicization in folklore and literature, the legendary Janosik has flourished. He and his mountain lads (h6rni chlapci) are celebrated in numerous short folktales , lyric and lyrico-epic songs and ballads, and the plastic arts - ceramics, wood-carving, painting on glass. �10 SLOVAKIA The brigand dance, odzemok, with its exhilirating music and leaping over bonfires, is the most exciting of those performed by Slovak folk ensembles to this day - and reflects the scenarios brilliantly envisioned in artistic depictions of Janosik and his men. 10 The great Russian folklorist and researcher in Czech, Slovak, and Carpatho-Rusyn folklore, Petr Bogatyrev, has stated that the more beloved a folk hero is, the more elaborately is his image embellished with the elements of fairytale magic and fantasy. 11 Janosik demonstrates that this is indeed so, for his figure, especially in the folktales, shares numerous features with international fairytale heroes. He is invulnerable to harm and capture, with supernatural strength residing alternately in his magical belt, magical mountain axe (valaska), magical string , hair , or herbs each acquired from witches or forest nymphs (vily). Like many other heroes, Janosik is nursed by his mother until boyhood, and appears lazy until he obtains his magical objects. In the folktales, Janosik engages in a series of exploits designed to expose and punish the arrogant lords, as well as common passers-by who speak against him , fear him, or lie to him. Like the English Robin Hood , he dons a series of disguises in order to penetrate lordly estates or to patrol the highways incognito, teaching proper morality to cruel noblemen and less than noble common folk alike. 12 Alongside folktales are folksongs and ballads which praise his dashing , masculine beauty, celebrate the free outlaw life , bemoan the struggles and death of the brigand at the gallows , and express his motivatipns for becoming a bandit. 13 Each literary age has also depicted Janosik according to its own needs and tastes. 14 Late eighteenth-century and early nineteenth-century Slovak literature portrays a Janosik derived most likely from market or bazaar song lore Uarmocne p iesn e) as a young brigand wh o tells h is tragic story while languishing in prison. 15 Nineteenth-century Romanticists, especially the Sturovci, extolled Janosik as a symbol of liberation, of Slovak nationalism, of Slovakia itself. Later Romanticism , partly under the influence of foreign models, gradually added love motifs, romance, and more adventure to his legend. In Socialist society, Janosik has been portrayed as an early fighter for the rights of peasants and workers. During World War II Janosik, as the "mountain eagle," was again �SLOVAKIA 11 evoked, this time by partisans who formed themselves into a "Janosik brigade'' in 1944. Other partisans in 1943 and 1944 circulated an underground anti-government journal entitled Janosik. 16 Through changing times and conditions, there has been no doubt about the power of Janosik as a symbol of defiance and freedom. Modern-day Slovakia, particularly in its theater, has dealt somewhat harshly with the noble image of Janosik inherited from folklore and literary traditions. On the contemporary Slovak stage he has been depicted as an earthy, sensual young male, struggling not only with social justice, but also with his desire.for a woman as in the Polish playwright Ernst Bryll's musical, "Mal'ovany na skle" (premiered in October 1974), so popular in Slovakia. In I.:ubomir Feldek's "Janosik podl'a Vivaldiho," 17 Janosik is an attractive if somewhat vacuous young man who achieves fame as a noble brigand by accident when the real fame should have gone to his comrade Uhorcik. Finally, in Stanislav Stepka's "Jaaanosiiik, " 18 he is a weak-willed outlaw whose comrade Uhorcik, a homosexual, outshines him and is the real and delightfully humorous leader of the little band, preoccupied with gathering good-quality loot from victims, especially foreign-made items. 19 In emigre writings, as well as in films about Janosik we see mainly traces of the folklore and the romanticized literary figure. If a "historical" figure is discussed, it is also usually derived from folklore and literary sources, rather than from actual historical documents. Almost any typical reference in emigre literature presents the following story: As a young man, Janosik was studying for the priesthood when he returned home, having learned that his mother was ill. He found her dead, and discovered his father beaten by the overseer of the estate, one Sandor, for having missed work in the fields in order to minister to his dying wife. When his father then dies from the beating, a furious Janosik somehow forces Sandor's own men to beat the overseer as a punishment and warning for the future . Now, as an outlaw, Janosik flees to the hills, gathering about himself a band of mountain lads who harass cruel lords and rob the rich to give to the poor. He is finally betrayed to the authorities by a comrade, jealous of his love for the beautiful Anicka, by being lured to a tavern rendez- �12 SLOVAKIA vous with her. Here he is apprehended by the authorities, not because he cannot fight his way free, but because an old Gypsy woman tosses dried peas to the floor and causes him to lose his balance and slip into the clutches of waiting soldiers. His folklore death - execution by hanging on the hook - while often elaborated by heroic motifs, coincides with his historical death. 20 Faced with this these images of Janosik, we turn finally to the historical prototype of Juraj Janosik. There are three major sources from which we can reconstruct a life of Janosik. First is the baptismal matrika or registry from the town of Varin, about 25 kilometers from Terchova. In this document, as in all baptismal matriky, the priest recorded the date of the baptism rather than the birth, as well as the names of the infant, the parents, and the godparents. Such registries are a rich source of information, but unfortunately, they are not always continuous . This situation has complicated the Janosik history, and has made difficult the reconstruction of the Janosik family tree. 21 The second source of information about the historical Janosik consists of documents surrounding his criminal trial on March 16-17, 1713 , in Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas. These documents include a record of (a) Janosik's interrogation by county authorities , (b) his brief questioning by two robbery victims from Zilina , and (c) his interrogation under torture. 2 2 In the days before the actual trial, Janosik was questioned on a number of points by representatives of Liptov and Trencin counties. The minutes of this first interrogation contain questions presented to Janosik, along with a third-person rendering of the answers he gave, and also indicate which questions he did not answer. Of the twenty-nine questions presented by the Liptov representative, Janosik answered only sixteen, while he made some attempt at a response to all seventeen questions of the Trencin representative. In answer to accusations of robbery by Zilina cloth merchant Jan Sipos and Zilina jeweler Skalka, Janosik admitted robbing both and described what he did with the loot. A brief list of Uhorcik's comrades is also appended to this interrogation. Minutes of Janosik's questioning under torture show him responding to seven items. None of these minutes indicate how long the proceedings lasted. Among the trail documents is also a record of the trial itself which covers the ex- �SLOVAKIA 13 change between the prosecutor, Alexander Cemicky, and the defense lawyer assigned to Janosik, Baltazar Palugyay, about which more will be said later. The third source of documents essential to our acquaintance with the historical Janosik are the records of (a) criminal trial proceedings against Janosik's comrade Tomas Uhorcik which also took place in Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas on April 19-20, only a month after Janosik's execution (Uhorcik was executed on April 21), and (b) a written complaint lodged against Janosik's older brother Jan in November, 1713, by the Strecno estate administrator for the Lowenburgs, Martin Florek. We have as well the subsequent criminal trial proceedings against Jan which took place on December 18-22 of the same year, when he was tried for brigandage by the landowners' court of Count Lowenburg at the Lowenburg residence in Teplicka-on-the-Vah and later hanged. 23 Included in this third category may also be records which show that Terchova, Janosik's hometown, and all of its residents, were challenged in August of 1712 by the Teplicka court to answer charges of secretly aiding outlaws. 24 From the documents we know that Janosik was born in one of the many small mountain settlements, called "U Janosov," located to the east of the city of Zilina near the village of Terchova in the mountainous area of north central Slovakia. The region is known for its thick patches of pine forest, craggy cliffs and caves , and rugged beauty. Janosik's childhood familiarity with this terrain no doubt served him well in his later years as a brigand when he was forced to move quickly and easily through such country and to seek the natural shelter it offered. Since Terchova had no operating church or pastor at that time, but belonged to the Varin parish, Janosik's baptism, as well as those of other children from Terchova and surrounding settlements, is recorded in the Varin baptismal registry. In his Janosfkovska tradfcia, the well-known Janosik scholar Andrej Melichercik refers to an entry in the registry indicating that Juraj Janosik was baptized on January 25, 1688; was the son of Martin Janosik and Anna Cisnikova; and had two younger brothers Martin (baptized 1692) and Adam (baptized 1697). 25 In a later study, Melichercik says that updated research indicated that Janosik also had an older brother, Jan. But here �14 SLOVAKIA Melicherc:ik neither provides a baptismal date for Jan nor explains the absence of a date.26 According to Rudolf Brtan, who himself has analyzed the baptismal registry scrupulously, this Juraj Janosik identified by Melicherc:ik and others is not the famous bandit.27 In the registry, which had been interrupted for several years and then resumed in 1686 by Roman Catholic priest Michal Smutko, Melicherc:ik's Janosik happens to be the first Juraj Janosik listed as baptized. 28 But Brtan says that between this first baptism on January 25, 1688, and September, 1694, there were in fact five Juraj Janosiks listed in the registry, four of whom were baptized between these years and whose ages would have ranged from 19 to 25 at the time of the execution in 1713 - making them all potential candidates for the famous brigand. After grouping parents and children into the four Janosik family units, each of which contained a son Juraj (one Juraj was listed as the father of a son by the same name), Brtan, contrary to Melicherc:ik, points to Juraj, son of Michal Janosik and Barbara Cingel'ova, baptized on May 16, 1688, as the real brigand. 29 He derives his conclusion not only on the basis of the registry but also from crucial information in the documents of 1713 stating the charges brought against Juraj's brother Jan who is described as having, among other children, a daughter Dorota born in 1699. 30 The parents of Melicherc:ik's Janosik, Martin and Anna Cisnikova, according to Brtan, had sons Martin and Adam, and also a son Jan, but he is listed in the registry as having been baptized in 1689, a year after their son Juraj. Thus he was not an older brother to Juraj, whereas the court documents clearly state that Jan was older. Furthermore, he would have been only 10 years old in 1699 hardly old enough to be married and a father. The parents of yet another Juraj Janosik (baptized in 1691), Juraj, Sr., and Anna Chorvatikova, also had a son Jan baptized in 1689. But this date makes him younger than Juraj as well and disqualifies him as the real Juraj's older brother Jan. How then does Brtan convincingly support his contention that Michal and Barbara Cingel'ova are the parents of the real brigand Juraj? Brtan says that Michal and Barbara had a daughter Barbara, listed as having been baptized in April 1691 , as well as Juraj hap- �SLOVAKIA 15 tized May 16, 1688, and believes that they had still another son Jan who was older than Juraj, but whom we do not find in the registry simply because there was no registry between the years 1673 and 1686, precisely the years during which the older brother Jan was born and baptized. 31 Brtan thus explains what Melichercik passed over in silence - why there is no baptismal date for Jan - and he thus rules out Melichercik's couple Martin and Anna Cfsnikova as the brigand Juraj's parents. Brtan traces the source of the mistake to an inaccurate initial identification of Janosik's actual baptismal entry by a Varin priest from whom the information was first requested in the late 1920s. 32 The priest located the first possible Juraj Janosik listed in the registry, which had been resumed after a period by his distant predecessor Smutko, and most likely looked no further. According to Brtan, this erroneously identified Juraj Janosik has been handed down mechanically from scholar to scholar since then. 33 The young Janosik, born sometime in late spring 1688, lived in his family's settlement with his parents, Michal and Barbara. Count Jan Jakub Lowenburg, lord of the Strecno domain to which Terchova belonged, is known to have sent some young boys of peasant origin to school in connection with therecatholicization of the area which he strongly supported and it would not have been impossible that Janosik was given some education. 34 But this is doubtful, Brtan says, since his home was five kilometers from Terchova, a hard road to travel in winter, and since his father might have hesitated to send his youngest son and helper away. The older son Jan was already married with one child and it is not known whether he was still living in his parents' home by 1699 when Janosik was 11 years old.35 In 1703 when Prince Ferenz Rak6czy II, one of a series of Hungarian nobles who over the years had attempted to limit or throw off Austrian Habsburg power, published his proclamation inciting insurrection against Vienna, Janosik was 15 years old. Along with thousands of other Slovak serfs attracted by Rak6czy's repeated calls for liberation from Austrian overloads, freedom for serfs, and religious tolerance - and perhaps caught up as an enthusiastic youth desiring adventure - Janosik joined Rak6czy's troops at the summons of one of his officers, Viliam Vinkler, in �16 SLOVAKIA December 1707. 36 He was later among approximately 400 insurrectionists or kuruci taken prisoner, and subsequently released, after a battle near Trencin on August 3, 1708, which dealt a severe blow to the uprising. By 1711 the insurrection had worn down considerably, and shortly after the death of Austrian Emperor Joseph I, Hungarian leaders of the moderate wing of the insurrectionist movement finally made peace with the new emperor Charles VI at Szatmar. 3 7 Already after the Trencin battle in 1708, however, Janosik returned home and , as his trial records state, lived with his older brother Jan for a short time. Then, either on Lowenburg's insistence or on the initiative of Imperial Army officers who compelled former insurrectionist prisoners with promises and threats to enlist, 38 Janosik joined the Austrian Imperial service and was stationed as a guard at the prison in the Bytca castle. During the heat of the uprising, many brigands, vagrants, deserters, and even students had joined Rak6czy's troops, and in turn toward the end of the uprising and afterwards, former kuruci were identified by county and state authorities as bandits and criminals - so that officially the line between insurrectionists and brigands was essentially obliterated. It was among a group of these imprisoned insurrectionists and bandits at the Bytca castle in prison in 1710 that Janosik met and befriended Tomas Uhorcik of Turzovka, a brigand captain, probably about five years his senior, 39 who had also served for a time in Rak6czy 's army. 40 Court records state that Janosik often showed special favors toward Uhorcik, perhaps easing up prison rules for him, bringing him better fare, or helping him maintain contact with his outlawed comrades. 41 In the autumn of 1710, Janosik helped Uhorcik to escape. Less than a month later, in November of 1710, with living conditions worsening at Bytca castle, illness spreading, and food in dangerously short supply, Janosik's father, probably without much difficulty given these circumstances, paid a sum to the castle commander and had his son released from the Imperial Army. 42 Janosik went home to his parents in Terchova, but apparently met with Uhorcik several times during the winter of 1710-1711, and together with other members of Uhorcik's band, they robbed some merchants in Moravia in September, 1711, tak- �SLOVAKIA 17 ing, among other items, a good deal of cloth. 4 3 This was both Uhorcik's last move as a bandit captain and Janosik's first such action. On St. Michael's Day, September 29, 1711, Uhorcik swore Janosik into the band according to custom. 44 Thus began Janosik's brief career as a brigand. Shortly after Janosik joined the group, Uhorcik left the band, married in October, 1711, and taking the name Martin Mravec, settled in the village of Klenovec in the county of Malohont. Here he became a shepherd, eventually acquiring the reputation of a fine citizen. After this he participated in only one robbery with Janosik and others, the attack on baron Pavol Revay of Turiec. 45 Uhorcik himself handed over leadership of the band to Janosik, who inherited what was a loose-knit and apparently difficult group to control. Membership was fluid, and included Moravians, Poles, and Rusyns , but largely Slovaks, many of whom came from the mountainous Kysuca region of northeastern Slovakia. 46 Janosik spent most of the winter of 1711-12 at Uhorcik's home, since brigands customarily dispersed for the winter, and he resumed his activity during the spring of 1712. He and his men robbed noblemen, merchants, a priest and a pastor's wife on the river Vah , and among others , a Zilina cloth merchant Jan Sipos, a rich Zilina goldsmith and jeweler Skalka, a wealthy Imperial Army officer's wife, Schardonka, and her entourage on the road between Vazec and Vychodna, as well as an Orava squire named Ladislav Zmeskal. They took everything from money, cloth, rich and fancy pieces of clothing, jewelry, weapons, wigs , and wine. When later questioned about the only murder - that of a priest from Domaniza - Janosik denied involvement, stating that two comrades were responsible. In the end, the court was able to insist in the verdict only that Janosik had been present when the murder took place. When Uhorcik was interrogated a month later he confessed things which Janosik himself had clearly withheld during his trial, information which also sheds light on their activity as bandits and on their character. For one thing, Uhorcik demonstrated that there was widespread support of Janosik by naming several persons who helped him , such as the Terchova schoolmaster who gave him shelter and the Terchova innkeeper Rafaj who provided him with �18 SLOVAKIA food.47 Janosik's withholding of such information to protect comrades and supporters characterizes the records of his own interrogation. Secondly, Uhorcik spoke of "insurrectionist booty" which was stored at the home of a comrade, again something which Janosik had never mentioned. He disclosed that Janosik and his men had attacked smaller Imperial Army units in order to capture weapons. Most importantly, Uhorcik revealed that Janosik told him that in Cicmany he had hidden cloth for the clothing of three hundred men, as well as money, and had hidden weapons by a stream near Terchova. Jozef Kocis raises the question whether Janosik was perhaps involved in preparations for some potentially larger armed action connected with the only recently-liquidated uprising , the spirit of which could still be alive in him as a former kuruc. Likewise, Janosik must have been suspected by the authorities of keeping contact with other insurrectionists. A former Rak6czy officer Viliam Vinkler, who had recruited Janosik into Rak6czy's army some years earlier, was known to be operating secretly in northwestern Slovakia, preparing a new uprising even after the Szatmar Peace of 1711. 48 And when Janosik was asked by his Liptov interrogator if he had contact with exiles in Poland who were "traitors of the country and government of Hungary" (that is, Rak6czy insurrectionists, many of whom had fled north) , he flatly refused to answer. 49 The piecing together of such information sheds new light on Janosik 's illegal activity, suggesting that he and others like him may indeed have had some very serious and far-reaching goals in mind to which they devoted their actions. 50 In October, 1712, both Janosik and Uhorcik were apprehended in one of the many sweeps undertaken by officials to round up former insurrectionists and brigands, and were imprisoned for a few days in the castle at Hrachovo . Malohont county's deputy chief administrator, Pavol Lani, who was an acquaintance of Uhorcik and Janosik, apparently was sympathetic with the Rak6czy uprising and h elped facilitate their release. Trial documents later revealed that in repayment to Lani and his sheriff, Uhorcik and Janosik gave them fox furs and several cheeses. 51 The pursuit, prosecution, and execution of bandits , in hopes of squelching all public disorder surrounding and echoing the �SLOVAKIA 19 Rak.6czy uprising, received top priority among officials of several counties, including Trencin, Turiec, Orava, Liptov, Hont, and Malohont, and also in Spis and Saris. Perhaps it was these general and ongoing investigations, along with information gleaned from the interrogations of other bandits, that led to the second and final apprehension of both Janosik and Uhorcik in February or early March of 1713, most likely in the latter's village of Klenovec. Perhaps information concerning the whereabouts of Janosik and Uhorcik provided voluntarily to authorities by the discontented outlaw Turiak-Huncaga may also have helped lead to their arrest. 52 In shackles they were taken to Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas, imprisoned, and tried, and both executed a month apart. The court records indicate that Janosik's defense lawyer Palagyay tried to argue that his client had killed no one, had left Rak.6czy's army on his own, had served in the Imperial Army , and had become a bandit as a vulnerable young man, and not by his own will, but under the strong influence of Uhorcik. He begged for mercy and for Janosik's release. The prosecutor insisted that not only had Janosik participated in Rak6czy's uprising, but that his thievery alone subjected him to the law of the land, the Tripartitum, and specifically Article 15 on brigands (supported by subsequent imperial decrees) which clearly said that bandits were to be hung, broken on the wheel, impaled on a stake, or decapitated as a warning to others. In the end, the prosecutor was victorious, and Janosik was found guilty and executed. Did Janosik's Gypsy friends come to play while he danced under the gallows before throwing himself on the hook to die! Did he really smoke two pounds of tobacco in his infamous bandit pipe to astound and shame his people's oppressors while hanging on the hook? Probably not, but who can know with certainty? There may indeed have been a number of cruel estate overseers named Sandor, and although there is no mention in historical documents of a special Anicka in his life , Janosik admitted to having given stolen jewelry to certain young Terchova women. That Janosik might have been betrayed by a comrade may well be close to historical truth. His slipping into the authorities' hands on dried peas scattered by an old woman in a tavern, however, rather than an actual event, may be a kind of mythical expression of ultimate �20 SLOVAKIA helplessness on the part of one people held in bondage by another. Clearly, the Janosik of legend and the Janosik of history are different figures, although some traces of the latter peek through the former. The historical Janosik is in some ways no less interesting to us now than the legend. True, the historical figure gave rise to the legend, but where the historical narrative is fragmentary, fails to explain actions, and fails to satisfy curiosity about a famous personality, human longing and creativity step in to flesh out the hero, to contour and recontour him as the need arises. And it is, after all, the legendary figure, dynamic , capable of change, and radiating an irresistible power, which has kept Janosik alive and well through the centuries. NOTES 1 Viera Gasparikova, Povesti o zbojnfkoch zo slovenskych a pol'skych Tatier, Klenotnica slovenskej l'udovej kultury , vol. 11 (Bratislava: VEDA, 1979). Besides this major collection of Janosik tales, Gasparikova has a number of other publications on the subject of brigands . 2 Ladislav Hruby, "Tri storot':ia Janosika," Slovensko, no . 4 (april 1988) , pp. 18-19. 3 From the letter of a personal friend . 4 Andrej Melicher_9ik, JAnoMkovska tradfcia na Slovensku (Bratislava: SAV, 1952), p. 44. 5 Melichert':ik, Juraj JAno§fk: Hrdina protifeudalneho odboja slovenskeho l'udu, 2d ed . rev. and en!. (Martin: Osveta , 1963), p. 167. Translation of the verdict and sentence is mine . - P.K . 6 Rudolf Brta:i'I., "Slovenski zbojnici v Sliezsku i na Morave, " Slezsky sbornik, 64 (1966) , p. 376. 7 Ibid; Melichert':ik, JanoMkovska tradfcia, p . 55 . 8 A. Rendek, "Kde je pochovany Janosik?," Smer, 27 January 1968, p . 5. 9 Eric Hobsbawn, Bandits (New York: Pantheon, 1981). The entire book is devoted to a study of the social bandit phenomenon. 10 See a number of Janosik glass paintings in Irena Pisutova, Painted Dreams: Slovak Folk Painting on Glass in the 20th Century (Bratislava : Tatran, 1983). 11 P.G. Bogatyrev, Slovackie epiceskie rasskazy i liro-epiceskie pesni ("zbojnickij cikl") (Moskva : AN SSSR, 1963), p. 25. 12 See tales in the Gasparikova collection in footnote 1, as well as in the Bogatyrev study in footnote 11, Appendix 1, pp. 150-62. 13 See examples in Jifi Horak a Karel Plicka, Zbojnicke piesne slovenskeho l'udu (Bratislava: Slovenske vydavatel'stvo krasnej literatury, 1965). �SLOVAKIA 21 14 Bogatyrev, pp. 125-29; Melichercik, J(moMkovska tradicia, pp. 93-165; Peter Liba, "Janosikovske premeny, alebo: reflexie o jednej teme," Slovenske pohl'ady, No . 8 (1983), pp. 1-8, 15 Jan Vilikovsky, "Tfi nejstarsi slovenske zbojnicke pisnl'l," Casopis pro vyzkum Slovenska a Podkarpatske Rusi, XI, No. 5 (Bratislava, 1935), pp. 550-73. 16 "Janosik - partizanska brigada," and "Janosik Slovenska, Vol. II, 1978. 17 I.:ubomir Feldek, "Janosik podl'a Vivaldiho, " Smutne komedie (Bratislava: Slovensky spisovatel', 1982), pp . 79-118. ilegalny l::asopis," Encyklopedia Stanislav Stepka, Jaaanosfiik: Sprava o hrdinovi alebo hra na hrdinu (Bratislava: Tatran, 1970) . 19 The script ends when Janosik goes off to join Uhorcik in brigandage . After this, Uhorcik takes center stage with a spontaneous address to the audience, broken by brief interactions with Janosik and other characters . Presumably, the spontaneous address could include any number of topics, depending on the actor and audience ~sponse at the time. 18 20 Among some emigre renderings of Janosik's story are the following: Peter P. Yurchak, The Slovaks (Scranton: Obrana Press, 1946), pp. 75-87; Joseph A. Mikus, Pride in Slovak Origin, 2d ed. enl. (Cleveland: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1973), p. 21; Mikus, Slovakia and the Slovaks (Three Continents Press, 1977), p. 147; George J. Krajsa, "Janosik," Furdek (1978). Krajsa's article on Janosik appears to be only a slightly revised version of Yurchak's. It is interesting to note that the first novel ever about Janosik was written by the Slovak-American newspaper editor and writer Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky in New York City in 1894 and published that year by Slovl1k v Amerike (for information see the issue of February 13, 1896, p . 6) . I am grateful to Mark Stolarik for having provided the information concerning Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky. The first film about Janosik was also produced by Slovak-Americans, the Siakel' brothers, in the early 1920s. MarsallPetrovsky collected many of the legends about Janosik that later appeared in the famous 1936 film , directed by Martin Frie, which starred Pal'o Bielik, tales which Peter Yurchak then incorporated into his book cited above . Bielik himself directed the 1962-63 color film Janosik, containing and embellishing all the legends about the brigand . 21 Brtail, "Neznamy, ale skutocny Juraj Janosik z Terchovej alebo Kral'ovej." Predvoj, 3 March 1966, pp. 8-9 . 22 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p . 61 . According to an early Janosik researcher, Ivan Houdek, the original record of Janosik's interrogations mysteriously vanished in the third quarter of the nineteenth century , but what appears to be an authentic copy, called the "Fassio Janossikiana ," most likely penned by the Slovak writer Janka Kral', remains . The documents of Janosik's interrogations and trial proceedings appear in Melichercik's Janosikovska tradicia (pp . 248-59), and they appear along with a copy of Uhorcik's trial proceedings in Melichercik's Juraj Janosik (pp . 165-76). All further direct references to documentary material in this article are taken from these studies. 23 See Brtail , "Neznamy, ale skutocny Janosik, " p . 9, where he refers to the document of complaint; and Jozef Kocis, Neznamy Janosik (Martin : Osveta, 1986) , pp. 87-90, where he briefly summarizes Jan's interrogation . 24 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p . 62 . 25 Melicherclk , Janosikovska tradicia , p . 41. 2s Melichercik, Juraj Janosik , p . 60 . �22 SLOVAKIA 27 Brta:11., "Neznamy, ale skutofoy JanoMk." His entire article is devoted to correcting this error. 28 Ibid., p. 9. Ibid. 29 Ibid. In Strefoo estate administrator Florek's allegations, Jan Janosik is said to have had four children, baptized from 1699 to 1712 . The birth registry lists no children born to this Jan after 1712, further lending support to the fact that he was the Jan executed in 1713. 31 Ibid. 32 Ibid. 30 33 Even Kocis in his Neznamy Janosik identifies the wrong Juraj Janosik (p . 87, and footnote 150). It is somewhat surprising that Kocis' bibliography does not include any references to the handful of insightful research articles on Janosik by Brtan. 34 Brta:11., "Neznamy , ale skutocny Janosik," p. 9 . Brta:11. suggests that the possibility that Janosik had some schooling may have given rise to the tradition that he was a divinity student. Brtan also offers other possible factors for this legend . As in other Slavic cultures, it was customary for a young married man to live for a time with his family in his father 's house. By at least 1708, however, if not earlier, Janosfk's older brother Jan must have been living with his wife and children in his own home. Court records clearly indicate that Janosik stayed for a time that year with him, rather than with their parents, after leaving Rak6czy's army. 36 Kocis, p. 27 . 35 37 Robert A. Kann, A History of the Habsburg Empire 1526-1918 (Berkeley: University of California Press , 1977). p. 75 . 38 Brtan, "Slovenski zbojnici," p . 377 ; Kocis , p. 29 . Both discuss this issue. Kocis , p. 77. 40 Ibid. , pp . 46-47''. 39 41 42 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p . 67. Kocis, p. 47. Ibid., p . 48; Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p. 67 . 44 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p. 67. 45 See Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, pp. 72-74, for a summary of Janosik's offenses . 43 48 Lists of bandit group members have been compiled from court records. See Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, pp . 71-72; Kocis, pp . 72-74; also Bogatyrev's commentary in Slovackie epiceskie rasskazy, p . 5. 47 See Kocis, pp . 61-62 and pp . 75-76, for Uhorcik's testimony vis-a-vis Janosik's . 48 Ibid., p . 76. 49 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p. 167 (see interrogation question #2) . °Kocis, p . 76. 5 51 52 Ibid., pp . 52-54. Ibid., p . 56. � SLOVAKIA 7 Janosik: Unraveling the Man from the Legend PATRICIA A. KRAFCIK The year 1988 marks the three-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Juraj Janosik, traditionally considered by Slovaks to be their national hero. Preparations for the anniversary celebrations included the publishing of a study entitled Neznamy Janosik (1986) by Jozef Kocis, which expands on previotis knowledge about the historical Janosik and complements scholarly works such as Andrej Melichercik's comprehensive monographJanosikovska tradicia na Slovensku (1952) and the superb folklore studies and collections of Viera Gasparikova. 1 A major work on Janosik by Gasparikova, Janosik: Obraz zbojnika v l'udovej kulture (1988), and a double issue of the journal Slovensky narodopis (3-4, 1988), devoted exclusively to the brigand theme, are also new publications contributing to the celebration. Among the numerous festivities during the course of 1988 has been unveiling of a sevenmeter high sculpture of Janosik by national artist Jan Kulich in Terchova,2 and an exhibit of folk art portraying Janosik, sponsored by the Slovak National Gallery. Appropriately , the exhibit was installed during the summer months in Liptovsky (Svaty) Mikulas - the city in central Slovakia that witnessed Janosik's trial and execution in mid-March of 1713. As one Slovak ethnographer has put it: ''This year all of Slovakia lives with the anniversary of its beloved Janosik .' '3 The question why Janosik, who was one of a number of eighteenth-century Slovak peasants tried and executed as brigands and murderers, emerged as the national hero has long daunted Janosik scholars. Likewise, the historical figure himself has continually escaped scholars and remains today but a shadowy profile sketched in by their research and educated suppositions. While Janosik in folklore is a bold bandit, harassing members of the rich �8 SLOVAKIA and noble classes of society, and always thrilling his people with daring and dangerous exploits, the historical figure , as much as we can know him, appears very human. Clearly, he was a strong, adventurous young man caught up in some of the most tumultuous moments of his nation's life and, like everyone else, subject to the rule of the tough, often brutal authorities occupying Slovak territory at the time . We can best become acquainted with the Juraj Janosik beloved of the Slovak people through Janosik folklore and literary depictions, dramas , films, and folk art and portraiture , for it is through these that he and his exploits are most widely known. But how can we come to know the real Janosik, the one whose birth we celebrate in 1988? For this we must turn to information drawn from a small file of historical documents concerning his life, both directly and indirectly. Juraj Janosik was a young man of twenty-five when he was brought from his cell in the sixteenth-century Vranov castle , just outside Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas, and placed before a county government tribunal in that city on March 17, 1713. He was exhausted from questioning by representatives of both the Liptov and Trencin county governments, and suffered from wounds inflicted during his interrogation by torture which could have included any combination of the following customary practices: fire burns on the skin, penetration of red-hot pincers under the nails , crushing of the bones , stretching on the rack, and the ripping of tendons in the limbs. 4 After enduring all of this , he stood to hear the following verdict and sentence: Because the aforementioned accused , Jura Janosik, having rejected both the commandments of God and the law of the state, two years ago turned to banditry and became a brigand captain; and with his comrades on the highways robbed many people of their belongings ; and as it appears from his own confession, his comrades in his presence shot and killed in an ungodly fashion a priest from Domaniza; and since he also committed other such crimes; therefore , for such grave and evil deeds and transgressions of the law , he is to be thrust onto the hook through the left side and thus as an example to other criminals of this type , he is to be hanged. 5 �SLOVAKIA 9 Janosik's execution was most likely carried out the next day, perhaps in the city square or the market place near today's Janka Kral' Museum which is located in an old mansion once owned by the Hanzely-Seligovy family. 6 Janosik's actual interrogation possibly took place in the back of that mansion which was purchased for such use by Liptov county officials in 1712 or 1713.7 It is thought that his body was removed to a cemetery about four kilometers from Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas in a settlement called Cemice which contained an unhallowed graveyard for insurrectionists (kuruci), many of whom had fallen in the uprising of Prince Ferenz Rakoczy II against the Austrian Habsburgs from 1703-11, in which Janosik had briefly participated. 8 While the execution put an end to Janosik the man, his legend was born in folk tradition which was ripe for the glorification and idealization of a noble brigand who had come to represent revenge for wrongs perpetrated against the common folk under the harsh conditions of the time. The eighteenth century throughout Europe was, in fact, the "golden age" of brigandage, when those discontented with the ever more intolerable burdens of foreign occupation, serfdom, and forced conscription, fled to the hills and formed small outlaw bands for survival and for the harrassment of the wealthy and powerful. 9 These social bandits, considered criminals by the authorities, represented to their people free spirits and were perceived as champions of the poor and oppressed. Conditions in Slovakia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were likewise conducive to the emergence of social brigandage. Slovakia constituted the northern counties of the Hungarian Kingdom, and increasingly restless Slovak serfs served Hungarian overlords , who themselves in turn were held in voluntary or sometimes compulsory allegiance to the Habsburg Court. In these volatile times, Janosik took his place among the social bandits, and within decades of his execution, a rich oral tradition had begun to crystallize around him. Over the past two centuries, through the process of mythicization in folklore and literature, the legendary Janosik has flourished. He and his mountain lads (h6rni chlapci) are celebrated in numerous short folktales , lyric and lyrico-epic songs and ballads, and the plastic arts - ceramics, wood-carving, painting on glass. �10 SLOVAKIA The brigand dance, odzemok, with its exhilirating music and leaping over bonfires, is the most exciting of those performed by Slovak folk ensembles to this day - and reflects the scenarios brilliantly envisioned in artistic depictions of Janosik and his men. 10 The great Russian folklorist and researcher in Czech, Slovak, and Carpatho-Rusyn folklore, Petr Bogatyrev, has stated that the more beloved a folk hero is, the more elaborately is his image embellished with the elements of fairytale magic and fantasy. 11 Janosik demonstrates that this is indeed so, for his figure, especially in the folktales, shares numerous features with international fairytale heroes. He is invulnerable to harm and capture, with supernatural strength residing alternately in his magical belt, magical mountain axe (valaska), magical string , hair , or herbs each acquired from witches or forest nymphs (vily). Like many other heroes, Janosik is nursed by his mother until boyhood, and appears lazy until he obtains his magical objects. In the folktales, Janosik engages in a series of exploits designed to expose and punish the arrogant lords, as well as common passers-by who speak against him , fear him, or lie to him. Like the English Robin Hood , he dons a series of disguises in order to penetrate lordly estates or to patrol the highways incognito, teaching proper morality to cruel noblemen and less than noble common folk alike. 12 Alongside folktales are folksongs and ballads which praise his dashing , masculine beauty, celebrate the free outlaw life , bemoan the struggles and death of the brigand at the gallows , and express his motivatipns for becoming a bandit. 13 Each literary age has also depicted Janosik according to its own needs and tastes. 14 Late eighteenth-century and early nineteenth-century Slovak literature portrays a Janosik derived most likely from market or bazaar song lore Uarmocne p iesn e) as a young brigand wh o tells h is tragic story while languishing in prison. 15 Nineteenth-century Romanticists, especially the Sturovci, extolled Janosik as a symbol of liberation, of Slovak nationalism, of Slovakia itself. Later Romanticism , partly under the influence of foreign models, gradually added love motifs, romance, and more adventure to his legend. In Socialist society, Janosik has been portrayed as an early fighter for the rights of peasants and workers. During World War II Janosik, as the "mountain eagle," was again �SLOVAKIA 11 evoked, this time by partisans who formed themselves into a "Janosik brigade'' in 1944. Other partisans in 1943 and 1944 circulated an underground anti-government journal entitled Janosik. 16 Through changing times and conditions, there has been no doubt about the power of Janosik as a symbol of defiance and freedom. Modern-day Slovakia, particularly in its theater, has dealt somewhat harshly with the noble image of Janosik inherited from folklore and literary traditions. On the contemporary Slovak stage he has been depicted as an earthy, sensual young male, struggling not only with social justice, but also with his desire.for a woman as in the Polish playwright Ernst Bryll's musical, "Mal'ovany na skle" (premiered in October 1974), so popular in Slovakia. In I.:ubomir Feldek's "Janosik podl'a Vivaldiho," 17 Janosik is an attractive if somewhat vacuous young man who achieves fame as a noble brigand by accident when the real fame should have gone to his comrade Uhorcik. Finally, in Stanislav Stepka's "Jaaanosiiik, " 18 he is a weak-willed outlaw whose comrade Uhorcik, a homosexual, outshines him and is the real and delightfully humorous leader of the little band, preoccupied with gathering good-quality loot from victims, especially foreign-made items. 19 In emigre writings, as well as in films about Janosik we see mainly traces of the folklore and the romanticized literary figure. If a "historical" figure is discussed, it is also usually derived from folklore and literary sources, rather than from actual historical documents. Almost any typical reference in emigre literature presents the following story: As a young man, Janosik was studying for the priesthood when he returned home, having learned that his mother was ill. He found her dead, and discovered his father beaten by the overseer of the estate, one Sandor, for having missed work in the fields in order to minister to his dying wife. When his father then dies from the beating, a furious Janosik somehow forces Sandor's own men to beat the overseer as a punishment and warning for the future . Now, as an outlaw, Janosik flees to the hills, gathering about himself a band of mountain lads who harass cruel lords and rob the rich to give to the poor. He is finally betrayed to the authorities by a comrade, jealous of his love for the beautiful Anicka, by being lured to a tavern rendez- �12 SLOVAKIA vous with her. Here he is apprehended by the authorities, not because he cannot fight his way free, but because an old Gypsy woman tosses dried peas to the floor and causes him to lose his balance and slip into the clutches of waiting soldiers. His folklore death - execution by hanging on the hook - while often elaborated by heroic motifs, coincides with his historical death. 20 Faced with this these images of Janosik, we turn finally to the historical prototype of Juraj Janosik. There are three major sources from which we can reconstruct a life of Janosik. First is the baptismal matrika or registry from the town of Varin, about 25 kilometers from Terchova. In this document, as in all baptismal matriky, the priest recorded the date of the baptism rather than the birth, as well as the names of the infant, the parents, and the godparents. Such registries are a rich source of information, but unfortunately, they are not always continuous . This situation has complicated the Janosik history, and has made difficult the reconstruction of the Janosik family tree. 21 The second source of information about the historical Janosik consists of documents surrounding his criminal trial on March 16-17, 1713 , in Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas. These documents include a record of (a) Janosik's interrogation by county authorities , (b) his brief questioning by two robbery victims from Zilina , and (c) his interrogation under torture. 2 2 In the days before the actual trial, Janosik was questioned on a number of points by representatives of Liptov and Trencin counties. The minutes of this first interrogation contain questions presented to Janosik, along with a third-person rendering of the answers he gave, and also indicate which questions he did not answer. Of the twenty-nine questions presented by the Liptov representative, Janosik answered only sixteen, while he made some attempt at a response to all seventeen questions of the Trencin representative. In answer to accusations of robbery by Zilina cloth merchant Jan Sipos and Zilina jeweler Skalka, Janosik admitted robbing both and described what he did with the loot. A brief list of Uhorcik's comrades is also appended to this interrogation. Minutes of Janosik's questioning under torture show him responding to seven items. None of these minutes indicate how long the proceedings lasted. Among the trail documents is also a record of the trial itself which covers the ex- �SLOVAKIA 13 change between the prosecutor, Alexander Cemicky, and the defense lawyer assigned to Janosik, Baltazar Palugyay, about which more will be said later. The third source of documents essential to our acquaintance with the historical Janosik are the records of (a) criminal trial proceedings against Janosik's comrade Tomas Uhorcik which also took place in Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas on April 19-20, only a month after Janosik's execution (Uhorcik was executed on April 21), and (b) a written complaint lodged against Janosik's older brother Jan in November, 1713, by the Strecno estate administrator for the Lowenburgs, Martin Florek. We have as well the subsequent criminal trial proceedings against Jan which took place on December 18-22 of the same year, when he was tried for brigandage by the landowners' court of Count Lowenburg at the Lowenburg residence in Teplicka-on-the-Vah and later hanged. 23 Included in this third category may also be records which show that Terchova, Janosik's hometown, and all of its residents, were challenged in August of 1712 by the Teplicka court to answer charges of secretly aiding outlaws. 24 From the documents we know that Janosik was born in one of the many small mountain settlements, called "U Janosov," located to the east of the city of Zilina near the village of Terchova in the mountainous area of north central Slovakia. The region is known for its thick patches of pine forest, craggy cliffs and caves , and rugged beauty. Janosik's childhood familiarity with this terrain no doubt served him well in his later years as a brigand when he was forced to move quickly and easily through such country and to seek the natural shelter it offered. Since Terchova had no operating church or pastor at that time, but belonged to the Varin parish, Janosik's baptism, as well as those of other children from Terchova and surrounding settlements, is recorded in the Varin baptismal registry. In his Janosfkovska tradfcia, the well-known Janosik scholar Andrej Melichercik refers to an entry in the registry indicating that Juraj Janosik was baptized on January 25, 1688; was the son of Martin Janosik and Anna Cisnikova; and had two younger brothers Martin (baptized 1692) and Adam (baptized 1697). 25 In a later study, Melichercik says that updated research indicated that Janosik also had an older brother, Jan. But here �14 SLOVAKIA Melicherc:ik neither provides a baptismal date for Jan nor explains the absence of a date.26 According to Rudolf Brtan, who himself has analyzed the baptismal registry scrupulously, this Juraj Janosik identified by Melicherc:ik and others is not the famous bandit.27 In the registry, which had been interrupted for several years and then resumed in 1686 by Roman Catholic priest Michal Smutko, Melicherc:ik's Janosik happens to be the first Juraj Janosik listed as baptized. 28 But Brtan says that between this first baptism on January 25, 1688, and September, 1694, there were in fact five Juraj Janosiks listed in the registry, four of whom were baptized between these years and whose ages would have ranged from 19 to 25 at the time of the execution in 1713 - making them all potential candidates for the famous brigand. After grouping parents and children into the four Janosik family units, each of which contained a son Juraj (one Juraj was listed as the father of a son by the same name), Brtan, contrary to Melicherc:ik, points to Juraj, son of Michal Janosik and Barbara Cingel'ova, baptized on May 16, 1688, as the real brigand. 29 He derives his conclusion not only on the basis of the registry but also from crucial information in the documents of 1713 stating the charges brought against Juraj's brother Jan who is described as having, among other children, a daughter Dorota born in 1699. 30 The parents of Melicherc:ik's Janosik, Martin and Anna Cisnikova, according to Brtan, had sons Martin and Adam, and also a son Jan, but he is listed in the registry as having been baptized in 1689, a year after their son Juraj. Thus he was not an older brother to Juraj, whereas the court documents clearly state that Jan was older. Furthermore, he would have been only 10 years old in 1699 hardly old enough to be married and a father. The parents of yet another Juraj Janosik (baptized in 1691), Juraj, Sr., and Anna Chorvatikova, also had a son Jan baptized in 1689. But this date makes him younger than Juraj as well and disqualifies him as the real Juraj's older brother Jan. How then does Brtan convincingly support his contention that Michal and Barbara Cingel'ova are the parents of the real brigand Juraj? Brtan says that Michal and Barbara had a daughter Barbara, listed as having been baptized in April 1691 , as well as Juraj hap- �SLOVAKIA 15 tized May 16, 1688, and believes that they had still another son Jan who was older than Juraj, but whom we do not find in the registry simply because there was no registry between the years 1673 and 1686, precisely the years during which the older brother Jan was born and baptized. 31 Brtan thus explains what Melichercik passed over in silence - why there is no baptismal date for Jan - and he thus rules out Melichercik's couple Martin and Anna Cfsnikova as the brigand Juraj's parents. Brtan traces the source of the mistake to an inaccurate initial identification of Janosik's actual baptismal entry by a Varin priest from whom the information was first requested in the late 1920s. 32 The priest located the first possible Juraj Janosik listed in the registry, which had been resumed after a period by his distant predecessor Smutko, and most likely looked no further. According to Brtan, this erroneously identified Juraj Janosik has been handed down mechanically from scholar to scholar since then. 33 The young Janosik, born sometime in late spring 1688, lived in his family's settlement with his parents, Michal and Barbara. Count Jan Jakub Lowenburg, lord of the Strecno domain to which Terchova belonged, is known to have sent some young boys of peasant origin to school in connection with therecatholicization of the area which he strongly supported and it would not have been impossible that Janosik was given some education. 34 But this is doubtful, Brtan says, since his home was five kilometers from Terchova, a hard road to travel in winter, and since his father might have hesitated to send his youngest son and helper away. The older son Jan was already married with one child and it is not known whether he was still living in his parents' home by 1699 when Janosik was 11 years old.35 In 1703 when Prince Ferenz Rak6czy II, one of a series of Hungarian nobles who over the years had attempted to limit or throw off Austrian Habsburg power, published his proclamation inciting insurrection against Vienna, Janosik was 15 years old. Along with thousands of other Slovak serfs attracted by Rak6czy's repeated calls for liberation from Austrian overloads, freedom for serfs, and religious tolerance - and perhaps caught up as an enthusiastic youth desiring adventure - Janosik joined Rak6czy's troops at the summons of one of his officers, Viliam Vinkler, in �16 SLOVAKIA December 1707. 36 He was later among approximately 400 insurrectionists or kuruci taken prisoner, and subsequently released, after a battle near Trencin on August 3, 1708, which dealt a severe blow to the uprising. By 1711 the insurrection had worn down considerably, and shortly after the death of Austrian Emperor Joseph I, Hungarian leaders of the moderate wing of the insurrectionist movement finally made peace with the new emperor Charles VI at Szatmar. 3 7 Already after the Trencin battle in 1708, however, Janosik returned home and , as his trial records state, lived with his older brother Jan for a short time. Then, either on Lowenburg's insistence or on the initiative of Imperial Army officers who compelled former insurrectionist prisoners with promises and threats to enlist, 38 Janosik joined the Austrian Imperial service and was stationed as a guard at the prison in the Bytca castle. During the heat of the uprising, many brigands, vagrants, deserters, and even students had joined Rak6czy's troops, and in turn toward the end of the uprising and afterwards, former kuruci were identified by county and state authorities as bandits and criminals - so that officially the line between insurrectionists and brigands was essentially obliterated. It was among a group of these imprisoned insurrectionists and bandits at the Bytca castle in prison in 1710 that Janosik met and befriended Tomas Uhorcik of Turzovka, a brigand captain, probably about five years his senior, 39 who had also served for a time in Rak6czy 's army. 40 Court records state that Janosik often showed special favors toward Uhorcik, perhaps easing up prison rules for him, bringing him better fare, or helping him maintain contact with his outlawed comrades. 41 In the autumn of 1710, Janosik helped Uhorcik to escape. Less than a month later, in November of 1710, with living conditions worsening at Bytca castle, illness spreading, and food in dangerously short supply, Janosik's father, probably without much difficulty given these circumstances, paid a sum to the castle commander and had his son released from the Imperial Army. 42 Janosik went home to his parents in Terchova, but apparently met with Uhorcik several times during the winter of 1710-1711, and together with other members of Uhorcik's band, they robbed some merchants in Moravia in September, 1711, tak- �SLOVAKIA 17 ing, among other items, a good deal of cloth. 4 3 This was both Uhorcik's last move as a bandit captain and Janosik's first such action. On St. Michael's Day, September 29, 1711, Uhorcik swore Janosik into the band according to custom. 44 Thus began Janosik's brief career as a brigand. Shortly after Janosik joined the group, Uhorcik left the band, married in October, 1711, and taking the name Martin Mravec, settled in the village of Klenovec in the county of Malohont. Here he became a shepherd, eventually acquiring the reputation of a fine citizen. After this he participated in only one robbery with Janosik and others, the attack on baron Pavol Revay of Turiec. 45 Uhorcik himself handed over leadership of the band to Janosik, who inherited what was a loose-knit and apparently difficult group to control. Membership was fluid, and included Moravians, Poles, and Rusyns , but largely Slovaks, many of whom came from the mountainous Kysuca region of northeastern Slovakia. 46 Janosik spent most of the winter of 1711-12 at Uhorcik's home, since brigands customarily dispersed for the winter, and he resumed his activity during the spring of 1712. He and his men robbed noblemen, merchants, a priest and a pastor's wife on the river Vah , and among others , a Zilina cloth merchant Jan Sipos, a rich Zilina goldsmith and jeweler Skalka, a wealthy Imperial Army officer's wife, Schardonka, and her entourage on the road between Vazec and Vychodna, as well as an Orava squire named Ladislav Zmeskal. They took everything from money, cloth, rich and fancy pieces of clothing, jewelry, weapons, wigs , and wine. When later questioned about the only murder - that of a priest from Domaniza - Janosik denied involvement, stating that two comrades were responsible. In the end, the court was able to insist in the verdict only that Janosik had been present when the murder took place. When Uhorcik was interrogated a month later he confessed things which Janosik himself had clearly withheld during his trial, information which also sheds light on their activity as bandits and on their character. For one thing, Uhorcik demonstrated that there was widespread support of Janosik by naming several persons who helped him , such as the Terchova schoolmaster who gave him shelter and the Terchova innkeeper Rafaj who provided him with �18 SLOVAKIA food.47 Janosik's withholding of such information to protect comrades and supporters characterizes the records of his own interrogation. Secondly, Uhorcik spoke of "insurrectionist booty" which was stored at the home of a comrade, again something which Janosik had never mentioned. He disclosed that Janosik and his men had attacked smaller Imperial Army units in order to capture weapons. Most importantly, Uhorcik revealed that Janosik told him that in Cicmany he had hidden cloth for the clothing of three hundred men, as well as money, and had hidden weapons by a stream near Terchova. Jozef Kocis raises the question whether Janosik was perhaps involved in preparations for some potentially larger armed action connected with the only recently-liquidated uprising , the spirit of which could still be alive in him as a former kuruc. Likewise, Janosik must have been suspected by the authorities of keeping contact with other insurrectionists. A former Rak6czy officer Viliam Vinkler, who had recruited Janosik into Rak6czy's army some years earlier, was known to be operating secretly in northwestern Slovakia, preparing a new uprising even after the Szatmar Peace of 1711. 48 And when Janosik was asked by his Liptov interrogator if he had contact with exiles in Poland who were "traitors of the country and government of Hungary" (that is, Rak6czy insurrectionists, many of whom had fled north) , he flatly refused to answer. 49 The piecing together of such information sheds new light on Janosik 's illegal activity, suggesting that he and others like him may indeed have had some very serious and far-reaching goals in mind to which they devoted their actions. 50 In October, 1712, both Janosik and Uhorcik were apprehended in one of the many sweeps undertaken by officials to round up former insurrectionists and brigands, and were imprisoned for a few days in the castle at Hrachovo . Malohont county's deputy chief administrator, Pavol Lani, who was an acquaintance of Uhorcik and Janosik, apparently was sympathetic with the Rak6czy uprising and h elped facilitate their release. Trial documents later revealed that in repayment to Lani and his sheriff, Uhorcik and Janosik gave them fox furs and several cheeses. 51 The pursuit, prosecution, and execution of bandits , in hopes of squelching all public disorder surrounding and echoing the �SLOVAKIA 19 Rak.6czy uprising, received top priority among officials of several counties, including Trencin, Turiec, Orava, Liptov, Hont, and Malohont, and also in Spis and Saris. Perhaps it was these general and ongoing investigations, along with information gleaned from the interrogations of other bandits, that led to the second and final apprehension of both Janosik and Uhorcik in February or early March of 1713, most likely in the latter's village of Klenovec. Perhaps information concerning the whereabouts of Janosik and Uhorcik provided voluntarily to authorities by the discontented outlaw Turiak-Huncaga may also have helped lead to their arrest. 52 In shackles they were taken to Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas, imprisoned, and tried, and both executed a month apart. The court records indicate that Janosik's defense lawyer Palagyay tried to argue that his client had killed no one, had left Rak.6czy's army on his own, had served in the Imperial Army , and had become a bandit as a vulnerable young man, and not by his own will, but under the strong influence of Uhorcik. He begged for mercy and for Janosik's release. The prosecutor insisted that not only had Janosik participated in Rak6czy's uprising, but that his thievery alone subjected him to the law of the land, the Tripartitum, and specifically Article 15 on brigands (supported by subsequent imperial decrees) which clearly said that bandits were to be hung, broken on the wheel, impaled on a stake, or decapitated as a warning to others. In the end, the prosecutor was victorious, and Janosik was found guilty and executed. Did Janosik's Gypsy friends come to play while he danced under the gallows before throwing himself on the hook to die! Did he really smoke two pounds of tobacco in his infamous bandit pipe to astound and shame his people's oppressors while hanging on the hook? Probably not, but who can know with certainty? There may indeed have been a number of cruel estate overseers named Sandor, and although there is no mention in historical documents of a special Anicka in his life , Janosik admitted to having given stolen jewelry to certain young Terchova women. That Janosik might have been betrayed by a comrade may well be close to historical truth. His slipping into the authorities' hands on dried peas scattered by an old woman in a tavern, however, rather than an actual event, may be a kind of mythical expression of ultimate �20 SLOVAKIA helplessness on the part of one people held in bondage by another. Clearly, the Janosik of legend and the Janosik of history are different figures, although some traces of the latter peek through the former. The historical Janosik is in some ways no less interesting to us now than the legend. True, the historical figure gave rise to the legend, but where the historical narrative is fragmentary, fails to explain actions, and fails to satisfy curiosity about a famous personality, human longing and creativity step in to flesh out the hero, to contour and recontour him as the need arises. And it is, after all, the legendary figure, dynamic , capable of change, and radiating an irresistible power, which has kept Janosik alive and well through the centuries. NOTES 1 Viera Gasparikova, Povesti o zbojnfkoch zo slovenskych a pol'skych Tatier, Klenotnica slovenskej l'udovej kultury , vol. 11 (Bratislava: VEDA, 1979). Besides this major collection of Janosik tales, Gasparikova has a number of other publications on the subject of brigands . 2 Ladislav Hruby, "Tri storot':ia Janosika," Slovensko, no . 4 (april 1988) , pp. 18-19. 3 From the letter of a personal friend . 4 Andrej Melicher_9ik, JAnoMkovska tradfcia na Slovensku (Bratislava: SAV, 1952), p. 44. 5 Melichert':ik, Juraj JAno§fk: Hrdina protifeudalneho odboja slovenskeho l'udu, 2d ed . rev. and en!. (Martin: Osveta , 1963), p. 167. Translation of the verdict and sentence is mine . - P.K . 6 Rudolf Brta:i'I., "Slovenski zbojnici v Sliezsku i na Morave, " Slezsky sbornik, 64 (1966) , p. 376. 7 Ibid; Melichert':ik, JanoMkovska tradfcia, p . 55 . 8 A. Rendek, "Kde je pochovany Janosik?," Smer, 27 January 1968, p . 5. 9 Eric Hobsbawn, Bandits (New York: Pantheon, 1981). The entire book is devoted to a study of the social bandit phenomenon. 10 See a number of Janosik glass paintings in Irena Pisutova, Painted Dreams: Slovak Folk Painting on Glass in the 20th Century (Bratislava : Tatran, 1983). 11 P.G. Bogatyrev, Slovackie epiceskie rasskazy i liro-epiceskie pesni ("zbojnickij cikl") (Moskva : AN SSSR, 1963), p. 25. 12 See tales in the Gasparikova collection in footnote 1, as well as in the Bogatyrev study in footnote 11, Appendix 1, pp. 150-62. 13 See examples in Jifi Horak a Karel Plicka, Zbojnicke piesne slovenskeho l'udu (Bratislava: Slovenske vydavatel'stvo krasnej literatury, 1965). �SLOVAKIA 21 14 Bogatyrev, pp. 125-29; Melichercik, J(moMkovska tradicia, pp. 93-165; Peter Liba, "Janosikovske premeny, alebo: reflexie o jednej teme," Slovenske pohl'ady, No . 8 (1983), pp. 1-8, 15 Jan Vilikovsky, "Tfi nejstarsi slovenske zbojnicke pisnl'l," Casopis pro vyzkum Slovenska a Podkarpatske Rusi, XI, No. 5 (Bratislava, 1935), pp. 550-73. 16 "Janosik - partizanska brigada," and "Janosik Slovenska, Vol. II, 1978. 17 I.:ubomir Feldek, "Janosik podl'a Vivaldiho, " Smutne komedie (Bratislava: Slovensky spisovatel', 1982), pp . 79-118. ilegalny l::asopis," Encyklopedia Stanislav Stepka, Jaaanosfiik: Sprava o hrdinovi alebo hra na hrdinu (Bratislava: Tatran, 1970) . 19 The script ends when Janosik goes off to join Uhorcik in brigandage . After this, Uhorcik takes center stage with a spontaneous address to the audience, broken by brief interactions with Janosik and other characters . Presumably, the spontaneous address could include any number of topics, depending on the actor and audience ~sponse at the time. 18 20 Among some emigre renderings of Janosik's story are the following: Peter P. Yurchak, The Slovaks (Scranton: Obrana Press, 1946), pp. 75-87; Joseph A. Mikus, Pride in Slovak Origin, 2d ed. enl. (Cleveland: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1973), p. 21; Mikus, Slovakia and the Slovaks (Three Continents Press, 1977), p. 147; George J. Krajsa, "Janosik," Furdek (1978). Krajsa's article on Janosik appears to be only a slightly revised version of Yurchak's. It is interesting to note that the first novel ever about Janosik was written by the Slovak-American newspaper editor and writer Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky in New York City in 1894 and published that year by Slovl1k v Amerike (for information see the issue of February 13, 1896, p . 6) . I am grateful to Mark Stolarik for having provided the information concerning Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky. The first film about Janosik was also produced by Slovak-Americans, the Siakel' brothers, in the early 1920s. MarsallPetrovsky collected many of the legends about Janosik that later appeared in the famous 1936 film , directed by Martin Frie, which starred Pal'o Bielik, tales which Peter Yurchak then incorporated into his book cited above . Bielik himself directed the 1962-63 color film Janosik, containing and embellishing all the legends about the brigand . 21 Brtail, "Neznamy, ale skutocny Juraj Janosik z Terchovej alebo Kral'ovej." Predvoj, 3 March 1966, pp. 8-9 . 22 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p . 61 . According to an early Janosik researcher, Ivan Houdek, the original record of Janosik's interrogations mysteriously vanished in the third quarter of the nineteenth century , but what appears to be an authentic copy, called the "Fassio Janossikiana ," most likely penned by the Slovak writer Janka Kral', remains . The documents of Janosik's interrogations and trial proceedings appear in Melichercik's Janosikovska tradicia (pp . 248-59), and they appear along with a copy of Uhorcik's trial proceedings in Melichercik's Juraj Janosik (pp . 165-76). All further direct references to documentary material in this article are taken from these studies. 23 See Brtail , "Neznamy, ale skutocny Janosik, " p . 9, where he refers to the document of complaint; and Jozef Kocis, Neznamy Janosik (Martin : Osveta, 1986) , pp. 87-90, where he briefly summarizes Jan's interrogation . 24 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p . 62 . 25 Melicherclk , Janosikovska tradicia , p . 41. 2s Melichercik, Juraj Janosik , p . 60 . �22 SLOVAKIA 27 Brta:11., "Neznamy, ale skutofoy JanoMk." His entire article is devoted to correcting this error. 28 Ibid., p. 9. Ibid. 29 Ibid. In Strefoo estate administrator Florek's allegations, Jan Janosik is said to have had four children, baptized from 1699 to 1712 . The birth registry lists no children born to this Jan after 1712, further lending support to the fact that he was the Jan executed in 1713. 31 Ibid. 32 Ibid. 30 33 Even Kocis in his Neznamy Janosik identifies the wrong Juraj Janosik (p . 87, and footnote 150). It is somewhat surprising that Kocis' bibliography does not include any references to the handful of insightful research articles on Janosik by Brtan. 34 Brta:11., "Neznamy , ale skutocny Janosik," p. 9 . Brta:11. suggests that the possibility that Janosik had some schooling may have given rise to the tradition that he was a divinity student. Brtan also offers other possible factors for this legend . As in other Slavic cultures, it was customary for a young married man to live for a time with his family in his father 's house. By at least 1708, however, if not earlier, Janosfk's older brother Jan must have been living with his wife and children in his own home. Court records clearly indicate that Janosik stayed for a time that year with him, rather than with their parents, after leaving Rak6czy's army. 36 Kocis, p. 27 . 35 37 Robert A. Kann, A History of the Habsburg Empire 1526-1918 (Berkeley: University of California Press , 1977). p. 75 . 38 Brtan, "Slovenski zbojnici," p . 377 ; Kocis , p. 29 . Both discuss this issue. Kocis , p. 77. 40 Ibid. , pp . 46-47''. 39 41 42 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p . 67. Kocis, p. 47. Ibid., p . 48; Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p. 67 . 44 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p. 67. 45 See Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, pp. 72-74, for a summary of Janosik's offenses . 43 48 Lists of bandit group members have been compiled from court records. See Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, pp . 71-72; Kocis, pp . 72-74; also Bogatyrev's commentary in Slovackie epiceskie rasskazy, p . 5. 47 See Kocis, pp . 61-62 and pp . 75-76, for Uhorcik's testimony vis-a-vis Janosik's . 48 Ibid., p . 76. 49 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p. 167 (see interrogation question #2) . °Kocis, p . 76. 5 51 52 Ibid., pp . 52-54. Ibid., p . 56. � 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 1987-88, Vol. 33 Description An account of the resource Vol. 33 (No. 60-61), 1987-88. 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 1987-88 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 7 Janosik: Unraveling the Man from the Legend PATRICIA A. KRAFCIK The year 1988 marks the three-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Juraj Janosik, traditionally considered by Slovaks to be their national hero. Preparations for the anniversary celebrations included the publishing of a study entitled Neznamy Janosik (1986) by Jozef Kocis, which expands on previotis knowledge about the historical Janosik and complements scholarly works such as Andrej Melichercik's comprehensive monographJanosikovska tradicia na Slovensku (1952) and the superb folklore studies and collections of Viera Gasparikova. 1 A major work on Janosik by Gasparikova, Janosik: Obraz zbojnika v l'udovej kulture (1988), and a double issue of the journal Slovensky narodopis (3-4, 1988), devoted exclusively to the brigand theme, are also new publications contributing to the celebration. Among the numerous festivities during the course of 1988 has been unveiling of a sevenmeter high sculpture of Janosik by national artist Jan Kulich in Terchova,2 and an exhibit of folk art portraying Janosik, sponsored by the Slovak National Gallery. Appropriately , the exhibit was installed during the summer months in Liptovsky (Svaty) Mikulas - the city in central Slovakia that witnessed Janosik's trial and execution in mid-March of 1713. As one Slovak ethnographer has put it: ''This year all of Slovakia lives with the anniversary of its beloved Janosik .' '3 The question why Janosik, who was one of a number of eighteenth-century Slovak peasants tried and executed as brigands and murderers, emerged as the national hero has long daunted Janosik scholars. Likewise, the historical figure himself has continually escaped scholars and remains today but a shadowy profile sketched in by their research and educated suppositions. While Janosik in folklore is a bold bandit, harassing members of the rich 8 SLOVAKIA and noble classes of society, and always thrilling his people with daring and dangerous exploits, the historical figure , as much as we can know him, appears very human. Clearly, he was a strong, adventurous young man caught up in some of the most tumultuous moments of his nation's life and, like everyone else, subject to the rule of the tough, often brutal authorities occupying Slovak territory at the time . We can best become acquainted with the Juraj Janosik beloved of the Slovak people through Janosik folklore and literary depictions, dramas , films, and folk art and portraiture , for it is through these that he and his exploits are most widely known. But how can we come to know the real Janosik, the one whose birth we celebrate in 1988? For this we must turn to information drawn from a small file of historical documents concerning his life, both directly and indirectly. Juraj Janosik was a young man of twenty-five when he was brought from his cell in the sixteenth-century Vranov castle , just outside Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas, and placed before a county government tribunal in that city on March 17, 1713. He was exhausted from questioning by representatives of both the Liptov and Trencin county governments, and suffered from wounds inflicted during his interrogation by torture which could have included any combination of the following customary practices: fire burns on the skin, penetration of red-hot pincers under the nails , crushing of the bones , stretching on the rack, and the ripping of tendons in the limbs. 4 After enduring all of this , he stood to hear the following verdict and sentence: Because the aforementioned accused , Jura Janosik, having rejected both the commandments of God and the law of the state, two years ago turned to banditry and became a brigand captain; and with his comrades on the highways robbed many people of their belongings ; and as it appears from his own confession, his comrades in his presence shot and killed in an ungodly fashion a priest from Domaniza; and since he also committed other such crimes; therefore , for such grave and evil deeds and transgressions of the law , he is to be thrust onto the hook through the left side and thus as an example to other criminals of this type , he is to be hanged. 5 SLOVAKIA 9 Janosik's execution was most likely carried out the next day, perhaps in the city square or the market place near today's Janka Kral' Museum which is located in an old mansion once owned by the Hanzely-Seligovy family. 6 Janosik's actual interrogation possibly took place in the back of that mansion which was purchased for such use by Liptov county officials in 1712 or 1713.7 It is thought that his body was removed to a cemetery about four kilometers from Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas in a settlement called Cemice which contained an unhallowed graveyard for insurrectionists (kuruci), many of whom had fallen in the uprising of Prince Ferenz Rakoczy II against the Austrian Habsburgs from 1703-11, in which Janosik had briefly participated. 8 While the execution put an end to Janosik the man, his legend was born in folk tradition which was ripe for the glorification and idealization of a noble brigand who had come to represent revenge for wrongs perpetrated against the common folk under the harsh conditions of the time. The eighteenth century throughout Europe was, in fact, the "golden age" of brigandage, when those discontented with the ever more intolerable burdens of foreign occupation, serfdom, and forced conscription, fled to the hills and formed small outlaw bands for survival and for the harrassment of the wealthy and powerful. 9 These social bandits, considered criminals by the authorities, represented to their people free spirits and were perceived as champions of the poor and oppressed. Conditions in Slovakia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were likewise conducive to the emergence of social brigandage. Slovakia constituted the northern counties of the Hungarian Kingdom, and increasingly restless Slovak serfs served Hungarian overlords , who themselves in turn were held in voluntary or sometimes compulsory allegiance to the Habsburg Court. In these volatile times, Janosik took his place among the social bandits, and within decades of his execution, a rich oral tradition had begun to crystallize around him. Over the past two centuries, through the process of mythicization in folklore and literature, the legendary Janosik has flourished. He and his mountain lads (h6rni chlapci) are celebrated in numerous short folktales , lyric and lyrico-epic songs and ballads, and the plastic arts - ceramics, wood-carving, painting on glass. 10 SLOVAKIA The brigand dance, odzemok, with its exhilirating music and leaping over bonfires, is the most exciting of those performed by Slovak folk ensembles to this day - and reflects the scenarios brilliantly envisioned in artistic depictions of Janosik and his men. 10 The great Russian folklorist and researcher in Czech, Slovak, and Carpatho-Rusyn folklore, Petr Bogatyrev, has stated that the more beloved a folk hero is, the more elaborately is his image embellished with the elements of fairytale magic and fantasy. 11 Janosik demonstrates that this is indeed so, for his figure, especially in the folktales, shares numerous features with international fairytale heroes. He is invulnerable to harm and capture, with supernatural strength residing alternately in his magical belt, magical mountain axe (valaska), magical string , hair , or herbs each acquired from witches or forest nymphs (vily). Like many other heroes, Janosik is nursed by his mother until boyhood, and appears lazy until he obtains his magical objects. In the folktales, Janosik engages in a series of exploits designed to expose and punish the arrogant lords, as well as common passers-by who speak against him , fear him, or lie to him. Like the English Robin Hood , he dons a series of disguises in order to penetrate lordly estates or to patrol the highways incognito, teaching proper morality to cruel noblemen and less than noble common folk alike. 12 Alongside folktales are folksongs and ballads which praise his dashing , masculine beauty, celebrate the free outlaw life , bemoan the struggles and death of the brigand at the gallows , and express his motivatipns for becoming a bandit. 13 Each literary age has also depicted Janosik according to its own needs and tastes. 14 Late eighteenth-century and early nineteenth-century Slovak literature portrays a Janosik derived most likely from market or bazaar song lore Uarmocne p iesn e) as a young brigand wh o tells h is tragic story while languishing in prison. 15 Nineteenth-century Romanticists, especially the Sturovci, extolled Janosik as a symbol of liberation, of Slovak nationalism, of Slovakia itself. Later Romanticism , partly under the influence of foreign models, gradually added love motifs, romance, and more adventure to his legend. In Socialist society, Janosik has been portrayed as an early fighter for the rights of peasants and workers. During World War II Janosik, as the "mountain eagle," was again SLOVAKIA 11 evoked, this time by partisans who formed themselves into a "Janosik brigade'' in 1944. Other partisans in 1943 and 1944 circulated an underground anti-government journal entitled Janosik. 16 Through changing times and conditions, there has been no doubt about the power of Janosik as a symbol of defiance and freedom. Modern-day Slovakia, particularly in its theater, has dealt somewhat harshly with the noble image of Janosik inherited from folklore and literary traditions. On the contemporary Slovak stage he has been depicted as an earthy, sensual young male, struggling not only with social justice, but also with his desire.for a woman as in the Polish playwright Ernst Bryll's musical, "Mal'ovany na skle" (premiered in October 1974), so popular in Slovakia. In I.:ubomir Feldek's "Janosik podl'a Vivaldiho," 17 Janosik is an attractive if somewhat vacuous young man who achieves fame as a noble brigand by accident when the real fame should have gone to his comrade Uhorcik. Finally, in Stanislav Stepka's "Jaaanosiiik, " 18 he is a weak-willed outlaw whose comrade Uhorcik, a homosexual, outshines him and is the real and delightfully humorous leader of the little band, preoccupied with gathering good-quality loot from victims, especially foreign-made items. 19 In emigre writings, as well as in films about Janosik we see mainly traces of the folklore and the romanticized literary figure. If a "historical" figure is discussed, it is also usually derived from folklore and literary sources, rather than from actual historical documents. Almost any typical reference in emigre literature presents the following story: As a young man, Janosik was studying for the priesthood when he returned home, having learned that his mother was ill. He found her dead, and discovered his father beaten by the overseer of the estate, one Sandor, for having missed work in the fields in order to minister to his dying wife. When his father then dies from the beating, a furious Janosik somehow forces Sandor's own men to beat the overseer as a punishment and warning for the future . Now, as an outlaw, Janosik flees to the hills, gathering about himself a band of mountain lads who harass cruel lords and rob the rich to give to the poor. He is finally betrayed to the authorities by a comrade, jealous of his love for the beautiful Anicka, by being lured to a tavern rendez- 12 SLOVAKIA vous with her. Here he is apprehended by the authorities, not because he cannot fight his way free, but because an old Gypsy woman tosses dried peas to the floor and causes him to lose his balance and slip into the clutches of waiting soldiers. His folklore death - execution by hanging on the hook - while often elaborated by heroic motifs, coincides with his historical death. 20 Faced with this these images of Janosik, we turn finally to the historical prototype of Juraj Janosik. There are three major sources from which we can reconstruct a life of Janosik. First is the baptismal matrika or registry from the town of Varin, about 25 kilometers from Terchova. In this document, as in all baptismal matriky, the priest recorded the date of the baptism rather than the birth, as well as the names of the infant, the parents, and the godparents. Such registries are a rich source of information, but unfortunately, they are not always continuous . This situation has complicated the Janosik history, and has made difficult the reconstruction of the Janosik family tree. 21 The second source of information about the historical Janosik consists of documents surrounding his criminal trial on March 16-17, 1713 , in Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas. These documents include a record of (a) Janosik's interrogation by county authorities , (b) his brief questioning by two robbery victims from Zilina , and (c) his interrogation under torture. 2 2 In the days before the actual trial, Janosik was questioned on a number of points by representatives of Liptov and Trencin counties. The minutes of this first interrogation contain questions presented to Janosik, along with a third-person rendering of the answers he gave, and also indicate which questions he did not answer. Of the twenty-nine questions presented by the Liptov representative, Janosik answered only sixteen, while he made some attempt at a response to all seventeen questions of the Trencin representative. In answer to accusations of robbery by Zilina cloth merchant Jan Sipos and Zilina jeweler Skalka, Janosik admitted robbing both and described what he did with the loot. A brief list of Uhorcik's comrades is also appended to this interrogation. Minutes of Janosik's questioning under torture show him responding to seven items. None of these minutes indicate how long the proceedings lasted. Among the trail documents is also a record of the trial itself which covers the ex- SLOVAKIA 13 change between the prosecutor, Alexander Cemicky, and the defense lawyer assigned to Janosik, Baltazar Palugyay, about which more will be said later. The third source of documents essential to our acquaintance with the historical Janosik are the records of (a) criminal trial proceedings against Janosik's comrade Tomas Uhorcik which also took place in Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas on April 19-20, only a month after Janosik's execution (Uhorcik was executed on April 21), and (b) a written complaint lodged against Janosik's older brother Jan in November, 1713, by the Strecno estate administrator for the Lowenburgs, Martin Florek. We have as well the subsequent criminal trial proceedings against Jan which took place on December 18-22 of the same year, when he was tried for brigandage by the landowners' court of Count Lowenburg at the Lowenburg residence in Teplicka-on-the-Vah and later hanged. 23 Included in this third category may also be records which show that Terchova, Janosik's hometown, and all of its residents, were challenged in August of 1712 by the Teplicka court to answer charges of secretly aiding outlaws. 24 From the documents we know that Janosik was born in one of the many small mountain settlements, called "U Janosov," located to the east of the city of Zilina near the village of Terchova in the mountainous area of north central Slovakia. The region is known for its thick patches of pine forest, craggy cliffs and caves , and rugged beauty. Janosik's childhood familiarity with this terrain no doubt served him well in his later years as a brigand when he was forced to move quickly and easily through such country and to seek the natural shelter it offered. Since Terchova had no operating church or pastor at that time, but belonged to the Varin parish, Janosik's baptism, as well as those of other children from Terchova and surrounding settlements, is recorded in the Varin baptismal registry. In his Janosfkovska tradfcia, the well-known Janosik scholar Andrej Melichercik refers to an entry in the registry indicating that Juraj Janosik was baptized on January 25, 1688; was the son of Martin Janosik and Anna Cisnikova; and had two younger brothers Martin (baptized 1692) and Adam (baptized 1697). 25 In a later study, Melichercik says that updated research indicated that Janosik also had an older brother, Jan. But here 14 SLOVAKIA Melicherc:ik neither provides a baptismal date for Jan nor explains the absence of a date.26 According to Rudolf Brtan, who himself has analyzed the baptismal registry scrupulously, this Juraj Janosik identified by Melicherc:ik and others is not the famous bandit.27 In the registry, which had been interrupted for several years and then resumed in 1686 by Roman Catholic priest Michal Smutko, Melicherc:ik's Janosik happens to be the first Juraj Janosik listed as baptized. 28 But Brtan says that between this first baptism on January 25, 1688, and September, 1694, there were in fact five Juraj Janosiks listed in the registry, four of whom were baptized between these years and whose ages would have ranged from 19 to 25 at the time of the execution in 1713 - making them all potential candidates for the famous brigand. After grouping parents and children into the four Janosik family units, each of which contained a son Juraj (one Juraj was listed as the father of a son by the same name), Brtan, contrary to Melicherc:ik, points to Juraj, son of Michal Janosik and Barbara Cingel'ova, baptized on May 16, 1688, as the real brigand. 29 He derives his conclusion not only on the basis of the registry but also from crucial information in the documents of 1713 stating the charges brought against Juraj's brother Jan who is described as having, among other children, a daughter Dorota born in 1699. 30 The parents of Melicherc:ik's Janosik, Martin and Anna Cisnikova, according to Brtan, had sons Martin and Adam, and also a son Jan, but he is listed in the registry as having been baptized in 1689, a year after their son Juraj. Thus he was not an older brother to Juraj, whereas the court documents clearly state that Jan was older. Furthermore, he would have been only 10 years old in 1699 hardly old enough to be married and a father. The parents of yet another Juraj Janosik (baptized in 1691), Juraj, Sr., and Anna Chorvatikova, also had a son Jan baptized in 1689. But this date makes him younger than Juraj as well and disqualifies him as the real Juraj's older brother Jan. How then does Brtan convincingly support his contention that Michal and Barbara Cingel'ova are the parents of the real brigand Juraj? Brtan says that Michal and Barbara had a daughter Barbara, listed as having been baptized in April 1691 , as well as Juraj hap- SLOVAKIA 15 tized May 16, 1688, and believes that they had still another son Jan who was older than Juraj, but whom we do not find in the registry simply because there was no registry between the years 1673 and 1686, precisely the years during which the older brother Jan was born and baptized. 31 Brtan thus explains what Melichercik passed over in silence - why there is no baptismal date for Jan - and he thus rules out Melichercik's couple Martin and Anna Cfsnikova as the brigand Juraj's parents. Brtan traces the source of the mistake to an inaccurate initial identification of Janosik's actual baptismal entry by a Varin priest from whom the information was first requested in the late 1920s. 32 The priest located the first possible Juraj Janosik listed in the registry, which had been resumed after a period by his distant predecessor Smutko, and most likely looked no further. According to Brtan, this erroneously identified Juraj Janosik has been handed down mechanically from scholar to scholar since then. 33 The young Janosik, born sometime in late spring 1688, lived in his family's settlement with his parents, Michal and Barbara. Count Jan Jakub Lowenburg, lord of the Strecno domain to which Terchova belonged, is known to have sent some young boys of peasant origin to school in connection with therecatholicization of the area which he strongly supported and it would not have been impossible that Janosik was given some education. 34 But this is doubtful, Brtan says, since his home was five kilometers from Terchova, a hard road to travel in winter, and since his father might have hesitated to send his youngest son and helper away. The older son Jan was already married with one child and it is not known whether he was still living in his parents' home by 1699 when Janosik was 11 years old.35 In 1703 when Prince Ferenz Rak6czy II, one of a series of Hungarian nobles who over the years had attempted to limit or throw off Austrian Habsburg power, published his proclamation inciting insurrection against Vienna, Janosik was 15 years old. Along with thousands of other Slovak serfs attracted by Rak6czy's repeated calls for liberation from Austrian overloads, freedom for serfs, and religious tolerance - and perhaps caught up as an enthusiastic youth desiring adventure - Janosik joined Rak6czy's troops at the summons of one of his officers, Viliam Vinkler, in 16 SLOVAKIA December 1707. 36 He was later among approximately 400 insurrectionists or kuruci taken prisoner, and subsequently released, after a battle near Trencin on August 3, 1708, which dealt a severe blow to the uprising. By 1711 the insurrection had worn down considerably, and shortly after the death of Austrian Emperor Joseph I, Hungarian leaders of the moderate wing of the insurrectionist movement finally made peace with the new emperor Charles VI at Szatmar. 3 7 Already after the Trencin battle in 1708, however, Janosik returned home and , as his trial records state, lived with his older brother Jan for a short time. Then, either on Lowenburg's insistence or on the initiative of Imperial Army officers who compelled former insurrectionist prisoners with promises and threats to enlist, 38 Janosik joined the Austrian Imperial service and was stationed as a guard at the prison in the Bytca castle. During the heat of the uprising, many brigands, vagrants, deserters, and even students had joined Rak6czy's troops, and in turn toward the end of the uprising and afterwards, former kuruci were identified by county and state authorities as bandits and criminals - so that officially the line between insurrectionists and brigands was essentially obliterated. It was among a group of these imprisoned insurrectionists and bandits at the Bytca castle in prison in 1710 that Janosik met and befriended Tomas Uhorcik of Turzovka, a brigand captain, probably about five years his senior, 39 who had also served for a time in Rak6czy 's army. 40 Court records state that Janosik often showed special favors toward Uhorcik, perhaps easing up prison rules for him, bringing him better fare, or helping him maintain contact with his outlawed comrades. 41 In the autumn of 1710, Janosik helped Uhorcik to escape. Less than a month later, in November of 1710, with living conditions worsening at Bytca castle, illness spreading, and food in dangerously short supply, Janosik's father, probably without much difficulty given these circumstances, paid a sum to the castle commander and had his son released from the Imperial Army. 42 Janosik went home to his parents in Terchova, but apparently met with Uhorcik several times during the winter of 1710-1711, and together with other members of Uhorcik's band, they robbed some merchants in Moravia in September, 1711, tak- SLOVAKIA 17 ing, among other items, a good deal of cloth. 4 3 This was both Uhorcik's last move as a bandit captain and Janosik's first such action. On St. Michael's Day, September 29, 1711, Uhorcik swore Janosik into the band according to custom. 44 Thus began Janosik's brief career as a brigand. Shortly after Janosik joined the group, Uhorcik left the band, married in October, 1711, and taking the name Martin Mravec, settled in the village of Klenovec in the county of Malohont. Here he became a shepherd, eventually acquiring the reputation of a fine citizen. After this he participated in only one robbery with Janosik and others, the attack on baron Pavol Revay of Turiec. 45 Uhorcik himself handed over leadership of the band to Janosik, who inherited what was a loose-knit and apparently difficult group to control. Membership was fluid, and included Moravians, Poles, and Rusyns , but largely Slovaks, many of whom came from the mountainous Kysuca region of northeastern Slovakia. 46 Janosik spent most of the winter of 1711-12 at Uhorcik's home, since brigands customarily dispersed for the winter, and he resumed his activity during the spring of 1712. He and his men robbed noblemen, merchants, a priest and a pastor's wife on the river Vah , and among others , a Zilina cloth merchant Jan Sipos, a rich Zilina goldsmith and jeweler Skalka, a wealthy Imperial Army officer's wife, Schardonka, and her entourage on the road between Vazec and Vychodna, as well as an Orava squire named Ladislav Zmeskal. They took everything from money, cloth, rich and fancy pieces of clothing, jewelry, weapons, wigs , and wine. When later questioned about the only murder - that of a priest from Domaniza - Janosik denied involvement, stating that two comrades were responsible. In the end, the court was able to insist in the verdict only that Janosik had been present when the murder took place. When Uhorcik was interrogated a month later he confessed things which Janosik himself had clearly withheld during his trial, information which also sheds light on their activity as bandits and on their character. For one thing, Uhorcik demonstrated that there was widespread support of Janosik by naming several persons who helped him , such as the Terchova schoolmaster who gave him shelter and the Terchova innkeeper Rafaj who provided him with 18 SLOVAKIA food.47 Janosik's withholding of such information to protect comrades and supporters characterizes the records of his own interrogation. Secondly, Uhorcik spoke of "insurrectionist booty" which was stored at the home of a comrade, again something which Janosik had never mentioned. He disclosed that Janosik and his men had attacked smaller Imperial Army units in order to capture weapons. Most importantly, Uhorcik revealed that Janosik told him that in Cicmany he had hidden cloth for the clothing of three hundred men, as well as money, and had hidden weapons by a stream near Terchova. Jozef Kocis raises the question whether Janosik was perhaps involved in preparations for some potentially larger armed action connected with the only recently-liquidated uprising , the spirit of which could still be alive in him as a former kuruc. Likewise, Janosik must have been suspected by the authorities of keeping contact with other insurrectionists. A former Rak6czy officer Viliam Vinkler, who had recruited Janosik into Rak6czy's army some years earlier, was known to be operating secretly in northwestern Slovakia, preparing a new uprising even after the Szatmar Peace of 1711. 48 And when Janosik was asked by his Liptov interrogator if he had contact with exiles in Poland who were "traitors of the country and government of Hungary" (that is, Rak6czy insurrectionists, many of whom had fled north) , he flatly refused to answer. 49 The piecing together of such information sheds new light on Janosik 's illegal activity, suggesting that he and others like him may indeed have had some very serious and far-reaching goals in mind to which they devoted their actions. 50 In October, 1712, both Janosik and Uhorcik were apprehended in one of the many sweeps undertaken by officials to round up former insurrectionists and brigands, and were imprisoned for a few days in the castle at Hrachovo . Malohont county's deputy chief administrator, Pavol Lani, who was an acquaintance of Uhorcik and Janosik, apparently was sympathetic with the Rak6czy uprising and h elped facilitate their release. Trial documents later revealed that in repayment to Lani and his sheriff, Uhorcik and Janosik gave them fox furs and several cheeses. 51 The pursuit, prosecution, and execution of bandits , in hopes of squelching all public disorder surrounding and echoing the SLOVAKIA 19 Rak.6czy uprising, received top priority among officials of several counties, including Trencin, Turiec, Orava, Liptov, Hont, and Malohont, and also in Spis and Saris. Perhaps it was these general and ongoing investigations, along with information gleaned from the interrogations of other bandits, that led to the second and final apprehension of both Janosik and Uhorcik in February or early March of 1713, most likely in the latter's village of Klenovec. Perhaps information concerning the whereabouts of Janosik and Uhorcik provided voluntarily to authorities by the discontented outlaw Turiak-Huncaga may also have helped lead to their arrest. 52 In shackles they were taken to Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas, imprisoned, and tried, and both executed a month apart. The court records indicate that Janosik's defense lawyer Palagyay tried to argue that his client had killed no one, had left Rak.6czy's army on his own, had served in the Imperial Army , and had become a bandit as a vulnerable young man, and not by his own will, but under the strong influence of Uhorcik. He begged for mercy and for Janosik's release. The prosecutor insisted that not only had Janosik participated in Rak6czy's uprising, but that his thievery alone subjected him to the law of the land, the Tripartitum, and specifically Article 15 on brigands (supported by subsequent imperial decrees) which clearly said that bandits were to be hung, broken on the wheel, impaled on a stake, or decapitated as a warning to others. In the end, the prosecutor was victorious, and Janosik was found guilty and executed. Did Janosik's Gypsy friends come to play while he danced under the gallows before throwing himself on the hook to die! Did he really smoke two pounds of tobacco in his infamous bandit pipe to astound and shame his people's oppressors while hanging on the hook? Probably not, but who can know with certainty? There may indeed have been a number of cruel estate overseers named Sandor, and although there is no mention in historical documents of a special Anicka in his life , Janosik admitted to having given stolen jewelry to certain young Terchova women. That Janosik might have been betrayed by a comrade may well be close to historical truth. His slipping into the authorities' hands on dried peas scattered by an old woman in a tavern, however, rather than an actual event, may be a kind of mythical expression of ultimate 20 SLOVAKIA helplessness on the part of one people held in bondage by another. Clearly, the Janosik of legend and the Janosik of history are different figures, although some traces of the latter peek through the former. The historical Janosik is in some ways no less interesting to us now than the legend. True, the historical figure gave rise to the legend, but where the historical narrative is fragmentary, fails to explain actions, and fails to satisfy curiosity about a famous personality, human longing and creativity step in to flesh out the hero, to contour and recontour him as the need arises. And it is, after all, the legendary figure, dynamic , capable of change, and radiating an irresistible power, which has kept Janosik alive and well through the centuries. NOTES 1 Viera Gasparikova, Povesti o zbojnfkoch zo slovenskych a pol'skych Tatier, Klenotnica slovenskej l'udovej kultury , vol. 11 (Bratislava: VEDA, 1979). Besides this major collection of Janosik tales, Gasparikova has a number of other publications on the subject of brigands . 2 Ladislav Hruby, "Tri storot':ia Janosika," Slovensko, no . 4 (april 1988) , pp. 18-19. 3 From the letter of a personal friend . 4 Andrej Melicher_9ik, JAnoMkovska tradfcia na Slovensku (Bratislava: SAV, 1952), p. 44. 5 Melichert':ik, Juraj JAno§fk: Hrdina protifeudalneho odboja slovenskeho l'udu, 2d ed . rev. and en!. (Martin: Osveta , 1963), p. 167. Translation of the verdict and sentence is mine . - P.K . 6 Rudolf Brta:i'I., "Slovenski zbojnici v Sliezsku i na Morave, " Slezsky sbornik, 64 (1966) , p. 376. 7 Ibid; Melichert':ik, JanoMkovska tradfcia, p . 55 . 8 A. Rendek, "Kde je pochovany Janosik?," Smer, 27 January 1968, p . 5. 9 Eric Hobsbawn, Bandits (New York: Pantheon, 1981). The entire book is devoted to a study of the social bandit phenomenon. 10 See a number of Janosik glass paintings in Irena Pisutova, Painted Dreams: Slovak Folk Painting on Glass in the 20th Century (Bratislava : Tatran, 1983). 11 P.G. Bogatyrev, Slovackie epiceskie rasskazy i liro-epiceskie pesni ("zbojnickij cikl") (Moskva : AN SSSR, 1963), p. 25. 12 See tales in the Gasparikova collection in footnote 1, as well as in the Bogatyrev study in footnote 11, Appendix 1, pp. 150-62. 13 See examples in Jifi Horak a Karel Plicka, Zbojnicke piesne slovenskeho l'udu (Bratislava: Slovenske vydavatel'stvo krasnej literatury, 1965). SLOVAKIA 21 14 Bogatyrev, pp. 125-29; Melichercik, J(moMkovska tradicia, pp. 93-165; Peter Liba, "Janosikovske premeny, alebo: reflexie o jednej teme," Slovenske pohl'ady, No . 8 (1983), pp. 1-8, 15 Jan Vilikovsky, "Tfi nejstarsi slovenske zbojnicke pisnl'l," Casopis pro vyzkum Slovenska a Podkarpatske Rusi, XI, No. 5 (Bratislava, 1935), pp. 550-73. 16 "Janosik - partizanska brigada," and "Janosik Slovenska, Vol. II, 1978. 17 I.:ubomir Feldek, "Janosik podl'a Vivaldiho, " Smutne komedie (Bratislava: Slovensky spisovatel', 1982), pp . 79-118. ilegalny l::asopis," Encyklopedia Stanislav Stepka, Jaaanosfiik: Sprava o hrdinovi alebo hra na hrdinu (Bratislava: Tatran, 1970) . 19 The script ends when Janosik goes off to join Uhorcik in brigandage . After this, Uhorcik takes center stage with a spontaneous address to the audience, broken by brief interactions with Janosik and other characters . Presumably, the spontaneous address could include any number of topics, depending on the actor and audience ~sponse at the time. 18 20 Among some emigre renderings of Janosik's story are the following: Peter P. Yurchak, The Slovaks (Scranton: Obrana Press, 1946), pp. 75-87; Joseph A. Mikus, Pride in Slovak Origin, 2d ed. enl. (Cleveland: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1973), p. 21; Mikus, Slovakia and the Slovaks (Three Continents Press, 1977), p. 147; George J. Krajsa, "Janosik," Furdek (1978). Krajsa's article on Janosik appears to be only a slightly revised version of Yurchak's. It is interesting to note that the first novel ever about Janosik was written by the Slovak-American newspaper editor and writer Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky in New York City in 1894 and published that year by Slovl1k v Amerike (for information see the issue of February 13, 1896, p . 6) . I am grateful to Mark Stolarik for having provided the information concerning Gustav Marsall-Petrovsky. The first film about Janosik was also produced by Slovak-Americans, the Siakel' brothers, in the early 1920s. MarsallPetrovsky collected many of the legends about Janosik that later appeared in the famous 1936 film , directed by Martin Frie, which starred Pal'o Bielik, tales which Peter Yurchak then incorporated into his book cited above . Bielik himself directed the 1962-63 color film Janosik, containing and embellishing all the legends about the brigand . 21 Brtail, "Neznamy, ale skutocny Juraj Janosik z Terchovej alebo Kral'ovej." Predvoj, 3 March 1966, pp. 8-9 . 22 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p . 61 . According to an early Janosik researcher, Ivan Houdek, the original record of Janosik's interrogations mysteriously vanished in the third quarter of the nineteenth century , but what appears to be an authentic copy, called the "Fassio Janossikiana ," most likely penned by the Slovak writer Janka Kral', remains . The documents of Janosik's interrogations and trial proceedings appear in Melichercik's Janosikovska tradicia (pp . 248-59), and they appear along with a copy of Uhorcik's trial proceedings in Melichercik's Juraj Janosik (pp . 165-76). All further direct references to documentary material in this article are taken from these studies. 23 See Brtail , "Neznamy, ale skutocny Janosik, " p . 9, where he refers to the document of complaint; and Jozef Kocis, Neznamy Janosik (Martin : Osveta, 1986) , pp. 87-90, where he briefly summarizes Jan's interrogation . 24 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p . 62 . 25 Melicherclk , Janosikovska tradicia , p . 41. 2s Melichercik, Juraj Janosik , p . 60 . 22 SLOVAKIA 27 Brta:11., "Neznamy, ale skutofoy JanoMk." His entire article is devoted to correcting this error. 28 Ibid., p. 9. Ibid. 29 Ibid. In Strefoo estate administrator Florek's allegations, Jan Janosik is said to have had four children, baptized from 1699 to 1712 . The birth registry lists no children born to this Jan after 1712, further lending support to the fact that he was the Jan executed in 1713. 31 Ibid. 32 Ibid. 30 33 Even Kocis in his Neznamy Janosik identifies the wrong Juraj Janosik (p . 87, and footnote 150). It is somewhat surprising that Kocis' bibliography does not include any references to the handful of insightful research articles on Janosik by Brtan. 34 Brta:11., "Neznamy , ale skutocny Janosik," p. 9 . Brta:11. suggests that the possibility that Janosik had some schooling may have given rise to the tradition that he was a divinity student. Brtan also offers other possible factors for this legend . As in other Slavic cultures, it was customary for a young married man to live for a time with his family in his father 's house. By at least 1708, however, if not earlier, Janosfk's older brother Jan must have been living with his wife and children in his own home. Court records clearly indicate that Janosik stayed for a time that year with him, rather than with their parents, after leaving Rak6czy's army. 36 Kocis, p. 27 . 35 37 Robert A. Kann, A History of the Habsburg Empire 1526-1918 (Berkeley: University of California Press , 1977). p. 75 . 38 Brtan, "Slovenski zbojnici," p . 377 ; Kocis , p. 29 . Both discuss this issue. Kocis , p. 77. 40 Ibid. , pp . 46-47''. 39 41 42 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p . 67. Kocis, p. 47. Ibid., p . 48; Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p. 67 . 44 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p. 67. 45 See Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, pp. 72-74, for a summary of Janosik's offenses . 43 48 Lists of bandit group members have been compiled from court records. See Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, pp . 71-72; Kocis, pp . 72-74; also Bogatyrev's commentary in Slovackie epiceskie rasskazy, p . 5. 47 See Kocis, pp . 61-62 and pp . 75-76, for Uhorcik's testimony vis-a-vis Janosik's . 48 Ibid., p . 76. 49 Melichercik, Juraj Janosik, p. 167 (see interrogation question #2) . °Kocis, p . 76. 5 51 52 Ibid., pp . 52-54. Ibid., p . 56.  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 Jánošík: Unraveling the Man from the Legend Description An account of the resource Patricia A. Krafcik Slovakia, Vol. 33 (No. 60-61), 1987-88 pp. 7-22 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Krafcik, Patricia Ann, 1949- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-88 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/7be841d5520922fc2f564d3008d2aebb.pdf e8dd9a69441ce03741b36affd609879a PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA Published By THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA ��SLOVAKIA VOLUME XXXIII NUMBERS 60-61 1987-1988 A scholarly annual devoted to the history, literature, and culture of the Slovaks the world over. Editor M. MARK STOLARIK Editorial Board GEORGE J. DEMKO U.S. Department of State MICHAEL NOV AK American Enterprise Institute DAVID P. DANIEL Concordia Theological Seminary PETER PETRO University of British Columbia LOUISE B. HAMMER Indiana University NORMA L. RUDINSKY Oregon State University Slovak League Advisory Board DANIEL F. TANZONE EDWARD J. BEHUNCIK DRAGA DIVINSKA JOHN A. HOLY JOSEPH C. KRAJSA Publisher The Slovak League of America 870 Rifle Camp Road West Paterson, NJ 07424 Inquiries regarding the subscriptions should be sent to the above address. The cost of a single issue is U.S. $6 .00 Manuscripts for possible publication and books for review should be sent to M. Mark Stolarik, Editor, Slovakia, 700 Penfield Avenue, Havertown, PA 19083. �Printed By JEDNOTA PRESS A Division of Jednota Communications, Inc. Middletown, Pennsylvania U.S.A. 1989 �SLOVAKIA 3 Table of Contents ARTICLES Janosik: Unraveling the Man from the Legend Patricia A . Krafcik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Federalist Thought in Czechoslovakia During the Interwar Years Josef Kalvoda .......................... 7 23 Slovak Immigration to the United States and Its Relation to the American Socialist and Labor Movements M. Mark Stolarik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 The Slovak National Catholic Church, Passaic, New Jersey , and the Jeczusko Affair Raymond f. Kupke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 REVIEWS Vojtech Kopcan, Turecke nebezpecenstvo a Slovensko R. Vladimir Baumgarten .. ......... .. . .......... . . . ... . . . . . 89 Jan Tibensky, ed ., Matej Bel: doba-i ivot-dielo, and Juraj Chovan, Pamatnica z oslav dvojsteho vyrocia Jana Holleho Gerald J. Sabo ...... . 91 Michal Elias, Hugolin Gavlovic Gerald J. Sabo . 94 Pavel Hapak, Dejiny Slovenska, IV Michael f. Kopanic, Jr. . .. ... . ...... ..... . 95 Stephan Parak, Die Schweiz und der Slowakische Staat Stanislav f. Kirschbaum .. 98 Carol Skalnik Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia James Felak 101 �4 SLOVAKIA Pavol Petruf, USA a studena vojna Stanislav J. Kirschbaum 103 June G. Alexander , The Immigrant Church and Community M. Mark Stolarik ....... 105 Jan Kacala et. al., Kratky slovnik slovenskeho jazyka John M . Kochik ........................ 108 Ludvik Patera, Alexander Matuska Louise B. Hammer .. 109 Il'ja Cicvak, Vyvolavanie slnka Yvonne Grabowski ... 111 Books and Articles Received 113 Contributors 117 Guidelines for Manuscripts 118 �SLOVAKIA ARTICLES 5 �� SLOVAKIA Published By THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA ��SLOVAKIA VOLUME XXXIII NUMBERS 60-61 1987-1988 A scholarly annual devoted to the history, literature, and culture of the Slovaks the world over. Editor M. MARK STOLARIK Editorial Board GEORGE J. DEMKO U.S. Department of State MICHAEL NOV AK American Enterprise Institute DAVID P. DANIEL Concordia Theological Seminary PETER PETRO University of British Columbia LOUISE B. HAMMER Indiana University NORMA L. RUDINSKY Oregon State University Slovak League Advisory Board DANIEL F. TANZONE EDWARD J. BEHUNCIK DRAGA DIVINSKA JOHN A. HOLY JOSEPH C. KRAJSA Publisher The Slovak League of America 870 Rifle Camp Road West Paterson, NJ 07424 Inquiries regarding the subscriptions should be sent to the above address. The cost of a single issue is U.S. $6 .00 Manuscripts for possible publication and books for review should be sent to M. Mark Stolarik, Editor, Slovakia, 700 Penfield Avenue, Havertown, PA 19083. �Printed By JEDNOTA PRESS A Division of Jednota Communications, Inc. Middletown, Pennsylvania U.S.A. 1989 �SLOVAKIA 3 Table of Contents ARTICLES Janosik: Unraveling the Man from the Legend Patricia A . Krafcik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Federalist Thought in Czechoslovakia During the Interwar Years Josef Kalvoda .......................... 7 23 Slovak Immigration to the United States and Its Relation to the American Socialist and Labor Movements M. Mark Stolarik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 The Slovak National Catholic Church, Passaic, New Jersey , and the Jeczusko Affair Raymond f. Kupke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 REVIEWS Vojtech Kopcan, Turecke nebezpecenstvo a Slovensko R. Vladimir Baumgarten .. ......... .. . .......... . . . ... . . . . . 89 Jan Tibensky, ed ., Matej Bel: doba-i ivot-dielo, and Juraj Chovan, Pamatnica z oslav dvojsteho vyrocia Jana Holleho Gerald J. Sabo ...... . 91 Michal Elias, Hugolin Gavlovic Gerald J. Sabo . 94 Pavel Hapak, Dejiny Slovenska, IV Michael f. Kopanic, Jr. . .. ... . ...... ..... . 95 Stephan Parak, Die Schweiz und der Slowakische Staat Stanislav f. Kirschbaum .. 98 Carol Skalnik Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia James Felak 101 �4 SLOVAKIA Pavol Petruf, USA a studena vojna Stanislav J. Kirschbaum 103 June G. Alexander , The Immigrant Church and Community M. Mark Stolarik ....... 105 Jan Kacala et. al., Kratky slovnik slovenskeho jazyka John M . Kochik ........................ 108 Ludvik Patera, Alexander Matuska Louise B. Hammer .. 109 Il'ja Cicvak, Vyvolavanie slnka Yvonne Grabowski ... 111 Books and Articles Received 113 Contributors 117 Guidelines for Manuscripts 118 �SLOVAKIA ARTICLES 5 �� 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 1987-88, Vol. 33 Description An account of the resource Vol. 33 (No. 60-61), 1987-88. 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 1987-88 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA Published By THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA SLOVAKIA VOLUME XXXIII NUMBERS 60-61 1987-1988 A scholarly annual devoted to the history, literature, and culture of the Slovaks the world over. Editor M. MARK STOLARIK Editorial Board GEORGE J. DEMKO U.S. Department of State MICHAEL NOV AK American Enterprise Institute DAVID P. DANIEL Concordia Theological Seminary PETER PETRO University of British Columbia LOUISE B. HAMMER Indiana University NORMA L. RUDINSKY Oregon State University Slovak League Advisory Board DANIEL F. TANZONE EDWARD J. BEHUNCIK DRAGA DIVINSKA JOHN A. HOLY JOSEPH C. KRAJSA Publisher The Slovak League of America 870 Rifle Camp Road West Paterson, NJ 07424 Inquiries regarding the subscriptions should be sent to the above address. The cost of a single issue is U.S. $6 .00 Manuscripts for possible publication and books for review should be sent to M. Mark Stolarik, Editor, Slovakia, 700 Penfield Avenue, Havertown, PA 19083. Printed By JEDNOTA PRESS A Division of Jednota Communications, Inc. Middletown, Pennsylvania U.S.A. 1989 SLOVAKIA 3 Table of Contents ARTICLES Janosik: Unraveling the Man from the Legend Patricia A . Krafcik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Federalist Thought in Czechoslovakia During the Interwar Years Josef Kalvoda .......................... 7 23 Slovak Immigration to the United States and Its Relation to the American Socialist and Labor Movements M. Mark Stolarik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 The Slovak National Catholic Church, Passaic, New Jersey , and the Jeczusko Affair Raymond f. Kupke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 REVIEWS Vojtech Kopcan, Turecke nebezpecenstvo a Slovensko R. Vladimir Baumgarten .. ......... .. . .......... . . . ... . . . . . 89 Jan Tibensky, ed ., Matej Bel: doba-i ivot-dielo, and Juraj Chovan, Pamatnica z oslav dvojsteho vyrocia Jana Holleho Gerald J. Sabo ...... . 91 Michal Elias, Hugolin Gavlovic Gerald J. Sabo . 94 Pavel Hapak, Dejiny Slovenska, IV Michael f. Kopanic, Jr. . .. ... . ...... ..... . 95 Stephan Parak, Die Schweiz und der Slowakische Staat Stanislav f. Kirschbaum .. 98 Carol Skalnik Leff, National Conflict in Czechoslovakia James Felak 101 4 SLOVAKIA Pavol Petruf, USA a studena vojna Stanislav J. Kirschbaum 103 June G. Alexander , The Immigrant Church and Community M. Mark Stolarik ....... 105 Jan Kacala et. al., Kratky slovnik slovenskeho jazyka John M . Kochik ........................ 108 Ludvik Patera, Alexander Matuska Louise B. Hammer .. 109 Il'ja Cicvak, Vyvolavanie slnka Yvonne Grabowski ... 111 Books and Articles Received 113 Contributors 117 Guidelines for Manuscripts 118 SLOVAKIA ARTICLES 5  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. 33 (No. 60-61) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-88